RAMSHOT Comp

[duncan]

Does anyone have any data or experience with it in .40. Oh ya 180 gr. Molys if possible. Thnx

[Lee Bell]

Does anyone have any data or experience with it in .40. Oh ya 180 gr. Molys if possible. Thnx

Yes and no.

Once upon a time, I loaded a bunch of 180 grain .40 caliber moly bullets to a 175 power factor. They did not feed as reliably in my 1911 Kimber Stainless Gold Match II as Zero JHPs in the same weight did. Initially, I blamed it on the bullets, which turned out to be only partly right. It turns out that my magazine springs were getting a bit old and were also part of the problem. It wasn't long after, that I began having problems with my jacketed bullets as well. Still, the problem surfaced with the moly coated bullets first.

Something else to consider is that that the moly coating will coat your barrel. This is normally not a problem the way leading is. The excess moly shoots out with each bullet. The problem is that moly attracts and holds moisture. If you shoot moly bullets, pay particular attention to cleaning and lubricating the bore. Pay attention to your maintenance and you should have no problems, many people do.

The no part of my response comes from the fact that I have no experience at all with Ramshot. I currently load with Bullseye and, when I've exhausted my supply of that, will be trying Titegroup next. You're on your own with Ramshot. What is worth mentioning, though is something else I experienced with moly bullets. I got a lot more smoke with them than I did with the same loads I used for jacketed bullets. I'm not talking about a whisp here and there, but a significant and noticable amount of smoke with every shot. It was very annoying, bordering on being a competitive disadvantage, on still days. Bullseye is known to be a bit smokey, so maybe you won't have the same problem that I did. Until you know for sure, though, I recommend against making a major commitment to moly bullets. Of course, the same advice applies to any combination of bullets, powder and charge that's new to you and your guns.

Lee

[Shay1911]

Hey Duncan, Lee,

I load .40, ramshot comp, 180 FMJ Zeros. 4.5 grains. Chronoed at 170 PF out of my gun.

Shay

[burntcrispy]

180gr masterblasters

4.3 gr Ramshot Competition

5 inch barrel

173-175 powerfactor.

[duncan]

Thanx guys. I shot Molys last year,but with TG. I was wondering if the Ramshot smoked any less and what charges to try out. I didnt have any problems with buildup in my Para, but got a new Edge for myself and wanted to try a new powder. Maybe less smoke. If I remember right Masterblaster recommended Ramshot Comp on their websight before they went down. Just couldnt find any load data for it. Thanks again , Jim

[burntcrispy]

Yeah, I bought around 14K Masterblaster 180gr right before they went out of business. They recommended starting with 4.5gr Ramshot Competition and working up or down from there.

[J-Ho]

Thanx guys. I shot Molys last year,but with TG. I was wondering if the Ramshot smoked any less and what charges to try out. I didnt have any problems with buildup in my Para, but got a new Edge for myself and wanted to try a new powder. Maybe less smoke. If I remember right Masterblaster recommended Ramshot Comp on their websight before they went down. Just couldnt find any load data for it. Thanks again , Jim

Ramshot does smoke alot less than TG. I'm running 4.4 gr with a hardcast 180 gr. bullet.

[duncan]

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know if its temp. sensative.

[Dave C]

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know if its temp. sensative.

Yes it is. Temp gets hot, Velocity goes down.

I was using Master Blaster 180s, 4.6 grains of Comp, 1.135 OAL at 2007 Limited 10 Nationals. Thought I was running a 174 PF ended up making 164.8 at Nationals. Ouch!!!!

Came home and played with the same batch of rounds. @ 78 degrees I was running 965 fps. I let the loads sit in the sun on the black rino lined pickup tailgate. They were almost hot to the touch when I shot them over the chrono. 888 fps average.

Edited January 27, 2008 by Dave C

[splashdown]

What OAL burntcrispy?

That sounds like a high PF, so it must be a short length (around 1.140" maybe?)

I've loaded Masterblasters 180s with 4.4 grains of Competition at 1.200" and got a PF of 167 out of my 5" SV.

Thanks for the info on the inverse temperature sensitivity, Dave C. I wasn't aware of that, but we don't have really big temp swings up here in the Puget Sound area.

[burntcrispy]

What OAL burntcrispy?

That sounds like a high PF, so it must be a short length (around 1.140" maybe?)

I've loaded Masterblasters 180s with 4.4 grains of Competition at 1.200" and got a PF of 167 out of my 5" SV.

Thanks for the info on the inverse temperature sensitivity, Dave C. I wasn't aware of that, but we don't have really big temp swings up here in the Puget Sound area.

OAL 1.200.

But, I need to chrono again. First time I used the chrono it was about 55 degrees outside. I chrono'd again in 35 degrees and it shot FASTER. As soon as it warms up again I'll chrono and give an updated report. I usually shoot in 90+ degree weather so it may shoot slower at that temperature.

