Load Testing: IMR 7625 powder

[1SOW]

Sorry,  I expect the gurus to know what I'm thinking.   Upping my "other loads"--n320, et al,  to match the 4.5grs (or even slightly higher)  IMR load performance.

[IDescribe]

Gotcha.  You like the handling of IMR 7625 with MG 124gr JHP, and you need to bump up a couple of other loads hoping to get them to react the same, actually preferring the slightly higher muzzle climb.  I'm running my 147's hotter than necessary, and I definitely like the extra snap.  I've also just run a boatload of 4.5gr of 7625 under MG 124gr JHP, same load as yours, but slightly shorter if I remember correctly, and I love the load.  It feels fast.

Interestingly, I read an article by pro shooter Carina Randolph a couple of days ago on shooting .40 minor, and in it she discussed a number of pros opinions on shooting .40 minor.  Matt Mink, who shot .40 minor before switching to CZ, commented that while he tried all the different bullet weights with forty, a couple of his best matches lifetime were shot with 135gr .40 bullets, which goes against the point of shooting .40 minor -- to go with heavier rounds and get softer recoil.  Mink  acknowledged that with either heavy or light rounds, the gun is faster than you are, but he suspects that because the  gun FEELS faster with the lighter rounds,  when the shooter tunes into that faster feeling, the shooter shoots faster. 

That's Matt Mink and Carina Randolph, though.  It's all voodoo to me.   

[1SOW]

Yup.

[n5qm]

New reloader here and the first powder I managed to select was a pound of 7625 I paid too much for on Gunbroker.

To my surprise I walked into one of the LGS today, which I have been checking weekly for useful powder, and found several cases of 7625 and snagged one for myself, so it is still out there and fresh product is being sent out!

Thanks to all that have contributed to this thread, I am waiting on my Shadow, which should be ready next week and expect I will try several of the loads mentioned in this thread.  I have a load that I have been testing on my Walther PPQ with 135gr BBIs that feels real nice and have some 124gr Xtremes on the way as well to test out.

Now to go test this load I have been working on...   

Robert

[1SOW]

7625 is a really good powder to work up a predictable load.  The ONLY drawback I've seen is that is a little sooty.
Thi is the last year of manufacture for IMR 7625;  hopefully Hogdon or someone will market the same powder under another name,  like Hogdon did with WIN 231 under the Hogdon HP-38 name.
Tell us how your first tests shoot.

[jwc007]

Thi is the last year of manufacture for IMR 7625;  hopefully Hogdon or someone will market the same powder under another name,  like Hogdon did with WIN 231 under the Hogdon HP-38 name.

Not likely.  That practice died with Winchester's Component Marketing Department and the sale of the St. Marks Florida Powder making facility to a holding company.

[1SOW]

That's too bad.  It's also a very popular shotgun load for many clay competitors.

[n5qm]

7625 is a really good powder to work up a predictable load.  The ONLY drawback I've seen is that is a little sooty.
Thi is the last year of manufacture for IMR 7625;  hopefully Hogdon or someone will market the same powder under another name,  like Hogdon did with WIN 231 under the Hogdon HP-38 name.
Tell us how your first tests shoot.

Here are the results...  The 3.2 to 3.8 tests were from last weekend and I did the 4.0 tests today.  I made 300 rounds of the 4.0 a few days ago and burned through about half of them on a quick trip today using my PPQ.  I figure I will hold off on making many more until I can run them through the CZ which has a 5" barrel as compared to the 4" barrel on the PPQ to be sure I hit the 130 number and a little extra..

[1SOW]

Isn't that pretty how 7625 progresses so predictably with .2 gr increases.  It does the same with .1 gr grain changes too.
7625 must have read Richard Lee's articles on pressures and reloading. 

I like n320,  but it's not always that linear with .1 gr changes.  It sure is cleaner though.

[Radom]

Isn't that pretty how 7625 progresses so predictably with .2 gr increases.  It does the same with .1 gr grain changes too.
7625 must have read Richard Lee's articles on pressures and reloading. 

I like n320,  but it's not always that linear with .1 gr changes.  It sure is cleaner though.

Too funny!

To be fair to Richard Lee, IMR SR-4756 also follows a strict geometrical progression in "real-world" testing. 

You may have noticed that the standard deviation decreased dramatically with the higher charge weights.  Obviously, this was a very small sample size, but I have found that to be consistent with my own testing with these two powders. 

[jameslovesjammie]

Radom,

I know you've been out of the reloading world for a while, and I hate to be the one to tell you this...

All the SR series powders are on the chopping block.  I'm sorry to break the news to you, but someone had to.  My 20 gauge will miss 7625 the most.

[Radom]

Radom,

I know you've been out of the reloading world for a while, and I hate to be the one to tell you this...

All the SR series powders are on the chopping block.  I'm sorry to break the news to you, but someone had to.  My 20 gauge will miss 7625 the most.

That's terrible!

For anyone who has never seen the old IMR 8 oz. tins, here's a pic of some I bought on "clearance" right before the switch to the plastic  1 lb. containers.



Here's the real reason I posted these pics.

[1SOW]

That 130 PF  or maybe a little more,  is the sweet spot for 9mm minor PF competition reloaders. 

This smooth progression is what sold me on 7625,  even though I wasn't real happy with how sooty my pistol gets after 100 rds.  Over 200 rds is dirty.  Over 300 rds, I might not have 100% trust that it would feed/extract .
The pistol needs to be cleaned more often than with some other powders.     

[Wobbly]

For anyone who has never seen the old IMR 8 oz. tins, here's a pic of some I bought on "clearance" right before the switch to the plastic  1 lb. containers.

Read that statement as "Look at what the prices used to be like before we had a couple of Democrat presidents."

I've got some of my own...

[jameslovesjammie]

Gotcha beat, Wobbly!