Blue Dot in 9mm Luger

9MMand223only, thanks for your thoughts. Your #2 reason agrees with Shadow9mm's post above, the bullet being too long.

I can't find any post where I seated at 1.050, so I'm not sure where you got that idea. But it triggered my review of various manuals and it's interesting that the recommended COLs are all over the place.

Hornady's 4th Edition is the only one that lists the COL for their 115gr XTP as 1.050".
It is also 1.050" for their 124gr FMJ-FP. Lyman's 50th Ed lists 1.090" for the 115gr XTP and 1.060" for the 124gr XTP.

The Hodgdon No.27 manual lists Hodgdon, Alliant, IMR, and Winchester powders, and the respective COLs for 115gr bullets are 1.125, 1.120, 1.110, and -for Winchester - just 1.169MAX for 115gr, 124gr, and 147gr.

So the neophyte handloader with a 115gr bullet for 9mm is looking at any COL between 1.050 and 1.169.
 
So the neophyte handloader with a 115gr bullet for 9mm is looking at any COL between 1.050 and 1.169.
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I covered this in post #6 of this thread.

I will add that the industry standard max length of 1.169" is a length you are not required to load to, its a length that you should not exceed.
 
I shot in practice various times ,next to a guy focused on Bullseye ( target) shooting at 15 - 20 yds. His FN Browning Highpower really liked his handloads using Red Dot.

I don’t load 9mm. So I just report by actual real life observation.
 
Sometimes it's hard to see the forest through the trees. Seeing as they are available I may have to order a few of the berrys hp to try. Never tried red or blue. My go to is power pistol, but I also load hp-38, #7 and cfe pistol. In 9mm. Power pistol gets my berrys 124g up over 1250fps , backed them down to 1225fps, out of a 4in barrel.
 
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I loaded 15 tonight to test Blue Dot, HP38 and CFE Pistol. When I seated the bullet to 1.135" it failed the plunk test. It passed at 1.125 and I ran all 15 through the Walther without any hangups. I'll see what they do re: accuracy. If nothing is impressive I'll move to 1.090 as recommended by Berry via Shadow above.
 
Finally got to go to the range today to test 9mm and blue dot

CAUTION: The following post (or a page linked to) includes or discusses loading data not covered by currently published sources of tested data for this cartridge (QuickLOAD or Gordon's Reloading Tool data is not professionally tested). USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assumes any liability for any damage or injury resulting from the use of this information.


Went to the range today, was a great brisk sun shiny morning, about 20 deg. and no wind.
I did the 9mm/blue dot load workup with my glock 26 about a 3 inch barrel.
I'm not positive to say which load is the greatest, from what I can tell, blue dot works, goes bang, but maybe not the best choice for 9mm. My velocities and sd numbers were all over, and the empty brass flew out anywhere from 4ft to 10ft away, and all loads had a pretty stout recoil, but no signs of over pressure with an Extreme 115g RN plated bullet.
This was at 7yds with a rest and most were 7 rounds each. The groups were just ok, but of course I am not the best pistol shooter. They did seem to open up larger at 8.2 and 8.4 grains. I guess if I had to choose, 7.4, 7.6 and 8.0 would be ok for me.
I was surprised at the over 1300fps out of a short 3 inch barrel, I would like to try it again in my 9mm carbine.
 

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Thanks, Lugerstew!
Coincidentally, this morning I test-fired the rounds I made last night. Temp was about 60 degrees - a big jump from recent lows.

Blue Dot was the winner. 5 shots at 15 yards from a rest = 1.39" but 4 of them measured 0.644."
CFE Pistol was a bummer -2 rounds touching in the bull but the other 3 had a 3" spread between them
HP-38 - 5 shots were in a 1.5" group.

This with the Berry 124 gr Hybrid HP seated at 1.125". I didn't chrono them but the CFE-Pistol cases were kicked the farthest. Maybe a drop in the powder charge would improve that but I think I'll wait until I use up all the Blue Dot.
 
Just be careful, most plated bullets, unless they are the thick plate variety, don't like being pushed over 1250fps. That could be the cause of accuracy issues
 
Thanks Shadow9mm

That could very well be the reason that those groups started to open up, I was probably starting to push those plated bullets past their comfort zone. My comfort zone also, I don't care to see 9mm, 115g bullets passing 1300fps, I start to get a little nervous.:eek:
 
lugerstew said:
Thanks Shadow9mm

That could very well be the reason that those groups started to open up, I was probably starting to push those plated bullets past their comfort zone. My comfort zone also, I don't care to see 9mm, 115g bullets passing 1300fps, I start to get a little nervous.:eek:
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I like go push hard. In 9mm I got my berrys 124g rn up over 1250 with power pistol. Backed it down to an average of 1225.

Use to be a die hard 115, but now I only load 124s. Looking into trying some 147s once primers start coming back
 
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