First Reloading Experience (9mm)

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bwalker36

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2019
Messages
141
I recently applied for Carry Permit in PA as well as picked up a Glock 43X to carry (My 1911 and Sig are just to big for me). I was talking to a buddy who also carries and asked him what he shoots for practice since Hollow Points are not cheap and he answered Hand Loads......Fast forward 2 weeks and I have my Lee Classic Turret Kit, Lee Deluxe 9mm Dies, hours of research, and a ton of questions.

I already asked some questions in another thread and got some great feedback and information. I decided to start my own thread to keep you all up to date with where I am (which isn't far right now). After some discussions and some additional load data provided I have landed on my the starting loads I'm going to bring to the range this weekend.

full&d=1559573939.png

I saw the sharpie color idea in these forums and love it. I wanted to load these to 1.12 like the load data I saw online but they don't pass the plunk test in my glock. My plan is to load 10 rounds of each below. Shoot 5 rounds through my 226 then 5 through my Glock. Check out the cases how they feed and base accuracy. If all looks good move up and repeat.

I have no idea when I'll get to the range but I'm hoping in the next few days.
 
bwalker36 said:
My plan is to load 10 rounds of each below. Shoot 5 rounds through my 226 then 5 through my Glock. Check out the cases how they feed and base accuracy. If all looks good move up and repeat.
Click to expand...
Good plan! I think you'll find a useful load with your procedure.

Hint: If you just want a plinking load, use a faster powder... AA#2, W231, Red Dot/Promo come to mind and would enable lighter loads and very low recoil. (But Unique should serve you well getting started!)
 
Your plan of attack will work quite well and I'm glad to see a newer reloader follow directions (load data)...

I never cared for plated bullets, but that's just me, tried about 1,000 (my cast don't lead and are very accurate and if I want higher velocities, I use jacketed, and my "Just In Case" ammo uses RMR 124 JHP).

Go slow, double check everything and most important, have fun...
 
Sounds like a solid plan to me, I think you will find that the 4.1 and 4.3 loads may have problems cycling. 4.5 and above will probably be OK. That being said, your mileage may vary. My experience with Unique is that it burns dirtier with lower loads (never had it burn truly clean - they don't call it flaming dirt for nothing). Unique is a great powder to start out with. Hard to double charge a case and very versatile. As you progress, 231 is good, Power Pistol is excellent and Titegroup is very economical for 9mm. Looking forward to you posting your results!
 
docbrown said:
Sounds like a solid plan to me, I think you will find that the 4.1 and 4.3 loads may have problems cycling. 4.5 and above will probably be OK. That being said, your mileage may vary. My experience with Unique is that it burns dirtier with lower loads (never had it burn truly clean - they don't call it flaming dirt for nothing). Unique is a great powder to start out with. Hard to double charge a case and very versatile. As you progress, 231 is good, Power Pistol is excellent and Titegroup is very economical for 9mm. Looking forward to you posting your results!
Click to expand...

I did expect that, but another user had shown me some older load data he had in his Lyman manual that had starting at 4.3 and max at 4.9 which is very different that what is published on Alliant now for my bullet size and similar plated bullet of 5.8 max charge. My ultimate goal is to retain my fingers lol so go small and still go home is my motto on these ones.

Thanks all for the encouragement everyone. I can't wait to expand on this to .45 ACP, .223/5.56, and whatever bolt gun I get next year (most likely .308 to start).
 
bwalker36 said:
I recently applied for Carry Permit in PA....
Click to expand...

That's odd.

Here in Carbon County you fill out the paperwork, take it and your check to the courthouse. The deputy runs the NICS and looks to see if he knows any of your references. He hands the paper to the Sheriff who tells him to proceed. He (the deputy) takes your picture, gets a signature from the Sheriff then runs the card through a laminating machine. Usually, parking lot to Sheriff office and back to your car is on the order of 30 minutes.

Good luck with your handloads.
 
I use jacketed, and my "Just In Case" ammo uses RMR 124 JHP
Click to expand...
I really like RMRs 124gr MPR JHP they shoot well for me, (and others)
Good price and Jake from RMR offers a 5% discount on all RMR stuff to THR members with the code, free fast shipping as well.
Might be worth checking out next time you need bullets.

Assuming it is ok for you to get hollow points in the mail where you are (some places/states are a PITA)
let me know and I can PM you a sample to try.

4.1 may not cycle, but I am guessing 4.3 will.
Always best to start low IMO.
Call me chicken but no kabooms and I still have all my fingers. (missing a few brain cells over the years but that's a different story;))

Please keep us posted.
Hope things work out well for you and you enjoy reloading.
 
thomas15 said:
That's odd.

