muddocktor
Member
Hey everyone, I went to the range and tried out some of the Shooter's World Heavy Pistol powder today and ran it under my CE Pro Digital chrono and figured I would share some data and my feelings about the powder. I bought the powder when Midsouth was running a free hazmat offer when ordering SW powder and I ordered a pound of it to try out.
Some background data for you: First, load data is fairly limited for this powder as far as I can see. You can download some data from the SW website as well as from the Explosia website, who is the actual manufacturer of the powder. Shooter's World is the importer, not the manufacturer. And depending on what data you use, you find data conforming to SAAMI standards (Shooter's World with a 35k psi cutoff) or C.I.P. standards (Explosia with a 45k psi cutoff). I decided to load toward the higher end of the SAAMI standards and go from there later on. I also loaded some ammo with Alliant 2400 loaded to the higher end of the Alliant load data as a comparative powder.
For the SW powder, they show a max load of 12.1-12.2 grains of Heavy Pistol powder, depending on which 158 grain bullet you choose to use the data from. I decided to run an even 12.0 grains. Their downloadable pdf file also has in the description of this powder that it performed well with regular primers and didn't need to run a magnum primer, so that jived with using regular small pistol primers in my 2400 loads like Alliant recommends. I used CCI 500 primers in both loads.
For the 2400 loads, I went with 14.5 grains of 2400, as I have found that to be a safe but potent load with 158 grain bullets. It was also loaded with CCI 500 primers.
Both were loaded using Zero brand .357 diameter 158 grain JHP bullets. Their quality is high, especially for the price you pay for them.
Getting the chrono data was a bit of a bear to get today. With clear skies, my CE Pro chrono was a bit temperamental, and it was also having interference problems with powder and gas ejection along with the bullets until I moved it around 15 feet away from the bench. I did end up with some good data finally with both these loads and I feel confident with this data.
The physical properties of the Heavy Pistol powder lend themselves to accurate volumetric measuring on my Dillon RL-450. The powder is a fine to very fine ball powder and dispensed very accurately. The only detrimental thing I noted with it was that my powder measure leaked a few grains out through the slides when dispensing. Other than that, no problems.
Wen shooting the 2 loads, I found that the 2400 loads to be much "boomier" than the Heavy Pistol. SW advertises that heavy Pistol has a flash suppressant and I didn't notice any flash to speak of, but with the bright day even the 2400 loads weren't flashy. Subjectively, it feels much like Accurate #9 to me, even though I didn't directly compare them.
The pistol I tested them with is my 4" barrel 28-2. It's a real sweetheart.
Now on to the data. First up will be my 2400 loads. The heavy Pistol data will follow under it.
Case: PMC
Bullet: Zero .357 dia. 158 JHP
Powder: Alliant 2400 - 14.5 grains
Primer: CCI 500
Shot string size: 12 shots
Average Velocity:1276 ft/sec
Extreme Spread: 8 ft/sec
Standard Deviation: 2 ft/sec
Power factor average: 201
Power factor Low: 200
Power factor High: 202
Case: WW Super
Bullet: Zero .357 dia. 158 JHP
Powder: Shooter's World heavy Pistol - 12.0 grains
Primer: CCI 500
Shot string size: 12 shots
Average Velocity:1269 ft/sec
Extreme Spread: 15 ft/sec
Standard Deviation: 4 ft/sec
Power factor average: 200
Power factor Low: 199
Power factor High: 201
The temperature on both runs was 75 degrees. It was a real pretty day at the range.
As you can see, both powders performed real well for me and the loads are very comparable in power. I was extremely impressed with both powder's ability to give me low ES and standard deviations.
My take from today is that the Shooter's World Heavy pistol powder looks to be a real keeper, especially when you can find a free hazmat deal like I did when I bought his one. I have also been loading and shooting some of their other powders such as Clean Shot, Ultimate Pistol and Auto Pistol and I've been impressed with them too. All have metered very well and I've run into no problems with them in 9 MM and 45 Auto for the other 3 powders. I hope this thread will help everyone out if you are on the fence about trying some of these powders out.
