load for beretta 96 A1

J

javadog60

Inactive
I am trying to work up a load for a Beretta 96 A1. So far, I have not had any success. I shoot better groups with my 32 tomcat. Without going in to all the powders and bullet weights I have tried, I was just wondering if any one has a good load for their 96....or something to start with to help me on my way.

I shoot mostly Rainier bullets. I have achieved acceptable accuracy for my Glock 27, a couple of 357s, a couple of 9mm and a 44. But I just can't come up with a consistent load for the 96.

I was looking closely at the barrel and it seems to have a lot of freebore. How should I deal with that in reloading?

I don't shoot competition, just paper and steel in my backyard. But I do like to hit what I'm shooting at most of the time.
 
Have you slugged the barrel? At least in the 92 they are reputed to run oversize but I don't know about the 96. I know the Taurus version in 9mm can be oversized. Also mic the bullets as they can be slightly undersized. Again, no experience with the 96 but in a Taurus 92 (barrel slugged at .357", leade is actually very short) just 1/2 a thou larger in a plated bullet made a huge difference in accuracy. Good luck.
 
I have slugged the barrel = .400. The bullets are .400.
I backed off my load to 75% of the maximum load and seated the bullet at 1.135. Got 1 inch group at 10 yards. The more I increased the load, the larger my groups got. Just wondering if I can seat the bullet to have the COAL longer than 1.135. I have never seated to longer than the maximum recommended COAL. I just have so much freebore that I think it would help.
 
Again not a 96 but my Ruger definitely likes cartridges on the long side. I did a "plunk" test with increasingly shorter cartridges until the cartridge mouth would just hit the stop instead of the bullet hitting the lands and shortened it .010" more, for good measure. Then loaded some and tested for function. Usually as long as they plunk, fit the magazine, and feed reliably, they are not "too long" as long as you have enough bullet in the case to hold it securely.

I have not tried Ranier bullets but they have a good reputation. You might try another nose shape on the bullet. I've recently discovered X-treme Bullets round nose, thick plate, conical base bullets and have achieved the best accuracy to date in the Ruger and my Taurus PT99. You might give X-treme a try as they also have thick plate bullets for 40 cal.

The fact that accuracy rapidly degrades so with velocities that should be OK makes me wonder if the plating is failing. Try reducing your taper crimp to the absolute minimum to fit the gage/chamber to be sure you are not weakening the plating. Also have you tried a jacketed bullet to take plating failure out of the equation?
 
I agree with Skinnedknuckles.

In the past I've had similar trouble with plated bullets in pistols. Recently, I've started treating plated bullets the same as cast bullets, since the cores of the plated bullets are very soft. I picked up a Lyman Multi Expander Die, which is set up to properly expand brass for lead bullets. This has dramatically increased accuracy for me.

Basically, when you size your brass down, and expand it normally, it only bells the top of the case, leaving the body of the case very tight. When you seat a bullet, it ends up sizing the bullet down way below the groove diameter of your barrel. This leads to poor accuracy.

The normal die setup works fine for FMJ bullets, since they're much harder and will not get sized down in the case. But this badly affects cast or plated bullets.
 
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