Read the same article.  I see burnrate and other Accurate data for 357 mag that would indicate about the same burn rate or a touch faster than #9.  If slower than I doubt anyone could pack enough of this ball powder in the case with a 200 grain bullet sitting on top to blow a gun up.

Curious about this powder's potential for reloading topside 10mm with 200 grain bullets.  In general has anyone worked with this powder?

Cases and primers were good, no different than other loads at similar velocities i.e. Longshot, PowerPistol.  There was virtually no leading if any, only the light antimony wash associated with WW alloy.  The Longshot and PP loads showed some leading near the muzzle at similar 1,230-1,250 fps area which tells me that there could be less pressure or at least less pressure during the first part of the barrel.

Went out yesterday and with 11.5 grains of IMR Blue sitting behind 190 grain WFN style Hi-Tek coated wheel weight (12-13 BHN) bullet I worked up some nice results. Pushed out of the 5" RIA 1911 barrel, I was seeing 1,235 to 1,246 fps across the chrono and accuracy was good as I picked off 12 gauge shells at 15 yards off the bench. 

Quote from: sep on July 20 2017 08:33:19 AM MDT
IMR states the following on their web site about Blue vs the competitor, presumably Blue Dot.

"For pistol usage, pistol data is materially different from competitor data with lower charge weights and higher velocities at maximum pressures."
http://www.imrpowder.com/shotpist.html

So, it appears Blue will produce higher velocity with a lower charge weight than Blue Dot. It remains to be seen if it will be any more consistent than Blue Dot at various temperatures as the latest MSDS dated June 2017 states Blue is a double based powder. It will be interesting to see if it will shoot more accurately than Blue Dot?

This is what IMR (Hodgdon) is stating for the entire line of new powders - IMR Target, IMR Red, IMR Green, IMR Unequal, IMR Blue and it is a general statement for each powder.  Through comparison between Alliant Blue Dot and IMR Blue, my chronograph results of 10mm testing indicates that IMR Blue produces less velocity (pressure) vs Alliant Blue Dot when all other variables as such - powder charge, bullet, COAL, reloading techniques etc. are the same.

I would say that is a pretty accurate statement.  I actually think that IMR Blue is a tad slower........at least in 10mm.  I want to see if the IMR version has less flash or not just need to go out early morning or in the evening.

Quote from: The_Shadow on July 19 2017 09:34:02 PM MDT
Robs, Thanks for your report...Based on what I saw from others to include 12ga shotshells it has been very close to the Blue Dot by actually weight not density.  (correct me if I wrong with this statement) 

So I am working with this powder and it shows promise.

Rock Island Ultra 5" model

190 grain WFN plain base Hi-Tek coated
sized to .4015
IMR Blue Powder

9.5 grains - avg. velocity 1135 fps - 30 fps S.D.
10.4 grains - avg. velocity 1165 fps - 26 fps S.D.
11.0 grains - avg. velocity 1,196 fps - 7 fps S.D.


I think I'm about there.  Going to try another few tenths to see what comes of it.  I figure if I'm at 1225 fps to 1250 fps that would be good.  I will note that recoil is milder than Longshot and also not as loud.  I need to shoot at night to see what flash is like with this powder vs Longshot.

Regards to Longshot with 8.2 grains, the same 190 WFN and at 1250 fps the brass looks fine having no signs of pressure with a max or near max load.  I do have a bit of leading with the Longshot load and hoping that IMR Blue will remedy this issue.

Gun make/model: RIA  Ultra FS - 51991
Barrel length: 5"
Group size- Minute of a 12 gauge shotgun shell
Distance to target: 15 yards
Type of hold (Ransom Rest, Sandbag, two-handed, etc): off of a bench - two handed grip over the edge of the bench

Additional information:
Brass:  Starline
Bullet: My own design - WFN plain base (.310" meplat) cast bullet @ 190 grains - Wheel Weight Air Cooled Alloy (12 BHN) - Hi-tek coated
COAL: 1.240"
Bullet diameter: .4015"
Powder: Longshot - 8.2 grains

I am pretty interested in the IMR Blue powder for 10mm loading.  IMR Unequal seems similar to Longshot or Powder Pistol performance so the Blue formula should be a really good one I would think for upper end 10mm loading.

No load data at the moment though.  I wonder if the IMR powder will be less flashy vs Alliant's Blue Dot.

I bent the extractor to provide more tension on the rim of the case and like that I had zero issues since.  So I would say they tuned the extractor for sure.

I posted this review on another forum and figured others who are interested in the RIA 10mm would appreciate this write up. 

