Classic_jon Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Hello, New to the forum and have a question on a good load for N320 with 155gr MG's in a stock .40 Springfield XD service (4") for IDPA. I am looking for a good basic load that gets me over the IDPA power floor for a .40 of 125 for faster recovery or, if someone has a good load to suggest for it I would be wiling to try it. We do have some shots that are at 25 yards in matches so being able to make those distance shots without too much adjustment would be nice. While I have been waiting for my MG's to get here, as a starting point I have been tinkering with some Remington 155gr JHP's with 5.4gr of N320 at 1.129OAL and am getting 1050fps pretty consistently. I shot them in our last club match and at 20' or less they are dead on accurate with a good feel to them but they are well over the power floor at almost 163 and at 25 yards seem to lose accuracy. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 4.0 of Titegroup with an OAL of ~ 1.17 is a really nice load that cycles well. I have Not used this load with jacketed but use 155 Precision moly coated Black Bullets. Really nice feeling load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic_jon Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 4.0 of Titegroup with an OAL of ~ 1.17 is a really nice load that cycles well. I have Not used this load with jacketed but use 155 Precision moly coated Black Bullets. Really nice feeling load. Actually, shooting a similar Titegroup load was what got me to try the N320 . The N320 does not seem to have as snappy a recoil (to me at least) as the Titegroup does and does not seem to be as temperature sensitive. That being said, I am no expert on things and that is why I am asking here! I will try what you are suggesting and see what happens. I have a buddy that uses Titegroup almost exclusively in his 9mm S&W M&P that I can "borrow" some from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic_jon Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 I have been reading elsewhere and some people have suggested Solo 1000 as an alternative to N320. Anyone tried it and if so how does it compare to 320? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobrbiker883 Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Not MG's, but I run N320 at 5-5.2gr under Billy 155LSWC's at 1.175. The load shoots nice and runs about 1080fps out of my Para. You could go quite a bit lower for the 125 floor..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic_jon Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 I did a club match Saturday and a lot of testing and some chrony time Sunday and thought I would post what I found out! All loads were 155gr MG's at 1.129 OAL 5.5gr of N320 avg 1066fps Shot with minimal drop even at 25 yards. 5.0gr of N320 Avg 958fps Less perceived recoil but were otherwise pretty identical to the 5.5 gr load (thanks for the suggestion sobrbiker883) 4.8gr of Solo 1000 Avg 934fps Firm recoil but slightly extended perceived recoil in comparison to the N320 4.5gr of TiteGroup Avg 908fps Much more "snappy" recoil in comparison to the N320. (Merlin I will look into the load you suggested of 4.0 and the short OAL ) 5.5gr of WST Avg ~950 (chrony went whonkey as I was reading it) Shoots very soft but does not seem to function the slide as rapidly/well as other powders do. I have settled on the N320 load at 5.0gr for now in IDPA matches but with the Titegroup load as a backup. One place nearby has another can of N320 that I am going to pick up this weekend but otherwise it is pretty hard stuff to find. I still have some HP-38 and HS-6 left and am going to try and stay in the same 950ish FPS range that my XD seems to like best. Next loads to test HP-38 at 5.4 and 5.6gr and 6.9gr HS-6 load that worked well with Berry's but may take some tweaking with the MG's I am very open to any suggestions anyone has!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justsomeguy Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I did a club match Saturday and a lot of testing and some chrony time Sunday and thought I would post what I found out!All loads were 155gr MG's at 1.129 OAL 5.5gr of N320 avg 1066fps Shot with minimal drop even at 25 yards. 