Hodgdon CFE Pistol... Any good?

[BehindBlueI's]

I loaded up 100 for the range tomorrow.

.45 Auto
230 gr plated Rocky Mountain Reloading
6.1 gr CFE-Pistol
S&B LP primer
1.20 OAL

 

[craigkim]

I loaded up 100 for the range tomorrow.

.45 Auto
230 gr plated Rocky Mountain Reloading
6.1 gr CFE-Pistol
S&B LP primer
1.20 OAL

I shot some for the first time Tuesday evening. I liked it. It seemed a little softer than Titegroup and I felt like I could tell it was faster, and it smoked a bit differently. Couldn't' say if it was cleaner, or anything there, since the gun was already dirty when I began firing it. I only shot about 20 rounds and had only made 50. Need to put the rest over my chronograph soon.

.45 Auto
230 gr HNDY FMJ-RN
6.3 gr CFE pistol
WLP
1.250 OAL
.469 Taper crimp

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I loaded up 100 for the range tomorrow.

.45 Auto
230 gr plated Rocky Mountain Reloading
6.1 gr CFE-Pistol
S&B LP primer
1.20 OAL

As an update, they shot very well and were clean. I haven't gotten a chance to chrono anything yet, but they felt like a little more "thump" than the WST loads I was using before running out of it. I've loaded up about 200 more and the powder meters nicely. I'm pretty happy with this for .45 Auto.

I'm going to have to load some .357 Mag soon, not sure if I'm going to use CFE Pistol or not.

 

[craigkim]

As an update, they shot very well and were clean. I haven't gotten a chance to chrono anything yet, but they felt like a little more "thump" than the WST loads I was using before running out of it. I've loaded up about 200 more and the powder meters nicely. I'm pretty happy with this for .45 Auto.

I'm going to have to load some .357 Mag soon, not sure if I'm going to use CFE Pistol or not.

I have had a chance to chrono my first round of ammo made with the CFE now. It seems nice and clean. It meters SUPER precisely, but our results over the chrono showed more dispersion than the loads with Titegroup. I think I like Titegroup better, but I don't want to be restricted to one powder, so I am hoping to come up with loads for both, well,... that and I have about 7.9 lbs of CFE left!

In thinking about it, I feel like it was easier for me to load Titegroup and hit right at the expected velocities from the get go, because I had more data and specifically data from the bullet manufacturer With CFE the reduction in data meant that we were working with the generic Hodgdon load info and it varies a fair amount from what you get from the bullet companies.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I just ordered some 125 gr plated RNFP and am going to try to load up some .357 and .38. Looking at load data, I'm thinking to start out at 7.1 gr for .357. I see the Hodgdon website calls for magnum primers...and has the same load for .38 as .357. That seems odd.

 

[ZbornacSVT]

We stock 125gr RNFP, fyi.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

We stock 125gr RNFP, fyi.

What have you got in plated?

 

[ZbornacSVT]

What have you got in plated?

Currently in stock:

.355-100gr RNFP
.355-115gr HP
.355-115gr RN
.355-124gr HP
.355-124gr RN
.356-147gr HP
.356-147gr RN
.357-125gr FP
.357-158gr HP
.357-158gr RNFP
.400-165gr HP
.400-165gr RNFP
.400-180gr HP
.400-180gr RNFP
.410-210gr FP
.429-240gr FP
.452-230gr HP
.452-230gr RN

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Loaded up 50, I'll try them out Friday.

7.3 gr CFE Pistol
125 gr Berry's Bullets plated
1.58" OAL
CCI 550 magnum SPP

 

[straight-shooter]

I just loaded some 38 spl 160gr HP to try with CFE Pistol over my chronograph.

10 rds each at 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9 and 5.0 grains. Aiming for approximately 850 fps and a power factor of 130 average.

I just picked up another 8 lb jug from Powder Valley Inc. because this powder tested superbly with 9mm and .45 acp. I would have purchased it from ZbornacSVT but he's a bit too far south for me.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Loaded up 50, I'll try them out Friday.

7.3 gr CFE Pistol
125 gr Berry's Bullets plated
1.58" OAL
CCI 550 magnum SPP

VERY clean load. I'll try to chrono it soon, but recoil was low. I'm not used to 125gr, so it's tough for me to judge as I normally shoot 158gr.

 

[straight-shooter]

I just got back from the range. I chronographed several loads using CFE Pistol and some custom cast Mihec .358 bullets. These weigh 163 grains after powder coat. I was pleasantly surprised that I found two loads that shot very well and one felt light and the other started to bark pretty good with no signs of pressure.

These were fired from a 4" S&W 686

.38 special
Mihec 359640 HP bullet
Winchester SP primer
Winchester .38 special brass
moderate crimp

This load of 4.6gr of CFE Pistol was a light recoil and accurate.

Shots: 8
Weight: 163 grains

Min: 816 FPS
Max: 846 FPS
Average: 828 FPS

Spread: 30 FPS
SD: 9 FPS
Power Factor: 136

This load was using 5.0gr of CFE Pistol and started barking louder with more felt recoil and also very accurate.

Shots: 8
Weight: 163 grains

Min: 855 FPS
Max: 891 FPS
Average: 873 FPS

Spread: 36 FPS
SD: 10 FPS
Power Factor: 142

The other three loads of 4.7, 4.8 and 4.9 in between these two was way off on Extreme Spread and Standard deviation and were disregarded.

 

[BIGnTall83]

I use this in 9mm and I love it! Has anyone tried it in .380 yet? Im going to be loading up some for my wife's LCP 100gr berry's plated but cannot find any info, only load data for 100gr I can find is for FMJ.