9x19 115gr practice ball/XD ejection pattern
Mon Apr 25, 2022 11:39 am
I think I know the answer to this question, but I'm gonna bounce it off the hive mind anyway:
I have been working on a 115gr practice ball load for 9x19. I recently switched from powder coated Bayous to FMJ from rmrbullets. This meant a change in data and new ladders. My powder is Silhouette, which I have a lot of and is basically a hangover from my coated bullet experiment - Silhouette will let you load to a COL of 1.07" which is key for getting those fat round Bayous to pass a plunk test on a short-throated European gun like a CZ75B or a Hi Power.
Anyway I worked this new load up in my 75B and my Hi Power. I settled on 5.6gr of Silhouette, which makes my 75B and BHP tick along like sewing machines. COL is 1.11 because these FMJs have a normal FMJ profile. Plunk tests passed in all barrels. The 75B and BHP have never been happier. Nice groups, every case hits the brass net in the same place. Ramshot's data for this powder gives me from 5.3gr to 5.9gr before getting into +P territory.
Yesterday I went and fired a box each through my new XD Mod 2 and my old P38. The XD shot this load very straight but the brass went everywhere. Less than half in my brass catcher which sits to my right. By contrast I fired 16 rounds of S&B hollowpoints and 15/16 cases went right into the net. It does this same brass-everywhere nonsense with PPU and Magtech 115gr ball, neither of which have ever struck me as particularly hot ammo.
The P38 ejected this load consistently but about 1 in 7 rounds failed to feed, getting stuck on the feed ramp. This smells to me like short stroking, which sort of makes sense given that wartime Kraut pistol ammo would be +P+ by today's standards.
My hunch is that the XD and P38 are really strongly sprung guns and my Sally Nancy practice ball is almost strong enough but just a hair short. I suspect that things will improve if I stiffen the load by 0.2 or 0.3 grains of powder. Hoping to have time to explore this in a couple weeks.
Casting this out to all of you basically to see if XDs are normally brass sprinklers and if I am tilting at windmills trying to make it pitch empties into a net.
I have been working on a 115gr practice ball load for 9x19. I recently switched from powder coated Bayous to FMJ from rmrbullets. This meant a change in data and new ladders. My powder is Silhouette, which I have a lot of and is basically a hangover from my coated bullet experiment - Silhouette will let you load to a COL of 1.07" which is key for getting those fat round Bayous to pass a plunk test on a short-throated European gun like a CZ75B or a Hi Power.
Anyway I worked this new load up in my 75B and my Hi Power. I settled on 5.6gr of Silhouette, which makes my 75B and BHP tick along like sewing machines. COL is 1.11 because these FMJs have a normal FMJ profile. Plunk tests passed in all barrels. The 75B and BHP have never been happier. Nice groups, every case hits the brass net in the same place. Ramshot's data for this powder gives me from 5.3gr to 5.9gr before getting into +P territory.
Yesterday I went and fired a box each through my new XD Mod 2 and my old P38. The XD shot this load very straight but the brass went everywhere. Less than half in my brass catcher which sits to my right. By contrast I fired 16 rounds of S&B hollowpoints and 15/16 cases went right into the net. It does this same brass-everywhere nonsense with PPU and Magtech 115gr ball, neither of which have ever struck me as particularly hot ammo.
The P38 ejected this load consistently but about 1 in 7 rounds failed to feed, getting stuck on the feed ramp. This smells to me like short stroking, which sort of makes sense given that wartime Kraut pistol ammo would be +P+ by today's standards.
My hunch is that the XD and P38 are really strongly sprung guns and my Sally Nancy practice ball is almost strong enough but just a hair short. I suspect that things will improve if I stiffen the load by 0.2 or 0.3 grains of powder. Hoping to have time to explore this in a couple weeks.
Casting this out to all of you basically to see if XDs are normally brass sprinklers and if I am tilting at windmills trying to make it pitch empties into a net.