CFE Pistol chrono data

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Morne
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CFE Pistol chrono data

Post by Morne »

So a little while ago I was wandering around FFF and decided to finally snag a pound of CFE Pistol powder. Figured I would use it with my plated/jacketed bullets.

I loaded up a ladder for .38 Special and am not overjoyed with the results:

***CHRONY DATA***

49 F, 29.97" Hg, 58%RH

.38 Special 158-gr X-Treme CPSWC 1.451-1.463" COAL CCI-500SPP
Ruger GP-100 with 4" barrel

CFE Pistol Powder:
4.6-gr - AVERAGE = 653 fps - ES = 97.1 - SD = 35.5
4.8-gr - AVERAGE = 662 fps - ES = 65.9 - SD = 25.9
5.0-gr - AVERAGE = 683 fps - ES = 82.2 - SD = 32.2

These are all slower than my W-231 and Red Dot loads. Same decently good crimp using Lee FCD. They also seem to be less consistent in terms of velocity. Only the 5.0-gr load seems even close to what I want in terms of average velocity.

Am I doing something wrong? This is the whole range that Hodgdon recommends for .38 Special. Going above this goes into "+P" range. Since I do own a couple of old .38 Special revolvers I never make "+P" loads in .38 Special brass; for that I just switch over to .357 Mag brass and data.
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Morne
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Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:01 pm
Location: Wayne County

Re: CFE Pistol chrono data

Post by Morne »

***CHRONY DATA***

55 F, 30.06" Hg, 34%RH

.44 Special 200-gr Hornady XTP 1.476-1.480" COAL CCI-300SPP
Taurus 44 with 6.5" ported barrel

CFE Pistol Powder:
6.6-gr - AVERAGE = 798 fps - ES = 51.8 - SD = 19.4
7.0-gr - AVERAGE = 826 fps - ES = 87.6 - SD = 34.2

These shot nice and soft. Not sure what, if any, significance there is to the ES/SD in this data. Since this was from a 6.5" barrel I imagine I will prefer the higher velocity so as to be sure to still be comfortably above the 700 fps floor even from a snubby.
Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Footsoldier in the Conservative Insurrection of the GOP.

Remember, only you can prevent big government!
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