Disclaimer: Following post lists loads not currently published by Alliant/Hodgdon - Use them at your own risk.
I had to spend most of today doing repairs on our suburban so I did not get to do comparison range test with W231/HP-38, Titegroup and AutoComp but wanted to test WST for 9mmepiphany and continue on with BE-86 testing.
9mm 124 gr RN with Winchester WST / Alliant BE-86:
Determining maximum case fill for RMR 124 gr TP RN:
Because WST can be spikey at higher charges (so I've been told and perhaps why Hodgdon don't publish load data for small case volume 9mm
), I wanted to first calculate the maximum powder fill in the case before I start compressing the powder charges.
I measured several unsized cases and they ranged from .740"-.745". After resizing, they grew to .745"-.750". Since 124 gr RN bullets averaged .680" in length, longer 1.160" OAL/COL was used for greater margin of error and I did a little math:
1) 1.160" (OAL/COL) - .680" (Bullet length) = .480" (Maximum powder case fill)
2) .745" (Shorter resized case length) - .480" (Max case fill) = .265" (Distance from case mouth to top of powder charge in case)
I measured down from case mouth .265" with the end of calipers and 4.0 gr of WST was the maximum powder charge I could fill the case before I start compressing using 1.160" OAL/COL (I did the same with BE-86 and 5.2 gr was max case fill). I was hoping to test 4.3 gr of WST but perhaps on future range test, I may test 4.1/4.2 gr at 1.160" or use longer OAL like 1.165"-1.169".
For BE-86, I referenced Alliant published load data for 125 gr lead RN with 5.7 gr max charge and 124 gr FMJ with 5.8 gr max charge at 1.120" OAL/COL. Since 5.2 gr was max case fill, I figured it was a low enough powder charge to range test, especially at longer 1.160" OAL.
All the test rounds were taper crimped to .377".
Range test:
Glock 22 was used with KKM 40-9 conversion barrel at 25 yards with hands resting on top of a small ice chest. I did load limited number of 4.0 gr WST/5.2 gr BE-86 rounds at shorter 1.140"-1.150" OAL to satisfy my curiosity which I tested at 15 yards.
4.0 gr WST load recoil felt mild (less than my W231/HP-38/Promo reference loads: 115 gr FMJ with 4.8 gr W231/HP-38 at 1.135" OAL, 124 gr FMJ/plated RN with 4.3 gr W231/HP-38 at 1.135" OAL and 124/125 gr lead RN with 4.0 gr Red Dot/Promo at 1.125" OAL) and I did not notice any muzzle flash but the 5.2 gr BE-86 load recoil felt moderate (more than W231/HP-38/Promo loads) and I noticed around 6" muzzle flash.
WST load produced smallest 5-shot group of 1.5" and while BE-86 load produced smallest sub 2" shot group, sub 1" 4-round cluster definitely shows promise as an accurate load.