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Load suggestions for 9mm


Marshal Hangtree

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In about a month, my future son-in-law will be visiting from AZ, and he loves to go shooting.  He recently bought a new CZ in 9mm and loves it.  I thought that I would surprise him on his visit by giving him my Lee single stage press with all the dies and goodies necessary to load 9mm.

 

I'm using Trail Boss for my .45CS and .44-40, but that probably isn't a good choice for the 9mm crowd.  What would be a good powder choice for loading 9mm that would also be a good choice for shotgun?  The reason that I'm mixing the two is that he is flying here and won't be able to take the powder back with him, so I need a powder that will suite my 12 gauge shotgun needs as well.

 

Thanks y'all,

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With a 124fmj, use 7.5gn of Blue Dot and a COAL of 1.255"

This load equals NATO specs, and is not to be used in a Luger toggled link etc.

I have fired this load in a bunch of different firearms over the years. Including many class 3 select-fire type firearms, and to date have not had any malfunctions.

The target likes this load also........

OLG

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I load 3.9 gr Red Dot with 124 gr coated bullets. Perfect powder for SG also.

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Here is some personally chronographed 9mm info:

 

Berry's  115 gr.   OAL= 1.125

Pistol: Sig P320  4.7" barrel

 

CLEAN SHOT:   4.4 gr.    

Avg Vel:   1154    (5 shot velocities:  1148,  1150,  1155,  1159,  1161)

 

POWER PISTOL:   6.1 gr.

Avg Vel:  1139   (5 shot velocities:  1121,  1129,  1142,  1146,  1157)

 

POWER PISTOL:   6.5 gr.

Avg Vel:  1138   (5 shot velocities:  1112,  1130,  1136,  1157,  1157)

 

NOTE:  as you can see, Power Pistol velocities didn't give a higher velocity average in the 6.1 and the 6.5

grain loads.    

ALL THE ABOVE LOAD DATA WAS USING THE BERRY 115 GRAIN BULLET.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Scarlett Darlin's 124 grain lead bullet.   Sorry, I didn't write down my OAL for this bullet.

Pistol:  SIG P320    4.7" barrel

 

CLEAN SHOT:  3.5 grains

Avg Vel:  977   (10 shot vel:  971,  971,  973,  976,  976,  978,  978,  982,  982,  983)

12 fps variation on this load.

 

CLEAN SHOT:  4.0 grains

Avg Vel:  1025   (10 shot vel:  1010,  1017,  1019,  1022,  1022,  1024,  1029,  1029,  1035,  1043)

33 fps variation on this load.

 

Needless to say, my favorite load for the 9mm is with CLEAN SHOT.

It is accurate and clean.   It meters GREAT and CONSISTENT  in the powder hopper.

 

 

..........Widder

 

 

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Quote

What would be a good powder choice for loading 9mm that would also be a good choice for shotgun? 

Blue Dot, or most powders that are slow enough for full-load 9 MM, make very lousy light shotgun loads in 12 gauge.  

 

But Red Dot load would be OK for 9 (not my first choice though), and EXCELLENT for a shotshell load.  Perhaps you are willing to optimize for shotshell and squeak by on the 9 while he is here.  Ditto for Clays.

 

Good luck, GJ

 

 

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The #1 powder for 9mm loading in the US is Titegroup !!!  Used by more than all other powders combined. Go to any USPSA or IDPA match and ask what they load with.  Nearly all use Titegroup.  So do I. Works perfect with any buller from 115 to 147.

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12 hours ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

Blue Dot, or most powders that are slow enough for full-load 9 MM, make very lousy light shotgun loads in 12 gauge.  

 

But Red Dot load would be OK for 9 (not my first choice though), and EXCELLENT for a shotshell load.  Perhaps you are willing to optimize for shotshell and squeak by on the 9 while he is here.  Ditto for Clays.

 

Good luck, GJ

 

 

That's what I'm looking to do, GJ.  I primarily want a powder that will work well for light 12 gauge loads, but will at least cycle the 9mm.  We'll probably only load about 100 9mm to shoot in my G19, so the rest of the powder will be left over for SG loads.

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9 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Not a clue-I only use BD for 9mm and .40 S&W load'n.

I use Unique for SASS 12ga loads.

