Swifty Morgan
New member
I'm loading 125-grain 9mm semiwadcutters from Missouri Bullet. The powder is BE-86. The primers are Winchester small pistol.
The closest published load I could find was for cast 125-grain round nose bullets, so I went with that, changing the OAL somewhat to accommodate the longer semiwadcutters. I chose 1.160", whereas the published data (Alliant) says 1.120". My bullets are 0.06" longer than the round nose bullets I have on hand, so my assumption was that I was pushing things a little by only increasing the OAL by 0.04".
The published load goes up to 5.7 grains at 1179 fps. I was surprised to see a velocity that high.
I tried 5.2 grains, and I got 1082 fps. I thought I could do better.
I tried 5.3 grains and got an average of 1088 fps with a very low spread of 14. Only 4 of the 5 test rounds showed up on the chronometer. I tried 5.5 grains, and I got 1099 fps with erratic speeds. The spread was 51. Again, only 4 shots registered.
I was hoping I could get something like 1125 out of this short barrel, but it appears that adding powder isn't doing much, and the spread is going crazy.
Am I at the end of the road, or is there anything else I should try? I could try shortening the OAL a little to increase pressure. I am not seeing pressure signs.
It sort of looks like if I can't get any more speed, I should go back down to 5.3 where the spread was low and the speed was acceptable.
The closest published load I could find was for cast 125-grain round nose bullets, so I went with that, changing the OAL somewhat to accommodate the longer semiwadcutters. I chose 1.160", whereas the published data (Alliant) says 1.120". My bullets are 0.06" longer than the round nose bullets I have on hand, so my assumption was that I was pushing things a little by only increasing the OAL by 0.04".
The published load goes up to 5.7 grains at 1179 fps. I was surprised to see a velocity that high.
I tried 5.2 grains, and I got 1082 fps. I thought I could do better.
I tried 5.3 grains and got an average of 1088 fps with a very low spread of 14. Only 4 of the 5 test rounds showed up on the chronometer. I tried 5.5 grains, and I got 1099 fps with erratic speeds. The spread was 51. Again, only 4 shots registered.
I was hoping I could get something like 1125 out of this short barrel, but it appears that adding powder isn't doing much, and the spread is going crazy.
Am I at the end of the road, or is there anything else I should try? I could try shortening the OAL a little to increase pressure. I am not seeing pressure signs.
It sort of looks like if I can't get any more speed, I should go back down to 5.3 where the spread was low and the speed was acceptable.