Chronograph Results (XAE)

[Xae289]

So having gotten a chronograph recently, I decided I'd drop some results out there in case anyone finds it interesting.

Starting it off with some .44 Magnum. All velocities in feet per second (fps). All weights in grains (gr).

All chronograph results provided are from a LabRadar chronograph. All .44 results from me, at least for now, will be from a S&W 629-6 (Classic) with a 5" barrel. All 6 cylinders measure slightly greater than 0.4292" and less than 0.4298" as tested with pin gauges.

Disclaimer: Handloads are my handloads. Do not replicate these loads or use my loads as a load data source or reference in any way. You have no way of knowing if I made a mistake, am lying, am an idiot, or if any of my gear isn't functioning correctly. I'm a random guy on the internet whom you probably don't know and am an inexperienced amateur, not a reliable source. With that warning, I accept no responsibility for anyone harming themselves by attempting to replicate, against my pleas to the contrary, anything I claim to have done. Always refer to load data from a professional, reputable source before loading your own ammo and load you ammo in accordance with instructions and procedures recommended by professionals. Handloading is inherently dangerous, the consequences of errors can be deadly, and your safety is your responsibility. Please be smart and be safe so we can all have fun!

Factory ammo:

•Federal American Eagle 240 grain Jacketed Hollow Point. Manufacturer listed velocity: 1230 fps.

Strings of fire: 2
String 1) Shots: 6; Average: 1318; Min: 1305; Max: 1336; Extreme Spread: 31; Standard Deviation: 12.7.
String 2) Shots: 6; Average: 1296; Min: 1265; Max: 1321; Extreme Spread: 56; Standard Deviation: 19.6.

Subjective: This ammo is on the softer-shooting side of factory .44 Magnum I've tried. I've previously shot this ammo for accuracy and gotten what I consider to be good accuracy. So far the most accurate factory load I've shot has been the Hornady Leverrevolution 225 grain FTX.

Hand loads:

•Brass: .44 magnum Winchester brass (previously fired). Bullet: 0.429", 240 gr, powder-coated cast lead round nose of unknown manufacture. Primer: Federal Premium Match Large Pistol Magnum Gold Medal. Powder: Winchester 231. Powder quantity: 7.00 gr +- 0.03 gr. OAL: 1.653". Crimp: Moderate roll crimp – crimped into bullet crimp groove and applied with Lee die.

Strings of fire: 2
String 1): Shots: 9; Average: 855; Min: 820; Max: 874; Extreme Spread: 55; Standard Deviation: 19.
String 2): Shots: 24; Average: 868; Min: 816; Max: 894; Extreme Spread: 78; Standard Deviation: 17.8.

Subjective: Recoil was mild. No obvious lead deposits. Very sooty, but seems to clean up easy. I was too excited over trying my chronograph for the first time to really care about how tight my group was, but it seemed to be minute of 8 ring shooting seated, unsupported, from 15 yards. I also don't have many of these bullets, so they were more to test for velocity than to try to develop a really accurate load. I intend to do a ladder test later with this powder, shooting for accuracy, using Missouri Bullet Co. 240 grain Hard Cast Semi-Wadcutters.

My Sources: Hodgdon Reloading (website); Hornady Catalogue (Android app).

I plan to post more chronograph results as I see this chrony being a constant range companion. If anyone in the neighborhood wants to chrono ammo from their guns, feel free to reach out to me and maybe we can set something up. If you have chronograph results you want to share, post 'em if you got 'em – the more data the merrier.

 

[kev74]

So having gotten a chronograph recently, I decided I'd drop some results out there in case anyone finds it interesting.

Starting it off with some .44 Magnum. All velocities in feet per second (fps). All weights in grains (gr).

All chronograph results provided are from a LabRadar chronograph. All .44 results from me, at least for now, will be from a S&W 629-6 (Classic) with a 5" barrel. All 6 cylinders measure slightly greater than 0.4292" and less than 0.4298" as tested with pin gauges.

Disclaimer: Handloads are my handloads. Do not replicate these loads or use my loads as a load data source or reference in any way. You have no way of knowing if I made a mistake, am lying, am an idiot, or if any of my gear isn't functioning correctly. I'm a random guy on the internet whom you probably don't know and am an inexperienced amateur, not a reliable source. With that warning, I accept no responsibility for anyone harming themselves by attempting to replicate, against my pleas to the contrary, anything I claim to have done. Always refer to load data from a professional, reputable source before loading your own ammo and load you ammo in accordance with instructions and procedures recommended by professionals. Handloading is inherently dangerous, the consequences of errors can be deadly, and your safety is your responsibility. Please be smart and be safe so we can all have fun!

