45 ACP and Universal. Load check.

[Josh45]

I bought some Universal for trying out in a few calibers. Seeing as I can use it in 45 ACP, I am about to load some up under a 185 GR XTP bullet.

Looking thru my Lee manual and a Speer #13 manual, I noticed that the starting charge is a bit higher than what is on the website or on the bottle. I also notice that the data is for a JSWC. Even the OAL listed on the bottle and the site was different IIRC.

What I have loaded so far is these 10 rounds of 45 ACP with 6.0 GR of Universal as it say's on Hodgdon website as a start charge. Not much room considering it's max say's 6.4 on the bottle.

The Lee second editon ( not revised ) says the start charge for a 185 GR jacketed bullet is 6.8 GR.

Mostly I know most members would tell me to work low or to use the data that the powder company as listed which is the way Im going with so far.

For those of you who have used it, What is the big gap between start charge on the site and the manual? Is this load right or is it way to low? What am I missing here?

My combo is as follow

Case - PMC
Bullet - Hornady 185 GR XTP
Powder - Universal
Charge - 6.0
Primer - CCI 300
OAL 1.225

 

[danbowkley]

It's quite possible that someone worked up a max load, knocked it down by 10% and published that; then someone else came along, saw their number, knocked 10% off and published it, and so on. If you start off at the lowest published number and work up in 0.1 or 0.2 grain increments, scouting for pressure signs along the way (and being wary of squibs on the low end of things) you'll do fine. I generally do a plastic box of 50 rounds, with ten sets of five rounds each starting with the lowest and going up in small increments. Shoot a five round group, see how it performs, and only if everything is kosher do I move up to the next one. Pretty hard to blow yourself up this way.

I run 6.5 of Universal under a 185gr XTP sometimes, and that runs quite well, if a bit on the light side.

 

[Josh45]

I do what you do sometimes when it comes to new powders. I usually load up 5 rounds with the start charge and make another 5 with a 0.2 GR increase.

The numbers you show listed for your data is 0.1 GR over max by Hodgdon number. But under the Lee manual and what not.

I will shoot these and see how they fair.

 

[sourdough44]

Your load at 6.0 sounds reasonable. A chronograph is helpful too evaluating a load. A biggie with a semi-auto is how well thay cycle, can have problems with some powders at starting loads(not necessarily your stated load). It's good to just load the 10 & try them out before you go gonzo with a stockpile.

Less precise indicators can be brass ejection, blast, & recoil, compared to similar factory loads(no chony available). I did emphesize less precise.