Alternative 9mm Powders: TiteWad, Nitro 100NF, MP254

[steve urquell]

Yes reasonably so. The bulk of my testing so far is with the 150 Grain bullets and when I'm done with them then I'll shoot up all the 230s and then I'll have to cast more

I'm having a lot of fun testing them. I've done some testing with 300 Blackout and I am really enjoying testing with the 308. I'm shooting them through a Remington Model 7 with a Leopold 1 to 4 mounted on it. I previously had a holo sun two MOA Green Dot mounted on the top, I haven't decided which one I like better, I like them both.

I enjoy shooting this rifle off hand . The rifle is really light and is punishing to shoot with standard 308. It has a short length of pull which increases the likelihood of the scope cracking your eyebrow open. With the light loads it recoils like a 22 magnum.

It does not destroy steel plates and does not require special alloys. It's not especially loud either. This is very soft lead 1.5 - 1.5 - 97 alloy. I powder coated them with ultimate Chrome paint which is not as durable as other powder coats so I can't push it as hard but these loads don't require great strength and so these loads don't lead.

I'm getting about 2-3 inches at 50 yards shooting off hand which I think is pretty good. The groups get smaller off of a bench I fired 15 or 20 of them into about an inch at 50 yards. I've done three shot groups the size of a a dime from the bench at 50 yard and I don't think that small sample size is worth anything.

I am loading these with Alliant Bullseye and russian large pistol primers and RP 308 Winchester brass. I like that I can shoot the gun a lot and it doesn't get super hot. Three shots with standard 308 makes the barrel too hot to touch. I fired 300 of these over the past two weeks. I loaded more tonight with the Lee hand press. I'm going to have to mix up Alloys and cast and coat some more pretty soon. I'm glad for the change of weather the past couple of months it is just been too damn hot to cast . I used probably 3 oz of Bullseye tonight loading them up.

Sounds like they are a great boolit. Subsonic at 50yds <1" is a very good group. Also sounds like you are finding out how much more enjoyable it is to shoot without all the blast fatigue. That's why I love shooting suppressed. The .300BLK sounded like an air rifle today with the subsonic loads.

[Recycled bullet]

I think the ammo is super Sonic im loading them with 6.5 Grain of Alliant Bullseye. They kind of sound similar to High Velocity 38 Special shot from my revolvers or a 9mm pistol with regular 115 ball. A huge reduction in noise and recoil compared to my standard 308 target load which is 40 grains of IMR 3031 with 150 grain Hornady FMJ or 34 grains of 3031 with the RCBS silhouette bullet.

I started at four grains and worked it up and then stopped at 6.5 because that's when the case mouths stopped being sooty and the accuracy is acceptable enough for me.

I wonder if that corn flakes gun powder would work for this type of loading. I also tested 10 grains of Winchester Auto comp with the MP Hunter bullet those shot fine also.

[steve urquell]

I think the ammo is super Sonic im loading them with 6.5 Grain of Alliant Bullseye. They kind of sound similar to High Velocity 38 Special shot from my revolvers or a 9mm pistol with regular 115 ball. A huge reduction in noise and recoil compared to my standard 308 target load which is 40 grains of IMR 3031 with 150 grain Hornady FMJ or 34 grains of 3031 with the RCBS silhouette bullet.

I started at four grains and worked it up and then stopped at 6.5 because that's when the case mouths stopped being sooty and the accuracy is acceptable enough for me.

I wonder if that corn flakes gun powder would work for this type of loading. I also tested 10 grains of Winchester Auto comp with the MP Hunter bullet those shot fine also.

Looking at the 30-30 and 30-06 loads on GMDR with Bullseye it looks like you are probably just into supersonic territory. Yeah, my pepperoni corn flake (cocoa pebbles?)powder would probably work good in it. Use Blue Dot data from here in the closest case to yours.
http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

[Recycled bullet]

I used the same bullseye powder charge for 150 and for the 230 grain bullets and they both shot almost to the exact same point of aim which I found very interesting.

I want to shoot steel plates with my 300 Blackout pistol and those noe230 taco bullets. I want to test some with bullseye and some with h110 and see which one is more satisfactory

[Recycled bullet]

That gmdr website is awesome

[steve urquell]

I used the same bullseye powder charge for 150 and for the 230 grain bullets and they both shot almost to the exact same point of aim which I found very interesting.

