so waht ya doin today?

[Ole_270]

Loaded up a couple hundred mixed range pick up 45 acp brass with what's becoming my favorite plinking and practice round for the Flattop 45 Convertible. 230TC over 5.5 Universal. Shoots to about the same poi as the colt load I have loaded in bulk, 7.0 Green Dot with the 255RF Lee. Even better, it shoots well in the 1911 for when I want something more than the pipsqueak target load of 200 swc over 5.2 HP-38.
The 230TC load goes around 825 fps while the 7.0 GD-255RF goes 850.
Gonna have to make a decision one of these days on whether to transition to 8.0-8.5 Universal in the colt case or pick up more Green Dot or even Red Dot. Seems like I saw a post from Ian sometime back that said Red Dot was a bit flashy, is Green Dot as bad?

 

[Ian]

Fiver knows about Green Dot, I've never used it. Red Dot is quite flashy, I don't really care for it much but it does provide a lot of bulk to help fill big, low-pressure cartridges above 50%. I'm going to work that Universal load of mine up to 5.5 or more and see how it does for me. I shot a couple boxes up before surgery in my 1911 and gas-operated AR-45 and they did seem a little anemic, like Federal American Eagle 230-grain ball.

 

[fiver]

dibs if it's a honey badger.
butthole Jax needs someone to even out her buttholitude.

Ole.
red burns fast and short.
Green has a longer burn curve that's why the recoil impulse is kind of a hinky slow/quick in pistol type hand gun rounds, but feels smooth in a shot shell compared to the quick jab red gives you.
if you compare the two to unique in the 45 acp you can feel the difference in slide speed and unique will give you a nice recoil impulse [along with some sparks and flame out the ejection port]
red gives you a pop-chunk
and green gives you that little pooop/twist shunk shunk.

 

[fiver]

if I needed powder and had my pick of whatever and was looking only for handguns from low to just past mid-range I'd probably go with bulls-eye as an all arounder.
you have a really wide range with the stuff and can even play with different primers up and down the scale with it.
for how old the stuff is I'm actually impressed with it compared to everything else from unique on down [until you need to start going up over 1000 or so fps. in the bigger cases you really don't need anything else]

 

[oscarflytyer]

Ian - Age/Olderer sucks. But it damn sure beats the alternative! And, asking for a friend, but I don't think Bourbon has any fat in it, does it?

(Pulling your chain - Sincerely hope things get better FAST!)

 

[fiver]

maybe they should put some in... bleh..

 

[Ole_270]

Only handguns here are the 45 acp and 45 colt so no need to pick powders suitable for smaller cases. Since I use Universal in the 16 gauge and 38-55 I’ll probably stick with it

 

[fiver]

I think you'll be happy with that, there's no sense in chasing a bunch of powders around if you don't need to.

I keep a lot of a few powders, and a few of a lot of powders.
bulls-eye come to me a bit late in life but I've really learned to like it, I'd have a lot more of it around but I got others for various other reasons over the years.
by the time I shoot them up I probably won't have time to replace them all with bulls-eye, but I will have bulls-eye left when I'm gone.

 

[Ole_270]

Ian, Hodgdon goes up to 5.4 Universal for 857 FPS in the acp case with a 230 LRN. I’m getting 825 with 5.5 gr. in the 4 5/8” revolver and a bit less in the throated 5” 1911, both with conventional lube. If I remember correctly, you are using an Italian SA so I’ve probably got a little more headroom with the Ruger. That said, neither of my guns shows any stress from the load and it feels fairly mild. Especially in the Ruger

 

[Ole_270]

Fiver, at around a thousand rounds per pound it will take awhile to go through what I have on hand. Especially if primers don’t start showing up more regularly

 

[Ian]

I burn a lot of Universal in the .45 Colt too, after a good bit of experimenting with stuff; it's clean and relatively position tolerant. I just never found a powder that did POORLY in the .45 Colt. Bullseye is one of the best for everything handgun because of its underappreciated but very high gas volume for the charge weight and pressure, you get a LOT of long push for a little pinch of flashy, easy to light stuff. Red Dot and Titegroup, like Clays, just flash off and the pressure craters. Herco, Unique, and Bullseye all push the bullet clear out of the barrel and keep pushing. I think it takes something like 14" of barrel to burn up a full charge of Bullseye in .45 ACP.

 

[Ian]

Ian, Hodgdon goes up to 5.4 Universal for 857 FPS in the acp case with a 230 LRN. I’m getting 825 with 5.5 gr. in the 4 5/8” revolver and a bit less in the throated 5” 1911, both with conventional lube. If I remember correctly, you are using an Italian SA so I’ve probably got a little more headroom with the Ruger. That said, neither of my guns shows any stress from the load and it feels fairly mild. Especially in the Ruger

Yes sir, I powder coat all those so mine can tolerate a little more fuel for same pressure. I have an Uberti 1873, 1911s, couple carbines, M&P automatic but am not into hot-rodding. My all-around load is for both business and pleasure so it needs to be reasonably stout and at 5.3 grains it feels a little bit light.

 

[Winelover]

Brad, any armadillos in your neck of the woods? They can really excavate...........rocks aren't a problem either.

 

[Brad]

No ‘dillos this far north. I am rather thankful for that.

Guy came out to capture the perpetrator and he said classic woodchuck burrow. He did say they are easy to trap. getting most of the dirt back where it belongs will take some work.

 

[Winelover]

 

[Rick]

We've got those armed dillos around here but fortunately not a lot of them. In 8 years I've only seen one on my property and it was climbing inside my BBQ trying to get at the grease pan, not uncommon to see them as road kill though.

 

[Glaciers]

Today I'm finishing the sliding Windows and frame for my shooting shed. 5 small windows in a 8' frame. Will post a picture when installed. Cold clear and beautiful here today. Nice.

 

[Glaciers]

Ian quite goofing around and get healthy. Just back off and let it heal. It's hard for a non-couch potato kind a guy, but you got to.

 

[popper]

Appt with surgeon tomorrow to schedule surgery. Slept most of yesterday. No appetite so far, two nite of good sleep. EMT treated like heart problem, double dose of nitro, bus ride is pretty rough. She was going to take me but got real bad fast so 911. Hosp treated like heart till they got enough data. Symtoms are same as MIL had before she passed away on our sofa.

 

[RBHarter]

Self basting smoked armadillo ?