I have been working with the MBC 98 Gr coated WC in .32 Long since Berrys has not seen fit to make any 83 Gr plated HBWCs for going on ten years now.
1.6 Grs on N310 was too slow, 1.7 was right at 800 FPS (What I started out to get), and 1.8 Grs was around 830ish FPS. All using a Fed 100 SP primer. I had been hoarding the 2 to 3K I had left when they went AWOAL during the craziness for things that needed them, but since they have been available again lately I picked up 10K and have gone back to using them along with the other brands I have. I bought 10 S&B SP primers when Cabelas put them on sale for $20 per 1K just because it makes good sense to buy on sale. I also picked up 10K CCI in strips when Midway put them on sale for $20 per 1K, for the same reason, it makes sense. I hadn't used a lot of the CCI over the years for no other reason that they tended to be higher than Fed 100 and WSP primers in my area, the powder primer guy at the gun shows tended not to have them and the WSP shot well and took up less space than the Fed 100.
After testing Saturday morning I had 12 rounds of 1.7 grs of N310/Fed 100and the MBC 98 Gr WC left from testing, and had the idea to try the S&B against them, so I loaded up 12 identical ones except for the primer and I used the S&B SP primer. I wanted to see how it affected the Avg FPS and ES/SD numbers, and get an idea if they grouped as well.
I went to the range earlier today, set the gun and test loads out to warm up for awhile, shot three extra rounds through the gun and then shot two strings over the chrono at 5 yards with the target at 7 yards.
I got sloppy (As I often do) with the S&B primered rounds so the group was a little bigger, but not different enough (If you throw out the one high I let go when the sights were up and the one I yanked low/left) to call one better than the other after just one group. I will test further by loading more of each and shooting multiple groups with each.
The numbers from each 12 round group looked very similar, statistically indifferent I would say, and to close to say one is faster or one has better ES/SD numbers, considering such a low number of shots. A suitable substitute if further testing shows them to be as accurate.
In another test with 9MM plinking ammo using 124 plated bullets, N320, and WSP primers showed the S&B SP primer to be slightly milder than the WSP, at least in that one application.
Today:
Benelli MP3-S, RP cases (.912 to .915), MBC 98 Gr coated WC, 1.7 Grs N310. OAL .960 +/-, 94 degrees 37% RH.
Fed 100 Primers:
Hi=815
Lo=774
Avg=801
ES=41
SD=10
S&B Primers:
Hi=820
Lo=795
Avg=807
ES=25
SD=7
1.6 Grs on N310 was too slow, 1.7 was right at 800 FPS (What I started out to get), and 1.8 Grs was around 830ish FPS. All using a Fed 100 SP primer. I had been hoarding the 2 to 3K I had left when they went AWOAL during the craziness for things that needed them, but since they have been available again lately I picked up 10K and have gone back to using them along with the other brands I have. I bought 10 S&B SP primers when Cabelas put them on sale for $20 per 1K just because it makes good sense to buy on sale. I also picked up 10K CCI in strips when Midway put them on sale for $20 per 1K, for the same reason, it makes sense. I hadn't used a lot of the CCI over the years for no other reason that they tended to be higher than Fed 100 and WSP primers in my area, the powder primer guy at the gun shows tended not to have them and the WSP shot well and took up less space than the Fed 100.
After testing Saturday morning I had 12 rounds of 1.7 grs of N310/Fed 100and the MBC 98 Gr WC left from testing, and had the idea to try the S&B against them, so I loaded up 12 identical ones except for the primer and I used the S&B SP primer. I wanted to see how it affected the Avg FPS and ES/SD numbers, and get an idea if they grouped as well.
I went to the range earlier today, set the gun and test loads out to warm up for awhile, shot three extra rounds through the gun and then shot two strings over the chrono at 5 yards with the target at 7 yards.
I got sloppy (As I often do) with the S&B primered rounds so the group was a little bigger, but not different enough (If you throw out the one high I let go when the sights were up and the one I yanked low/left) to call one better than the other after just one group. I will test further by loading more of each and shooting multiple groups with each.
The numbers from each 12 round group looked very similar, statistically indifferent I would say, and to close to say one is faster or one has better ES/SD numbers, considering such a low number of shots. A suitable substitute if further testing shows them to be as accurate.
In another test with 9MM plinking ammo using 124 plated bullets, N320, and WSP primers showed the S&B SP primer to be slightly milder than the WSP, at least in that one application.
Today:
Benelli MP3-S, RP cases (.912 to .915), MBC 98 Gr coated WC, 1.7 Grs N310. OAL .960 +/-, 94 degrees 37% RH.
Fed 100 Primers:
Hi=815
Lo=774
Avg=801
ES=41
SD=10
S&B Primers:
Hi=820
Lo=795
Avg=807
ES=25
SD=7
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