185gr GDHP Load Advice

[Bigbluebuckeye]

I picked up some Gold Dots for a good price and thought I would try them out. When looking at my manuals, I am seeing some numbers that don't make sense to me.

From Lyman's 49th 185 JHP
W231 4.4-6.1 OAL 1.175
HP38 3.5-5.8 same OAL (I always thought these powders were interchangable)

From Speer 185 GDHP
W231 6.6-7.4 OAL 1.20

Is the GDHP THAT much different from a standard HP that you would have that big of a difference in the powder charge?

I am basically just looking for a good load for these bullets. I would rather stay in standard pressure ranges. I am open to any powder suggestions. I have HP38, W231, and WSF, but could use an excuse to but new stuff to play with.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[gamestalker]

Hey Matt, can you elaborate a bit more cartridge and firearm you are loading these for? I'm thinking you may be referring to 44 mag.?

On another note, Speer data, as is most all other manufacturer's data, are different from one another.

So far as Gold Dot is concerned, I have always liked that bullet. I load a good deal of those and XTP's, and both perform very well for me with full house magnum charges for my wheel guns. For 9mm and .40 I always get full expansion too, when using slow burner's such as HS6 and Longshot.
GS

 

[LiveLife]

W231 4.4-6.1 OAL 1.175
HP38 3.5-5.8 same OAL (I always thought these powders were interchangable)

That may be due to older pressure test data when W231 and HP-38 were different powders. Hodgdon obtained license to sell Winchester powders in 2006 and Hodgdon has confirmed that both W231 and HP-38 are now the same exact powder - http://www.hodgdon.com/history.html

In March 2006, Hodgdon Powder Company and Winchester® Ammunition announced that Winchester® branded reloading powders would be licensed to Hodgdon. Winchester smokeless propellants, the choice of loading professionals, are available to the handloader to duplicate the factory performance of loads from handgun to rifle and shotgun.

Is the GDHP THAT much different from a standard HP that you would have that big of a difference in the powder charge?

I am basically just looking for a good load for these bullets. I would rather stay in standard pressure ranges. I am open to any powder suggestions. I have HP38, W231, and WSF

Speer Gold Dot bullets are plated bullets but the plating is thick enough that I just use jacketed load data with them (I use them in 9mm/40S&W with same powder charges as Remington Golden Saber JHP). W231/HP-38 will give you milder recoiling target loads at mid range load data with very good accuracy. WSF will give you higher velocity for full-power loads.

I am assuming OP is referring to 45ACP. I use 185 gr Berry's HBRN with 5.5 gr of W231/HP-38 as lighter recoil practice load. Here's Hodgdon's load data as reference:

185 gr HDY JSWC W231/HP-38 OAL 1.135" Start 5.0 gr (762 fps) 12,000 CUP - Max 5.9 gr (906 fps) 15,800 CUP

For full-power loads with Remington 185 gr Golden Saber JHP, I use WSF:

185 gr HDY JSWC WSF OAL 1.135" Start 6.8 gr (886 fps) 13,400 CUP - Max 7.5 gr (981 fps) 17,400 CUP

Maybe this will help clarify the powder charge differences. This is from 1999 Winchester load data. Although W231/WSF start/max charges for 185 gr JHP show higher charges than current Hodgdon load data for 185 gr SWC, if you look at the velocities for W231/WSF, they do correspond to the powder charges and are linear (don't look at CUP vs PSI as they do not correspond with each other). I hope this helped?

 

[Bigbluebuckeye]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am going to start low on the Speer data. The Lyman data just looks really conservative. I also bought a lb of aa#5 just to have a new powder to play with. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Matt