Sport Pistol?

[Texas10mm]

I've been doing some testing with Alliant Sport Pistol.

I do have a question though. Has anyone gone below the recommended 10% off the max for this powder?

I tried it in both some 9mm loads and some .45 ACP loads and even at 10% below minimum they're still pretty snappy.

 

[JO JO]

thats interesting I tried it in 9mm 124 gr found it to be a soft shooting target round I think I used 4gr would need to check my notes for exact load data

 

[Walkalong]

I do not see why Sport Pistol couldn't be downloaded successfully. It's very similar to other powders that are.

3.9 Grs and an RMR 124 Gr TrFP (Match Winner) @ 1.073 to 1.075 OAL worked very well. That is a bit under minimum for jacketed if you use the 4.4 (124 Gr JHP& 124 Gr GD JHP) & 4.5 (124 Gr FMJ) max loads shown on the Alliant website.

84 Degrees 66% RH 09 of 2018.
3" P-365 4.5" XDm OSP 5" Colt Series 80
HI 976 HI 1069 HI 1095
LO 955 LO 1048 LO 1060
AVG 967 AVG 1059 AVG 1075
ES 21 ES 21 ES 35
SD 10 SD 7 SD 10

Have not tried it in .45 ACP as of yet.

 

[lordpaxman]

Has anyone gone below the recommended 10% off the max for this powder?

Yes. For .45.
Maybe. For 9mm.

I'm usually at a longer COL than the Alliant data, and/or a shorter barrel length. I use what I consider to be the best bullet match (type and weight), but haven't found an exact match yet. Loading for a comfortable PF, for me that's 170 for major, 130 for minor, I'm either close or below the .9*MAX of Alliant data.

 

[Texas10mm]

thats interesting I tried it in 9mm 124 gr found it to be a soft shooting target round I think I used 4gr would need to check my notes for exact load data

I loaded at 3.9 with a 130 gr lead hollow point. Recoil was a bit sharper than the same bullet loaded with WSF.

 

[ATLDave]

Boy, if you can't download it, they really missed their stated target market. Outside of the open gun guys, a very high portion of competitive shooters are using loads below the max-minus-10% that is typically shown for a starting load. But powder in that burn range typically is downloadable.

One way to know: download some, do some test firing (all powder positions) in an environment where you can see/confirm bullet holes as they hit, and go slow so you can deal with it if you stick a bullet in the barrel. Bonus points if you use a chrono and can detect big ES/SD numbers.

 

[Walkalong]

I loaded at 3.9 with a 130 gr lead hollow point. Recoil was a bit sharper than the same bullet loaded with WSF.

That is understandable, faster vs slower powder. Put your self in the group that can feel the difference, some can't.

 

[Ruger 15151]

Although I have done a lot of testing with 9mm, I have found my Sport Pistol loads are almost always the same as my W231/HP38 loads. My favorite 9mm Sport Pistol load is 4.3gr behind a 124 RN @ 1.145.

However, there is a dedicated Sport Pistol thread on THR that should give you additional loads.

Hope this helps.

 

[Alliant Reloading]

I've been doing some testing with Alliant Sport Pistol.

I do have a question though. Has anyone gone below the recommended 10% off the max for this powder?

I tried it in both some 9mm loads and some .45 ACP loads and even at 10% below minimum they're still pretty snappy.

Texas10mm,
I think Sport Pistol(TM) downloads pretty well in my own experience.
In 45 Auto I use 5.0-5.2gr Sport Pistol for at 230gr FMJ. I don't chronograph my loads typically, but the 5.2gr starts to approach typical factory loads, while the 5.0gr is more like 800ft/sec from my 5" 1911.
Attached is a link to Speer data for 45 Auto 230gr FMJ, and we tested Sport Pistol and some other new propellants. We typically set the starting loads in the 10% reduction range (depending on how the system responded), which usually resulted in 70-75% of the SAAMI MAP. For the 45 Auto loads I had the guys run the pressure lower, in the 12,000-13,000psi range so lighter loads could be the starting loads. Sport Pistol responded really well, so the starting load is pretty light.
https://www.speer-ammo.com/download...liber_451-454_dia/45_Automatic_230_TMJ_RN.pdf
Good luck Texas10mm, and enjoy our American made pistol powder. Thank you for trying it.
Shoot well,
Paul

 

[Dudedog]

4.7gr of SP with a RMR 230 plated gave me about 700fps 5" 1911
Nice soft shooting .45 load

 

[Texas10mm]

Texas10mm,
I think Sport Pistol(TM) downloads pretty well in my own experience.
In 45 Auto I use 5.0-5.2gr Sport Pistol for at 230gr FMJ. I don't chronograph my loads typically, but the 5.2gr starts to approach typical factory loads, while the 5.0gr is more like 800ft/sec from my 5" 1911.
Attached is a link to Speer data for 45 Auto 230gr FMJ, and we tested Sport Pistol and some other new propellants. We typically set the starting loads in the 10% reduction range (depending on how the system responded), which usually resulted in 70-75% of the SAAMI MAP. For the 45 Auto loads I had the guys run the pressure lower, in the 12,000-13,000psi range so lighter loads could be the starting loads. Sport Pistol responded really well, so the starting load is pretty light.
https://www.speer-ammo.com/download...liber_451-454_dia/45_Automatic_230_TMJ_RN.pdf
Good luck Texas10mm, and enjoy our American made pistol powder. Thank you for trying it.
Shoot well,
Paul

Thanks.

I'm looking to get down into the same general range that 4.4 gr of WST gives under a 200 gr lead SWC.

 

[alfsauve]

I downloaded Sport Pistol in .38 spl. I got failures to ignite if I didn't tilt the gun up first making sure the powder was near the primer. These were 125gr plated bullets loaded above recommended starting weight. (Not talking Bullseye stuff.)

 

[Walkalong]

I downloaded Sport Pistol in .38 spl. I got failures to ignite if I didn't tilt the gun up first making sure the powder was near the primer.

How low did you go? I have gone pretty low doing powder forward vs powder back testing, even to the point of sticking bullets, but have never had a failure to ignite powder.

I tried 4.5 Grs of Sport Pistol in .357 Mag brass under an X-Treme 158 Gr SWC @ 1.555 to 1.600 OAL. (For some reason I failed to log the temp and humidity, only noted it was sunny. 11-2017, so likely a bit chilly.)

PB numbers were decent compared to many powders. PL numbers were better than many. Good PL numbers is always a good thing.

4" 586-3
6 shots Powder Back Powder Forward Powder Level
HI 788 605 696
LO 687 444 620
AVG 744 553 666
ES 101 161 76
SD 34 58 29

4.0 Grs of Competition under the same bullet/OAL has better PB & PL numbers, it and WST are a couple of the least position sensitive powders at this power/pressure levels that there are.

4" 586-3
6 shots Powder Back Powder Forward Powder Level
HI 758 678 711
LO 678 556 645
AVG 708 665 (-80) 668 (-26)
ES 80 122 66
SD 26 42 22

 

[alfsauve]

[Sorry it took a while to get back to you]

I used 4.0gr of Sport pistol over a Fed 100 primer in .38spl cases. Bullet was Xtreme 125 copper plated truncated cone.
This is only 0.1gr below what Alliant lists as the max load! From a 5" 686 I got 909fps. But I had to make sure the powder was not forward.

Not saying it's a bad powder, but that combination just didn't work for me.