CFE Pistol

Wobbley wrote:I’ve used CFEPistol for loading 9mm training ammo.  It’s accurate enough but it’s dirty at the loads I was using: 5.3 gr under a 115 grain plated.  I talked to a Hodgdon tech abut the dirtiness and it’s a by product of the “CFE” additive.  After 500 rounds my CZ75 liked like it came from a coal mine! 

brassmaster wrote:

Wobbley wrote:I’ve used CFEPistol for loading 9mm training ammo.  It’s accurate enough but it’s dirty at the loads I was using: 5.3 gr under a 115 grain plated.  I talked to a Hodgdon tech abut the dirtiness and it’s a by product of the “CFE” additive.  After 500 rounds my CZ75 liked like it came from a coal mine! 

Here is my experience with CFE Powder after several years of use. Shortly before his passing, Jim Clark, Jr. built my Colt .45 wad gun. When the pistol was returned, I was so impressed with the RR test target that I called Clark Custom Guns and asked if factory ammunition or reloads were used. They advised they do not give specific test data, but she pulled the file and told me the components used to test fire using a RR, which were Zero 185 JHP bullets, Winchester primers and CFE Pistol Powder.  As I recall, when I pressed her for the grains of CFE used she would only say it was somewhere between 7.0-7.5. So, fast trip to my local dealer and bought my first jug of CFE. I started at 7.5 and worked my way down, it took a few trips to the loading bench and range, but I arrived at the optimum of 7.2 grains of CFE which produced ≤ 2" - 10-shot group at 50 yards off a sandbag rest.
I understand your comment about it being a dirty powder Wobbley; however, I'll trade a dirty bore & action and some really dirty cleaning patches over the grueling task of removing copper from the bore and I have yet to find any residual copper in the bore or on cleaning patches using CFE. Coupled with less accuracy results with Bullseye and other powders, I'll take the "dirty" results of better accuracy 7 days a week.
Ps- and I know something about coal mines

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