[burntcrispy]

What OAL burntcrispy?

That sounds like a high PF, so it must be a short length (around 1.140" maybe?)

I've loaded Masterblasters 180s with 4.4 grains of Competition at 1.200" and got a PF of 167 out of my 5" SV.

Thanks for the info on the inverse temperature sensitivity, Dave C. I wasn't aware of that, but we don't have really big temp swings up here in the Puget Sound area.

OAL 1.200.

But, I need to chrono again. First time I used the chrono it was about 55 degrees outside. I chrono'd again in 35 degrees and it shot FASTER. As soon as it warms up again I'll chrono and give an updated report. I usually shoot in 90+ degree weather so it may shoot slower at that temperature.

OK. I pulled out the chrono the other day, (about 65+ degrees) and got 171-174 PF using 4.3 gr, 1.200, Wolf primers, mixed brass. I'll update again when the weather gets hotter. I'm tempted to try Clays but don't want to blow up my only Limited blaster

[duncan]

I've got 8lbs. coming soon. Ill chrono some loads in different temps and see about the changes in velocity. If it comes soon Ill be able to see what its like from (oh crap its cold) To more managable (above 50) soon.

[Shay1911]

wow burnt, you either have a fast barrel or the powder is very temp sensitive.

In my gun, at 85 degrees, 4.3 with 180 ZERO at 1.135 barely makes major.

[HHjr]

I have one minor load so far that had a scary Es of 1.16 The data:3.2gr RS Comp 185gr Precision black bullet @ 1.130" 34degrees 813fps

I will be working up more loads (both major & minor) after the weather breaks here in MI

Harold H.

[duncan]

OK guys,finally got my 8# of RS comp. Using 4.3 gr. with 180 Bear creek, 1.190 OAL, WSP, got 942 fps avg. for 8 shots. Temp. was 40 deg. 169.5 PF. Didnt get a chance to check for accuracy or smoke as we had 20 mph winds this morning. It did seem to shoot pretty soft tho.

[bulm540]

Very similar to WST.

[duncan]

Finally got some good weather,so I got to go out and try my Sti out again. Same load and OAL,primer etc. 60 deg. this time and it came out to basically the same power factor. 170.5 this time. But it doesnt smoke nearly as much as my TG loads.

[splashdown]

After reviewing this thread again, I think burntcrispy was standing too close to the chrono. There's no way that load can give that sort of velocity. Either that or the lighting was weird and threw the chrono off.

I recently had a consistent, but a little out of range chrono reading on my first 6" load (posted in another thread). I was either the victim of lighting or standing too close. Now I've tried again and realize I need to go back to that load to be in Major territory.

[duncan]

I went out again today,and used Wolf primers instead of Winny's. Power factor dropped to 167. Same temp. as before 60 deg. Might need to investigate this a little further.

[burntcrispy]

After reviewing this thread again, I think burntcrispy was standing too close to the chrono. There's no way that load can give that sort of velocity. Either that or the lighting was weird and threw the chrono off.

I recently had a consistent, but a little out of range chrono reading on my first 6" load (posted in another thread). I was either the victim of lighting or standing too close. Now I've tried again and realize I need to go back to that load to be in Major territory.

UPDATE: I shot in almost 85 degrees and rechrono'd to make sure was OK before a major match:

Masterblaster 180 (MOLYS)

Wolf primers

Mixed Brass

Ramshot Competition 4.3 gr

OAL 1.95

PF: 172

The barrel in my 2011 is a Briley barrel and is slightly longer than the average STI barrel. I don't know if this makes any differnce but I've chrono'd OK with this ammo (moly) with the recipe as above.

Sadly, I've run out of masterblasters. I'm now using Precision Black Bullets. I haven't chrono'd with these yet (using 4.3 gr of RC) but will chrono soon as I may be able to get away with slightly less powder due to the increased wt of the bullet. (185 gr) I'll post an update when I rechrono.

[D. Manley]

Does anyone have any data or experience with it in .40. Oh ya 180 gr. Molys if possible. Thnx

Might want to shoot Ramshot an email. I just did the same on Competition in .45 and received a .PDF file of their new and updated load data including, Competition. They've apparently finished testing, I have no idea why the updated data is not available in their published, on-line database. I've attached a copy of the new data for .45 for anyone interested.

Ramshot45_New.pdf

[burntcrispy]

UPdate:

Precisions black bullets (185gr molys)

Wolf primers

Mixed Brass

OAL 1.95

Ramshot Competition 4.2 gr

Temp around 50 degrees

Had this load at major match recently and averaged 946 fps.

[splashdown]

I guess you've got yourself a fast barrel. I'd say that one's a keeper!

Looking back at my posts, I wasn't trying to call you out in any way. Hopefully I did not offend you. I was just suggesting you double check your velocities before a major match. Sounds like you have and that you're getting very good velocities (on par with my 6" gun with the same powder charge and still using 180 gr masterblasters.)