Just wondering about minimum velocities.

[ms6852]

Ran into a guy who had reloaded some 9mm rds for a beretta with some old unique powder he had purchased at an estate sale. At that time unique was under hercules company. Anyway, following specs he loaded at 4.7 gr with max load being 5.3 according to him. Neither load would cycle his gun, obviously the powder was very old. With the max load the slide moved maybe 1/4 inch back.

After chronoing the loads, the velocities were 658 fps and 847 respectively. This got me to wonder what is the minimum velocity a 9 mm will cycle a handgun? Will it vary from one brand or another or do they need to go at least over 900 fps?

 

[tightgroup tiger]

The force it takes to cycle a semi-automatic will definitely be different from one brand to another. 5.8 gr of Unique is Maximum load for a 115gr and overload for 124 gr 5.3 should be mid range for 115gr so it should cycle in most 9mms.

4.4gr with 115gr according to Lymans 49th should be around 996 fps. If your only getting 847 out of 5.3gr I would wounder also about his OAL, if he is seating out around say 1.150 for an OAL, that would also affect his load with a lower velocity.

What's he using for an OAL and with 5.3 for his higher load is it safe to assume he is using 115gr or is it 124gr?

But if this powder wasn't taken care of properly it could have been compromised.

How does it smell? If it's going bad it will have an acidy smell to it. and some of the powder may be discolored.

If you find this to be the case then all it's good for is yard fertilizer.

 

[sexybeast]

What bullet weight was he using?
I've been given lots of old powder over the years and had no problems with it.
I generally use light loads with lead bullets, usually less than manufacturers starting loads. I do like to load down to see when function stops and it is different for each gun.
When what cycles my glock won't cycle my m&p I know I'm getting down to bare minimum loads. For those who may wonder the accuracy is still there even though the case may not be ejected.
4.7gr of Unique should cycle most 9mm pistols even with 115gr bullets. If he's not doing anything wrong then I also would think the powder became moist or something else that has degraded it.
If, and it is a big if, you can find some Unique on a shelf for sale I would load it up and see the difference. Or just toss the old powder and go with something better.

 

[ms6852]

He was using 115 gr.

 

[kfox]

This year for GSSF I was running 4.5gr Unique under a 124 gr Berry HP plated bullet. Cycled our Gen4 G17 good but son with a Gen 4 19 was having some issues. This was an extremely light load but I did not Chrono it.