March 6, 2013, 05:53 PM | #1 |
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9mm COL on new Barrel
I have a Glock 17 that I want to start shooting lead out of. After looking online it is mostly recommended to buy a standard rifling barrel that supports lead bullets better.
I am a new reloader. =) With that in mind I went ahead and purchased a Lone Wolf Barrel. I got it in today and started doing some plunk tests with rounds that I have already made that fired fine out of the stock Glock barrel. Here is the bullet information. Falcon Bullet: 125 gr Lead Cone Nose Using Hodgdon Universal Clays at 3.9 gr C.O.L. = 1.125 - 1.130 These tested fine in my stock barrel. So taking the bullet information above I plunked them in my Lone Wolf Barrel and found that they got stuck. So I made some test dummy rounds and found that it clears the plunk test at C.O.L. = 1.090 - 1.112 Should I be ok with this new C.O.L.? I have read that if I seat too deep it would cause pressure and I don't want to get near that. But, if they don't plunk correctly in the barrel that means they are hitting the rifling which is bad too. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. |
March 6, 2013, 06:04 PM | #2 |
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With cast bullets hitting rifling is not bad. They often shoot that way in the small capacity pistol cases anyway because the primer unseats them before the powder really gets burning fully. I have found that allowing a bullet to headspace on the rifling on purpose usually gives the most accurate load with the least leading. That's because lead bullets aren't tough enough to self-align, and instead push through the rifling with a slight cant that is bad for accuracy. Below is an illustration of this I did for the .45 1911.
As for the polygon barrels, the lead bullets apparently can slip in them, leaving the corners loaded with lead. Fellows I've communicated with who had an issue with this said they shoot just fine for awhile, then suddenly pressure climbs rapidly. Best to avoid that, as you might not notice until too late. I think your barrel decision was a good one. If you need to shorten your COL for the Lone Wolf barrel, just back the load down an work back up watching for pressure signs. Just develop the load the way you will shoot it, and you will be fine. That may mean you have to set aside the ones you already loaded until you've worked up to them. If your gun does the primer unseating thing, then you'll find it makes no difference to pressure. If it is not doing that, then it will show as pressure signs.
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March 6, 2013, 08:08 PM | #3 |
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Very good post by Unclenick. I only load JHPs in 9mm, but I do load cast lead bullets in .40 S&W and .45 ACP. What I do that works very well for me with great accuracy is to find the OACL where the bullet touches the lands, then I reduce the OACL by .005" which keeps the bullets off the lands and there is very little bullet jump. SWCs are a bit different with their narrower noses and it might actually be the shank that touches the lands. The best way I know to remedy this is to follow the old guideline of 1/32" of bullet shank exposed above the casemouth. My XDm 4.5 in .45 ACP is a bit short throated so I have to load at 1.240" OACL and that's right on with about 1/32" of the bullet shank exposed above the casemouth. In .40 S&W, I haven't found a pistol that wouldn't take a 1.130" OACL with a SWC. This should hold true even for the 9mm, but as you're using a bullet with a truncated cone shape, back off the lands by .005" and you should be fine and it will negate any potential pressure issues.
Take a fired case and start your cast bullet into the casemouth and insert into your pistols barrel, removed from your pistol of course. Use a plastic mallet or a block of wood and lightly tap the case rim until the case stops at the front of the chamber. Take the cartridge out and measure OACL. This should be the MAX. OACL possible. I would do this about 5 times to make sure that the MAX possible is consistent with all 5 dummy rounds. Take that OACL and reduce by .005" and you should have a very good and safe load. I don't know the load range for Clays with that bullet, but if it's a start charge or near one you may be able to shorten the cartridges you've already loaded. But you can always do what Unclenick suggested and start over with about 5 rounds at .2 gr. intervals of powder increase until you've reached the load level you presently have. Editing to add that I just went to the Hodgdon website and they show a start charge of 3.8 grs. of Universal @ 24,400 CUP at 1.125" OACL. You should be fine if you want to shorten the loads you already have. Last edited by 57K; March 6, 2013 at 08:28 PM. Reason: more info |
March 7, 2013, 11:22 AM | #4 |
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Thanks for the responses! After searching around some more and reading what you guys have to say I feel more confident with going with the shorter COL.
Greatly appreciated. |
March 8, 2013, 01:13 AM | #5 |
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Glad to help!
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