Factory ammo:

•Federal American Eagle 240 grain Jacketed Hollow Point. Manufacturer listed velocity: 1230 fps.

Strings of fire: 2
String 1) Shots: 6; Average: 1318; Min: 1305; Max: 1336; Extreme Spread: 31; Standard Deviation: 12.7.
String 2) Shots: 6; Average: 1296; Min: 1265; Max: 1321; Extreme Spread: 56; Standard Deviation: 19.6.

Subjective: This ammo is on the softer-shooting side of factory .44 Magnum I've tried. I've previously shot this ammo for accuracy and gotten what I consider to be good accuracy. So far the most accurate factory load I've shot has been the Hornady Leverrevolution 225 grain FTX.

Hand loads:

•Brass: .44 magnum Winchester brass (previously fired). Bullet: 0.429", 240 gr, powder-coated cast lead round nose of unknown manufacture. Primer: Federal Premium Match Large Pistol Magnum Gold Medal. Powder: Winchester 231. Powder quantity: 7.0 gr +- 0.03 gr. OAL: 1.653". Crimp: Moderate roll crimp – crimped into bullet crimp groove and applied with Lee die.

Strings of fire: 2
String 1): Shots: 9; Average: 855; Min: 820; Max: 874; Extreme Spread: 55; Standard Deviation: 19.
String 2): Shots: 24; Average: 868; Min: 816; Max: 894; Extreme Spread: 78; Standard Deviation: 17.8.

Subjective: Recoil was mild. No obvious lead deposits. Very sooty, but seems to clean up easy. I was too excited over trying my chronograph for the first time to really care about how tight my group was, but it seemed to be minute of 8 ring shooting seated, unsupported, from 15 yards. I also don't have many of these bullets, so they were more to test for velocity than to try to develop a really accurate load. I intend to do a ladder test later with this powder, shooting for accuracy, using Missouri Bullet Co. 240 grain Hard Cast Semi-Wadcutters.

My Sources: Hodgdon Reloading (website); Hornady Catalogue (Android app).

I plan to post more chronograph results as I see this chrony being a constant range companion. If anyone in the neighborhood wants to chrono ammo from their guns, feel free to reach out to me and maybe we can set something up. If you have chronograph results you want to share, post 'em if you got 'em – the more data the merrier.

For your powder charge, is that 7.0 +/- 0.3gr. or 7.00 +/- 0.03 gr.?


How do you like the Lab Radar so far?

 

[Xae289]

For your powder charge, is that 7.0 +/- 0.3gr. or 7.00 +/- 0.03 gr.?


How do you like the Lab Radar so far?

That's 7.00 gr +- 0.03, so three hundredths of a grain. I used a jeweler's scale which displays to the hundredths, rounded to the nearest 0.02. So my scale readings were really +- 0.02, but I accounted for the fact that it displays to the nearest 0.02 gr.

Love the Labradar so far. I set most of my settings at home, so it was pretty quick and easy to get going after I set it up at the range. Definitely want to take it to an outdoor range and get some rifle readings. Not that it can't do rifles indoors, but I want to see how it tracks velocity over 100-200 yards instead of just 25.

 

[Xae289]

In the next few weeks I plan to test factory ammo in .300 Blackout (all supersonic) and .40 S&W.

40 S&W
Firearm: Walther PPS. Barrel length: 3.2"
Ammo:
•Remington Ultimate Defense Compact Handgun 180 gr Brass-Jacketed HP. Advertised muzzle velocity: 785 fps.
• Winchester White Box 165 gr Flat Nose FMJ. Advertised Muzzle Velocity: 1060 fps.

300 Blackout
Firearm: AR-style rifle. Barrel length: 16"
Ammo:
•Federal Power Shok 120 gr All-Copper HP. Advertised muzzle velocity: 2075 fps.
•Hornady Black 110 gr V-Max. Advertised muzzle velocity: 2375 fps.
•Magtech Tactical 123 gr FMJ. Advertised muzzle velocity: 2230 fps.

 

[Xae289]

New Results in Subcompact .40 S&W

Notes: I have very little carry ammo left and wanted to use some for drills, hence the poor sample sizes for the factory loads.

