9 mm. load data for minor in open

[herman]

searched did not find anything.  what powders are best for 121/124 gr. jacketed bullet.

thanks

[Garmil]

 

[teros135]

Yep, that would do it.

[herman]

what powder is  wac ?

[fishsticks]

what powder is  wac ?

Winchester AutoComp

[brytec]

what powder is  wac ?

It's called Winchester autocomp aka "wac" for short


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[Hi-Power Jack]

I'd think 5.5 gr WAC with a 121/124 gr bullet would give more gas for your comp than 4.2 gr N320.

And a little more WAC with a 115 gr bullet, even more gas - even lighter load.

[kneelingatlas]

Herman, are you loading for a competition were PF is not a consideration, or looking to make 125 PF min?

[mscott]

I just started using 5.5 gr of WAC with a 115 gr jhp in my Matchmaster for multigun and seems to be pretty nice. Averages about 135 pf. 

[BeerBaron]

yeah I just loaded up 6gn of WAC behind 115gn RN @ 1.230 (38 Super comp) for a steel challenge load. It's pretty soft. even with a 7lb spring the brass barely dribbles out. going to have to try a 6lb next. 

the key to a nice shooting minor load in an open gun is a nice light bullet and a medium burning or slow burning powder. I'd say WAC or VV N340 would both be good choices. The fast powders like N320 will feel nice too but I think a slightly slower burning powder does still do something to work the comp. 

[herman]

hi mad scientist,

competition uspsa i am  shooting open 9mm. i have shot a few matches in major, but the majority in minor  that is what i am going to stay with

at this stage i am not really interested in the scoring, just being able to shoot & have fun is my goal { that may change} but for now minor.

i am using sti built by howard smith way back when. what i am looking for is a powder that will make a lot of gas on minor, now my loads run around 135'ish  power factor using montana gold 121 ifp bullet, winch. small pistol primers.

that is why i am looking for minor data powders.

thanks to all for the info.  so is wac the best choice. ?

[Garmil]

For running minor I'd go slower than wac if you are trying to work the comp. and faster than wac if you want it soft in the hand with a little more muzzle rise.

aa7 or something in that burn rate will give a lot more gas at minor power factor than autocomp

[BeerBaron]

2 hours ago, Garmil said:

For running minor I'd go slower than wac if you are trying to work the comp. and faster than wac if you want it soft in the hand with a little more muzzle rise.

aa7 or something in that burn rate will give a lot more gas at minor power factor than autocomp

the problem I've found with this is with the slower powders as you drop the charge weight you start to get incomplete burn of the powder. I know that sounds counter intuitive but the really slow powders like N105 and 3N38 work best with a big caseful of the stuff. as you get down to lighter charges velocity drops off in a non linear fashion (ie you hit a point at which a small decrease in charge gives a big drop in velocity), so with a slower powder and a light bullet like a 115gn  you end up needing to run around 150+ PF just to make the thing cycle reliably. 

even my 6gn load above (which is not massively off a major load for 38 super) has such weak ejection even with a 7lb ismi spring. now I can probably go 6lb spring, but you're now getting to an issue where the spring is so light you can get feeding issues (and you also often loose a bit of accuracy with very light springs as the heavier springs can keep the gun locked up till the bullet exits the barrel - or close to it). 

the faster powders are ok too, but as you point out don't really produce meaningful gas to run the comp (which is ok, they are still soft to shoot);

probably the smartest guys at this type of loading are those shooting open in action match/bianchi and some of the guys shooting steel challenge.

anyway, my anecdotal evidence from playing around with this a bit now is that the medium rate pistol powders shine for this type of load.

some gas for the comp. complete burn of powder. still enough grunt to run the gun reliably. 

as I said it's only what I've found from arsing around trying to make powder puff steel challenge loads for a pair of open 2011's and a tanfog open gun as well as some non compensated guns (shadow, stock2 and 1911/2011). 

I have tried N320 (soft but felt slow and a little muzzle rise). clays (same as N320 really). I tried universal with 115, 135 and 147gn pills (felt not too bad but ultimately not 100% reliable). I've also tried 3N38 and N105 with 115 and 124gn. My latest test was the WAC and for now it's my fav in the comp'd guns. type of gun may change this. mine is a short-ish (middy?) open gun with 2 large barrel holes and a typical 4 chamber comp (2 upward chambers).

Anyway it's worth doing some experimenting for yourself if you have the powder and the time.

[kneelingatlas]

If gas is what you want I suggest a big charge under a 95/100gr bullet, if WAC is what you have use it, but slower would be better, you'll be amazed how flat the gun will shoot with a 95 going ~1400 fps.  3N38, HS6, AA7 are all good choices.

[BeerBaron]

agree with that. my issue was 9mm 90gn pills are so short they are not as accurate as I'd have liked and even with a big charge of 3N38 they barely have enough power to cycle the gun! which does make some sense as it's only ~130pf.

[herman]

i have been using wst powder just wanted to use it up 5.0 gr. not impressed with it at all.  i also have silhouette that i use to use way back when i shot all major loads still with 121 gr. bullet that was a super accurate & sweet load.

i may try the silhouette  for minor loads & see what happens,    what do you guys think would be a good load to try. ?/

[kneelingatlas]

WST is useless in a compensated pistol, way too fast.  Silhouette will be better, but with 121s you might as well load major, because that's where it will shoot best.  Minor loads with Silhouette and 121s will be quieter than major, maybe a hair softer, but not flatter.

Why is it you don't want to load major?  It's not the big deal people make it out to be if you choose components intelligently.

[herman]

as i said above scoring is not a concern mostly concerned about beating up my old gun & of course arthur has come to visit & he will stay if you know what i mean.

 

thanks,  herman

[theWacoKid]

I had good luck with 5.1-5.3 gr Longshot and 5.6-5.7 gr of 3N37 both under a 115.  

Depending on the comp and popple holes you may need to go way down on recoil spring.

Edited October 4, 2016 by theWacoKid

[herman]

dg,

not really looking for a sv gun, more interested in trying a  all metal gun i have acz 9 open i kinda like the feel of metal vs. plastic  altho it is heavier that`s ok.

[lightfighter363]

WAC 7.2   124 gr FMJ 1.165 OAL. 

[kneelingatlas]

1 hour ago, lightfighter363 said:

WAC 7.2   124 gr FMJ 1.165 OAL. 

I would imagine that load makes major, or close to it.

[lightfighter363]

10 hours ago, kneelingatlas said:

I would imagine that load makes major, or close to it.

171pf

[kneelingatlas]

On 10/2/2016 at 7:54 PM, herman said:

 

9 mm. load data for minor in open