40 S&W with Unique

[PistolShooter]

I got this from another forum:

For example, the regular plated bullets from Xtreme, Berry's, etc have copper plating about .0035" thick, while their heavy plate bullet will be plated to a thickness of .007" to .008". In comparison, traditional drawn jacket bullets vary between about .013" and .026" in the side walls and are usually a bit thicker in the base, due to the jackets being drawn.

[PistolShooter]

I was able to use someone's chrono at the range today.
Turns out that 6 grains of unique gives me 980-1000 fps.

[PistolShooter]

I'm looking at the Speer #14 manual.
It says 7.2 - 8.0 grains of unique. 1048 - 1207 fps using  180 grain gold dot and the test barrel is only 4". Has anyone ever tried this much unique? Until now, the highest maximum I've seen is 6.7 grains.

[PistolShooter]

Oh poop I got that wrong. That was for a 155 grain. Never mind then.

[M1A4ME]

If you lay 4 reloading manuals on the table you'll see different powder charge levels.  You'll also see different primers used, different bullets, different barrel lengths, different brands of pistols, etc., etc., etc.

What is safe/accurate/reliable in one gun may not be in another.  One reason for the advice to start lower with the powder charges and work your way upwards verifying what is safe and reliable in your gun as you go.

Sometimes you just can't get where you want to go with some components and some calibers and you have to change something to get where you want to be.

[IDescribe]

Yes, the plating on GD is super thick.  It's not the same as a regular plated bullet.

BUT Alliant has data for a 180gr plated FN, which is what the OP is shooting.  5.9gr-6.5gr at 1.12 for 1050-ish.  Why are are we looking elsewhere for data?

[PistolShooter]

I like to look at multiple sources to gain a better scope of data. Then i can see to lowest minimum to the highest maximum cause the data always varies and I can't always find data for my exact bullet.
I'm done looking now. Thanks for all the input.
I was using 5.0 grains of unique but my average velocity was 890 fps which was too slow. (I used someone's chrono at the range) I'm now using 5.8 grains which gives me around 950 fps and at 6.0 grains it hover around 1000 fps.

[PistolShooter]

Originally I asked because I don't have a chrono and I was hoping someone else tried this combo in their cz. Results from cz to another cz should  be very similar.