.40 @ 50 F

[ewc]

More .40 testing. Weather was nice 5-8 wind, 45-50 F, and sunny.

100 yards-

Bullet was the 200 SST, (2) dry wwads, and a Fed209A primer. Chrono was about 8' in front of the barrel and no adjustment to speed was made for that. I used 12 of 4759 as starter for all loads and shot the following-

#1 3@ 75 H4350 OAL (powder column only)=2.690"
#2 3@ 75 RL-19 = 2.625"
#3 2@ 75 RL-22 = 2.707"
#4 2@ 75 H-4831sc = 2.711"
#5 2@ 80 RL-22 = 2.859"
#6 3@ 80 H4831sc = 2.820"

My barrel is not as fast as Steve's. I was predicting 2,925 or so with my initial load of 12/75 (sw=11/75 = 2,890 or so). I got 1 error and two readings of 2,826 (E, 2826,2826). Group was one hole at 100 yards.

I accidentally shot the 12/75 RL-22 load next and those two shots went into 1 1/14" at 2644 and 2617.

Next was 12/75 of RL-19. Shots went error, 2599, 2491. Didn't seem right speedwise, but shot into two inches. I replaced the vent liner and cleaned things up a bit here.

12/75 of 4831sc was went 2638 and 2626 for a neat little two shot group of about 1".

12/80 RL-22 went 2688 and 2637 and 1".

12/80 4831sc went 2768, 2772, and 2764 for a sub-1" group.

7mm-08 with a new Lilja barrel put 5 into a 1/2" at 2,800.

That's all I've got now. I'm thinking H4350 or faster-

Judd

[dave d.]

:)judd that is some nice shooting there keep up the great work.any pics?

[rbinar]

That Judd is one shooting machine. I'd like to thank him and Steve for putting the 40 through it's paces this year. Between the two good things are happening.

Let's see here. Your barrel is a little slow of Steve's and it may be your breech plug is slightly longer reducing total barrel length and giving slightly less ignition as well.

There is so much information in your post it makes analysis a challenge. However the 12/75 Reloader 19 load didn't seem right and it was NOT right. So be careful here. Don't go adding a lot of extra booster to get it to speed. As you know RL19 is a faster burner than RL22 and the same charge weight should shoot faster than RL22. Perhaps it was a bullet fit issue, perhaps it was powder with moisture contamination ( I don't know ) but it's not right: BACK UP, it's not dangerous but be careful

The other loads look very much like I'd expect and they show what you can expect in future shooting trials.

1 12/75 RL22: You have 87 grains total charge and the ideal speed would be about 2875 to 2925fps. So this load can be adjust by moving in this manner 13/74, 14/ 73 etc. Look for about 30 to 60fps increases when booster is increased 1 grain if it is faster than that only increase by 1/2 grain. If the temperature is below 50 when you shoot stop at the lower range I mention that will allow a safety over run in warmer weather. If you find a load that just drives tacks a little short of the ideal speed then fine, but your likely to have even better targets with some speed.

2 12/75 RL19 Already commented on above.

3 12/75 H4831 The same thing said about RL22 applies but keep in mind they may adjust differently so don't do something just because it worked with RL22.

4 12/80 RL22 with 92 grains of powder ideal speed is very near 3000fps. So we are considerably slow. You certainly can move up in booster but don't go in spurts keep discipline and move 1 grain at a time taking note of speed changes. If it doesn't seem right STOP.

5 12/80 H4831 The same applies as with the RL 22 12/80 load but again they will probably adjust differently.

Thanks for the effort if I can help in any way let me know.

[sw]

Interesting results. I agree that the H-4350 is likely as slow of a powder that we want to use. The accuracy you got seems excellent - hard to beat a "hole". I use 1 WW , CCIm, and RB's own BP: this may account for some of the difference in velocity. The extremely narrow velocity range is really impressive. I plan to work around 9-12g VV-110 and 75-80g H-4350. I'll be interested in getting a final load, sighting it in @ 3" hi @ 100 yds and then shooting at 50 yd increments to 400 yds and see what The BC of 200SSTs and 195 Barnes are at this high velocity. Good report.

[ewc]

dave-

sorry, no pics. I'll take some next go around.

rb-

Thanks for the guidance and insight. Without your help, sw's, and dave's (would'nt have a barrel without his help) - I wouldn't be as far along with this gun.

"1 12/75 RL22: You have 87 grains total charge and the ideal speed would be about 2875 to 2925fps. So this load can be adjust by moving in this manner 13/74, 14/ 73 etc. Look for about 30 to 60fps increases when booster is increased 1 grain if it is faster than that only increase by 1/2 grain. If the temperature is below 50 when you shoot stop at the lower range I mention that will allow a safety over run in warmer weather. If you find a load that just drives tacks a little short of the ideal speed then fine, but your likely to have even better targets with some speed."

That is exactly the information/help I need - how to get where I want speedwise and what to expect when making slight adjustments.

Thanks also for reminding me to trust what the chrono is trying to tell me. I have now run 9 different powders thru this gun - all with moa or better accuracy. I reload for about 7 other calibers and never have tried more than maybe 3 powders per caliber. It's fun experimenting with this gun. In my eyes, the .40 cannot be beat.

sw-

Velocity for both the h4350 and H4831sc loads was very close, dont know if it was luck or a function of those particular Hogdon powders.

I'm going to shoot again tomorrow - trying the H4350 load again along with a couple others.