WST shooters.

Say you wanted a load for WST with a 200gr in .45 ACP for 25yd line.....what would it be.....I know 4.0-4.2 is the long line load....what about the short? Before I waiste a bunch of material and time thought I would ask. THx

4.0 ish
The simplest answer is "THE SMALLEST LOAD that will cycle your pistol" You have to experiment on your pistol. It's really that simple for the short line.

(Please note that in summer months where the sun is heating up your pistol and ammo on the bench, will have difference performance than in the fall/winter months. Also depending on the lockup of your pistol, it may need more "oomph" to cycle the slide. My slide needs a bit more powder than most even with a 8lb spring).

Start at 4.0, then start stepping down to 3.9 and 3.8. Stop when it won't cycle. In the summer you can probably use 0.1 less powder.

Cheers
Cary

Jakuda,

Thats what I'm think'in 3.8....I shoot mainly at 25yds....indoors....my favorite load is 3.6 Clays.....with a 200 LSWC...I get 1'' @ 25 with that load......WST is very clean and very soft shooting....I love it in my Revolver 2.7 with a 148 swaged HBWC......havent try'd the wst in the .45 yet but plan too soon.....I have a order of swaged 200lswc's coming and thats where I'll start.

3.8 - 3.9 and change out your recoil spring to 12 or 13lb. respectively.

For quite a while I used 4.1 WST behind a 196gr H&G 130. It shot well. I have since changed to 3.8 Clays behind the same bullet. Ransom tests have shown it to be a bit tighter grouping. 12# spring on a slide mounted UD.

Still using WST behind a 210gr H&G 68bb. Haven't found any other combination that shoots better for me.

I've been shooting informal Bullseye for a few years now just for fun at our club. I'm not classified or anything. I'm just now starting to acquire equipment more dedicated to Bullseye shooting for the purpose of shooting some events more seriously. My current .45 is only a Sig Target 1911. Strictly stock. So bear in mind my load below was developed for that, not a custom BE wadcutter, but here's what I use with WST for iron sights on a stock gun

http://www.matside.com/Chronograph_Data_45_ACP_WST_3.5gr_200gr_LSWC.pdf

3.8 WST with a 200LSWC is great....accurate and the recoil is smooth....just what I needed for rapid fire......Ive try'd it with the 10-11 spring ....100% function....will try 12 next time......

Chuck26287 wrote:I've been shooting informal Bullseye for a few years now just for fun at our club. I'm not classified or anything. I'm just now starting to acquire equipment more dedicated to Bullseye shooting for the purpose of shooting some events more seriously. My current .45 is only a Sig Target 1911. Strictly stock. So bear in mind my load below was developed for that, not a custom BE wadcutter, but here's what I use with WST for iron sights on a stock gun

[url=http://www.matside.com/Chronograph_Data_45_ACP_WST_3.5gr_200gr_LSWC.pdf

http://www.matside.com/Chronograph_Data_45_ACP_WST_3.5gr_200gr_LSWC.pdf [/quote[/url]]



Well, I sold the Sig 1911 and bought a new Les Baer Wadcutter 1911. It was so tight on the bushing I almost had to hit it to knock it off to rack the slide. Les Baer himself gave me a load to use in it that he said he knew would work. That load was 4.4 gr of Bullseye under the 200 gr H&G #68 LSWC. After sighting in the red dot with that load, my first 10 rounds of slow fire off-hand scored in at 96, so I know it's got to be a decent load, but punchy. Ater shooting about 180 rounds of the 4.4 gr Bullseye load to loosen the new gun up, I tried 10 rounds of the 3.5 gr WST load linked above to see if it would cycle it. The gun still had no slide play at all, but would come back off the bushing by hand now. It has the stock 13 lb recoil spring installed. The 10 rounds of 3.5 gr WST cycled it fine, shot very mildly, and I managed to shoot a 94. This was all indoors at 50 ft. Don't know how it would do at 25 yds. Hope the info helps as a reference.

Les gave you a load for a tight gun, it is very hot for bullseye with a 200 bullet, check out the ammo section of this forum for loads from master/high master shooters and you can get the same accuracy with much less recoil. I shoot the 200 with a max of 4.1 of bullseye but 3.8-4.0 is better. It also depends on if your gun is a frame mount/open sight or a slide mounted dot. there is a load list for open sight guns too in the ammo section.

DavidR wrote:Les gave you a load for a tight gun, it is very hot for bullseye with a 200 bullet, check out the ammo section of this forum for loads from master/high master shooters and you can get the same accuracy with much less recoil. I shoot the 200 with a max of 4.1 of bullseye but 3.8-4.0 is better. It also depends on if your gun is a frame mount/open sight or a slide mounted dot. there is a load list for open sight guns too in the ammo section.

Yeah, I knew it was a hotter load for bullseye, but that's what a new Les Baer would need, as tight as they are out of the box. Gotta say it was hotter than I was expecting, since the Lyman #49 calls 4.9 gr the starting load for a similar bullet. That's the whole reason I tried the 3.5 WST after shooting some of the 4.4 BE to loosen the Les Baer up some. Once done with the break-in/loosening of the gun, I intend to get back to the 3.5 gr of WST and do some Ransom Rest testing for accuracy. 4.4 gr BE is WAY too much recoil for Bullseye shooting. I think WST shoots softer for like effective charges compared to BE, it's as accurate if tuned to the gun, and is FAR cleaner.

My guess is that you will find a sweet spot at around 4.0-4.2 WST for the long line.

My WST load is 4.2 and I need every bit of that with 200 gr from Penn because that only gets me 730 ft/sec which is right there in the bullet's sweet spot (open sights). You need to test for yourself because swapping in a Saeco 130 style from Matts's bullets gets me to the sweet spot with only 3.8 gr (going from memory).

inthebeech wrote:My WST load is 4.2 and I need every bit of that with 200 gr from Penn because that only gets me 730 ft/sec which is right there in the bullet's sweet spot (open sights). You need to test for yourself because swapping in a Saeco 130 style from Matts's bullets gets me to the sweet spot with only 3.8 gr (going from memory).

Is your Penn bullet the harder match grade bullet? - any leading problems with it

After chrongraphing a new bullet I'd rather recommend that you shoot the "smallest load that will......STABILIZE YOUR BULLET." I got more than fifty ft/sec slower speeds from a differnt bulet of identical weight and shape and since you want to stay in the bullet's (sped) sweet spot with respect to stability, you should use that as you objective I think. And how to do that? Shoot; a lot. I'm not quite sure about the "before I waste a lot of time and materials..." thing. You've got to practice anyway right and there are highmasters still putting in trigger time with very basic fundamental drills, many of which don't require even scoring your target, just shoot man. You'll learn more by doing and value your effort later.

The only sweet spot im concerned with is in the center of the X ring, if the load puts them there. im good with it.

Farmboy,

I can't determine ardness unfortunately, but no leading with anthing I put through my gun.

DavidR wrote:The only sweet spot im concerned with is in the center of the X ring, if the load puts them there. im good with it.

It's very interesting how some shooters really baby their guns. A certain load may be noticeably more accurate, but they choose to load it 0.2-0.3gn lighter to lower the wear on their pistol. I always suggest to them using a higher spring rate recoil spring, but people do what they want to do.

I load the round for accuracy and adjust the gun to it.