Pistol OCW test/results/observations

[Mike402]

Well my HS6 supply ran dry, so I was forced to choose another powder. I switched to Titegroup and decided to try running an OCW test on it, much like you would for rifles. Originally I just matched velocity to Winchester .40 s&w factory ammo for my HS6 loads, but this time around I wanted to see if I could find an 'optimal' load for my pistol. I was also curious about how much the powder charge affects pistol accuracy/POI, and since I haven't seen much info out there, thought I would give it a go. Credit goes to Dan Newberry & his OCW methodology, which has worked wonders in my rifles.

Pistol is a Sig X5 competition model w/ Docter red dot (pic below).




Used a pistol rest to try & take shooter error out of equation. All groups shot at 25 yards. All charges individually trickled & weighed. Orange targets are 2'' in diameter. Outdoor conditions w/ 5-8mph winds.

First up was Titegroup & 165gr FMJ bullets from Everglades Ammo. This is a bulk bullet & I wasn't expecting great things. I shot four 4 shot groups round robin style, charges ranging from 4.6 - 4.9gr. Here are the results:




Next up was Titegroup & 155 Hornady XTP bullets. I expected these to do better than the FMJs, since the cost puts them in the premium bullet category. Same four 4 shot groups from 4.8 - 5.1




Overall I was quite surprised at the difference in group size in going .1 grain increments. It was obvious my gun likes lighter charges, at least with respect to accuracy. I'm happy about that, since the Docter sight will not have to continually endure hot loads. All rounds cycled perfectly. Good thing is that you are really limited with seating depth in the .40, so one less thing to have to experiment with.

Little frustrated b/c with both bullets I could have had a one hole group at the lower end of the charge ranges, but had flyers each time. Can't say for sure whether it was me (but most likely was). Want to retest whether 1st round from magazine and manual slide release has a different POI from rounds subsequently chambered automatically from firing gun. I was pretty impressed with the Everglade 165 FMJ's, and will be using those going forward for paper/steel due to the performance/cost. I'm going to retest 4.6 & match prep 25 pieces of brass to see if I can hit that elusive one hole group @ 25. Also want to experiment with 50 - 75 - 100 yard groups. Overall I'm very happy with the accuracy of my Sig. Can't wait to ring the 100 yard steel targets with these loads!

Other interesting thing was that POI remained relatively the same for all charges & bullet weights, only group size varied.

So there you have it. If you ever wondered whether it was worth it or not to run an OCW test for a pistol, it certainly was for me

 

[JoshcBoucher]

Nice pistol. I did kinda what you did but more of a "function" test, recently. I wanted some lighter loads that wouldn't beat my guns up. I ended up at 4 grains Titegroup behind a 180 plated, for my .40's. A few years ago, I did an accuracy test for my .45 autos. I found that my guns liked bare lead bullets for accuracy. Moved to the plated, for leading control, and that's what I use now. I bought a thousand for about $120. Might want to try the plated, and save some cash. Nice shooting, by the way.

 

[Twoboxer]

Nice work! Could be lower barrel temp affecting that first shot? Might try 5 rounds, first round at a separate target or ignore it.

 

[Mike402]

Nice pistol. I did kinda what you did but more of a "function" test, recently. I wanted some lighter loads that wouldn't beat my guns up. I ended up at 4 grains Titegroup behind a 180 plated, for my .40's. A few years ago, I did an accuracy test for my .45 autos. I found that my guns liked bare lead bullets for accuracy. Moved to the plated, for leading control, and that's what I use now. I bought a thousand for about $120. Might want to try the plated, and save some cash. Nice shooting, by the way.

I love Titegroup since it doesn't spill out of the case when indexing in my LnL AP. Just a little scary since there isn't a large margin of error w/ the charge drops. I haven't tried loading out of the powder dropper yet, so hopefully it stays within at least .2 grains.

Yea these Everglades are a true jacketed bullet. They are going for $79/500 (although OOS at the moment). May I ask what brand of bullet you use?

 

[Mike402]

Nice work! Could be lower barrel temp affecting that first shot? Might try 5 rounds, first round at a separate target or ignore it.

That's possible on the very first shot, but I went through the entire thing round robin style, so that wouldn't explain the later groups. I loaded a total of two mags with each successive charge weight in the same order as I shot them on the target.

Next time around I'm gonna do five 5 shot groups, all same charge weight & see what that gets me. As per your suggestion, 1st round I'll fire at the ground just to remove all doubt.

 

[Dan Newberry]

Mike, great report, thanks for sharing this. I get a lot of questions as to how well OCW will work with handgun loads, and I'll now have your article here to add to the evidence.

Dan

 

[JoshcBoucher]

I love Titegroup since it doesn't spill out of the case when indexing in my LnL AP. Just a little scary since there isn't a large margin of error w/ the charge drops. I haven't tried loading out of the powder dropper yet, so hopefully it stays within at least .2 grains.

Yea these Everglades are a true jacketed bullet. They are going for $79/500 (although OOS at the moment). May I ask what brand of bullet you use?

I didn't do any "shopping", for price. Just walked into Cabelas. They had Raniers. New store to our area and I HAD to see what they had.I also use Berry's . nice thing about the lighter loading is I don't worry about a .2 grn. variation hurting my gun. For full loads, I get picky. I use an RCBS powder drop, and it throws pretty well. Within 1/2 grn., usually, when it isn't dead on. I check every 10 th round, or so, when I'm cruising through lite loads. Unique varies more than the Titegroup. I wanted to try 231, but couldn't find any. Supposedly it's a good "ball" powder, which meters better. When I use the ball powders for .223,I get no noticeable variation, even throwing 500 or more rounds at a session. My recent test was only for function. Last yr., I got my kid an HK .45 I made up 50O of my Colt pet load, and put the box under the tree. They wouldn't function in his gun. His Dept. Just approved the use of the .40, so he got an HK P30. Hence the test.