Here in Carbon County you fill out the paperwork, take it and your check to the courthouse. The deputy runs the NICS and looks to see if he knows any of your references. He hands the paper to the Sheriff who tells him to proceed. He (the deputy) takes your picture, gets a signature from the Sheriff then runs the card through a laminating machine. Usually, parking lot to Sheriff office and back to your car is on the order of 30 minutes.

Good luck with your handloads.
Click to expand...

I'm in monroe county. When I dropped it off they were like 45 days you will have your post card. From what I read online they take all of their 45 allotted days. I will say they had the postcards to my refernces within 5 business days. And since I can pass a nics check to buy firearms I don't expect an issue.

I have been practicing at my home until the card comes and I have a class scheduled with my local club for some training. I already forget I have it on when at home so I have a post it on the front door that says put your gun in the safe....lol.
 
bwalker36 said:
My plan is to load 10 rounds of each below. Shoot 5 rounds through my 226 then 5 through my Glock.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum and good luck with the reloads.
I have a 226 and a 43 as well. Make sure your COL works in both as you're testing in both. I don't know what bullet you have, but in my 43, the RMR MPR JHP has a max COL of 1.165. I'm surprised the 43X is that much different. Also on the Sig, if it's a German origin, it may have a much shorter working COL than one made here. Mine do. And, of course, the cycling will be vastly different between the two.
Your hours of research have probably clued you in to the fact that COL is extremely important in 9mm, so while you've settle on 1.110, please insure you have sufficient neck tension and you don't have too much setback when the round chambers. When you're in that short COL territory, you want to make sure you're controlling that.
Have fun and we all like to take care of our digits!
 
lordpaxman said:
Welcome to the forum and good luck with the reloads.
I have a 226 and a 43 as well. Make sure your COL works in both as you're testing in both. I don't know what bullet you have, but in my 43, the RMR MPR JHP has a max COL of 1.165. I'm surprised the 43X is that much different. Also on the Sig, if it's a German origin, it may have a much shorter working COL than one made here. Mine do. And, of course, the cycling will be vastly different between the two.
Your hours of research have probably clued you in to the fact that COL is extremely important in 9mm, so while you've settle on 1.110, please insure you have sufficient neck tension and you don't have too much setback when the round chambers. When you're in that short COL territory, you want to make sure you're controlling that.
Have fun and we all like to take care of our digits!
Click to expand...

My 226 is is from exeter NH. I have berrys hybrid hollow points which are the cause of my CoL being so short. My factory Fiocchi FMJ are 1.155 on average and plunk test just fine in my 43x. There shouldn't be a difference between the 43x and the 43 since all they changed was the grip. I think the berry's are just fatter at the nose and rub the lands. The 226 plunk tests at 1.15 with the berry's and it threw me off cuase its something I missed in my research that rounds within specs might not chamber properly. Its actually what landed me here and starting to ask questions.

As far as neck tension I just adjusted my die to touch the case mouth of a seated round then gave it a little over a 1/3 turn. Pushing as hard as I can against my bench I was only able to get one to move .005 inches so In my book thats good tension.
 
If you get a bit of variation in your powder throws, it’s not abnormal for Unique. That was the first powder I tried and was sure that I must be doing something wrong when I weighed my powder throws.
 
bwalker36 said:
As far as neck tension I just adjusted my die to touch the case mouth of a seated round then gave it a little over a 1/3 turn.
Click to expand...

You’re describing a crimp operation which should be done to remove any bell from an expander operation. Neck tension is a result of the resize operation to some degree and also by the brass case characteristics, and the size and depth of the bullet. For your plated bullets, if the crimp is too much it will actually swage the bullet and then the brass will expand back a bit leaving you with less neck tension. I try to make sure I get no measurable setback on a bench push test and then will try a slide lock release to battery and measure that setback as well. Just my .02!

Good luck and it’ll be good to hear the range report. And good luck on your carry permit. PA is like NY in the way the counties decide what hoops they do or don’t want you to jump through. I went to McKean County to get my non-resident permit. It was less than 10 minutes.
 
Yep.

Neck tension is a result of the sizer and expander, all the taper "crimp" die does is remove the bell, or a hair more.
 
bwalker36 said:
Blue Ridge Cherry Valley as its only like 20min from me.
Click to expand...

OK good club. Very good club actually. This is a geographical region where there is a gun club under every other rock and behind every third tree. But you did well picking Blue Ridge Cherry Valley. I have shot matches there numerous times.

Your club runs monthly IDPA matches and Rimfire Challenge. I know some of the people there, great people and knowledgeable. BRCV is actually closer to me than my home club (Ontelaunee) and I have thought about joining but I have friends at Ontelaunee and it better suits the kind of shooting I do.