5.0gr of N320 Avg 958fps Less perceived recoil but were otherwise pretty identical to the 5.5 gr load (thanks for the suggestion sobrbiker883) 4.8gr of Solo 1000 Avg 934fps Firm recoil but slightly extended perceived recoil in comparison to the N320 4.5gr of TiteGroup Avg 908fps Much more "snappy" recoil in comparison to the N320. (Merlin I will look into the load you suggested of 4.0 and the short OAL ) 5.5gr of WST Avg ~950 (chrony went whonkey as I was reading it) Shoots very soft but does not seem to function the slide as rapidly/well as other powders do. I have settled on the N320 load at 5.0gr for now in IDPA matches but with the Titegroup load as a backup. One place nearby has another can of N320 that I am going to pick up this weekend but otherwise it is pretty hard stuff to find. I still have some HP-38 and HS-6 left and am going to try and stay in the same 950ish FPS range that my XD seems to like best. Next loads to test HP-38 at 5.4 and 5.6gr and 6.9gr HS-6 load that worked well with Berry's but may take some tweaking with the MG's I am very open to any suggestions anyone has!! I'm happy to see you didn't go with some of the OAL suggestions others had posted because you have an XD. From personal experience I would think that you are in the right neighborhood and could go to at least 1.135 without any issues. I have tried as high as 1.140 with good results, but since the magazine length on the XD family is not as long as those guns based on the 1911 types, I would not exceed 1.145 as an absolute maximum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic_jon Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 (edited) When I first started reloading I found out the hard way that OAL is pretty important. I loaded up 200 rounds for my classifier and had stuff going all over. The guy whose press I used was there and asked me what was goign on because he *knew* I shot far better than I was shooting. I classified as "Novice" and then handed my pistol over to my friend and asked him to take some shots with it...they were ALL OVER the place with him holding dead on at 20' I measured the OAL on my remaining rounds and it was anywhere from 1.112 to 1.138. It turns out the seating die was loose and going up and down, and the crimp die was crimping a bit too hard...between the two...I could have thrown the pistol and been more accurate! Yeah, I now spot check the OAL at random as I am loading and check the dies before I start and after I finish! Hard lesson learned but, I now will not ever make it again...and my last match with the 5.5 N320 loads listed above I did fairly well in. All errors in that match were mine and not the ammunition I still have a box of 250 165gr RN Berrys that I am going to bang out with some of my remaining hp-38 as just target/range loads, but after that...I am sticking with the MG's they load well and are .02 cheaper a round for a MUCH better and more consistent bullet! I did a club match Saturday and a lot of testing and some chrony time Sunday and thought I would post what I found out!All loads were 155gr MG's at 1.129 OAL 5.5gr of N320 avg 1066fps Shot with minimal drop even at 25 yards. 5.0gr of N320 Avg 958fps Less perceived recoil but were otherwise pretty identical to the 5.5 gr load (thanks for the suggestion sobrbiker883) 4.8gr of Solo 1000 Avg 934fps Firm recoil but slightly extended perceived recoil in comparison to the N320 4.5gr of TiteGroup Avg 908fps Much more "snappy" recoil in comparison to the N320. (Merlin I will look into the load you suggested of 4.0 and the short OAL ) 5.5gr of WST Avg ~950 (chrony went whonkey as I was reading it) Shoots very soft but does not seem to function the slide as rapidly/well as other powders do. I have settled on the N320 load at 5.0gr for now in IDPA matches but with the Titegroup load as a backup. One place nearby has another can of N320 that I am going to pick up this weekend but otherwise it is pretty hard stuff to find. I still have some HP-38 and HS-6 left and am going to try and stay in the same 950ish FPS range that my XD seems to like best. Next loads to test HP-38 at 5.4 and 5.6gr and 6.9gr HS-6 load that worked well with Berry's but may take some tweaking with the MG's I am very open to any suggestions anyone has!! I'm happy to see you didn't go with some of the OAL suggestions others had posted because you have an XD. From personal experience I would think that you are in the right neighborhood and could go to at least 1.135 without any issues. I have tried as high as 1.140 with good results, but since the magazine length on the XD family is not as long as those guns based on the 1911 types, I would not exceed 1.145 as an absolute maximum. Edited August 26, 2009 by Classic_jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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