10mm carbine/rifle load

[drsjr1969]

So here are the results of my very first ever attempt at making cartridges. Was not the exact components I wanted to work with but thought I'd share.

First off I berry's 180 gr flat point .401 bullets, Winchester WLP primers, Hodgon H110 and Mixed once fired brass.

Started with 12.0 grains fired from both a 6inch barrel and 16 inch mech tech.
GLOCK         AVG. 936.3 FPS @ 350 FT LBS
MECH-TECH AVG. 1163 FPS @ 541 FT LBS

NEXT 12.5 GRAINS
GLOCK         AVG. 973.6 FPS @ 379 FT LBS
MECH-TECH AVG. 1230.3 FPS @ 605 FT LBS

NEXT 13.0 GRAINS C.O.L. 1.251
GLOCK         AVG. 1035.7 FPS @ 429 FT LBS
MECH-TECH AVG. 1286.3 FPS @ 661 FT LBS

I then fired a couple of rounds off from 2 different 200 gr rounds from PBR and one of the results were AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!
I talked to Anthony from PBR earlier in the week to find out what powder I had in my lot #'s.

PREMIUM LINE 200 GR FMJ - POWDER IS POWER PISTOL
MECH-TECH AVG. 1239 FPS @ 682 FT LBS

V-SUPREME 200 GR FMJ - POWDER IS NO.9
MECH-TECH AVG. 1548 FPS @ 1064 FT LBS

THIS OUT PERFORMED ALL OTHER 200 GR I HAVE EVER FIRED IN THE MECH-TECH AND NO SIGNS OF PRESSURE.

[Intercooler]

  Very nice! The Shadow has been doing a great job doing the pull-downs figuring out the powders. I wish I could get one round of Elite to see what it is 

   I tell The Shadow all the time, #9 will be my main starting powder for 10mm and Magnums when I start reloading.

[drsjr1969]

In my reloading research I saw a lot of H110 and 296 for powder being used  for 44 magnum. I thought I'd try it with a 200 gr in the mech-tech as soon as find some of those bullets. Should work good but that NO.9 for 10mm is great from what I saw.

[The_Shadow]

Here is the Winchester published data of years back...296 being the same as H-110

[Intercooler]

   Cor-Bon used #9 in the old box of 135's I tested, labeled 1450 FPS, they smoked compared to the current stuff labeled 1400 FPS. It also seems impossible to hit the danger zone as easily due to case capacity. It's one of the reasons I like PBR's 200's versus the others.

[The_Shadow]

The reason I posted the Winchester info is you can see the pressure values for the 296 loadings, very low and plenty room pressure wise to load more powder.  I know it takes a good crimp for this powder to be fully ignited and squibs are possible if not! 

[drsjr1969]

Thanks Wade for that find. I had not seen that before but had suspected it was going to work. I need to tighten my crimp for sure and I should be hitting numbers a little high than those for 180 gr since I'm using a 6 inch barrel. At least avg 1000 fps instead of 973.56 fps I got with 12.5 gr.

[The_Shadow]

David, one thing that may help with the slow powders like H-110/296, is if you are using true jacketed projectiles, is using less case mouth expansion, or as little as possible.  Some people actually have the expander die's plug turned or ground slightly smaller diameter, to have an increase in case to bullet tension.  I know that some manufactures use a sealant on their projectiles to also aid in neck tension to prevent setback issues and improved ignition! 

I have wanted to work with the H-110/296 powders but to get the most velocity it will be above that of these printed loadings. 

There are many powders that yield good velocities and do use less propellant, so with these slower powders like IMR4227, Alliant 2400, H-110/296 just haven't peaked my interest enough to pursue loadings.

[DenStinett]

Years ago, I used to use IMR4227 on my 44 Loads
I got good accuracy, but always had issue with unburned Cellulose (Powder Media) Residue left in the Case and Cylinder / Ejector Star, causing Cylinder Rotation issues
I can't imagine that mess getting into the Action of a Semi Auto

[BEEMER!]

I have not tried it, but with a 200 grain bullet I don't think there is enough case capacity to get enough H110/296  into the cartridge to get any kind of reasonable results.  That is why the low pressure in the table.  In fact I can't see it working with any bullet weight.

There isn't enough room in a 454 to get max results with those powderseven.  That low of pressures could even be dangerous possibly.

[drsjr1969]

Is there info about how much pressure is increased using Magnum primers like CCI or Federal?

[The_Shadow]

There is some increase in pressure and it varies by the powder being used by the effect on the powder.  I have directly swapped magnum primers on several loadings for 10mm and never had any issues even with some extreme loads...

Here is some very good data on primers; http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=56422.0;wap2

[sqlbullet]

The effect of primer on pressure also varies a good bit by brand. More than most people realize.

We all hear the advice to reduce by 10% and work up again when swapping a component, but, especially novice loaders, frequently don't.  If you want proof look at all the kabooms you see.  Chances are in many of the cases where someone was shooting a "standard load" they have "loaded a lot of" we would find that the kaboom happened when they had switched out a component without reducing and working back up.

The A-Square company, among many others, has conducted tests on changing just primers.  They tested using the 7mm Remington Magnum, 160 grain Sierra BT over 66.0 grains of Hodgdon H4831. The spreads:

Lowest pressure standard primer to highest pressure magnum changed pressure 12,800 psi.
Standard primer spread, lowest to highest, was 9600 psi
Magnum primer spread, lowest to highest was 8300 psi

The smallest of these spreads would represent a 22% increase in pressure over max in a full power 10mm load.  The biggest is 35%.  And this is in a voluminous 7mm Magnum case compared to our tiny 10mm case.

I imagine there is similar data out there about pistol primers.

Wade has clearly had different experiences than this data would suggest.  It is also worth noting that the pressure spread from the hottest standard primer to the hottest magnum primer was only 3200 psi, and the spread from the hottest standard primer to the lowest magnum primer was -5100 psi.  That is right, The hottest standard LRP was 5100 PSI higher than the lowest LRMP.

My take is you could probably switch from a Winchester LPP to a CCI LPMP and have very little issue.

But, we like to shoot.  Working back up is a great excuse to spend a day or two at the range.  And it keeps you very safe.

[The_Shadow]

Sqlbullet, That was with a high pressure rifle cartridge and that slower burning 66 grain powder charge does benefit from the primers higher brisance to  detonate and ignite more powder quicker. 

With the limited amount of powder that the 10mm has to work with, the pressure effects should never be that great.  There are some that think the magnum primer will actually start the bullet moving, before the powder fully ignites because of the lack of crimp.

[drsjr1969]

very good info guys, thanks a lot. I was reloading last night to see if I can get better results and increasing the powder a little. I may have increased the crimp a little to much because every 3rd or 4th round started showing a slight kink in the case and or rib. I'm thinking that or can that happen from pressing the bullet in too fast? not sure