I have been experimenting with reduced powder charges. WWB ammo uses a charge of powder that is very similar to WW231 powder. Load data for a 115 grain bullet ahead of 4.9 grains of WW231 SHOULD be very similar to a factory WWB load.
4.7 grains functions MY P.08's and P.38's just fine. By "function" I mean that I load one round into the magazine, verify that the round feeds, shoot and see if the round is potent enough to activate the hold-open. If it holds open then it should have enough oomph to pick up and feed subsequent rounds.
I'm moving next to 4.3 grains and if that works OK I think I'm going settle on it for all of my old 9mm's, but it's primarily for P.08 and P.38 shooter grade pistols.
If this works I'm not going to worry too much about a pierced primer as the pressures should be fairly close to the 18,000-20,000 PSI range. Basically if it's too weak to hold the toggle open it's too weak to be reliable, IMHO, and I'll have to move up to maybe 4.5 grains of powder.
This all requires quite a bit of testing. I am just mentioning it in case others are going down the same path.
-Bob
|