Had a good day at the McHenry range yesterday. Took the Ruger American in 223, the Ruger PCC 9mm, the Ruger GP100 in 357, the SA Mil-Spec 45 ACP, and the XD9. Shot mostly test loads except for some commercial 9mm to zero the 4x scope on the PCC.
First shots with the PCC were grouping high and right at 25 yards. Made some slight adjustments and now it’s dead on at 50 yards. My reloads with 124 grain FMJ RN over TiteGroup were grouping about an inch at 50 yards. Next came the 223. I was shooting 55 grain FMJ over 24.5 grains of H335 and getting 1” groups at 100 yards. The range was busy and I didn’t want to take the time to run a target out to 150, but pinging the small steel at 170 yards was easy with this rifle and load.
At the pistol range, I first ran some 38 sp loads over the chronograph. I had made some test loads using 158 grain lead and Berry’s plated FP over DuPont 6 and 5066. Brass and powder are from 1966. I used the same powder amounts with the plated rounds as the lead rounds. I started with 3.5 gr of #6 and increased the powder charge by .1 gr to 4.0. With the 5066, I started at 4.3 and increased by .1 gr to 4.8 max. They were accurate and very soft shooting but had erratic speeds. These will need more testing. I’m curious if #6 and 5066 are position sensitive.
Next came about 30 rounds in the Mil-Spec 45 ACP. I was using 230 grain RN over TiteGroup. All of these ran consistently between 825 and 864 FPS. Good grouping but all pushed left of center. I’m pleased with this load but need more range time with this one.
I finished the day with some 124 grain RN and TiteGroup in the XD9, my CCW.
First shots with the PCC were grouping high and right at 25 yards. Made some slight adjustments and now it’s dead on at 50 yards. My reloads with 124 grain FMJ RN over TiteGroup were grouping about an inch at 50 yards. Next came the 223. I was shooting 55 grain FMJ over 24.5 grains of H335 and getting 1” groups at 100 yards. The range was busy and I didn’t want to take the time to run a target out to 150, but pinging the small steel at 170 yards was easy with this rifle and load.
At the pistol range, I first ran some 38 sp loads over the chronograph. I had made some test loads using 158 grain lead and Berry’s plated FP over DuPont 6 and 5066. Brass and powder are from 1966. I used the same powder amounts with the plated rounds as the lead rounds. I started with 3.5 gr of #6 and increased the powder charge by .1 gr to 4.0. With the 5066, I started at 4.3 and increased by .1 gr to 4.8 max. They were accurate and very soft shooting but had erratic speeds. These will need more testing. I’m curious if #6 and 5066 are position sensitive.
Next came about 30 rounds in the Mil-Spec 45 ACP. I was using 230 grain RN over TiteGroup. All of these ran consistently between 825 and 864 FPS. Good grouping but all pushed left of center. I’m pleased with this load but need more range time with this one.
I finished the day with some 124 grain RN and TiteGroup in the XD9, my CCW.