OLG

 

 

I've been meaning to ask, whats your 12 gauge load with unique? I have a pound of it that I've been looking at using in something and 12 ga would be a good use.

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Just now, El Cubano said:

 

I've been meaning to ask, whats your 12 gauge load with unique? I have a pound of it that I've been looking at using in something and 12 ga would be a good use.

12ga, 3/4-1oz shot use 17.0-17.5gn of Unique.

Very soft in recoil....

OLG

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2 hours ago, Happy Jack, SASS #20451 said:

The #1 powder for 9mm loading in the US is Titegroup !!!  Used by more than all other powders combined. Go to any USPSA or IDPA match and ask what they load with.  Nearly all use Titegroup.  So do I. Works perfect with any buller from 115 to 147.

How clean does TG burn?

One of the pluses for BD, is how clean the brass and gun stays after extended firing. 

OLG

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Lumpy,  I think TG burns extremely clean. I haven't cleaned my 9mm STI Edge in over 2500 rounds. Like all powders it leaves some traces on the case but in my opinion it is very clean.  I like it in small cases but don't use it in larger ones like 45ACP. Recoil is a bit snappy in 45ACP compared to WST.  It is cheap to use and meters well. 

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To the OP and others,  I don't understand the reasoning behind wanting to use only 1 powder for different cartridges. Why compromise on performance?? It isn't hard to keep track of the powder in use.  I use over 14 different powders regularly. Only 1 at a time so no problem.  I use 3 different powders just for 5.56/223 loads.  Cost isn't an issue as almost all powders are similar with the only outlier being VV.  I even use 3 different VV powders. I will never understand the reasoning behind limiting performance by limiting powder selection. 

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I just didn't want to buy a pound of one powder for 9mm, which I'll probably never reload again after the training session with my son-in-law, just to see it sit in the safe.

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6 minutes ago, Happy Jack, SASS #20451 said:

To the OP and others,  I don't understand the reasoning behind wanting to use only 1 powder for different cartridges. Why compromise on performance?? It isn't hard to keep track of the powder in use.  I use over 14 different powders regularly. Only 1 at a time so no problem.  I use 3 different powders just for 5.56/223 loads.  Cost isn't an issue as almost all powders are similar with the only outlier being VV.  I even use 3 different VV powders. I will never understand the reasoning behind limiting performance by limiting powder selection. 

Some like to keep it simple. 
Unique for pistols and shot gun loads. 
Imr 4895 for nearly everything else. That's what I use to do many years ago when i only had a few guns and didn't compete and a pound of unique would last a few years.
Now I have over 24 powders, reload for 28 firearms and run through about 16 pounds of powder for the two guns I compete with a year. Everything else is about a pound or less per year We'll see how much trail boss I burn through this year. 

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14 minutes ago, Marshal Hangtree said:

I just didn't want to buy a pound of one powder for 9mm, which I'll probably never reload again after the training session with my son-in-law, just to see it sit in the safe.

PLZ-Don't store your powder in a 'safe'.

In a fire-That safe becomes a bomb the firefighters have to face.

Respectfully,

OLG

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It's not really a safe, OLG.  It's just an old fridge that I keep out in the garage with a bucket of DampRid to keep the humidity down.  Keeps the gunpowder away from the dogs.  You know how evil they get after eating gunpowder.:o

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23 minutes ago, Happy Jack, SASS #20451 said:

To the OP and others,  I don't understand the reasoning behind wanting to use only 1 powder for different cartridges. Why compromise on performance?? It isn't hard to keep track of the powder in use.  I use over 14 different powders regularly. Only 1 at a time so no problem.  I use 3 different powders just for 5.56/223 loads.  Cost isn't an issue as almost all powders are similar with the only outlier being VV.  I even use 3 different VV powders. I will never understand the reasoning behind limiting performance by limiting powder selection. 

When it's comes down to real long range accuracy-I agree with you 110%. ;)

Why go the cheap? When you think of the cost of match grade jacketed bullets today from 30 cal on up.

OLG

 

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5.2 gr BE-86 with 115 gn FMJ RN for 1180 fps

 

Same 5.2 gr BE-86 with 125 gn RN Lead for 1100 fps

 

Both run great in my semi-autos and my PCC.   The BE-86 has a flash suppressant as well so is nice on the indoor range.  

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