Welcome to THR.
I'm new to reloading ... just looking for accurate plinking rounds. Still working on my accuracy with factory loads and wanted to give reloading a try.
Here's step-by-step guide you can reference to develop accurate loads along with shooting tips near the bottom of the post -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-and-discussions.778197/page-10#post-11419509
would like any advice on load data for rmr's 124gr matchwinners. I have power pistol and cfe powders on hand. I'm just looking for accurate plinking rounds.
While Power Pistol and CFE Pistol can work to produce accurate loads, "relatively" slower burning powders tend to produce accuracy near max/max load data. While I needed to push CFE Pistol near max to optimize accuracy, Power Pistol is more flexible like BE-86/WSF and can produce accuracy down to mid-range load data.
Below is my "relative burn rate" groupings I use for my load development and for lighter target/plinking loads, faster burning powders in the range of Red Dot/Promo to W231/HP-38/Sport Pistol would be better suited. Many reloaders use Unique and slower burning powders for higher velocity full power loads -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/powder-shape-and-burn-rate.852012/
Faster burning pistol powders:
E3 - Competition - Nitro 100 - N310 - Norma R1
Red Dot/Promo - IMR Red - Clays - 700X - Bullseye - Vectan Ba 10 - IMR Target - TiteGroup - Vectan AS - Am. Select - Solo 1000 - WST - International - Trail Boss - N320 - Vectan Ba 9.5 - No. 2 - Clean Shot/Lovex D032.03
W231/HP-38 - Zip - Sport Pistol - Green Dot - IMR Green
Slower burning pistol powders:
Unique - Universal - W244 - IMR Unequal - Vectan Ba 9 - BE-86 - Power Pistol - N330 - Vectan A1 - Herco - Vectan A0 - WSF - N340 - 800X
No. 5 - Auto Pistol/Lovex D036-03 - True Blue - HS6 - AutoComp - Ultimate Pistol/Lovex D036-07 - CFE Pistol - Silhouette - 3N37
N350 - 3N38 - IMR Blue - W572 - Blue Dot - No. 7 - Major Pistol/Lovex D037-01 - Vectan Ba 7.5 - Pro Reach - Long Shot - 2400
Enforcer - No. 9 - Heavy Pistol/Lovex D037-02 - 4100 - Steel - Norma R123 - N110 - Lil'Gun - W296/H110 - 300-MP - 11FS - Vectan Ba 6.5 - H4227
rmr's 124gr matchwinners. I have power pistol and cfe powders on hand.
Does it matter if I use published data for jhp if I'm loading matchwinners? It seems hard to find data for flat nosed rounds in fmj, everything seems to be in rn or jhp ... I know COL can effect pressure. I am currently at 1.065 -1.07 and everything passes plunk test.
When I am using a bullet not listed on the published load data, I will often reference more conservative start/max charges for the "initial" powder work up as you can always go up. What's more important than OAL is the actual bullet seating depth which is determined by subtracting the bullet length from OAL used.
BTW, you can find most commonly used bullet lengths in this link (Select .355"/.356" for 9mm bullets) -
http://www.shootforum.com/forum/bulletdb.html
I commonly use JHP data when loading the 124gr MatchWinners
For your RMR 124 gr FMJ TCFP Match Winner load development, you could also reference FMJ RN load data but reduce the start/max charges to compensate for deeper seating depth. Even when using similar profile bullets (FMJ vs RN, JHP vs HP, etc.), if I am using significantly shorter OAL/deeper bullet seating depth than published load data, I will consider reducing my start/max charges by .2 - .3 gr.
Let's look at some published load data:
Here's Speer load data for TMJ (Total Metal Jacket which is thick plated RN that can be driven to jacketed velocities) and Gold Dot HP (Also thick plated HP) -
https://reloading-data.speer-ammo.c...m_caliber_355-366_dia/9mm_Luger__124_rev1.pdf
- 9mm 124 gr Speer TMJ Power Pistol OAL 1.135" Start 5.6 gr (1033 fps) - Max 6.4 gr (1157 fps)
- 9mm 124 gr Speer GDHP Power Pistol OAL 1.120" Start 5.6 gr (1033 fps) - Max 6.4 gr (1157 fps)
Here's Hodgdon load data for BERB RNHB-TP (Berry's thick plated hollow base RN which can be driven to jacketed velocities), Sierra 125 gr FMJ (Since many jacketed bullet weights can vary by 1.0 gr, I interchange load data for 124/125 gr bullets) and 125 gr Hornady HAP (Same as XTP without the expansion cuts for better feeding for match shooting) -
http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol
- 9mm 124 gr BERB HBRN-TP CFE Pistol COL 1.150" Start 4.9 gr (1,006 fps) - Max 5.5 gr (1,120 fps)
- 9mm 125 gr Sierra FMJ CFE Pistol COL 1.090" Start 4.6 gr (1,009 fps) - Max 5.1 gr (1,118 fps)
- 9mm 125 gr Hornady HAP CFE Pistol COL 1.069" Start 4.2 gr (956 fps) - Max 4.8 gr (1,096 fps)
rmr's 124gr matchwinners ... I am currently at 1.065 -1.07 and everything passes plunk test.
Let's start with CFE Pistol powder work up first.
Hornady HAP is essentially Flat Point profile with hollow point and is similar to RMR FP Match Winner bullet profile. Since you are using 1.070" OAL with similar bullet seating depth, referencing 124 gr Hornady HAP load data for your "initial" powder work up would be most conservative. And reducing 125 gr Sierra FMJ load data by .2 - .3 gr would essentially produce similar start/max charges of 4.3 gr to 4.8 gr. (I would disregard BERB 4.9 gr to 5.5 gr as OAL used is much longer at 1.150").
BTW, for 124 gr RN (Thick plated) loaded to 1.150", I used 5.2 gr of CFE Pistol -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-flash-of-these-powders.863932/#post-11398575
So for CFE Pistol loaded with RMR 124 gr FP MW at 1.070", I would suggest testing 4.4 gr, 4.6 gr and 4.8 gr.
And since CFE Pistol produces greater accuracy at higher charges, your accuracy may increase towards 4.8 gr.
As for Power Pistol, GDHP better reflects RMR FP MW profile but Speer load data uses longer 1.120" length which will result in shallower bullet seating depth. So for RMR FP MW loaded deeper at 1.070", I would reduce the start/max charges as well.
So for Power Pistol loaded with RMR 124 gr FP MW at 1.070", I would suggest testing 5.1, 5.3 and 5.5 gr.
And why stop at 5.5 gr? Because you are looking for plinking rounds (about 125-130 power factor around 1050 fps), not higher velocity full power loads.
I hope this helped.