Jim G.
Some background data for you: First, load data is fairly limited for this powder as far as I can see. You can download some data from the SW website as well as from the Explosia website, who is the actual manufacturer of the powder. Shooter's World is the importer, not the manufacturer. And depending on what data you use, you find data conforming to SAAMI standards (Shooter's World with a 35k psi cutoff) or C.I.P. standards (Explosia with a 45k psi cutoff). I decided to load toward the higher end of the SAAMI standards and go from there later on. I also loaded some ammo with Alliant 2400 loaded to the higher end of the Alliant load data as a comparative powder.
For the SW powder, they show a max load of 12.1-12.2 grains of Heavy Pistol powder, depending on which 158 grain bullet you choose to use the data from. I decided to run an even 12.0 grains. Their downloadable pdf file also has in the description of this powder that it performed well with regular primers and didn't need to run a magnum primer, so that jived with using regular small pistol primers in my 2400 loads like Alliant recommends. I used CCI 500 primers in both loads.
For the 2400 loads, I went with 14.5 grains of 2400, as I have found that to be a safe but potent load with 158 grain bullets. It was also loaded with CCI 500 primers.
Both were loaded using Zero brand .357 diameter 158 grain JHP bullets. Their quality is high, especially for the price you pay for them.
Getting the chrono data was a bit of a bear to get today. With clear skies, my CE Pro chrono was a bit temperamental, and it was also having interference problems with powder and gas ejection along with the bullets until I moved it around 15 feet away from the bench. I did end up with some good data finally with both these loads and I feel confident with this data.
The physical properties of the Heavy Pistol powder lend themselves to accurate volumetric measuring on my Dillon RL-450. The powder is a fine to very fine ball powder and dispensed very accurately. The only detrimental thing I noted with it was that my powder measure leaked a few grains out through the slides when dispensing. Other than that, no problems.
Wen shooting the 2 loads, I found that the 2400 loads to be much "boomier" than the Heavy Pistol. SW advertises that heavy Pistol has a flash suppressant and I didn't notice any flash to speak of, but with the bright day even the 2400 loads weren't flashy. Subjectively, it feels much like Accurate #9 to me, even though I didn't directly compare them.
The pistol I tested them with is my 4" barrel 28-2. It's a real sweetheart.
Now on to the data. First up will be my 2400 loads. The heavy Pistol data will follow under it.
Case: PMC
Bullet: Zero .357 dia. 158 JHP
Powder: Alliant 2400 - 14.5 grains
Primer: CCI 500
Shot string size: 12 shots
Average Velocity:1276 ft/sec
Extreme Spread: 8 ft/sec
Standard Deviation: 2 ft/sec
Power factor average: 201
Power factor Low: 200
Power factor High: 202
Case: WW Super
Bullet: Zero .357 dia. 158 JHP
Powder: Shooter's World heavy Pistol - 12.0 grains
Primer: CCI 500
Shot string size: 12 shots
Average Velocity:1269 ft/sec
Extreme Spread: 15 ft/sec
Standard Deviation: 4 ft/sec
Power factor average: 200
Power factor Low: 199
Power factor High: 201
The temperature on both runs was 75 degrees. It was a real pretty day at the range.
As you can see, both powders performed real well for me and the loads are very comparable in power. I was extremely impressed with both powder's ability to give me low ES and standard deviations.
My take from today is that the Shooter's World Heavy pistol powder looks to be a real keeper, especially when you can find a free hazmat deal like I did when I bought his one. I have also been loading and shooting some of their other powders such as Clean Shot, Ultimate Pistol and Auto Pistol and I've been impressed with them too. All have metered very well and I've run into no problems with them in 9 MM and 45 Auto for the other 3 powders. I hope this thread will help everyone out if you are on the fence about trying some of these powders out.
Jim G.
