Experimenting with 147 grain 9mm

[Sharpie443]

I've been playing around with range loads using 147 grain bullets from Missouri bullet company and results have been pritty good. Acuracy is about the same as my 125 grain loads and recoil is very light. It makes from very easy and quick shooting.

I've been using 800x and tight group powder so far but I'm going to play around with some other loads. Both powders seem to produce a velocity of about 850-900Ft/s.

If you are looking for a good range load I highly suggest trying a 147 gran bullet. They do seem to be a bit finicky in some guns but it's worth developing a load.

 

[Jonesy814]

I prefer to shoot 147 grain ammo in my M&P Shield and 124gr is next. I don't even load 115gr in 9mm.

 

[meesterdon]

I love the Missouri 147 grain bullets. Titegroup is my go to powder for these. I load them mild and they work well. Santa is bringing me a thousand.

 

[joed]

I've always felt the best load for the 9mm is the 147 gr bullet. I've been shooting 147 gr for several years now. In my guns the 147 gr seems to have better accuracy then the 115 gr.

 

[DeadEye9]

I too enjoy a heavy 9mm majority of the time. For my weekly action shoots I load the 124 XTP from Hornady. The reason for this is because my carry load is the 124 +P HST so I like to use the same pistols and a handload with the same POI and felt recoil as my carry load for this type of shooting. All of my other range shooting with 9mm is done with 147 handloads though. I like someone else said don't even load 115 and there is only a single 115 defensive expanding round on the market that I would ever carry or reccomend and that being the 115 DPX all copper hollow point as loaded by CorBon or Black Hills. Barnes loads this themselves in the TacXP line but not with enough velocity. Aside from that 115s are a poor choice in 9mm. Accuracy tends to be the least promising with them, penetration in defensive JHPs is less than ideal with the 115 weight and some pistols flat out don't run the weak, light 115 FMJ loads such as WWB, Fed Champion etc. I do have 1000 rounds of 115 Perfecta brass case in my stash simply because I got it for $6.99 a box over the summer so I decided to add a case to my collection. Simply SHTF ammo tho if I have to dole it out to friends or something. Thousands and thousands of rounds of 124 & 147 to go through before I will shoot that 115 by choice.
Anyway back on topic, I too use TiteGroup for the 147s, making 913fps avg from my Glock 19 is a soft but accurate load. I sometimes heat things up with a Power Pistol or AA#7 load and crank 1008fps with a book load of AA7, but the accuracy is no better then the slower TG loaded batches so there isn't much point to it unless you were loading JHPs for defense or pest control.

 

[wally]

I don't carry a 9mm, but if I did, it'd be with 147gr JHP. YMMV

I haven't tried the Missouri polymer plated yet (although I got some about a month before the election), but I've shot 10s of thousands of their hard cast 147gr bullets using 3.7gr Unique and an OAL of 1.120". The OAL was "forced" by fitting in my tightest magazine as I don't do gun specific loads. Functions great in all my 9mm guns including 9mm AR SBR. and Glock 22 with Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel.

The lack of the lube groove with the polymer coated bullets makes the OAL of the bullet shorter so there will be more space in the case at the same cartridge OAL. So I plan to start with my 3.7gr load for the plated as well.

 

[Chuck R.]

Same here, I load 147 exclusively in my 7 9mm pistols and my 9mm Colt carbine, I also carry 147 grn in my CCWs. Made the switch to coated and plated a few years ago.

For my HKs and Walthers I find the 147s bring the POI up a little, and I find the recoil impulse allows me back on target faster. for tgt loads I stick with HP38/231 and for the higher velocity stuff N350 and LongShot.

Chuck

 

[joed]

I've always felt the 115 gr was not enough bullet for the 9mm. Problem is try to find something heavier, the majority of ammo for 9mm is all 115 gr, why I have no idea. When I first tried 147 gr I was impressed with the better accuracy so just stayed with it. Have to admit that 10 years ago 147 gr was not easy to find. It's gotten better now though.

My thoughts were that 9mm is very close in size to .357 and the best bullets in .357 were 125 gr to 158 gr. So I figured the 9mm should be good with something in that range. I do have some 124 gr 9mm bullets but haven't tried them as I've been pleased with the performance of the 147 gr.

 

[jwalts27]

I loaded up some 147g softies with BE86 for my my VP9. gun absolutely hates them. All over the place. I never got back to developing a load for it. in my M&P9 I can literally shoot one handed and catch the ejected rounds with the other. Still fairly accurate too. Shield wouldn't even cycle them.

 

[david_the_greek]

I loaded up some 147g softies with BE86 for my my VP9. gun absolutely hates them. All over the place. I never got back to developing a load for it. in my M&P9 I can literally shoot one handed and catch the ejected rounds with the other. Still fairly maccurate too. Shield wouldn't even cycle them.

Interested in what you worked up with the be86, if you don't mind sharing. I've been trying a few different loads with it myself, seems like quality powder for sure, just not sold yet on charge size.