So I am in process of loading up my ammo for the year and I swapped projectiles from Precision Delta to RMR 124 MPR "nukes" - basically a round nose JHP. Only reason not sticking with Precision Delta is RMR seems to have more availability.
I took the first 100 rounds or so off the press to the range yesterday to chrono and accuracy test. Accuracy seems about the same as the Precision Deltas - which is excellent - but what I have noticed is that the chrono is inconsistent. A 10 shot group - at the muzzle had an extreme spread of 61 FPS - ranging from 1398.9 to 1337. My current load is 9.5 grains of Shooters World Major Pistol with CCI Small Pistol Primer - Magnum (SPPM) (that's what was available and I like how CCIs make the press run more than anything else - they're more consistently round - less issues with primers turning).
Some of this could be due to mixed headstamp brass - but I really think most of it is due to unburned powder - as evidenced by the flecks of soot/powder all over the bench when I am done with a session. At the press the charge weights are super consistent +/- .1 grains on a 9.5 charge weight shouldn't result in huge variances.
So there are two options to make this powder work - experiment with Small Rifle Primers (SRP) - which seem to throw sparks deeper into the case - a buddy shooting 38 super comp recently reported that he picked up 5 FPS using 3n38. So I may dumb down the load to like 9 grains and try the SRP and see what I get.
The other option - which I'm leaning towards - is using a slightly faster burning powder - for a couple reasons. The recent video I did testing ammo for a compensated gun had me realizing that what if what's true with single port comps is true with these big honking comps? Realizing this is an election year - we have until about mid year to get about 2 years worth of components - the only powders available in 8# jugs at the time were Winchester Autocomplete (WAC) or Winchester 572 - which - based on burn rate - is similar to WAC - which has a much lower charge weight for major velocities. If you're not familiar with the website natoreloading.com - it's simply one of the best for information on different powders. WAC seems to get the job done at about 7-ish grains. 572 seems to be similar in that it's like 6.5 grains to make major velocities. The main reason I'm interested in it is per NATO reloading - it doesn't seem to want to go over pressure. I'm curious if the smaller volume of gas is going to reduce the amount of gas bleeding out the escape port at the end of the comp and maximizing the first two ports on the comp which is what is ultimately doing the job.
More testing is required - I have Major Pistol to get through - on my last 8# jug so the goal is two fold - #1 making Major Pistol perform more consistently (please SRP!) and #2 develop a more optimum load. Last I heard - Major Pistol is no longer available but Alliant Accurate #7 is very similar.
This is all testing that should have been done when I started shooting open - but in that environment it was COVID and I had to take what I could get - which was a big order of a suitable 9 major powder. Initially it was HS6 - but I blew up 3 cases so I swung too far the other way.
So there's it happening - it was a good stage up until that point . You can actually see the issue starting as the gun hangs out of batter entering the position which forced me to rack a round out to get it back into battery - which I handled well. This sequence was paper, mini popper, mini popper activator, distant open target, bobber (didn't engage), partial (didn't engage) - so I ate 4 mikes and 2 procedurals right there. And it still was a 3.44 hit factor.
The good news so now the guns working I look forward to two days of mayhem!
Below - you can see a shock buff - it's a washer, basically that threads onto the guide rod. The theory of what a shock buff does is it alleviates some of the impact when the slide opens all the way - they're usually made out of Delrin or rubber or whatever but this one is aluminum and was supposed to be maintenance free. It kind of compresses the spring a bit more since you don't trim the spring so it makes lighter springs work more like a higher poundage ...
I got this pretty epic slow motion in the range of the Deagle going off. that gun is silly fun to shoot. The fireball is massive - I started to chrono the ammo I have for it - it's not as impressive as the fireball would suggest. It's about 1200 FPS with a 300 grain projectile. For comparison - the 6" 10mm with a 180 grain Blazer Brass was doing 180 grains at 1200 FPS.
The 10mm 1911 is pretty tame to shoot - not wildly different form a 45.
I was going to do a video on 10mm ammo and then shoot water jugs and slow motion of them popping - but then the sky opened up on me.
Just wanted to share this with you guys as an option you might not have heard of. Good quality, good execution, good designs. I don't have any sort of business relationship with them nor have interacted with them beyond giving them my credit card information. Pretty legit.
So what I can say is - and I don't mean this literally but it's directionally true - you can't put lipstick on a pig.
What I mean by that is that the baggage the gun has as a budget gun comes with it with premium parts. Part of what you're buying with a 2011 is slide/frame/barrel fitment. Slapping drop in performance parts is akin to bolting on a high flow muffler on an economy car. Even the pin striping from Autozone doesn't make it a sports car. And that was true with the Romulus - but as it is now it's way nicer - it's just not as accurate. The miller precision grip and trigger are pretty transformative in feel however - those are excellent excellent adds to a 2011. The fitment on the trigger to grip is better than my Atlas - as good as my Fowler.
If you haven't swapped ignitions on a gun before - be ready to fit the thumb safeties over again - because a new sear and hammer requires new fitment on the safeties.
I had Chuck at TexStar tune up the small parts and the trigger and everything is great on it...
So the Venom is basically the same sight without the solar panel for about half the cost. So that's got my attention and where I'm going next.
If you're into it - it's on sale right now as part of their Black Friday door busters at Optics planet https://alnk.to/74xDu6U
- if you use code PBFD - it's like $154 which seems like stealing. If you're getting more than just the sight - my code HUMBF gets 14% off - so like an X300 Ultra is like $275
here's a video on the Defenser ST Enclosed
