Penguin and Dragon at the Range, 4/13/14

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Those of you following my other thread know that I recently finished my first batch of ammunition and I promised to reveal how it went. As a cheap trick to build suspense, I will tell you that I am able to type this normally…but my weird mutant typing style doesn't actually use all ten of my fingers.

I also shot some 9mm, which you are going to have to sit through before I get to the good stuff.

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Upper row is Armscor on the left and Federal 115gr on the right, SA, slow fire. Bottom row is same but rapid fire.

If you remember from last time, the P-07 was having issues with the Armscor ammunition. Well, now I have calipers, so I saved some untouched rounds, a couple that failed to chamber properly, and one that did. During the course of that, I also discovered that the Armscor really didn't want to eject if it wasn't fired. If you want to see the pictures, they're all here.

The OAL of the cartridges is within a few thousandths of an inch of the maximum for 9mm Parabellum. There's what appears to be a mark on the ogive of the one that did seat properly (and apparently got pushed back, based on OAL) so maybe this is combination of cartridge OAL, a tight chamber, and bullet shape?

Meanwhile, we haven't been dry-fire practicing due to HDs final for her gardening program (she passed!) so her progress is slower than she'd like. On the left is last trip, on the right is this one. (There's fewer holes in the orange because she didn't skew the results by running a magazine through the P-07 this time.)
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Now that her program is over we'll see what a week or so of steady practice does, and then seek professional help.

Now I know what you're thinking, given that I started out talking about my reloading efforts:
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Well, HD just told me that we have a pair of grass-fed t-bone steaks ready to go on the grill, so it will have to wait for just a bit longer…

Re: Penguin and Dragon at the Range, 4/13/14

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OK! Dinner is done, 80 lbs of greyhound has been moved off of my lap, and the saga continues.

Before I fired any of my handloads, I sent a "control group" of ten factory rounds downrange.
These shots, like all of them, were fired from the 3" SP101, single action, at a distance of approximately 25 feet.


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The control group was 158 gr FMJ rather than LSWC, simply because that's what I had.
(I've still got that tendency to go high and right, as you can see.)

4.3 grains
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The handloads produced thin smoke where the FMJs did not. I'm not sure if it was the powder or the lube burning off.
You can see my groupings have gotten better, but that could have been me getting back into the swing of things.
Still tending high and right.

4.4 grains
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4.5 grains
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I'm not sure what caused that major tear in the paper at about 3:30 from the bull.

4.6 grains
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Here's where I started to notice a shift in the POI. Previously I had been using a combat hold. After the first shot (12 o'clock, 7 ring) I shifted to a 6 o'clock hold and nailed those ones in the center.

4.7 grains
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Comparing to earlier shots I started to really notice an increase in felt recoil (and a decrease in accuracy).

Conclusions
Well, there you have it—the first 50 rounds. Gun (and penguin-flippers) are still intact.

All of these were hand-weighed. Based on the above, I'm leaning towards a 4.4 grain load of Unique as the sweet spot. I assume that when I get a powder thrower it will vary a bit in either direction, but that seems to be a good center point.

20/20 Hindsight
I probably should have tried to shoot these from a rest for maximum accuracy. I discarded the idea as it would have involved a very uncomfortable squatting or bending position, but I didn't think to try one of the chairs to see if it was the right height.

I also maybe should have tried them from the 4" GP100. I wanted to keep all the chance of bodily dismemberment to myself, but I didn't think to use HD's gun. (Then again, blowing up her precious might have been more dangerous than the overloaded charge…) Do you think it's worth working up another set of loads to see if her gun differs?

Re: Penguin and Dragon at the Range, 4/13/14

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4.4 looks good to me. For load development removing any possible shooting error is paramount. I have always wanted a ransom rest but they are pricey. The smoke is undoubtedly the unique, it is some smokey stuff but I have never let that bother me. What did the bore look like?
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