ok, i thought i had my 229 load developed, so i took it and the load out today for some proofing, and now have a few questions.
1) if i can get them to work, i'll try to put some pictures of the groups up. being a rifle and accuracy freak, i do very little w/ handguns, and except for my 480 ruger, have never asked much in the way of accuracy. however, the ruger is scoped, so its a little different. anyway, the best group seems ok, but average groups are a little disappointing. any tips on how to tighten the groups up? all groups shot benched from 25 yards. and i do not wish to scope the gun. i guess what i'm asking, is what is the 'standard' for accuracy? eg, rifles it is 1.5", 1", or .5" at 100 depending on the rifle's application. what is it for handguns? (if the pics work, pic 1 is my best group of the day, and pics 2 & 3 are representative averages for what i can expect out of every group i shot w/ these loads today)
2) i am not sure how to set up a crimp. kinda seems like voodoo to me, so i just took a stab, and it doesn't seem to work. i measured a factory load at the very edge of the brass and i came up w/ .420". i measured my uncrimped cartridge and came up w/ .421" (.420" + .001" on the expander plug). so, i seated the bullets to an overall length 1.121", and in a seperate step, crimped them down to .419". during shooting, i would let round #8 chamber, then strip round #9 and 10 from the mag. #9 always exhibited some setback, usuall around 1.111", and round #10 would usually still be at 1.121"... so, i shot and measured starting w/ round #4, and many times #4 would exhibit setback, but #5-9 almost always did... if my crimp is tighter than factory, why am i getting setback? i did the same measuring w/ factory loads, and found no evidence of setback.
3) i find most folks reccomend seating to an overall length of 1.125". my manual says to seat to 1.120". what difference does it make? the sig had zero malfunctions for the entire range session, but since i plan to load 185 jhp's in my 1911's next, i am wondering why seat long (i know why for bolt rifles, but not autoloader handguns).
4) 1200 f/s seems to be aboutthe max velocity i can get from this gun, and i get that at about 8.4-8.5 grains. prior to that point, every .1 grain addition in powder charge netted me around 15 f/s. but, once i reached around 1200 f/s, i had a hard time getting much better than 1215 or so, even going all the way up to 9.0 grains. is 1200 f/s about all i can get from the 3.9" barrel and power pistol? or is there more to be had somewhere using these components?
i am using nosler 150 hp's, federal brass, cci small pistol primers, and power pistol powder. the factory loads i used for comparison purposes was magtech.
thanks for any help!
1) if i can get them to work, i'll try to put some pictures of the groups up. being a rifle and accuracy freak, i do very little w/ handguns, and except for my 480 ruger, have never asked much in the way of accuracy. however, the ruger is scoped, so its a little different. anyway, the best group seems ok, but average groups are a little disappointing. any tips on how to tighten the groups up? all groups shot benched from 25 yards. and i do not wish to scope the gun. i guess what i'm asking, is what is the 'standard' for accuracy? eg, rifles it is 1.5", 1", or .5" at 100 depending on the rifle's application. what is it for handguns? (if the pics work, pic 1 is my best group of the day, and pics 2 & 3 are representative averages for what i can expect out of every group i shot w/ these loads today)
2) i am not sure how to set up a crimp. kinda seems like voodoo to me, so i just took a stab, and it doesn't seem to work. i measured a factory load at the very edge of the brass and i came up w/ .420". i measured my uncrimped cartridge and came up w/ .421" (.420" + .001" on the expander plug). so, i seated the bullets to an overall length 1.121", and in a seperate step, crimped them down to .419". during shooting, i would let round #8 chamber, then strip round #9 and 10 from the mag. #9 always exhibited some setback, usuall around 1.111", and round #10 would usually still be at 1.121"... so, i shot and measured starting w/ round #4, and many times #4 would exhibit setback, but #5-9 almost always did... if my crimp is tighter than factory, why am i getting setback? i did the same measuring w/ factory loads, and found no evidence of setback.
3) i find most folks reccomend seating to an overall length of 1.125". my manual says to seat to 1.120". what difference does it make? the sig had zero malfunctions for the entire range session, but since i plan to load 185 jhp's in my 1911's next, i am wondering why seat long (i know why for bolt rifles, but not autoloader handguns).
4) 1200 f/s seems to be aboutthe max velocity i can get from this gun, and i get that at about 8.4-8.5 grains. prior to that point, every .1 grain addition in powder charge netted me around 15 f/s. but, once i reached around 1200 f/s, i had a hard time getting much better than 1215 or so, even going all the way up to 9.0 grains. is 1200 f/s about all i can get from the 3.9" barrel and power pistol? or is there more to be had somewhere using these components?
i am using nosler 150 hp's, federal brass, cci small pistol primers, and power pistol powder. the factory loads i used for comparison purposes was magtech.
thanks for any help!
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