I'm looking to possibly do better than power pistol for my deer loads but am looking for your opinions on other powders. I have some long shot, blue dot, and a little aa7 but would rather stick with the first two. Out of power pistol, blue dot and long shot which one would be the most consistent in temperature changes from 80 down to below freezing? Thanks!
Well in some years past Blue Dot had a cold temperature warning below zero...Never seen any thing since.
Haven heard anything about LongShot.
What Power Pistol loads are you working with?
For the most part the temp will be between 40-60 and I have played a lot with power pistol over the years. I was using hard cast 180gr bullets a friend made in Winchester brass, WLP, 8.5gr PP, and 1.252 COAL, and light crimp (chrono fairly consistently just above 1300fps). I enjoyed this load and was very happy with how well I shot with it.
That said, my buddy is getting out of casting and I have no desire to add that to my loading hobby. I have picked up 180gr XTPs along with 200gr XTPs and Nosler Sport HPs. I will use either Winchester or Starline brass and just trying to figure out the logistics with a new load too close to hunting season.
I have a low stock of the WLP but plenty of CCI LPs and 500 CCI magnum primers. I am happy with Power Pistol but definitely am looking forward to your guys experience with any and all of these items.
Yea, that's cool! I use 8.4 grains of Power Pistol under the 200gr XTP's I sent Intercooler one to test here is what he got;
Hornady 200gr XTP HP 8.4gr's Power Pistol rated 1250 FPS in JAG brass. 1195 FPS/ 634 LBS. Pretty good power.
You can look over the pull-down section of the commercial ammo, where powder and charge weights are shown for many like Underwood and Double Tap.
Best regards! :D
With some playing around I think I'll stay with power pistol for this season. What seemed to be the best shooting was 8.3 gr with the nosler 200gr hp seated to about 1.251 with a CCI LPP. I had an average of 1257fps about 2 yards from the muzzle.
For fun I shot 5 tmj 180gr underwoods through the chrono and was surprised to see a 100fps variance between the high and low of those 5. Granted it was mix morning without any clouds but never got an error or that big of a spread during my own rounds.
Either way I'm hoping to try the noslers out this year to compare to how well hard cast has worked in the past.