Below minumum loads with Accurate Arms No. 5

[wally]

Since Unique which I've used 30+ years has been very hard to find, I decided I'd save what I have left for 9mm & .40S&W loads and switch to AA No. 5 for my .45ACP loads.

I've loaded 6.0gr Unique, any case, any primer, any bullet 185gr to 230gr (although the 185 gr were on the light side). I choose AA No.5 because it was available at good prices and the starting loads for 200gr & 230gr cast and jacketed bullets were all the same at 7.8gr.

So I loaded up some 200gr hard cast SWC, 230gr hard cast 230gr RN, 230gr Berry's plated, and Zero 230gr FMJ at OAL 1.230"

Tested them in four pistols, the OAL is as long as will fit in my shortest mag (either Glock 21 or Para P14, I forget which caused me to reduce it from 1.250" years ago). When making component changes like this, what I generally do is mix a mag or two alternating old and new loads. If function is fine, and recoil is not noticeably different, I'll call it good.

Well these AA No.5 "minimum" loads were all clearly hotter with all four bullet types in all four pistols than the Unique loads I've been shooting for years! Last time I chrono'd the Unique loads the 200gr were running about 925fps and the 230gr about 850fps.

I dropped down from 7.8gr to 7.3grs with the AA No.5 for the next batch and these felt indistinguishable from my old Unique loads with all for bullet types, qualitatively there was less smoke and perhaps a bit more flash with the AA powder.

I've since shot several hundred of these with great success, so now I'm standardizing on a "below minimum" load of 7.3gr of AA No. 5 as I can't argue with the results.

 

[cfullgraf]

Western powders data, Edition 6, for Berry 230 RN plated bullet shows a minimum with Accurate #5 at 7.1 grains.

http://www.ramshot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/WesternLoadGuide1-2016_Web-1.pdf

 

[USSR]

This brings up a good point. One time I called Sierra to question a Maximum load that they listed in their reloading manual. Personally, I knew it was nowhere's near maximum. What they said, and I quote: "Well, we just decided to stop there". So, understand that the same applies to Minimum loads - that's just where they arbitrarily decided to start. The only exception to this applies to W296/H110 which has reduced charge weight issues and should never be used for reduced loads below what the reloading manual says.

Don

 

[Rock185]

Wally, Since the '60s I've used a bunch of Unique too. The Accurate Arms powders have been my favorites for quite a few years now though. The AA powders flow through my powder measures like water resulting in very consistent velocities, low standard deviations, etc. That being said, in my reloading I've noticed that the further I back off from listed maximum charges with AA-5, AA-7 and AA-9, the larger the velocity spreads and standard deviations become. Have you noticed anything like this?

 

[wally]

That being said, in my reloading I've noticed that the further I back off from listed maximum charges with AA-5, AA-7 and AA-9, the larger the velocity spreads and standard deviations become. Have you noticed anything like this?

I haven't chrono'd anything in a very long time, my old PACT Pro is up in the attic. I'm thrilled with the 7.3gr loads, which as pointed out above from a data source I'd missed initially, is not below minimum for the Berry's plated 230 gr. I shoot high volumes at steel plates 10-20 yards, but mostly at ~15 yards. Recoil control and recovery is the name of the game so I'm pretty sensitive to increases or decreases with different loads. I feel I've succeeded in duplicating what I've been doing for a long time with a different powder.

You are right about the smooth flow, only thing not to like is that 7.3gr of AA#5 takes a lot less volume in the case that did 6.0gr Unique.

I mostly posted this because of all the "warnings" about "never" going below published minimums. I only tried two charge weights, and am happy to stop at good enough for my purposes. I want to crank out ammo and shoot it up, not evaluate loads for things I don't really care about. Having the right "feel" of the recoil and 100% function in a variety of pistols is the key for me, actual velocity & SD I've not cared about for a very long time.

If I ever start reloading for long range rifle shooting again I'll dust off the chrono as velocity & SD will matter a lot here, but so far the ~$0.85/round Hornady steel match has not limited my ability and I don't shoot a high enough volume of this to dig out he chrono and single stage press from the attic to start reloading for rifle.