My first adventure in chrono-land

[Wyatt Earp]

Man, it was bitterly cold here today, but it was dry and sunny and that was enough to get me out of the house to play with my new toy.

My main goal today was to chrono my IDPA loads for the first time to see where I am.

Lead bullets are a lot faster than plated bullets, I found out.

Here's my results from today:
Bullet: 158 hard cast SWC from local bullet maker
Case: various
Primer: Federal Champion Small Pistol
Powder: 5.0 gr W231
Firearm: S&W 64-5. 4" barrel
Temperature: 25 F
MV (12 ft from muzzle): 842, 836, 818, 854, 828, 823, 828, 860, 828, 844
Mean: 836
SD: 14
Range: 42
PF: 132,109 (based on mean MV)

I might be able to drop .1 grain and stay above PF during the warmer months.

The same exact load (under the same conditions) with a Berry's 158 gr plated RN bullet yielded unsatisfactory results with a 10 shot average of 684 fps and a 30 fps std deviation. The bulk of my .38 Special reloads are even weaker, with 4.6 grains of W231 and a plated bullet.

From now on I am sticking with lead bullets.

I also chronoed loads with a 158 gr LSWC and SR 4756 from 5.0 to 5.4 grains and the results were terrible. MVs which barely broke 700 fps and lots of unburned powder left in the cases. That stuff may become fertilizer come spring. Or I may wait until warmer weather comes around and try something in the 6.0 to 6.5 grain range using lead SWCs.

I also tested my mild .44 Magnums using 6.5 grains of W231 and a 250 grain Keith-style SWC. Average MV was 694 fps with a SD of 17 fps.

 

[Wyatt Earp]

Man, it was bitterly cold here today, but it was dry and sunny and that was enough to get me out of the house to play with my new toy.

My main goal today was to chrono my IDPA loads for the first time to see where I am.

Lead bullets are a lot faster than plated bullets, I found out.

Here's my results from today:
Bullet: 158 hard cast SWC from local bullet maker
Case: various
Primer: Federal Champion Small Pistol
Powder: 5.0 gr W231
Firearm: S&W 64-5. 4" barrel
Temperature: 25 F
MV (12 ft from muzzle): 842, 836, 818, 854, 828, 823, 828, 860, 828, 844
Mean: 836
SD: 14
Range: 42
PF: 132,109 (based on mean MV)

I might be able to drop .1 grain and stay above PF during the warmer months.

The same exact load (under the same conditions) with a Berry's 158 gr plated RN bullet yielded unsatisfactory results with a 10 shot average of 684 fps and a 30 fps std deviation. The bulk of my .38 Special reloads are even weaker, with 4.6 grains of W231 and a plated bullet.

From now on I am sticking with lead bullets.

I also chronoed loads with a 158 gr LSWC and SR 4756 from 5.0 to 5.4 grains and the results were terrible. MVs which barely broke 700 fps and lots of unburned powder left in the cases. That stuff may become fertilizer come spring. Or I may wait until warmer weather comes around and try something in the 6.0 to 6.5 grain range using lead SWCs.

I also tested my mild .44 Magnums using 6.5 grains of W231 and a 250 grain Keith-style SWC. Average MV was 694 fps with a SD of 17 fps.

 

[Cary]

I've had a chronograph for several years now. It is an interesting tool to use with my shooting hobby. I can measure the results from the changes I make in my loads and use those results to improve on the loads. Enjoy it.
Cary

 

[Erich]

As you've learned, presently published .38 Special loads with SR 4756 are too pathetic to bother with. Be a shame to throw away the powder, though - the stuff is amazing at the right pressures.

 

[Wyatt Earp]

Originally posted by Erich:
Be a shame to throw away the powder, though - the stuff is amazing at the right pressures.

I know, I know.

It's like I have a little angel on one shoulder telling me to stick with published loads and a little devil on the other telling me "if it ain't up to speed, it ain't up to pressure".

The engineer that I am tends to agree with the little devil. A bullet's friction coefficient is what it is and it takes a given pressure to get it to move at a certain speed, or so it seems.

I think I'm going to wait for warmer weather and peruse the mother of all reloading threads again, along with its many spawn on this forum.

 

[JohnK]

a little devil on the other telling me "if it ain't up to speed, it ain't up to pressure".

I'll pretty much agree with that.

I've been reloading for 45 years, and you learn something every day.

I finally figured out (thru my chronograph), that my old lot (late 60's) of Green Dot, was a LOT slower than current lots.

It takes a 1/2 grain, or more, in .38 Special loads, to get back up to expected velocity levels.

Back then, we had a military friendly supplier that sold us powder for $ 0.75 per pound. I have a LOT of Green Dot.

 

[Gatofeo]

I bought my first chronograph in 1996.
Dead of winter. Clarkston, Washington. 14 inches of snow on the ground and the entire city at a standstill.
And then the chronograph shows up.
It was torture, not being to get out and try it at the local gravel pit.
Then I noticed a huge snow berm by my driveway, courtesy of the snow plow.
Hmmmmm ...
My father was visiting at the time.
I grabbed my old Daisy BB gun, set up the chronograh and shot into the snowbank.
Worked great for familiarizing me with it, and I was out of view of the neighbors.
Those BBs registered between 202 and 204 fps but it was enough of a difference to tell me the chronograph worked.
So, if you just want to familiarize yourself with the new toy, a bright hallway or garage, BB or pellet gun and bullet trap of a boxful of newspapers or carpet scraps will get you going.
Sure beats shivering in the cold.

 

[OKFC05]

As you have found, using 158gr plated bullets requires going to a +P with 231 for IDPA; that's what I shoot, and it works fine.
When trying to shoot quickly, lube smoke becomes a nuisance.

 

[Wyatt Earp]

Originally posted by OKFC05:
As you have found, using 158gr plated bullets requires going to a +P with 231 for IDPA; that's what I shoot, and it works fine.
When trying to shoot quickly, lube smoke becomes a nuisance.

I never found the smoke from lead bullets to be a problem in seeing the targets. It just makes my pistol messier.

I am switching back to lead due to cost. I can buy 1000 lead cast bullets for just a little over the cost of 500 plated ones.