VihtaVuori N-133; any handgun loads?

Carmady · April 1, 2020, 11:50 AM

I have about a pound, and haven't found any loads for the handgun calibers I have.

.25 acp, .32 acp, .380 acp, .38 SPL, 9mm, .357 Mag, .45 acp

Not looking for any Rambo loads, but do you know of the above calibers with lead or plated lead bullets? The .25s are FMJ.

74A95 · April 1, 2020, 01:22 PM

Nope. It's way to slow.

**Unclenick** · April 1, 2020, 01:30 PM

That powder needs a lower expansion ratio to have the opportunity to burn well. In QuickLOAD, the closest you can come to functioning at all is in the 357, and even that, filled to 105% (compressed load) has trouble getting to 15000 psi. If you aren't shooting the 357 in a carbine or a single-shot gun like a Contender or an Encore, you will have to worry about it squibbing out due to pressure bleeding out of the barrel/cylinder gap and leaving a bullet stuck in your barrel to burst the gun on the next round. Even if it shoots, more than a third of the powder would still be unburned by the time a bullet left a 6" barrel so that you could expect a lot of unburned grains and powder fouling.

The other rounds you mention have more rapid expansion (bigger expansion ratios). The role of fast expansion in the powder burn rate problem in principle is it means the bullets have to move less far to double the space the powder is burning in, making it much harder for a slow powder to make gas fast enough to keep up with the growing space. Behind a 230 grain plated bullet in 45 Auto, for example, the expansion is so fast a compressed load could not make 6500 psi, and the bullet from a 5" barrel would be at about 522 fps (139 ft-lbs of energy). Pretty poor performance and, again, likely to burn very dirty, and in that case, even though there is not barrel/cylinder gap, pressure can build so slowly it doesn't seal the chamber so it squibs out by bleeding pressure out of the breech.

I would recommend saving this for a rifle cartridge and getting a pistol powder. It's not worth risking the squibs, as they can burst a gun by their stuck bullet adding confinement to the next shot. And even if you notice the bullet got stuck, they can be a pain to knock out. Nothing but grief, wasted powder, and a lot of gun cleaning to be got trying this.

Carmady · April 1, 2020, 10:38 PM

I guess that's why I didn't find any loads for handguns. Thanks.

April 1, 2020, 11:50 AM	#1
Carmady Senior Member Join Date: February 26, 2013 Location: on the lam Posts: 1,735	VihtaVuori N-133; any handgun loads? I have about a pound, and haven't found any loads for the handgun calibers I have. .25 acp, .32 acp, .380 acp, .38 SPL, 9mm, .357 Mag, .45 acp Not looking for any Rambo loads, but do you know of the above calibers with lead or plated lead bullets? The .25s are FMJ.

April 1, 2020, 01:30 PM	#3
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,061	That powder needs a lower expansion ratio to have the opportunity to burn well. In QuickLOAD, the closest you can come to functioning at all is in the 357, and even that, filled to 105% (compressed load) has trouble getting to 15000 psi. If you aren't shooting the 357 in a carbine or a single-shot gun like a Contender or an Encore, you will have to worry about it squibbing out due to pressure bleeding out of the barrel/cylinder gap and leaving a bullet stuck in your barrel to burst the gun on the next round. Even if it shoots, more than a third of the powder would still be unburned by the time a bullet left a 6" barrel so that you could expect a lot of unburned grains and powder fouling. The other rounds you mention have more rapid expansion (bigger expansion ratios). The role of fast expansion in the powder burn rate problem in principle is it means the bullets have to move less far to double the space the powder is burning in, making it much harder for a slow powder to make gas fast enough to keep up with the growing space. Behind a 230 grain plated bullet in 45 Auto, for example, the expansion is so fast a compressed load could not make 6500 psi, and the bullet from a 5" barrel would be at about 522 fps (139 ft-lbs of energy). Pretty poor performance and, again, likely to burn very dirty, and in that case, even though there is not barrel/cylinder gap, pressure can build so slowly it doesn't seal the chamber so it squibs out by bleeding pressure out of the breech. I would recommend saving this for a rifle cartridge and getting a pistol powder. It's not worth risking the squibs, as they can burst a gun by their stuck bullet adding confinement to the next shot. And even if you notice the bullet got stuck, they can be a pain to knock out. Nothing but grief, wasted powder, and a lot of gun cleaning to be got trying this. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

April 1, 2020, 01:22 PM	#2
74A95 Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2016 Posts: 1,564	Nope. It's way to slow.

April 1, 2020, 10:38 PM	#4
Carmady Senior Member Join Date: February 26, 2013 Location: on the lam Posts: 1,735	I guess that's why I didn't find any loads for handguns. Thanks.