Hornady 124gr XTP / HS-6 / WSP Primers / Mixed Brass Issues

[USMC22]

Hi Guys,

Couple more questions for you...

I'm using Hornady's 9th Reloading Manual for 9mm and have tried 5.1 and 5.4 grains of HS-6 with mixed brass, Winchester Small Pistol Primers and Hornady's 124 grain XTP bullets seated to 1.06"

Issues: In my Glock 34 Gen 3 the slide is not locking back and I've had several failure to feeds. I've been using a Magentospeed Chrono and with 5.1 I was averaging 995 fps with a standard deviation of 22 fps. The same rounds (less tested) cycled fine in my Glock 43. Winchester white box is about .10" longer then I am seating (and not hollow points) which cycles fine. With 5.4 grains being in the middle of the of the pack would you abandon this particular load? I only have 300 rounds left of it and just picked up 3,000 rounds of 115 grain round nose by Hornady.

 

[Walkalong]

Issues: In my Glock 34 Gen 3 the slide is not locking back and I've had several failure to feeds. I've been using a Magentospeed Chrono and with 5.1 I was averaging 995 fps

Too light for the Glock 34.

 

[Walkalong]

I assume 5.4 cycled the gun?

And HS-6 isn't a good powder to load light with.

 

[USMC22]

Too light for the Glock 34.

That's what I was thinking... 5.9 grains is max. Does it matter the velocity is already higher then what Hornady states for the current charge?

 

[USMC22]

I assume 5.4 cycled the gun?

And HS-6 isn't a good powder to load light with.

Not reliably. Out of a batch of 20 maybe 6-7 didn't cycle. Some locked the slide, others didn't.

 

[Walkalong]

Does it matter the velocity is already higher then what Hornady states for the current charge?

Different barrels can give different velocities. It should be reasonably close though.

5.9 grains is max

Minus 10% is 5.3, so 5.4 is barely over minimum using that formula. What does it list as minimum? Anyway, not locking the slide back is a big clue to where you are at. A 124 at 1050ish from my 5" 1911 using a faster powder just dribbles the brass out, and a 5" 1911 is fairly easy to cycle.

 

[fxvr5]

Different barrels can give different velocities. It should be reasonably close though.

Minus 10% is 5.3, so 5.4 is barely over minimum using that formula. What does it list as minimum? Anyway, not locking the slide back is a big clue to where you are at. A 124 at 1050ish from my 5" 1911 using a faster powder just dribbles the brass out, and a 5" 1911 is fairly easy to cycle.

Hornady lists 5.1 gr of HS-6 at the minimum producing 900 fps.

 

[243winxb]

Checking the Hodgdon load data , different bullets, near that weight, are using 6 + grains.

 

[JO JO]

seems like a light load I have loaded 124gr xtp with HS-6 at 6.2 and 6.4, 1.08 OAL CCI primers with good results ,
Hodgdon shows 6 gr as start , Lyman 50th shows 124gr xtp hs-6 at 5.6 to 6.6 ,
you can always email or call hodgdon to confirm load data but I think your 5.1 is way to light of a load,

 

[Walkalong]

I looked at Hodgdon and for a 124 gr Berrys, a Sierra 125 Gr FMJ, and a 125 Gr lead bullet the lowest they list for a start charge is 5.9 Grs.

Interestingly enough though, they list 4.5 to 5.1 for the 125 Gr HAP bullet, for 865 and 971 FPS.

The 5.4 still seems too light for your gun though. It wouldn't hurt to double check your charge weight.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

With a 125gr Sierra FMJ bullet Hodgdon lists a charge range of 6.4gr to 6.8gr HS-6.

I'm not sure why but the data for the HAP bullet has always been much lighter than any other bullets of the same wright on the Hodgdon site. Maybe its because the HAP bullets are sized to .356" and the other 9mm bullets are sized to .355".

 

[USMC22]

Thanks Guys,

I'll check the Lyman manual as well. I saw Hodgdons data for the berry's. Weird how there is such a deviation. Just trying to take it slow and be safe. I appreciate all the help. Will update this thread after moving up in charge weight with results.

 

[USMC22]

Stepped up to 5.6 and had no failure to feeds or failure to ejects. Slide locked on an empty Mag. I looked at the Lyman Manual and see this is still a light load but I am using WSP Primers, not CCI. Being new I'm trying to stick to the book.

Took some pics of my Primers after seeing a mark. Any input on this?

 

[243winxb]

The photo shows a little " primer swipe" normal for many guns. The action unlocks a little early and the firing pin drags.

The rectangle part looks a little raised, also getting a little swipe. Nothing i would worry about.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Stepped up to 5.6 and had no failure to feeds or failure to ejects. Slide locked on an empty Mag. I looked at the Lyman Manual and see this is still a light load but I am using WSP Primers, not CCI. Being new I'm trying to stick to the book.

Took some pics of my Primers after seeing a mark. Any input on this?

With shotgun loads you should match the recipe exactly but with handgun loading primer brands are not very important. As long as you use the same type of primer and work up from the starting charge,weight brand is not critical.

As for the primer strike, that is typical of a Glock firing pin.

 

[Reeferman]

I had that same issue and got it straightened out here. I was using Hornady 124 FMJ-RN and the Hornady load data for HS6 would hardly cycle the slide on a 1911 even at the max of 5.9 grains. Used the Hodgdon load for a 125 Sierra FMJ of 6.4 to 6.8 and worked really well at 6.5 grains. I too was not sure of using the Hodgdon data but it is a very good shooting load. If I had XTP 124 it would be even better.

 

[Dill]

the load on the jug worked well for me (6.8 gr) when I loaded up some fast moving 124's. about 1200 fps out of a 4" XD. 5.1-5.4 grains seems much too low.