Precision 180's powder choice

[VeryBadshot]

My precision 180's are due to show up. Wanted some thoughts on powder. Have a butt load of w231 hanging around, however I am more than willing to try a new powder. They will be going down range out of a XD 40 tact. The same gun that got nearly mega locked with a lead RN bullet at my last match. Love the cost in $ of lead just not the hurt ego.

[Carlos]

There is going to be smoke, there is going to be dirt, no matter WHAT powder you use. But, to keep the dirt to a minimum & keep the recoil down, you might look at the replacements for N320: E3 or Solo 1000. Any shotgun club near you should have one of these on hand at a cheap price.

[Merlin Orr]

Perhaps your feed ramp needs some attention?

[VeryBadshot]

Took the gun apart and looked and looked. What I found makes even less sense.....it seems the round got hung on the top of the chamber, feed ramp doesn't match where the lead got peeled back? I quess it jumped up to take the bite. If I can get my cam to take close pics I'll post them. Lit off my first Precision's this AM......don't think I'll get jammed up like this again. Next to the lead bullets there is way less smoke and I couldn't even tell dirt wise that I had shot at all. Wish I had not been Mr El'cheapo to start with.

Edited August 25, 2007 by VeryBadshot

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: Everyone needs to try lead bullets. Just gets you used to cleaning your pistol ;-). I use Tite Group and people say it smokes but I don't notice it. I shoot outside only and there seems to be a wind here all the time. Either that or I run too fast. You will like the Precision bullets. I would try the 155's and 170's as well. They all work well. Thanks, Eric

[big_kahuna]

My precision 180's are due to show up. Wanted some thoughts on powder. Have a butt load of w231 hanging around, however I am more than willing to try a new powder. They will be going down range out of a XD 40 tact. The same gun that got nearly mega locked with a lead RN bullet at my last match. Love the cost in $ of lead just not the hurt ego.

I'd use the 231 you have on hand. I'm getting major PF well below book max per Hodgdon load data website of 5.0 grains. It smokes a little but it is very tolerable. Accuracy and consistency are great IME. Be advised that 231 is temp sensitive, so chrono at different temperatures to know what to expect. Once you have it figured out, 231 is GREAT with 180 molys imho. I use this combo primarily for practice ammo, but it could be great match ammo if you have the temperature/PF curve mapped and can tolerate the minor smoke.

I've also used Titegroup and Universal Clays behind moly and jacketed 180 grain bullets. TG is great for jacketed but I don't like it with moly due to the smoke (it's really smoky). U-clays with 180 molys smoked a lot less but was less accurate/consistent than 231. U-clays with 200 grain molys is another alternative: accurate, consistent, and soft with a "rolling" recoil (if you like that kind of thing).

In summary:

180 jacketed + Titegroup = my primary match load

180 moly + 231 = my primary practice load

200 moly + Universal Clays = alternate practice/match load

ps: Do a search for posts from Harmon. I did a bunch of load development on my own, only to find that Harmon had already done extensive research (and did it much better than I had). You can learn a lot and save time by researching his inputs on the forum.

pps: YMMV due to temperature/humidity/etc. I live & shoot in the high desert, very low humidity but huge temperatures swings.

[steel1212]

U-clays with 180 molys smoked a lot less but was less accurate/consistent than 231.

I haven't noticed any real accuracly loss with U-clays. At 20-25 yards if I do my part I can get a 10 shot group touching pretty much. This is with a stock para barrel, can't wait until the new blaster is done with a real hand fitted barrel!

[VeryBadshot]

Wow! Great stuff BK. I live on the coast in Florida. Temps range from hot to beef jerky. And humitiy is defined in terms of how many minutes till you soaking wet. I did throw some rounds in the frig/frezz and will put them over the chrono. I will be heading back to south/central florida in the not too disant future, where 55 degee days are counted on one hand for the year. So for now it's 231. Thx again for the cool input

[ReAX222]

I used a lot of 231 with precision 170's. Smoke was never really a problem once I got my 231 load hot enough. All of my light loads smoked alot, and I tried 231, Unique and AA#2. The Unique cleaned up a bit as I got the load up.

I was looking over the IPDA load list and there is someone on the list using precision 180's and 231. He is using 5.1 grains and they assume he is shooting greater than a 175 pf.

[VeryBadshot]

Ended up with 4.9 grains = 925/935. Thats in Florida with a temp around 90+. Plan to throw a few in the cooler and see if they change, as I've read 231 slows down with low temps. It's been raining nearly 'round the clock and I still have 200+ lead bullets to make go away , when I get done with those will clean the gun and re-chrono..........

Edited September 3, 2007 by VeryBadshot