Reloaded and chrono'd some hot 9mm 147gr rounds!

First time i have reloaded for the 9mm and decided to go with AA#7 for my heavy 9mm reloads since i use them also for the 10mm 155gr variety.

I chrono'd these factory rounds out of the M&P9c which has 3.5 inch barrel and completely stock minus trigger work. I am listing the average of a five shot string.

Federal HST 147= 951 ft/sec
Winger Ranger 147= 946 ft/sec

AA#7 1.095" COAL, 80deg 147gr XTP bullets

7.0gr= 1008,996,1003,1011,998 ft/sec
***7.2gr= 1026,1033,1029,1039,1040 ft/sec
7.4gr= 1056,1060,1062,1031,1054 ft/sec

Accurate Arms suggests a low of 6.5gr to a 7.2gr range. The 7.4gr is over the book but pressure listed for the 7.2gr is only 31,900psi so i felt that i could go a little higher. There were no pressure signs of any sort at the 7.0 and 7.2 level. At 7.4gr, three of the five brass had some primer flattening but no other signs at all.

Needless to say i am very impressed with this powder and load combination. This load in a 4" or longer barrel would be even faster. Having a 147gr zooming at 1050ft/sec out of a 3.5 barrel is pretty stout and impressive. I am sure out of my Sig 226 this would be at least 1100ft/sec or faster.

Has anybody else tried this powder with this weight bullet or any other recipes for a hot 147gr?

rcmodel said:

Sometimes, pressure testing indicates to the manufacture that a powder reaches a max load before SAAMI max pressure is reached.
Beyond that pressure, pressure spikes start to occur that makes going further unwise.

Maybe three flat primers and two normal primers are trying to tell you something the manufacture already knew when they said 7.2 grains was Max?

rc

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^^^I agree fully. I was just impressed that even at 7.0 and 7.2gr the velocities were still higher than the factory rounds which is nice in my book. I plan to reload at 7.2gr from here on. The 7.4 was more to see the room for error per say in case my powder measure dropped an 0.1 gr if i should really worry and at this point i feel safe.

Runningman said:

That powder #7 generally works good in full throttle 9mm loads. I've used it in 115 Gr and 124 Gr 9mm loads over the years. .......But I would not be surprised if pressure was higher than you realize, given your velocity numbers in a 3.5" barrel. You could get a rude awaking if you allow a cartridge to heat soak in a hot chamber after multiple magazines.

Hornady list #7 @ 6.7 Gr, 1000 FPS 4" barrel as a max load with their own 147 Gr bullet. (Same bullet you are using).

Lyman # 49 list #7 @ 7.2 Gr 1014 FPS in a 4" barrel.

Speer #14 list #7 @ 6.8 Gr 961 FPS in a 4" barrel.

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The hornady and Speer numbers look very surprising since Accurate Arms the makers of the powder state 6.5gr as the starting load, so it is weird that 6.7gr is maximum. AA lists 6.5gr as starting and 7.2gr ad max which is same as Lyman #49. At 7.2gr there were absolutely no pressure signs at all.