VV-3N37 ~ 147g Range Report

[Artofgolf]

Now that my P-Valley order was in the house, I wanted to test 3N37 with Berry's 147 grainers. Load data from the Lee Modern Reloading (2nd Edition) manual; exact confirmation from Lapua's website for VihtaVuori pistol parameters.
OAL = 1.145 <> VMD .40+ trickle on the Gemini20 (Great scale). 15 yards w/prescription shooting glasses

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4.5g of VV-3N37

I thought I'd leave the red-dot @ home & use the Heine Straight-8 irons on the stock slide of my G-19. This minimum charge cycled the slide & softly ejected the brass. Minor recoil (for me) was easy to control.

4.7g of VV-3N37

Bumping up 0.2g, this selection finished slightly high with one laggard to port (probably me). Recoil felt fine

4.9g of VV-3N37

Now we're getting somewhere I liked the upper-band charge with the peppy brass eject. Tightening group indicated to me that it's close to ideal for me .

OK - Parabellum People: Don't give up on those 147 grain bullets just yet

 

[Artofgolf]

Update 09/19

After thinking about what bds mentioned in one of his testing sessions, I counterintuitively lowered my original starting load. By golly, the lower charge (4.4g of 3N37) cycled my G19 just fine
(unsupported w/irons @ 7 yards).

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My old carbine will shoot anything, so I gave it 10-rounds also (bipod rest w/red-dot @ 25 yards). My old eyes needed the help at that distance

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I thought I had read somewhere that VV-3N37 did not perform well with low-to-midrange charges; now I respectfully disagree with the aforementioned.

 

[chemist308]

Nice shooting.

 

[Potatohead]

Pretty good Art of G, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be aiming for that little spot in the very middle-

 

[Artofgolf]

you're supposed to be aiming for that little spot in the very middle

Potatohead, I'll try to remember that next time....

 

[Potatohead]