Having a 40 caliber mold and an itch to have a 10mm the story begins. Where as I am a 45 ACP fan for life I do appreciate the range the 10mm brings with it and being a person who cast and load my own......... Anyway this round has the ability to deliver light 135 grain bullets at high velocities while also running the other spectrum of 200+ grain bullets above a 45 auto with ease. The RIA 10mm that I received came from the factory already with a 20 pound recoil spring and a 25 pound mainspring unlike the first ones out from the factory some years ago. The only issue I had was the extractor not being tuned tight enough which presented issues with the brass being mangled. A quick tune of the extractor and all was well. The only modification was fitting a flat bottom firing pin stop to help slow the slide for the high end loads. Fit and finish on mine is very well done and to be honest the slide to frame fit is as good as higher end 1911s. I don't know if other 10mm pistols from RIA are fitted this well or not but I am quite happy with the firearm. Trigger is pretty good but I will pull it down and do some polishing to the internals as I do with most all my firearms.

As for reloading, I started out with the Lee 401-175-TC mold I already had and it proved to be a nice, accurate working design. The ramped barrel does provide full case support for top end loads and in my opinion it also helps with feeding of wider meplat bullets. I had Enforcer powder in the reloading room from upper end revolver work so I started there. Reading a lot about 10mm loading, I knew it was on the slow side however having nearly 10 pounds I tried it out. I also didn't have any of other powders which are often used for upper end handloads. None the less I ended at 15 grains of Enforcer running out of case capacity and this produced 1280 fps with the 180 grain Lee TC bullet. A drawback, there was quite a bit of unburnt powder in the barrel. End story, this powder is a touch too slow. This became glaringly evident during a longer range session as enough buildup of unburnt powder created issues chambering i.e. going full battery on later rounds.

I have moved on to a heavier bullet design and had a mold drawn up to my specification. I've always been a person to work on the heavier side of bullet selection for caliber. So off to Tom at Accurate Arms to cut me my envisioned 40-190R mold. It has proven to be a nice WFN style bullet with a secant nose profile. Designed to be seated at 1.240" for my magazines, I have had no issues feeding the bullet in my RIA. I Hi-Tek now-a-days for handgunning and with straight WW alloy this design has done very well. Again Enforcer was a bit too slow and there simply is not enough case capacity to increase past 14 to 14.5 grains which yielded too much unburnt powder etc.

Recently, I turned to running 8.2 grains of Longshot and also worked up 8.3 grains of Power Pistol for the 192 grain WFN bullet. Both loads were MOA of a shotgun shell at around 15-16 yards off a bench when I did my part. The Power Pistol rounds ran in at 1,218 - 1,244 fps while the Longshot rounds yielded 1,238 - 1,247 fps. Both burned well with the Power Pistol burning slightly cleaner however the Longshot loads seemed to have less felt recoil. All in all two very nice handloads. I do lean toward the Longshot load due to less felt recoil and I will need to return to the Lee TC design since I have these different powders to work.

Well after running a few hundred rounds through I found that Enforcer is just a touch too slow.  I don't have enough case volume to build enough pressure to get a clean enough burn that the unburnt powder after time starts to mess with the full chambering of rounds.  I was ending up later on with rounds not going full battery. 

So onto two different powders.  I used 8.3 grains of Power Pistol and 8.2 gains of Longshot.  COAL was at 1.240" with my 190 grain WFN design, Hi-
Tek coated, wheel weight bullet. 

The Power Pistol load was running 1,218 - 1,244 fps and accuracy was very good.

The Longshot load was running 1,238 - 1,247 fps and accuracy also very good.


The Power Pistol load seemed to have more recoil but burned a bit cleaner.  Accuracy for both was MOA of a shotgun shell at 15 to 16 yards off a bench  .  All in all I'm pretty happy with these loads and plan do more testing but I am leaning to the Longshot load. 

I had the same thing happen with my Ultra FS.  I pulled the extractor and tuned for more tension and problems went away.  I'm glad that customer service has been reported to be very good with Rock Island.  My dad had an issue with his 22TCM barrel and it too was taken care of quickly. 

Quote from: Benchrst on March 09 2017 08:04:57 PM MST

Quote from: RobS on March 08 2017 10:03:03 PM MST
Correct.............I have nearly 10 lbs of Enforcer and it's a tick lower than #9

Interesting.

I tried it with 180s @ 1,170 and ran into case expansion (no room left in case, was at 110% of capacity).

Guess I should try it with 200s

I was running 15 grains with the Lee 175 grain TC seated at 1.250" and it maxed out case capacity.

14.5 grains today with the  40-190R grain WFN and I was pushing 1240-1250fps.  There is no more room at 14.5 grains with the current seating depth of 1.240"

Correct.............I have nearly 10 lbs of Enforcer and it's a tick lower than #9