RMR 124 grain MPR over CFE Pistol

[Ber Kley]

I ran a pretty disappointing ladder this morning.

I was looking for a new load using the 124 grain MPR bullets in combination with CFE Pistol. I tested 5 round groups at 15 yards with 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 grains of CFE Pistol. My COL was set for 1.115 with a light crimp. Plunk test was all good. This was my first time trying CFE Pistol and my first time with the MPRs as well. I was planning to run a few thousand later today. Looks like it will be back to the drawing board now though.

My best group with the CFE was at 4″+. I thought I might be having a bad day so I tossed in a mag of Federal HST and my group dropped down to what would have been a sub 2″ group if I hadn’t wobbled one out to about 2.5″. It’s cold and raining so I will accept that.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[SC]

I have no experience with CFE pistol. It looks a little on the slower side than what I like for target use. Did it look like you were getting a complete burn or is your brass a little sooty?

What did the primers look like? Starting to flatten?

You may need to increase the charge a little more to get consistency.

[Ber Kley]

The primers were beginning to flatten at the 5.4 whick is actually above the max charge of 5.3. The powder seemed a bit smokier than others and the brass wasn’t sootier than the factory federal loads which was fully flattening the primers.

[SC]

Do you have a faster powder to try?

A rumor that I read is that Federal uses Power Pistol in the 9mm HST loads.

I really like WSF and Vit N320 in 9mm 124 loads.

[Ber Kley]

I’ve got some WST and N320.

[SC]

WST is really fast. I would try the N320.

[Ber Kley]

I was leaning towards it as my next choice. I’ll have to start digging out some load data for it.

[SC]

4.1 grains is what I run. It is a pretty popular load with action shooters…USPSA, etc.

[Ber Kley]

I’ll probably run a ladder from 3.8 to 4.2 or 4.3 to see where my sweet spot is. From what I’m reading it seems to be the 4.1 and 4.2. I’ve just got to get back home and get in the powder safe to be sure my memory isn’t lying to me.

[Ber Kley]

I should have about 4lbs tucked in there somewhere.

[Ber Kley]

What COL are you using with that load?

[Ber Kley]

The 4.2 grains of N320 performed the best of the 3.9-4.3 ladder overall. I still don’t get the grouping consistency of the factory 124 Federal HSTs. However, the federal feels like a much hotter round than the N320 loads. I’m not seeing any concerning pressure signs and I think I will tinker with the overall length a bit to see if I can tighten the groups some more.

[SC]

Maybe your gun just doesn’t like the MPR as much.

I’ve had a similar issue with my old 9mm Springfield 1911. It doesn’t like 147 grain bullets.

[Ber Kley]

Shooting seated but not rested with light rain and breezy. It was a roughly 2″ group at 15 yards from an original gen2 Glock 19. The grouping wasn’t bad. I think pushing the pressure up a little more may be the key for that particular gun.

The 3.9 load made a decent group with 3 of the 5 rounds and it kept tightening as the load got hotter. If I was loading it just for the one gun, I’d push it to 4.4 or 4.5. I basically try to develop an acceptable group on my worst one and it generally performs better on the others.

With some more tweaking, I think it can be a good all around performer. Next will be to load a few hundred on the n320 and the titegroup to run a multigun comparison against the Federals.

[Ber Kley]

My old Para is the least picky 1911 I’ve ever had. It gobbles up everything. The flat nose cheap 230gr will all but stack on top one another just like the critical duty rounds do. That gun never ceases to surprise people especially since it looks old and ugly.

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