Questions About IMR 4756 in 9mm

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Potatohead

Potatohead

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Fellas,
I braved a Nashville mall last night (Bass Pro) and scored a LB of 4756 and a LB of Bullseye. As I perused a burn rate chart when I got home, I realized it's a little slower than I had originally thought and possibly not ideal, or am I wrong here?

Does anyone have experience with any recipes? I have 115 gr Winchester JHPs, 115gr Xtreme Plated RN, and 124gr Xtreme Plated HPs for bullet selection.

The Hodgdon site has a 115gr LRN recipe (among a couple others) but Im a bit unsure of how one is to treat the LRN-to-plated relationship in recipes.

Also, what are the advantages and disadvantages of slower versus faster powders for 9mm (or any caliber for that matter)? Is slower more effective with heavier bullets? Lighter?

Must slower powders be loaded on the "warmer" side to reach a certain level of effectiveness in 9mm (aka Longshot)? I prefer staying on the "cool" side of things myself...

Im sure some will say "just use the Bullseye" but I like to experiment with all of the powders that I have. (starting low and working up of course)
Sorry for so many questions in one thread. Thanks. PH
 
I use 4756 for my 9mm reloads, while there is surely better powder for 9mm, 4756 does work.
I found a sweet spot for my P-938 with berrys plated 115gr rn at 5.7gr of 4756, oal of 1.125, that's about mid range for jacketed.
I'll also be using 4756 to reload .380 and .40.
It may not be an ideal powder choice but I was pleasantly surprised with the results I've gotten.

I really can't answer any of your questions due to being a noob but thought i'd share what I know about this powder from my experience.

My research has found SR 4756 to be a pretty versatile powder. I personally would be using something else like w231/hp38 if I could find any...

Recoil seemed soft untill approaching the mid range for jacketed in my test loads, I don't have a chrony so won't be loading past the 5.7, but for plinking at the range this worked well for me.

1TG
 
You're welcome

I should probably also state that I used CCI 500 primers.

My Hornady 9th manual is where the load data came from, they list the following:
115gr fmj rn (hornady's)
Oal 1.100
IMR SR 4756 5.2gr-6.4gr

115gr hp xtp (hornady's)
Oal 1.075
IMR SR 4756 5.2gr-6.4gr

124gr hp xtp (hornady's)
Oal 1.060
IMR SR 4756 4.1gr-5.5gr

IMR BASIC RELOADING MANUAL has the following:

125gr sierra fmj
Oal 1.090
IMR SR 4756 4.9gr MAX

Hope that helps some, from the research that I've done on this powder I've found that this is actually a small rifle powder thus the "SR", it works well in SOME shotgun loadings, SOME magnum handgun loadings and is a go to powder for SOME reloaders for .40.

I tested a range starting from the low end and all charges were able to cycle the slide on my Sig P-938 and lock it open with the berrys rn and the hornady fmj rn though I pushed the hornady fmj rn up to 6.0gr to get the felt recoil to better match the factory stuff I was using for practice...

Guys here and elsewhere on the net will tell you that complete combustion might not be consistent at the lower or upper end of charge weights. I haven't noticed any leftover/unburnt powder as of yet, it seems cleaner than the factory stuff I was using but it may be different for you and your gun...

1TG
 
IMR-4756 was the first powder I used for 9mm if memory serves me correctly. But that was over 30 years ago, but I do recall having used it back then. It worked very well, again from memory. I think it's fairly slow burning in 9mm loads. I used it for all weight bullets, all jacketed though.

In particular, I had bought a G17 in the 80's, and none of the factory ammunition of any quality or grade would reliably cycle that G17. However,when I started reloading and used 4756, I had 100% uneventful function from that pistol, so yes it worked very well for me.

The current powder I use for 9mm and .40 cal. is Longshot. It became my new most favorite powder for some of the cartridges I load, including also 38 spcl.. I like slow burning powders and they have performed best in every application using jacketed bullets for me, and in every bullet weight that pertains to the cartridges I've ever loaded. And even though I feel there are numerous advantages to using slower burners over faster one's, one should know that slower powders generally function best when used at the upper end of the charge table. Also of importance, slower powders generally don't function well when manipulated down, or reduced as it were, and often present a risk of squibs.

GS
 
The burn rate of 4756 in 9MM is just fine. It worked fine for me when I tried it. It likes closer to 100% load density and higher pressures. Think 9MM vs .38 Spl.
 