Firearm: Walther PPS M1 – 3.2" barrel

Factory Ammo

• Speer Gold Dot, 165 grain JHP
Factory rated velocity: 1150 fps.
Shots: 2; Average: 928; Min: 917; Max: 940; E.S.: 24; Std. Dev.: 16.7
Subjective notes: Very disappointed with this result. Thankfully, this was free ammo. Set aside as practice ammo for later.

•Remington Ultimate Defense Compact Handgun, 180 grain Bonded JHP
Factory rated velocity: 785 fps
Shots: 8; Average: 954; Min: 935; Max: 980; E.S.: 45; Std. Dev.: 12.9
Subjective notes: Happy with the results and will continue using as carry ammo. I didn't make a typo in listing the factory velocity figure – I double-checked. I think Remington may have made a typo in listing it.

Note for the factory ammo: Lucky Gunner Labs covered the Speer 165 gr Gold Dot from a Glock 27 with a 3.4" barrel and got bad gel test results with slightly higher velocity figures. They also covered Remington Ultimate Defense (not the Compact Handgun version) and got slightly higher velocities, and excellent results. Their results can be found here: Handgun Self-Defense Ammunition - Ballistic Testing Data

Handloads

Bullet: Beartooth Bullets, 200 grain LBTFN - Gas Checked
Powder: Hodgdon Longshot
Hodgdon data with their 4" test barrel and a 200 grain XTP bullet indicates a starting load of 5.0 grains for a velocity of 836, and a max load of 6.0 for a velocity of 954.

•Charge: 5.8 gr; Shots: 5; Average: 889; Min: 882; Max: 904; E.S.: 22; Std. Dev.: 9.2
•Charge: 5.9 gr; Shots: 10; Average: 906; Min: 894; Max: 927; E.S.: 32; Std. Dev.: 9.8
•Charge: 6.0 gr; Shots: 10; Average: 913; Min: 885; Max: 945; E.S.: 60; Std. Dev.: 16.7
•Charge: 6.1 gr; Shots: 10; Average: 931; Min: 918; Max: 952; E.S.: 34; Std. Dev.: 11.7

Subjective notes:
Very happy with the results.

The 5.8 grain charge was very pleasant to shoot with a push-like recoil more similar to .45 ACP. The higher the charge, the more the recoil "felt" like the snappy recoil I'm used to in .40 S&W.

Longshot always creates a loud report, but it was noticeably louder with the max and over-max charges. No pressure signs noted on recovered brass.

Accuracy was excellent. I will likely use the 5.8 or 5.9 grain charge as a woods carry load when I don't want to carry my .44 mag.

Bullet meplat is very large for caliber – slightly larger than the meplat of a 0.439", 240 grain semi-wadcutter – slightly smaller than the meplat of a 0.452", 255 grain semi-wadcutter, each from Missouri Bullet Company.

 

[Xae289]

Results in .300 Blackout Rifle

Firearm: Custom AR-style Rifle, 16" barrel from Moriarti Armaments

Factory Ammo Only

• Federal Premium Power Shok, 120 gr Copper HP
Factory rated velocity: 2075 fps
Shots: 5; Average: 2181; Min: 2167; Max: 2204; E.S.: 37; Std. Dev.: 14.1
Subjective notes: Exceeded expectations. The Chopping Block did a gel test with this ammo out of an 8" barrel with very "meh" results. I would consider it for hunting based on my results. Link to the Chopping Block's test:
• Magtech Tactical, 123 gr FMJ
Factory rated velocity: 2230 fps
Shots: 15; Average: 2278; Min: 2250; Max: 2324; E.S.: 73; Std. Dev.: 21.7
Subjective notes: Double-fed plus had a bad ES and Std Dev. Whatever, it's practice ammo. At least they didn't oversell the velocity.

• Hornady Black, 110 gr V-MAX
Factory rated velocity: 2375 fps
String 1)
Shots: 7; Average: 2400; Min: 2382; Max: 2417; E.S.: 36; Std. Dev.: 13.2
String 2)
Shots: 3; Average: 2394; Min: 2383; Max: 2402; E.S.: 19; Std. Dev.: 10.1
Subjective notes: Glad this is the ammo my rifle is zeroed for. It met my expectations well. AR15.com and others have gel-tested this bullet, and even at lower velocities, it fragments intensely while penetrating into the "ideal" zone. It is a varmint bullet that seems to have utility in home-defense and hunting deer-sized animals and smaller. I think I would prefer the Power Shok for hunting. Link to Arfcom's bullet test:

 

[Xae289]

.40 Short & Stronk

So I put together a new Gen 3 Glock 23 recently. Mostly aftermarket parts on an OEM frame. After working out some fitment kinks between the upper parts, I have it working perfectly with factory ammo and decided to run handloads through it.

