mcoliver Posted July 13, 2003 Share Posted July 13, 2003 Hi guys. I'll be getting my first 40cal blaster in a few weeks and have a couple of questions. 1. I don't reload so I'm stuck with ammo from my club. They use St. Marks powder (OBP 462 or was it 4762, dang!) and was wondering if anybody here have any experiences with this powder. Care to share your pet load for this? 2. When I asked the reloader how long is their OAL he said they load them around 1.135-1.160 using 4.6gr for a 176PF. Then I read some threads in this topic and found out most are using 1.180+ to 1.200. Is there any particular reason why you guys load long? Better reliability with longer ammo? 3. Lastly, when talking about ammo length, is it more a factor of the ammo fitting the mag (front to back) or the size of the chamber? I read here somewhere about glock mags that can accept a max length of 1.160. So if you have OAL of 1.200 it won't fit the glock mag but will it fit the chamber? Appreciate your thoughts. Thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted July 13, 2003 Share Posted July 13, 2003 I treat OAL as, first, a feed reliability issue. Next, a possible pressure issue. Shorter = more case pressure (typically). Then there is a slight accuracy issue that can be addressed with OAL. A bullet that is seated closer to the rifling...but not touching...doesn't have to "jump" as far on ignition. .... If the loaded round is too long...or too short...it won't feed into the chamber well. Gun jams. If the round is too long, then it won't feed thru the mags (Glocks are around1.160-1.165, I am sure other 9mm based guns are similar). Shorter loaded rounds are more likely to have pressure issues. Longer is often safer. MAX OAL (after the feeding inssue) for the chamber can be determined by marking, and testing long (dummy) loads to see how far out (max OAL) the chamber can handle. Don't worry about this one much. Book specs (you are reading reloading books, right?) state that OAL for 40S&W is 1.125. That is pretty short. I like to run about 1.135 for my Glocks (I would run longer, but I don't see any pressure problems here, and my dies are set...don't wnat to fiddle with them and then load testing). My 1.135 loads will also run in a Para P16/40 Limited gun that we have. STI/SV type guns tend to like to feed ammo with a longer OAL. Be careful not to load too long...you don't want the bullet touching the rifling...which is another pressure issue. What gun are you getting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted July 13, 2003 Share Posted July 13, 2003 St. Mark's powder? Never tried it. But, I understand that the brothers down at the rectory swear by it. Well, I didn't really mean swear . Ditto everything Flex said about OAL. I think the practice of loading .40 ammo to the maximum length got pretty popular when people started loading 200 grain bullets. Pressure issues can arise, and like Flex pointed out, longer is generally safer, until you get too long. I load to about 1.16 for my STI, with 180 grain bullets. I'm using a Kart barrel, and it shoots really well with this combination. The mags would easily handle longer stuff, and alot of people do load longer in the S_I guns. I'll admit that I really don't experiment very much with this sort of thing after I've found something that works. My gun and ammo are usually flawless. It's the loose nut behind the trigger that causes most of my trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted July 14, 2003 Author Share Posted July 14, 2003 Appreciate the feedback guys. I got a very good deal on a 1911 widebody and will be using it exclusively for now. I've been reading on info about the different loads you guys have been using and found out there's really no magic brew that'll work for all. Guess I'll just have to make my own tests once the blaster returns from the smith. Thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 St Marks make all the ball powders that Hodgdon and Winchester sell. The company is sometimes called Primex? I think you will find that the powder they are using at the club is also marketed under another name by either Winchester or Hodgdon. So once you find out what the equivalent is you can see if this will work for you. I also suggest you give Mr Dillon (or our host) a call and load your own. It will save hassles in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 GM, I hope the Primex company you are referring is slightly different from the one we know here in Italy: they manufacture burst controlling devices (i.e. condoms), not bursting ones. Otherwise, I would agree with your advice on loading your own ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoliver Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 I actually found this is via Google: http://www.hodgdon.com/msds/primex.htm The Product specs mentioned OBP as one of the synonyms. But I can't make heads or tails with the rest of the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Skywalker67, Would not want to get those two confused. In Australia they had a similar problem with Durex. One is condoms the other cellotape. You could definetly come to a sticky end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Maybe an internal "conflict of interests" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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