Im like gamestalker. SR4756 was the first powder I used in 9mm and if fact it was my first reloading powder. I like it in 9mm and 40s&w for full power loads, but I have never tried it with target or plated loads. IIRC it worked really good with Hornady 147xtp bullets in 9mm
 
Thanks. Yes, I have a feeling it's better with heavier bullets. I guess maybe that goes w/o saying since it's slower.

I started today at 4.5gr with a 124 gr Xtreme at 1.12". No ejection. Didn't even stovepipe. I worked it up a tenth of a grain at a time and it finally ejected at 5.0. A tiny little bunny fart ejection.

I got another foot or so of ejection at 5.1 and that is where I sit now.

Do you guys pay much attention to the ejection distance when you're working up a load? Is it pretty much written in stone that the more charge you have, the further you will eject? Is their a certain distance you're looking for?

I have to say, it was kind of nice just bending over in almost the same spot I was shooting, to pick up the shells. I guess that will always mean the load is a little weak though, eh?

Guess i could finally open the chrono box and get it out. I haven't used it yet, since it's pretty much a death sentence for it when I finally use it:)
 
Prior to using a chrony to gauge my loads, yes, I did pay attention to the distance of ejection and would compare it to factory. Now I gauge off the chrony.

GS
 
Thanks GS. Always like to read your posts.

BTW Has Longshot sent you that lifetime supply of powder that they owe you for touting their products yet? :)
 
You could pick worse functional 9mm powders.

Some of the faster ones work but will not cycle until pretty hot. They lack the oomph that will keep things moving after the bullet leaves the barrel even if they get the bullet going faster quicker. This is probably pistol specific.

My own experiments are limited but Green Dot does better for mine compared to 700X, even though by sound I believe it is no faster to target (sort of a cheap chrony I suppose, ears). I have used some SR4756 and no complaints to date.

Only bad thing I can think of is it takes a little more of it so fewer shots per pound of powder. At the lower starting loads the pressures are quite low for this powder, it was designed for sporting rifles (SR) of low pressure abilities. It gives a pretty wide band of available amounts due to this low curve build.

The Bullseye is a completely different cat. Once you have the right amount it will do about the same thing every time. Only bad deal with it is double loads might be possible without coming over the top of the case. A double up of Bullseye would be a bad event. You will get no doubles of SR4756 in 9mm cases.
 
Lemme grab my receipt...

BE was 23.99, 4756 was 29.99. So, a little more than I'd like to have paid. They had some Longshot and a couple rifle powders. Looked like a good bit of rifle bullets. I drew the short straw when my wife and I split up at the mall, I had the 2 yr old..needless to say, I didn't get much of a chance to see anything else.

TenDriver,
You MUST check out another reloading shop in Nashville called AH Reloading. HexHead told me about them and he wasn't exaggerating when he said they are well stocked. They do not ship, so you'll have to drive up, but it is well worth it. Its reloading heaven in there. When I went in the middle of the panic, he had multiple canisters of pretty much every powder I could think of. He is closed for christmas this week. PH
 
Thanks, PH. I'll check it out some time.

You didn't get the short straw on the 2 year old tagging along. I've got a 5 year old who is my shadow / sidekick just about every weekend. He does make it a little tough to spend much time in a store, but it's a good problem to have.
 
Might consider going more that .1 above the no ejection point imho. I never did try 4756 in 9mm but experimented extensively in 38 special:evil: it worked excellent in that application but these days I would have grabbed that jug of longshot. I didnt know powder was running that expensive in other parts of the country...our prices havent changed 'round here things were just hard to track down for a year.
 
Believe me, I've wondered why I didnt grab that Longshot over the past day or two.

...



Anywho, now that you mention it,
I was actually wondering where to go next. I got cycled action and a tiny ejection at 5.0 and got just a HAIR more at 5.1. Kind of wondering what to do next. I feel safe skipping a few tenths but I like to keep things on the low end too. What do you folks usually do when your building a load if you're in my shoes here? I havent REALLY tested the accuracy. Seemed good what little I saw..
 
If the cases are just dribbling out of the ejection port, go up a couple of tenths when using a slow for the caliber powder. A faster powder, one tenth at a time. Taking bigger jumps is your call, not ours. :)
 
LOL. I hear ya on that Walkalong. Not gonna make a habit of tenth skippin'.
 
Okay. I do have to say, after a full session of loading 4756, it's some of the finest metering powder Ive come across. Wow that was a lot easier than usual! Of course I dont have much experience with many powders, and you guys probably know the texture of it but that's my in depth review just in case:)
 
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