The Glock is on an OEM frame. The slide is a 3CRTactical make. The barrel is a 4" Lone Wolf Alphawolf. The recoil spring is a non-captive Wolff 22lbs recoil spring. The striker spring is a 6lbs Wolff (vs 5.5lbs stock). All OEM internals otherwise.

I loaded up some handloads to test in this barrel and have a few highlights I want to report.

Hodgdon lists a max charge of Longshot of 8.0 grains under a 180 grain Hornady XTP. I worked up to this load and velocity tracked well from start to max, but my velocities were consistently ~50 fps higher than published start and max velocities. The two final charge weights were particularly impressive.

Brass: R+P
Primer: CCI Small Pistol Primer
Powder: Hodgdon Longshot
Bullet: 180 gr Hornady XTP
Seated to 1.130" COAL
Crimp: Heavy -- Lee factory crimp die

String 1: 7.8 gr charge: Avg 1195, Min 1181, Max 1204, ES 23, SD 8.6, 5 shots
String 2: 7.8 gr charge: Avg 1184, Min 1171, Max 1203, ES 32, SD 14.2, 4 shots
String 3: 8.0 gr charge: Avg 1207, Min 1196, Max 1214, ES 19, SD 7.8, 5 shots

The above average velocities beat all but 1 factory 180 gr 10mm load as tested by Lucky Gunner out of a 4.6" barrel Glock 20. The only load that beat it was Federal's Trophy Bonded soft point, which clocked at 1227 fps, only +22 fps over my max load. I worked up from the starting load and stopped at the max load as published by Hodgdon. The lower charges had worse SDs in the 20-30s, but the closer to max, the tighter the Standard Deviations got and the lower the Extreme Spreads. About 60% of brass was recovered. None showed signs of excessive pressure. Primers were rounded, not flat at all. No fouling was present around the primer pocket. No bulge on the case head, though the aftermarket barrel supports the case better than an OEM barrel. I plan to stick with the 7.8 grain charge for a woods carry load for a margin of safety. Recoil is what you would expect – heavy, but it's no big-bore magnum.

Obviously, these don't reach hot 10mm from boutique makers and I don't intend to push further. Underwood claims their 180 gr XTP 10mm @ 1300 fps, Double Tap @ 1240 from a Glock 29 and @ 1305 from a Glock 20, and Buffalo Bore @ 1311 from a Glock 20. Notably, the DoubleTap load tested from a Glock 29 (which is closer in size and barrel length to the Glock 23 than the G20 is) only comes in at +50 fps than my 7.8 grain load and +33 fps over my 8.0 grain load. SDs and ESs were also better than factory loads I've tested.



Same components except bullet, which was a 200 gr Beartooth Bullets WFN-GC.

String 1: 6.0 gr charge: Avg 995, Min 978, Max 1011, ES 33, SD 11.8, 5 shots
String 2: 6.1 gr charge: Avg 999, Min 968, Max 1018, ES 50, SD 24.7, 5 shots
String 3: 6.2 gr charge: Avg 1019, Min 1015, Max 1021, ES 7, SD 2.8, 5 shots (!)

That last load shows incredible consistency. Unfortunately, that round did not have perfect reliability. Two in the test failed to fully enter battery on the first try. The bullets are sized to 0.401" and while they passed my go/no-go gauge, they were a tight fit in the actual chamber. Further, Beartooth Bullets seems to be out of business. Montana Bullet Works seems to have the same bullet available.

I plan to order 100 sized to 0.400" and work up with those bullets. I think they would make a great woods carry round where thich skinned animals like boar or black bears roam. The bullets have a bigger meplat than .44 Keith SWCs and they're cast hard, so penetration should be deep. Velocity is good for that weight, while recoil is very manageable.

For comparison, these rounds are 90 fps shy of Buffalo Bore's 200 grain FMJ 10mm load shot out of a 4.6" barrel Glock 20 as tested by Lucky Gunner. The charge is 0.2 grains above the Hodgdon published maximum with a 200 grain XTP bullet. I couldn't find load data specifically for a cast 200 gr bullet. I felt that these loads were safe for two reasons: 1) Cast bullet loads of the same weight as jacketed bullets tend to be slightly higher; and 2) The base of this particular bullet does not seat as deeply into the case as a 200 grain XTP.