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Old July 1, 2010, 10:41 AM   #1
Poodleshooter
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Handgun load development method?

Are there any handgun specific load development methods comparable to the Audette/ladder or OCW methods that are used for rifles?

Essentially, has anyone used a good method to find a consistent load that matches barrel harmonics in handguns?

I was thinking about this after having some frustrating POI changes from a variety of bullets in the .357 and .44mag.
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Old July 1, 2010, 10:50 AM   #2
MO. Shootin
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You know I thought about doing the same process for my pistol but I have not done it yet.
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Old July 1, 2010, 10:50 AM   #3
PA-Joe
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Use the same method. Same COL different powder charges. In most cases your limiting COL will be the cyclinder length.
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Old July 1, 2010, 10:56 AM   #4
Brian Pfleuger
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Typical handgun barrels are too short for OBT type load development to make much difference. Plus, a revolver really changes things since the barrel is not integral with the chamber the way it is on a rifle our semi-auto handgun. OBT load development is based on the timing of the shockwave created by ignition of the primer and powder as it travels back and forth in the barrel. A revolvers cylinder gap will interfere with that shock wave.

Different bullets will shoot differently in the same gun. You just need to find one that works best in that gun.

The same systematic method of load development may apply but it's not based on the shockwave.
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Old July 1, 2010, 12:12 PM   #5
Poodleshooter
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Yeah,the interruption of the harmonics is why I'd discarded the idea of using those methods. This is all basically for revolver load development.

So is everyone just doing the old "load 5 rounds of each charge with a given bullet, shoot,rinse,repeat" method for revolvers?
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Old July 1, 2010, 12:56 PM   #6
BigJimP
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yes, that's all I use ......keep it simple. But once I settle on a powder for that caliber / I usually leave it alone .... going up or down 0.1 grain isn't going to make that much of a difference ( even in an 8 3/8" barrel on a .44 mag revolver ).

( and I run every load thru a "case gague" to make sure I have no feeding issues ).

Honestly, I've settled on one powder for all my handgun loads from 9mm, .40S&W, .45 acp, .38 spl, .357 mag and .44 mag ( Hodgdon TiteGroup ) and primarily one bullet mfg ( Montana Gold bullets )... Its a good powder, drops very consistently, burns clean ...
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Old July 1, 2010, 01:07 PM   #7
mjm
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It took me several visits to the range, but I just finished developing a HP-38 load using 230 gr Montana Gold FMJRN for my .45 ACP this morning.

I loaded 10 rounds for each test load and shot them over a chrono. I am measuring the 10 shot groups and looking for consistency in the chrono data.

Recoil did not enter into the equation until the max load was reached.
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Old July 1, 2010, 06:21 PM   #8
SL1
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I DO find that charge weight affects group size.

In both pistols and revolvers. I don't bother with COL changes, except for seating-out wadcutters in target loads for revolvers. For pistols, it is sometimes possible to seat bullets to headspace the cartridge against the rifling to improve accuracy.

One thing that you need to start with in revolvers is that the different chambers in the same cylinder may or may not shoot to the same point on the target.

You can either develop your loads by shooting all of the test rounds out of the same chamber, or, you can take some time to figure-out which chambers shoot to the same point of impact and use only those.

Of course, it they all shoot to different points on the target, then making accurate ammo isn't going to help you much with that particular gun. But, if only one chamber is out, you can avoid it for target matches and set it to fire last in the field.

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