NE PA = very gun friendly place. I'm a transplant from NJ, moved here in 2004. If you have reloading questions or would like to see my set up just give a holler.
 
Last edited:
Regarding a "crimp" on semi-auto ammo; I don't think of the operation as "crimping". Perhaps to get my mind around "crimping" that is often detrimental to semi-auto cartridges and for all my handloads, unnecessary. I merely "deflare" my handloads with a taper crimp die and plunk test. Has worked for me since I reloaded my first 45 ACP cartridge in '88.
 
bwalker36 said:
I did expect that, but another user had shown me some older load data he had in his Lyman manual that had starting at 4.3 and max at 4.9 which is very different that what is published on Alliant now for my bullet size and similar plated bullet of 5.8 max charge. My ultimate goal is to retain my fingers lol so go small and still go home is my motto on these ones.

Thanks all for the encouragement everyone. I can't wait to expand on this to .45 ACP, .223/5.56, and whatever bolt gun I get next year (most likely .308 to start).
Click to expand...
Different formulations as the makers change things over time. Using old data with new stuff and vice versa, not always a good idea.
 
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/help-with-9mm-loads-and-oal.851180/page-3
Post 63
The Lyman manual I listed data from was Lyman 50, current data.
Alliant data snip was from older Alliant data, maybe 10 years old.

But I haven't used in Unique in about 5 years (don';t care for the way it meters and dirty IMO)so it may have changed, and it could be the 2 lots I had were on the fast burn speed side of what is allowable for Unique.
But with the lots of powder and 124/125gr bullets I used I think 5.8 would have been to much, maybe Way to much.

The current Lyman Data would tend to make me want to start lower than the 5.2 or 5.3 you get by MAX - 10% if I was using any bullet other than the GDHP. (and even then I might start lower than 5.2)

I am sure the current Alliant data is fine for that bullet but for a new reloader I like to advise caution and unless you are loading an exact combo to look at different data and make your decision based on more than one set of data.
Lyman tends to show a big difference with the 124s they used vs Allaint's data with the GDHP.
Maybe I am just a bit chicken but I think caution is a good thing.

I don't have Speer or Hornady manuals might be interesting to see what they list with a 124/125 and Unique, could be Lyman is just on the low side.
(can somebody help with those numbers?)
More data might be helpful to the OP.
 
Last edited:
I do have the Hornady 10th edition. They don't list any 124/125 plated or lead. The only bullets they list is a 124gr FMJ-RN, 124gr XTP and 124 FMJ-FP.

The data for unique is 4.0gr 900 fps min, 5.0gr 1100 fps max

I hope this helps
 
Thanks RMH that is interesting to see Hornadys data is more in line with Lyman's .
It looks like for whatever reason you can/need to run a heavier charge with the the GDHPs . (5.8 was the listed max for them)
Looking to me like to OPs spread for 4.1 of 4.7 is a wise choice.:)
 
Dudedog said:
Thanks RMH that is interesting to see Hornadys data is more in line with Lyman's .
It looks like for whatever reason you can/need to run a heavier charge with the the GDHPs . (5.8 was the listed max for them)
Looking to me like to OPs spread for 4.1 of 4.7 is a wise choice.:)
Click to expand...

Now I just need time to finish loading and get to the range. Between my wife and my 3 year old I have enough time to sleep :)
 
Berry's finally replied to my inquiry and was just like 1.12 to 1.11 is so small it shouldn't matter. I kinda chuckled.

Edit: I'm also kinda thinking that their noses of their bullets just are not super uniform and in a tight chamber like my glock it really shows up. Same brass same seating depth every couple won't pass a plunk and the CoL ends up like .0035" longer than the ones that did pass the plunk.

I don't want to get ahead of myself but I might buy a small box of another bullet thats in my manual and another 1lb tub of powder just to try loading something else and see if I hit the same oddities.

I'm not worried about safety right now too much since i'm still really low on the charge and no CoL has measured under 1.11
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

santacruzdave
  • Locked
Loading 9mm 124 gr. RMR MP-HP for XD9
Replies
22
Views
3K
Doublehelix
Doublehelix
M
  • Locked
First time loading for pistol...
Replies
5
Views
510
LiveLife
LiveLife
L
  • Locked
First reload success!!!
Replies
12
Views
689
witchhunter
W
Hondo Kid
  • Locked
Reloading 9mm Bayou Bullets
Replies
3
Views
620
NWcityguy2
NWcityguy2
vaalpens
  • Locked
The AoG PIF V-Crown 125gr 9mm journey
2 3
Replies
56
Views
9K
vaalpens
vaalpens
Back
Top