Finally found a use for my Auto Drum

[horseman]

I have a lot of Herco powder. I decided I would use it in my 45acp for just some good range ammo. Not sure what "range ammo" is but I'm loading some. Herco is not a very good measuring powder, big flakes. My Uniflow does miserable with it so I thought I would try the AD. So I set up the LM press (that's where the AD resides) to run a few samples to check consistency and darned if it didn't do a pretty stellar job. Plus or minus .01 for .02 overall. Set for 7.4gr and would get no less than 7.3 or more than 7.5 with the majority at 7.4. Impressive. And, there's no way it would leak any of that stuff. Just loaded 93 rounds (ran out of prepped brass) mixed head stamp, 200gr. RMR plated, 7.4(ish)gr of Herco powder with Winchester LPP. Should run a bit over 900fps. But who cares???.... "Range ammo" right...


Wrong forum but I'll add I started using a Lee Perfect PM, that I've had for quite some time and never used, to drop the charges for my 45 super loads using Accurate 7 powder. I do these loads singly on a single stage press. AA#7 is a pretty fine powder but I've had very little leakage (and I mean very little) after lapping the insides of the measure. Drops the powder very consistently. So I've found a use for both measures. Life is good, some day's are just a bit better than others.

[larryw]

Glad you gave the AD another chance. As you know, I fell in love with mine.
The PPM has been a many, many year love affair with that little thing..

[horseman]

Glad you gave the AD another chance. As you know, I fell in love with mine.
The PPM has been a many, many year love affair with that little thing..

I just don't quite get how this stuff works?? I tried the AD with Herco earlier on and it didn't do well at all BUT the Uniflow did. Now that has reversed itself, the Uniflow is totally outclassed now. Since that first try with the AD (and after I got it back from Lee) I did lap the insides which I was reluctant to do before but figured what the heck it wasn't working well anyway so did it. And I did "wash" it again as many have mentioned to do so for now, at least using Herco, it's working well. Have no idea what the heck went south on the Uniflow. I'm slowly moving away from flake powders but with near 8lbs of 2400 and 5 or so lbs of Herco it's gonna be awhile. I even have at least 4lbs of H4227 (the original with the yellow filler) to burn through. That's a LOT of 44 mag and 45 Colt to shoot. Maybe I should put the ACP off for a while.

[larryw]

Glad you gave the AD another chance. As you know, I fell in love with mine.
The PPM has been a many, many year love affair with that little thing..

I just don't quite get how this stuff works?? I tried the AD with Herco earlier on and it didn't do well at all BUT the Uniflow did. Now that has reversed itself, the Uniflow is totally outclassed now. Since that first try with the AD (and after I got it back from Lee) I did lap the insides which I was reluctant to do before but figured what the heck it wasn't working well anyway so did it. And I did "wash" it again as many have mentioned to do so for now, at least using Herco, it's working well. Have no idea what the heck went south on the Uniflow. I'm slowly moving away from flake powders but with near 8lbs of 2400 and 5 or so lbs of Herco it's gonna be awhile. I even have at least 4lbs of H4227 (the original with the yellow filler) to burn through. That's a LOT of 44 mag and 45 Colt to shoot. Maybe I should put the ACP off for a while.

Think I'll lap my AD & see if takes a liking to HS6 ?? I haven't used my Uniflow for a long time.
6 or 7 years ago when my health & shoulder replacement went south, I gave up rifle all together.
The Uniflow was my rifle throw. I need to get a small drum & try it again.
Hey, did you ever get that other 1911??

[horseman]

Hey, did you ever get that other 1911??

..............................................NO!!.............................and I haven't been back to look....

may stop by tomorrow to chat with Dan though...

[horseman]

Hey, did you ever get that other 1911??

..............................................NO!!.............................and I haven't been back to look....

may stop by tomorrow to chat with Dan though...

the last part may not make any sense to you all in response to Larry's question of "did I get that other 1911" . Dan is the guy that owns the store where the "other" 1911 resides..... Just thought I would clear that up a bit...

[RBHarter]

I just got a bunch of Herco via a trade and exchange thing , about 6# I think .

I'd welcome any data suggtions for 45 ACP , Colts or Schofield .

[horseman]

I just got a bunch of Herco via a trade and exchange thing , about 6# I think .

I'd welcome any data suggtions for 45 ACP , Colts or Schofield .

I know not of the Schofield (other than I've always really like their looks) but for 45 Colt, any load you use with Unique add about 1/2gr and you'll match pretty close with velocity with a bit less pressure. Or 1gr. for the same pressure (close) with a bit more velocity. I shoot a lot of the Lee 250gr RNFP (used to anyway) and they come out of the mold around 255gr. Nine grains of Herco is a very nice load with that bullet.

In the ACP I've loaded up to 7.4gr under a 200gr RMR plated bullet OAL 1.240. Just finished loading 200 of those yesterday, that's the last of my 200's. (I've burned through 2000 of those, not all with Herco though) That's a max load according to what I find. (Lee book). Around 950fps and shoots very well. I'm going to try 6.2 with a 230gr FMJ to see where that takes me. That's also a max load that I've seen in a few places. My 45acp is setup a bit different from "stock" with a 25lb mainspring, a flat bottom firing pin stop (slight bevel) and a Sprinco unit running a 16lb recoil spring, without the Sprinco I'd probably go up to 18lb just to see how that worked. The 6.2gr max load shows a pressure of a bit over 16000psi so I'm not to worried there. The way my 1911 is set up, with the Sprinco and a 20lb recoil spring I've ran some 45 Super loads with AA#7 that (supposedly) hit 27000(ish) with no issues that I've found. I did load these with Star Line Super cases. Ejection was about 8ft. If you like shooting the "old standard" 4.5gr of Bullseye, 5gr W231 type stuff (borrrriing) the Herco load will be a little more "substantial". If you're looking to find a powder that will deliver high(er) velocity and stay in the standard 45acp pressure range (21000) look up Ramshot Silhouette, it delivers.

[RBHarter]

The Colts will be in a BlackHawk . The ACP and Schofield in 1917s . Kind of a tired story but I fell in love with an untouched 1918 vintage and found a 2nd extremely bubba'd . Now I have a 6" N Frame chambered in 45 S&W .
I figure I can hop the Schofield up to about 18 kpsi without hurting anything .

Everything I've seen so far shows Herco at the about same charge as Unique and 50-100 fps faster . I'll bet it'll really show up in the carbines .