Jal5
12-23-2012, 08:32 PM
I am shooting a S&W MP shield 9mm.
I have the Lee 358125 RF which I size to .357 based on the slugged barrel measurement. I also measured the longest OAL that will properly fit using the barrel as the Gauge and that is 1.10
I have a lot of Unique and would like to try this powder but the OAL in most sources is 1.150 which is too long for my gun. I used the 358125RF withUnique at an OAL of 1.10 which fits my chamber as measured by me. Not being able to find much data on Unique at this OAL, I saw in the Lee Manual for a OAL of 1.150 using lead bullets, the min/max powder as 5.3-5.5
To allow for the smaller OAL, I reduced it by 10% and came up with a 4.7-4.9 trial, 5 rounds each. No fail to feed and the rounds felt just a little less powerful than factory rounds for a 115 bullet. None were terribly accurate though 4.9 was best. I may try bumping it to 5.0 and see how that goes. But the boolit does work fine in the gun at this OAL with taper crimp of .377 at the mouth. I used Win brass, cci500 primers, and BAC lube.
My question is about my extrapolation of the load from the Lee manual- does 10% reduction seem right or should I figure it a different way? I never tried to extrapolate a load like this before. Thanks for the help.
I have the Lee 358125 RF which I size to .357 based on the slugged barrel measurement. I also measured the longest OAL that will properly fit using the barrel as the Gauge and that is 1.10
I have a lot of Unique and would like to try this powder but the OAL in most sources is 1.150 which is too long for my gun. I used the 358125RF withUnique at an OAL of 1.10 which fits my chamber as measured by me. Not being able to find much data on Unique at this OAL, I saw in the Lee Manual for a OAL of 1.150 using lead bullets, the min/max powder as 5.3-5.5
To allow for the smaller OAL, I reduced it by 10% and came up with a 4.7-4.9 trial, 5 rounds each. No fail to feed and the rounds felt just a little less powerful than factory rounds for a 115 bullet. None were terribly accurate though 4.9 was best. I may try bumping it to 5.0 and see how that goes. But the boolit does work fine in the gun at this OAL with taper crimp of .377 at the mouth. I used Win brass, cci500 primers, and BAC lube.
My question is about my extrapolation of the load from the Lee manual- does 10% reduction seem right or should I figure it a different way? I never tried to extrapolate a load like this before. Thanks for the help.