I inventoried Ammo friday before the range session Sat. A.M. I got the 1-year membership out of the way. I ended up with
2 Full Moon Clips - Blazer 230 gr. FMJ
1 Full Moon clip - Rem UMC1185 gr. FP-FMJ 1,015 FPS
along with 3 of them being mixed half
and half in another clip of 230 gr Speer GDHP
1 full moon - Win 230 gr. SXT
2 half-moons - CorBon 185 gr. JHP +P @ 1150
&
2 Full Moons of Hornady +P 200 gr. XTPs @ 1,055 fps

Then I loaded to HKS Speedloaders of
225 gr. Barnes XPB HP @ $ 1.25 each

Decided the 625 would be referred to as
El Kah Bong - I warmed up with the 617
5 x 10 shot cyl. later I had did some with 5 x Double Taps after SA, and slow DA.

I shot the odd assortment of odds and ends, The Barnes 225 gr. was the heaviest recoil but very manageable with the 45 oz N-frame and it's Guy Hogue Rosewood Full size with checkering. I saved the Hornady for last - I could tell they were +P but seemed to have less muzzle flip. Ptetty much put a double fisted hole through the target - I added 100+ rounds of 9MM MOstly different brands of 115 gr. FMJ 2nd session with a CZ 75B.

I hope this isn't a duplicate post, I think I posted something on the 1911Forum yesterday. Afterwards we stopped at Lolo SPorting Goods, I got two boxes of training ammo, Speer Lawman, 200 gr. TMCJ and Federal 165 gr. TMC 50 rds each, both bullets have flat points - I'll check online and see about velocity. I also p got 20 rds of 230 gr. Speer GDHP I also told the kid behind the counter to order up a
half dozen boxes of the Hornady 200 gr. +P XTP, since I bought what they had in stock last tiime He asked if I wanted to pay for it and I said no but I'll be by every 2 weeks or so and buy two boxes each time I drop in, deal?? Deal. Kewl.

I like the longer barreled 625 and 617 - always
very enjoyable range time.

Randall

Did you chrono the Barnes 225 gr. XPB or Speer 230 gr. GDHP? I have both for handloading in the 625 and am curious how close to 1000 fps they are in factory loads.

Dave Sinko

No, but I will some time this spring, I got the 225 gr. Barnes XPB HP from
Reeds Ammunition & Research
Oklahoma CIty, OK. I'll arrange a
chrono session out at my Gunsmith/Dealer's
place. He has a place 5 miles east of
the nearest town, with a Paintball range
He loves recovering bullets. I've also got
some .45 AUto Rim 200 gr. SWC from Leadhead
supposed to be hardcast I want to see how close
they are to my spec'd 1,025 FPS load. I'll do
thje 200 gr. Hornady XTP @ 1,055 FPS as a guage as a writer chrono'd it at that and factory claim is 1,085 FPS Maybe soak up a big pile of newspapers/magazines.

I would really like to know what powder Reed's uses with that 225 gr. XPB. That bullet needs to be seated VERY deeply into the case to be crimped properly in the crimping groove. I tried some yesterday that were taper crimped long (out of the crimping groove) and they were starting to pull out by the sixth round in the cylinder. Not enough to tie up the gun, but still enough to be concerned. What is best? I believe 2400 would be way too slow. Maybe Power Pistol would work? There's a very fine line here and these bullets are way too expensive for me to keep experimenting.

Dave Sinko

David, I don't know how well it would work on a solid copper bullet, but I use a Lee factory crimp die and it will squeeze a crimp right into the side of plated and jacketed bullets. Perhaps a different crimping die would get rid of your problem?

I have a Factory Crimp Die in my 650 so I guess I can try it. I see that Reed's also loads the 250 gr. XPB into the Auto Rim. This is an even longer bullet and it looks like they still seat this down to the crimp groove. With this bullet there is very little room for powder and frankly I'm surprised this combination even works at all. I'm curious to know what kind of velocity these rounds produce and which powder can do it. These bullets are frightfully expensive and I dare not experiment. I guess that's why they're selling them and I am not!

Dave Sinko

A fun report Blindjustice and interesting findings. I enjoy handloading the Auto Rim cartridge. It's quite capable of managing most any handgun chore and is a lot of fun to shoot.