I want to shoot steel plates with my 300 Blackout pistol and those noe230 taco bullets. I want to test some with bullseye and some with h110 and see which one is more satisfactory

That gmdr website is awesome

I love it when the POI stays the same. Get ya some plates. They are cheap.

I love that site. Especially since I found the 32-20 and .300BLK cases are nearly identical in volume. Although if you look at similar sized cases you can extrapolate a charge that'll get you close. The 30-30 and 30-06 velocities aren't hugely different with the same charges.

[steve urquell]

I forgot to add: I put the cocoa pebble MP254 powder in my Lee PPM today and used a technique I always used for Unique since it is shaped like Chinese throwing stars and never dropped well. I put a titanium wedding band just past the first joint of my right middle finger.

I rapped the PPM body when filling the metering cylinder(down) then again when dispensing(up). This helped the charges to be even. I tried zip-tying an electric toothbrush to it but it didn't vibrate hard enough to make a difference. 3 hard raps with the wedding band in each direction helped.

[Recycled bullet]

Can the Lee powder measure deliver consistent drops of the MP powder if you set it to dispense approximately 10 grains? I would guess that would be an appropriate 308 or 30 ought 6 powder charge

[steve urquell]

Can the Lee powder measure deliver consistent drops of the MP powder if you set it to dispense approximately 10 grains? I would guess that would be an appropriate 308 or 30 ought 6 powder charge

When I was dropping 6.0gr at first I checked it and it was dead on with the rapping technique. When I reduced it to 4.6gr it started varying up to .2gr. I think with a bigger charge it drops more accurately.

All kidding aside it is nearly the size of red pepper flakes at Pizza Hut.

[Kosh75287]

Where do I even FIND MP-254?

[steve urquell]

Where do I even FIND MP-254?

Don't feel like I'm endorsing it in any way because it ain't that great ha, ha. When I bought it it was the only cheaper powder available. If I was doing it right now I'd probably buy 147, 246, or 250. I think MP246 is a flake powder but I know nothing about it either. The number in the name relates to burn rate. Smaller number=faster burn rate.
https://americanreloading.com/shop/?...ock&sf_paged=3

[Agent1187]

I really liked when they were including sample pictures of the powder as well.

Any way, I just received some MP-248 as well and it has the same appearance as the 254. So I'd expect 246 and 250 to encounter the same troubles metering.

[steve urquell]

I really liked when they were including sample pictures of the powder as well.

Any way, I just received some MP-248 as well and it has the same appearance as the 254. So I'd expect 246 and 250 to encounter the same troubles metering.

Makes me wonder how big ammo makers meter this stuff. Since Amer Reloading is in the biz of demilled components the powder is surely pulled from cartriges they demil.

[Agent1187]

"A little bit one way or another won't kill anyone"

If I were a guessing man, I'd wager that this series of 245-255 powders were all end-of-lot leftovers from this year's waterfowl hunting loads. And a half grain +/- would hardly be noticed.

[steve urquell]

"A little bit one way or another won't kill anyone"

If I were a guessing man, I'd wager that this series of 245-255 powders were all end-of-lot leftovers from this year's waterfowl hunting loads. And a half grain +/- would hardly be noticed.

Yeah I think the low end loads like I'm doing may not be its best application. That 1300fps one really woke it up. I feel like it may be great in a bigger case based on my .300BLK experience with it. I'll try heavier bullets in the .300 at subsonic velocity which will let me raise the charge which I feel cleans it up.

[Kosh75287]

I was just thinking of the MP-254 as fuel for my .38 Super.

[steve urquell]

I was just thinking of the MP-254 as fuel for my .38 Super.

Don't say I didn't warn you on flake size and metering if you order it.

[Recycled bullet]

Would powder Scoops work better?

[steve urquell]

Would powder Scoops work better?

I don't know. Stuff has a lot of area between the flakes. Imma go drop a few charges with my wedding band rap technique and report back. Gimme a minute. I'll do a few scoops and see as well.

[Recycled bullet]

.7cc scoop does 8 grain blue dot I wonder how much it dispenses of this MP powder