sequins
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CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.
Hello friends,
I am loading some 45 ACP using AA#5 powder, CCI 300 primers, MBC 230gn RN BB "Soft Ball" bullets, and mixed headstamp brass.
My bullets measure .652" in length and .452" in width nominally and for the sake of this exercise I'm counting all my cases as .898 length.
Reviewing the Western Powders 1st edition load book for AA#5 I see that they have loads for several 230 grain bullets, with max charges ranging from 7.7gn (Hornady XTP 230gn) to 8.7gn (Sierra FMJ 230gn) with starting loads from 6.6gn (Hornady XTP 230gn) to 7.7gn (MCB LRN BB 230gn). The Hornady XTP is a standout on the page as both the minimum and maximum are by far the lowest of any data listed, none of the other bullets have a minimum below 7.1gn or a maximum below 8.2gn. All of this data is published in their book under the 45 ACP AA#5 section.
The 45 ACP +P data is quite a bit more adventurous, with the Hornady XTP again standing out as the lowest minimums and maximums (7.7gn minimum, 8.1gn maximum) and with all other bullets indicating a minimum of at least 8.0gn and a maximum no less than 8.6gn.
Since I'm also loading a lead round nose beveled base bullet, the MBC 230gn Softball, I figured the MCB data would be a good start. The Western manual indicates a 1.230" COAL for the MCB bullet with a starting charge of 7.7gn (852 FPS) and a maximum charge of 8.5gn (968 FPS, 19,800 PSI)
Now, here's the rub, plugging this data into quickload I see max pressure for the MBC bullet is predicated to be reached at 7.5gn of AA#5 predicting a velocity of 953 FPS and 22,628 PSI. 7.7gn, the Western minimum charge for a presumably very similar bullet, indicates 976 FPS and 24,012 PSI. The Western max load of 8.5gn indicates an amazing 1068 FPS and a terrifying 30,573 PSI.
This surprised me so I went ahead and looked for some more conventional bullets that have the EXACT bullet listed in the manual AND pre-loaded in Quickload, such as the Nosler FMJ, and inputting the maximum of 8.7gn of AA#5 for the Nosler FMJ bullet at the Western specified COAL of 1.250" in Quickload indicates a velocity of 1030 FPS and a peak pressure of 24,506 PSI (quite an overcharge!). Western tells me that load would generate a mere 927 FPS at 19,300 PSI, so, that's a huge difference....
How different can two LRN BB bullets weighing 230gn be, and for that matter how can really every single row of data be wildly over pressure according to quickload? I was originally planning to start in the lower/middle range of 7.9gn-8.0gn of AA#5 but now I'm a little scared to do so- even the starting load is predicted to be above max, but on the other hand I'm highly doubting the veracity of the quickload preditions... In the past when I can't find my specific bullet I look for the most similar one I can and start towards the bottom of the load data, sanity checking it against the general load data on the page (If I'm not above a single load's maximum for any bullet construction I'm probably safe being the thinking) but now I'm second guessing that approach when published data for a comparable bullet (Again, both are LRN BB 230gn bullets) has a higher starting charge than my predicted maximum charge.
Anyone got experience with AA#5 and the 230gn Softball bullets from MBC? Is Quickload just misleading me? I'm surprised to see predicted maximum pressure at 7.5gn of powder for my bullets and when looking at the book I would expect to certainly not be hitting maximum until a much higher charge in the mid or even high 8.Xgn range. I'm rather new to the software but I figured with all the weird bullets I buy that don't have lots of published data it would be a good way to calculate starting points, but this software and the manual don't seem very well aligned. Perhaps I wasted my money on Quickload (or maybe I'm not intelligent enough to use it properly)? You'd think Western would be killing people if Quickload were accurately predicting these loads...
Hello friends,
I am loading some 45 ACP using AA#5 powder, CCI 300 primers, MBC 230gn RN BB "Soft Ball" bullets, and mixed headstamp brass.
My bullets measure .652" in length and .452" in width nominally and for the sake of this exercise I'm counting all my cases as .898 length.
Reviewing the Western Powders 1st edition load book for AA#5 I see that they have loads for several 230 grain bullets, with max charges ranging from 7.7gn (Hornady XTP 230gn) to 8.7gn (Sierra FMJ 230gn) with starting loads from 6.6gn (Hornady XTP 230gn) to 7.7gn (MCB LRN BB 230gn). The Hornady XTP is a standout on the page as both the minimum and maximum are by far the lowest of any data listed, none of the other bullets have a minimum below 7.1gn or a maximum below 8.2gn. All of this data is published in their book under the 45 ACP AA#5 section.
The 45 ACP +P data is quite a bit more adventurous, with the Hornady XTP again standing out as the lowest minimums and maximums (7.7gn minimum, 8.1gn maximum) and with all other bullets indicating a minimum of at least 8.0gn and a maximum no less than 8.6gn.
Since I'm also loading a lead round nose beveled base bullet, the MBC 230gn Softball, I figured the MCB data would be a good start. The Western manual indicates a 1.230" COAL for the MCB bullet with a starting charge of 7.7gn (852 FPS) and a maximum charge of 8.5gn (968 FPS, 19,800 PSI)
Now, here's the rub, plugging this data into quickload I see max pressure for the MBC bullet is predicated to be reached at 7.5gn of AA#5 predicting a velocity of 953 FPS and 22,628 PSI. 7.7gn, the Western minimum charge for a presumably very similar bullet, indicates 976 FPS and 24,012 PSI. The Western max load of 8.5gn indicates an amazing 1068 FPS and a terrifying 30,573 PSI.
This surprised me so I went ahead and looked for some more conventional bullets that have the EXACT bullet listed in the manual AND pre-loaded in Quickload, such as the Nosler FMJ, and inputting the maximum of 8.7gn of AA#5 for the Nosler FMJ bullet at the Western specified COAL of 1.250" in Quickload indicates a velocity of 1030 FPS and a peak pressure of 24,506 PSI (quite an overcharge!). Western tells me that load would generate a mere 927 FPS at 19,300 PSI, so, that's a huge difference....
How different can two LRN BB bullets weighing 230gn be, and for that matter how can really every single row of data be wildly over pressure according to quickload? I was originally planning to start in the lower/middle range of 7.9gn-8.0gn of AA#5 but now I'm a little scared to do so- even the starting load is predicted to be above max, but on the other hand I'm highly doubting the veracity of the quickload preditions... In the past when I can't find my specific bullet I look for the most similar one I can and start towards the bottom of the load data, sanity checking it against the general load data on the page (If I'm not above a single load's maximum for any bullet construction I'm probably safe being the thinking) but now I'm second guessing that approach when published data for a comparable bullet (Again, both are LRN BB 230gn bullets) has a higher starting charge than my predicted maximum charge.
Anyone got experience with AA#5 and the 230gn Softball bullets from MBC? Is Quickload just misleading me? I'm surprised to see predicted maximum pressure at 7.5gn of powder for my bullets and when looking at the book I would expect to certainly not be hitting maximum until a much higher charge in the mid or even high 8.Xgn range. I'm rather new to the software but I figured with all the weird bullets I buy that don't have lots of published data it would be a good way to calculate starting points, but this software and the manual don't seem very well aligned. Perhaps I wasted my money on Quickload (or maybe I'm not intelligent enough to use it properly)? You'd think Western would be killing people if Quickload were accurately predicting these loads...
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