9mm "plinking" load

S

SARuger

New member
Looking for recommendations for a good 9mm plinking round, 115g FMJ bullet, that will work well/cycle well, in all of my 9mm handguns.

Accuracy is not really all that important, just a good safe round.

What powder/load do you all suggest. I have most of the popular powders.

I finally gathered enough range brass, bullets, and a new LEE die set to make it worth my while.

Thanks!
 
My "range" load is the classic 6.0 grains of Unique pushing a Win. 115 grain FMJ-RN, mixed brass, CCI #500.
 
Winchester White Box.

Cheap and reliable. Should work in any of your 9mms. I bought 1000 rounds to break in my new 929 and now I have all the brass I need for reloading.
 
Plinking? Cheap bullet and powder.
Bullet: For 115gn, then the Precision Bullets 115gn L-FP ($123/3500 bullets or 6 cents/bullet). Bullets are swaged, so they are very consistent for weight and dimensions and coated so they don't lead unless you damage the coating somehow.
Alternative would be the very accurate Precision Delta 115gn JHP at $85/1000 for orders over 2000 (8.5 cents/bullet and a real bargain right now).

Powder: A fast powder like Bullseye or AA2.

With 115gn lead bullets, I shoot 4.4gn of AA2 and 3.9-4.0gn of Red Dot or 4.3gn 231/HP38 for about 2" at 25 yards. Work the loads up in your gun.

You'll probably get better accuracy with Power Pistol, BE86, or Silhouette, but for plinking, the above will be hard to beat.
 
My USPSA load is a 125 TC Bayou on top of 4.3 grains of TiteGroup at 1.100" and it goes about 1,180 fps, but for plinking you could run 3 grains of TiteGroup.

AZ, how do like your 929? Shoot ICORE with it?
 
Like 9x45 I like TiteGroup for my 9mm plinking or target shooting. I have had good results with 4 - 4.1 grains pushing 1115 fps with a Monmouth Coated 125gr Round Nose bullet with a COAL of 1.130. I have found the coated bullets tend to gain about 50-65 fps over jacketed or plated bullets and are some of the most accurate bullets I have used.
 
I bought a bulk pack 1000 of Remington 115 FMJ's that I'm still working on (I don't shoot 9mm much - just for CCW practice, basically.).

But when I do load 115's for range practice, I reach for W231/HP-38 first. A good second choice is Bullseye; but it's a bit . . . residuey. I've also used AA#2 with great results. All of them in the 4.0 grain neighborhood. If I wanted to pump them up just a little, I'd use TiteGroup. I have TG, but have never loaded 9mm with it - yet.

For 115 range shooters, there's no point in using anything slower. Stick with the fast stuff.
 
If by "work well" you mean be reasonably accurate in all firearms, there really is no such thing. You have to work up the load for each pistol. However, any load in any manual should cycle in any pistol.
Partial to Bullseye myself with a 121 grain cast TC. My Inglis isn't up to any kind of great accuracy.
Check that range brass well. You have no idea what has been done to it, how it has been loaded, how many times or anything else about it.
 
No one listed HS-6
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I'm surprised no one mentioned HS-6; even though it's too slow for the application. HS-6 likes heavy bullets; at least in order for it to to run clean with a consistent burn. It'll work fine with 124's - if you pump them up to defense level. But it behaves best under 147's . . medium to strong loads.

For your application, between W231 and HS-6 - it's a no-brainer. My range shooter 115 using W231 is 4.6 grains. Yields 1068 f/s thorugh a 3.7" bbl Kahr CW9; and 1124 f/s through a 5" Beretta 92fs. Your mileage may vary; always do your own workups. For me, this loading shoots and cycles nice. Make for a good day at the range.
 
I'm surprised no one mentioned HS-6; even though it's too slow for the application. HS-6 likes heavy bullets; at least in order for it to to run clean with a consistent burn. It'll work fine with 124's - if you pump them up to defense level. But it behaves best under 147's . . medium to strong loads.
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I have tried HS-6 with 125gr and it gave good velocities but I had a 6-8" spread at 10 yards. When I use it with 147gr bullets it drops to 3-4" spread and it pushes good velocities for that weight of bullets. I use HS-6 primarily for 45.
 
