9 mm reloads

M

Micro man

New member
Recently added a red dot on my Beretta 92 to try. Would not cycle with 115 gr bullets so on advice of members I tried 124 gr bullets which ran fine. I'm in the process of working up some loads for the pistol and was looking for suggestions.

I have tried 4.4 grains of unique with 124 gr FMJ and gun would not cycle constantly . With 4.7 grains of Unique seemed to work fine. I was a little nervous with how full the case was with powder since I mainly load 38 sp with bullseye and there's plenty of room.

As I said any pet loads with 124 or 147 gr bullets would be appreciated

Micro man
 
The .38 Special has "plenty of room" because it was designed to hold 21 grains of black and 3.5 grains of Bullseye is just a drop in the bucket.
The 9mm P was designed for smokeless so does not have excess airspace over the load.
Go by the book.
 
I was a little nervous with how full the case was with powder since I mainly load 38 sp with bullseye and there's plenty of room.
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Been there. Done that.

I mostly load 38 Special; and mostly use propellants that are more dense than Unique.

Unique is fluffy.
9mm cases are confining.

Put the two together and in the eyes of a 38 Spl loader, it can look concerning. It's not. Relax. Load 'em up. I am assuming two things of course: your charge weight is correct; and you are within published data (I didn't get off my couch to check :p).

I'm in the process of intentionally exhausting my supply of Unique; so right now, almost everything I'm loading is with it. I don't care for the stuff and want to push it through the "pipeline" and get it out of my inventory. That is not to say I won't/don't make excellent ammo with it. It has some good uses. I really like it in 357 Mag with lighter bullets (125's mostly, & some 110's); and 45 ACP - all weights . . . wound up good n tight.

Speaking of 45 ACP, Last Thursday, I was loading 6.2 grains of Unique under 230 JHP's. Unique filled the case almost to the level where the base of the bullet will seat (by eyeball - I didn't do the measurments). It's approaching a compressed load. That's Unique. It's fluffy.
 
I do not like unique for 9mm but it has been my primary powder for 45 for over 10 years. I like CFEpistol as my main 9mm powder and HP-38 as a backup. I load mostly 124 gr bullets. For my higher power loads I revert back to Blue Dot.
 
4.2 of Bullseye under a 124 platted. You will be back to wow, there is a lot of room in there.... It is all I load but I'm looking at the blue bullets.com. Saves about $.40 a box over platted, but I'd have to work up a new load :/
 
What does your loading manual tell you?
We can't say if it is too much or not as we don't know WHO'S 124gr bullets your using.
 
I only load 124gr plated bullets in 9mm. Current preferred powder is 5.3gr of CFE Pistol.
I have also used a lot of Silhouette both work fine.
 
Just be aware, bullet seat depth and Unique in the 9mm are quite critical, particularly if you are near max. Back in my early loading days, I had a lot of problems with pressure signs in my 9mm BHP, so much so that I gave up on loading 9mm. Now that I'm back to loading it, I see my errors of the past and understand how critical some dimensions are... particularly in small capacity cases like 9mm.
 
"...gun would not cycle constantly..." The sight mounted directly to the slide? If so, it has increased the weight of the slide. So it's the gun, not the ammo. You need to work up a new load or change recoil springs.
4.7 grains of Unique is under minimum for a jacketed 124 according to Alliant's site(which is decidedly poor). Max is 5.8, reduced by 10% the start load is 5.2. No mention of compressed loads either.
"...pet loads..." No such thing. What shoots well and cycles in one pistol mayor mat not in another. You must work up the load for your pistol using data for a cast or jacketed bullet from a manual.
"...WHO'S 124gr bullets..." Doesn't matter. You do not load by who made the bullet. You load by the weight and cast or jacketed.
 
You mention Unique and Bullseye powders but not whether you are willing to try other powders.

I have been loading 115gr and 124gr plated over Hodgdon HP-38, Ramshot Silhouette and Accurate AA#5. I find I like the HP-38 best with light to medium loads with both weights and the Ramshot comes in at second.

The HP-38 fills the cases to just below the seating depth of the plated bullets I've used while the Ramshot is a little more dense so there is slightly more room.

I have just recently started with the Ramshot powder and am beginning to appreciate it as I do a lot of indoor shooting and as it is advertised I have to say that it really has cut down on the amount of smoke. I also find it to be just as accurate as my HP-38 loads.
 
Average about 1150 fps
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I have a test group of Xtreme 124gr with 5.2gr of CFE that chrono'd 1188. I was expecting about 1100 but the jump from 5.0gr to 5.2gr was about 100fps. The rest of the .2 gr changes in load were about 20 -30 fps on average. I figured for my gun anything above 5 gr was not a good idea.

I am optimizing the loads for my 1911 Colt GOVT with the competition barrel. It has a very tight chamber. I have had to redo all of my past loads for my existing bullet inventory. I am working through about 2k of ammo that will work fine in my AR-9, a Glock, or Beretta but it will either have too long OAL or stovepipe in the 1911.
 
Kevin, my experience has been mixed. I felt that Silhouette was the smokiest powder I've used, then this past week I shot some HP-38 (4.3gr) that I'd loaded a while ago...and found it to be quite smoky. My favorite powder for 9mm (Berry's CPRN 124gr) now seems to be VV N320, 3.9gr but at such a higher cost, I think I'll stick with the smoke. Haven't tried my Winchester WST in anything yet. Now that my Hornady Powder Drop is "broken in" everything I've tried meters really well. I ran graphite through several times, and now nothings sticks inside.
Sadly, I don't chrono...and don't have one...so no idea how my loads run...just that pukas appear in paper about where I expect them to be.
 
I use Unique and W231 in my Beretta PX4 and shoot mostly 115 gr bullets. Back when i first started loading 9mm, the Beretta would stovepipe when my wife limp wristed it, but gave me no function problems at all. Load em a little hotter, though not over max, and work up to a load that’ll function.

Just to mention it, my Beretta shot low with 115 gr bullets, but dead on with 124’s. I had adjustable sights added and all is good now.
 
markr6754 I'm still using the HP-38 and the Ramshot thru a 4" barrel and liking it. The indoor range we shoot at is an old one, been around since the 1970's and not sure how upgraded their ventilation is.

Nice to hear you are still experimenting!

Micro man I too will suggest HP-38 as a versatile and forgiving powder that is easy to find.
 
Unique is my favorite for 9mm and 4.7gr is my go to load. Anything under 4.5 seems temperamental. I've had great results in the 4.7 to 4.9 range with both 115gr and 124gr bullets. I mostly shoot the 115gr though. Also shooting a 92FS here.
 
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