38 Special +p+ Snubnose Defense Load.

[Paul B.]

"A chronograph will tell you if you get the velocity you are seeking, they aren't nearly as expensive as they once were."

That's true. I think you can still get a Shooting Chrony for a bit over $100 and a cheap tripod to hold it. The only way it'd get expensive is if you shoot the Chrony. I've killed three, one on purpose, one because I didn't line up the scope quite right and I'm still trying to figure what happened on number three. Currently I have two chronographs just in case. Seriously, if you're working up a specific load for a specific purpose, you really need that chronograph.
Paul B.

[NorthIDIndependent]

My girlfriend was able to use her employee discount at the sporting goods store to get me a birthday presents.
I told her I was going to buy a chronograph anyway so she decided she’d use her discount any make it a birthday present. They only had three left in stock so we bought it about a week before my birthday which is tomorrow.

I got the Caldwell ballistic precision basic chrono for $80 about 11% discount.
Read the little manual as soon as I got home and then Took it out in the yard to shoot some arrows over it. I got numbers! The next day I took it up in the mountains on public land and shot my 2” revolver and 16” AR. I was very satisfied with the results. I didn’t test all the loads I wanted to but I plan on going back up today to get some more number.

I’ll let you guys in on the results when I get around to formatting the data in a post.

[NorthIDIndependent]

So this is the Caldwell ballistic app data for my FBI load with HS6 and Hornady frontier 75gr bthp
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[NorthIDIndependent]

158grXTP 7.5gr hs6 chrono data
I’m going to load up some more today in more uniform cases and see if I can get more consistent results because I’m not super happy with the spread as it is.

[NorthIDIndependent]

Brass casings tight crimp cci 550 primers and hs6 about 65-70°F today 4000ft elev.
Average velocity: 985fps mv

[74A95]

Originally Posted by NorthIDIndependent

Brass casings tight crimp cci 550 primers and hs6 about 65-70°F today 4000ft elev.
Average velocity: 985fps mv

How many shots are you using for your HS-6 velocity test? If it's just 5 shots, that not enough to get reliable statistics. 10 would be a recommended minimum.

[NorthIDIndependent]

Yeah, I chronoed two, five shot, groups of that load total, but on different days, I should probably shoot a larger test group soemetime, I agree.

[NorthIDIndependent]

I also shot a group of five FBI loads with 7.1gr HS-6 Today.

[zxcvbob]

My "FBI Load" is a Magnus Bullets #515 (158 grain swaged SWCHP) with 4.5 grains of American Select powder. That's a standard pressure load published by Alliant that IIRC is supposed to hit 950 fps from a 4 inch barrel.

[NorthIDIndependent]

I’m saving up for a 4”. My FBI load is above book +p data. I’ve only chronographed the load 10 times so far so take the info with a graino-salt and the results seem a bit fast to me but based on my 5.56 velocities I don’t think the chronos guessing high but maybe there’s something else going on. The gun does live in my waistband holster at maybe 80-90° even moments before shooting.

[Radny97]

Originally Posted by zxcvbob

My "FBI Load" is a Magnus Bullets #515 (158 grain swaged SWCHP) with 4.5 grains of American Select powder. That's a standard pressure load published by Alliant that IIRC is supposed to hit 950 fps from a 4 inch barrel.

I’ve chronoed that load and that’s about right. Maybe 30 fps high depending on the gun, but pretty close. Am. Sel. at that level tends to generate quite a bit of flash and heat. Wouldn’t recommend for low light.


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[Nick_C_S]

If it's just 5 shots, that not enough to get reliable statistics.

I'm going to take a little bit of issue here. Your 5-shot group told you that your ammo is running about 985 f/s. Had you shot a 10 or 20 or 40 round sample, I bet the average would end up somewhere close to 985 f/s. At least, close enough for what you're doing.

In this context, "reliable statistics" is really "just getting a decent idea of how fast they're going." You've done that. It's not like you're crafting long-range rifle ammo and going for minimum SD and maximum accuracy.

BTW, 985 f/s through your snubbie is some pretty stout ammo. I would say you're there.

[Unclenick]

Yes, it looks pretty good and you've found out the purpose of tight crimps. I like the Redding Profile Crimp best for revolver at this point. It starts as a taper crimp and terminates in a roll crimp. The taper keeps the sides of the case just below the roll crimp from bulging outward due to the sharp turn around the corner by the mouth brass. Such a bulge pulls the brass away from the bullet and reduces bullet pull).

When you dot your i's and t's (crimp and magnum primer), you are getting better velocity consistency than I've seen in some snubbies.

Regarding the chrono, try to keep the time of day and the light conditions similar from one test to the next. If you have it sitting on light-colored soil or rocks, you can get ground glints off the bullets that cause false triggering, so I keep a large black plastic trash bag in my optical chronograph's range bag to be able to put it under the chrono and out front (no point in covering the ground behind it, as a glint from the exiting bullet won't affect anything). Put stones on the corners to hold it down. I've also hung paper off the front edges of the front sky screen and shot through it to prevent muzzle blast and powder particles from reaching the screen if I needed to shoot close to it for some reason (closer than 10 feet). That can help consistency.

[zxcvbob]

I’ve chronoed that load and that’s about right. Maybe 30 fps high depending on the gun, but pretty close. Am. Sel. at that level tends to generate quite a bit of flash and heat. Wouldn’t recommend for low light.

Thanks for the tip about the flash; I've never tried them in low light. Maybe I ought to try a pound of BE-86. It should be capable of the same performance, and it has a flash suppressant.