For economy with a plinking load I like a 115 gn dardas cast (roughly 6 cents per round) over 3.2 gns of 700x (can be found for around 18 bucks per 14 ounces). Its a little dirty but I don't mind cleaning my guns, plus I can keep my 9mm costs hovering around 10 cents per round. That's cheap shooting friend

For something closer to full house loads I'll run 124 gn dardas projectiles over around 5.8gns of HS6. At this loading the powder burns pretty clean and it produces decent velocity. There are better loads, but hs6 is cheap and can be found for 20ish a pound. Economy drives a lot of my reloading components choice, so long as the load has at least an average degree of accuracy for the application.

My powder choices are mediocre and I overlook some shortcomings for the sake of economy. I will say that dardas makes a fine cast bullet for the price, and I honestly feel you would be hard pressed to find better value.
 
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If by "work well" you mean be reasonably accurate in all firearms, there really is no such thing. You have to work up the load for each pistol. However, any load in any manual should cycle in any pistol.
Partial to Bullseye myself with a 121 grain cast TC. My Inglis isn't up to any kind of great accuracy.
Check that range brass well. You have no idea what has been done to it, how it has been loaded, how many times or anything else about it.
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I'm just needing cheap plinking ammo for SD range, 7yds max, that will run through my LC9 and P250(yes I like crappy DAO triggers:))

I went through 1,000 rounds of the range brass last night. De-capped and de-crimped(some were military crimped) and tumbled. I inspected the brass really well and it looks good. None of this brass has been re-loaded.
 
I use HS-6 primarily for 45.
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ACP, or Colt? I'm going to assume ACP. In which case . . .

Me too. HS-6 pushes the heavy 230's really nice. And being a rather lackadaisical propellant, it's real forgiving as you do your work-ups. i.e. it's not "spikey," and gives lots of warning that pressure is getting excessive. That's also why I recommend it for the novice loader who is doing work-ups for high-power applications. It won't deliver winning velocities, but it'll get you up in that neighborhood with no surprises.

Great stuff - once you understand its personality and use it accordingly.
 
ACP, or Colt? I'm going to assume ACP. In which case . . .
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Neither, 45GAP. I shoot mostly 200gr. I like Unique and HS-6 for the 200 and 230. Universal pushes the 185gr better than anything else and does a good job on the 200 as well.
 
Neither, 45GAP.
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:D Okay, you got me. heh.

I don't own a 45 GAP; but conceptually, I like the cartridge. I see it as a "modernize" 45 ACP - same performance in a shorter package. Seems to me, the slide needing to move less to perform the same task would be a good thing.

And being a shorter package (less internal case space), I can see how HS-6 would work well with 200 grain bullets in the GAP. That makes perfect sense.
 
I use either 231/HP-38 (4.6 grs) or Bullseye (4.3 grs) with 115gt plated bullets. I've used 115 gr plated bullets from Berry's, Everglades, Extreme, FMP, Rainer, and RMR. I just loaded up my last 500 bullets from Everglades and a 1,000 of the RMR. The RMR's accuracy looks to be pretty good so far with the 200 I've tried in all five of my 9mm's. All of the loads are with mixed brass with CCI #500 primers and a COL of 1.130". Muzzle flash and recoil are pretty similar (maybe slightly less) to most 115 gr FMJ factory loads.

These loads have been 100% reliable in all of my nines except for two dude primers.

Cost wise I'm at 11.54 cents per round ($5.77 box of 50) with HP-38, slightly more with 231 and slightly less with Bullseye. I prefer using HP-38 the most.

I'm good on powder as I just picked up 8lbs of Bullseye but, need to get some more bullets. Likely the RMR's.

 
I've been using the everglades 115gr fmj hollowbase bullet and 4.5gr bullseye. In my glock 19 its poi is my poa. Very accurate, I love hp38/win231 for 40 & 45 but with a 115gr fmj it shoots low in my gun, that being said, it was very accurate though. Power pistol has given me the same results as bullseye.

With jhp's I've been using BE-86, 124gr and 147's and has given excellent results as well.
 
Kind of depends on what you are looking for in a "plinking ammo". Economy? Light recoil? or just something functional?
 
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