Bulk 230gr FMJ-Kimber Warrior

[Lockback]

I have "aquired" 2000 230gr FMJ bullets, the ones off of Hi-techammo.com and am looking for a load. Lets say I have endless supply of winchester brass, winchester Large Pistol Primers, and Winchester 231, as well as Unique. I dont have a whole lot of time for load development so could someone give a mixture to start me out. I have tried 5.2grs Win 231, win case, and win large pistol primer loaded to 1.25" OAL in the past and had mediocre results. Any help would be appreciated.

Rusty

 

[LngRngShtr]

Re: Bulk 230gr FMJ-Kimber Warrior

Mediocre as in ?

Accuracy ? The idea for maximum accuracy is to not deform the bullet. You can measure the thickness of the brass wall, double it, and then add it to the bullet dia.. The rough formula is: i.e. .010" x 2 = .020" + .451(jacketed) = .471. Remington and Federal SWC heads are .452" ,hence .472". This is not written in stone and in some guns the accuracy difference may not be detectable till you overcrimp and deform the front shoulder.

Reliability ? my OAL is 1.260" this may or may not help accuracy but if the round noses down it is short..

Load? Sadly there is no quick fix other than to run test batches of ammo to see what the gun in question likes, but it doesn't take that much extra time to reset the scale and measure 231 is a bit snappier than Unique IIRC and Unique can be a touch dirtier

John

 

[918v]

Re: Bulk 230gr FMJ-Kimber Warrior

Try 5.5grs and 5.7grs.

 

[Lockback]

Re: Bulk 230gr FMJ-Kimber Warrior

Mediocre as in 5 to 10 yard groups are great. 25 they scatter so much it looked like I went to work with a shotgun and buckshot. Now I am not the best shooter but i've been doing it long enough to know when its my lack of ability or if its the load/weapon I am using. So the problem would be accuracy. Relieability was great, not a single hiccup. Measuring the cases they are .013 and the bullets are .451 so (.013x2)+.451=.476.
Plan to move down to 5.1 and move up in .1 increments to 5.7grs 231. Thanks for the advice so far.

Rusty

 

[LngRngShtr]

Re: Bulk 230gr FMJ-Kimber Warrior

Are we looking for raged one hole groups or 10-ring on an NRA B-27 Silhouette target,A Zone IPSC target,6" plates ?

Load development will help to a point but at 25 yds. Any slop in technique or the tolerances in the gun will start to show at 25. any error will be magnified as range increases. If it was a hand fitted NM gun,Baer,EGW or Clark it would be all the shooter but the out of the box guns can and do have play in them.

I am not knocking your gun or technique here, just trying to rule out the variables.. did you try shooting from a rest to remove as much shooter variable? a Ransom rest if your club has one would be helpful in load development and checking for a repeatable pattern in the gun,ammo, or combination.

What is the "pattern" doing ? vertical stringing? or just all over? vertical stringing would indicate a loose lockup at the rear and all over would point to a barrel bushing, try closing the pistol and then pushing down on the barrel hood/chamber area checking for play and then with the pistol EMPTY hold the slide and with the same hand thumb try to move the barrel if it moves your bushing is loose.

Handgun ammo isn't as finicky as Rifle but it does have it's likes and dislikes you may try some side by side comparisons with Unique or other handgun powders..

I have about 5 Lbs of Winchester Super-Lite for the 10mm and I am hating the day I run out.they discontinued it so I will have to work a new load up for that.

John

 

[Lockback]

Re: Bulk 230gr FMJ-Kimber Warrior

Lol I am not asking for raged holes at 25 out of a pistol. I'll try posting a picture of the target with the HI-tech bullet load and another target shot 5 minutes afterward with a different handload and you'll see why i raised my eyebrows. I shot both off a rest. The barrel has zero play in it,I checked. I know its not a cadillac of pistols, but its always been a shooter.

Rusty

 

[LngRngShtr]

Re: Bulk 230gr FMJ-Kimber Warrior

So we have narrowed it down to either the projectile or the powder charge

I am looking forward to the pics, the other handload was yours? if so then we may need to look closer at the powder or bullet variable as the crimp etc. would be the same if the dies were not changed, except for maybe the seating plug/OAL which doesn't effect accuracy in a .45

Have you weighed a batch of bullets yet to see how consistent they are ? with the earlier post you gave diameter so I take it you measured a few so a sizing inconsistency would have shown there. those 2 factors will trash your accuracy at longer distances even in a handgun..

Once the projectile is deemed consistent then the only variable left is how much and what kind of powder your gun likes with that projectile...

John

Again please don't take any of this as a bash on your gear or equipment just trying to whittle down the variables to see what caused the patterning instead of the grouping.

 

[Rookie]

Re: Bulk 230gr FMJ-Kimber Warrior

6gr of Unique has always worked good for me.

 

[jdgray]

Re: Bulk 230gr FMJ-Kimber Warrior

3.8gr Clays is my tackdriver load with 230gr FMJ.

Good luck!