Hello all I am still fairly new to reloading and am having a bit of trouble reloading 9mm 147 grain jacketed hollow points over Alliant Powder Blue Dot. The last batch I made up were with the maximum load of 5.7 grains of blue dot according to the Hornady Handbook of cartridge reloading. Even with these max loads the load still seems to be too week to properly work the actions on both guns the rounds have been fired in (Glock 17, and NZ-85). The rounds will chamber fine and all but when fired the slide of the gun will not recoil enough to even remove the spent case out of the chamber, so you end up manually operating the slide to remove and eject the spent case and camber the next round. I have checked and both guns function flawlessly with factory ammo and only present this problem with my reloads. Does anybody have any ideas as to what I may have screwed up?
9mm 147gr issues!
- Thread starter kilgour77
- Start date
Blue dot
I had the same problem a few months ago with Clays Powder. My final load ended up being 1 full grain above the value given by the tables. It is a huge difference considering the density of Clays.
Blue Dot in the Lyman Reloading Handbook :
Maximum load for 147TMJ is 6.6 .
OAL is 1.115".
On the Alliant site they give only one value: 5.8
I don't tell you what to do because we're talking maximum loads outside the range given by the manufacturer. I was told that a variation in humidity might affect the powder to a pont. Do you have a deshumidifier ?
Now, IMHO, Blue Dot is described by Alliant as ideal for magnum loads because it is much slower than Bullseye which is their Benchmark. 9mm is definitely not a magnum load.
I'm using myself UNIQUE and I think it is the right alliant product for 9mm. Bullseye may be a bit quick but still, it is the choice of many knowledgeable reloaders. Blue Dot ? I would keep it for 357mag or 44mag.
One more reason to switch : the average ratio between Unique and Blue Dot is 1.5 . It means you can reload 1060 cartridges per pound with a maximum charge of Blue Dot versus 1555 with Unique.
Hi, I'm back 2mn after submitting my post : have you tried to feed your cartridges in the chamber before actually using the gun ? if they are too large because of a resizing problem, they will require more energy to be ejected and it coud explain the difference.
I had the same problem a few months ago with Clays Powder. My final load ended up being 1 full grain above the value given by the tables. It is a huge difference considering the density of Clays.
Blue Dot in the Lyman Reloading Handbook :
Maximum load for 147TMJ is 6.6 .
OAL is 1.115".
On the Alliant site they give only one value: 5.8
I don't tell you what to do because we're talking maximum loads outside the range given by the manufacturer. I was told that a variation in humidity might affect the powder to a pont. Do you have a deshumidifier ?
Now, IMHO, Blue Dot is described by Alliant as ideal for magnum loads because it is much slower than Bullseye which is their Benchmark. 9mm is definitely not a magnum load.
I'm using myself UNIQUE and I think it is the right alliant product for 9mm. Bullseye may be a bit quick but still, it is the choice of many knowledgeable reloaders. Blue Dot ? I would keep it for 357mag or 44mag.
One more reason to switch : the average ratio between Unique and Blue Dot is 1.5 . It means you can reload 1060 cartridges per pound with a maximum charge of Blue Dot versus 1555 with Unique.
Hi, I'm back 2mn after submitting my post : have you tried to feed your cartridges in the chamber before actually using the gun ? if they are too large because of a resizing problem, they will require more energy to be ejected and it coud explain the difference.
Last edited:
dinsdale
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Just outside the Ottawa City Limits!
3.9-4.0 grains unique.
147 grain Frontier seated to 1.085"
Makes 136 PF out of my CZ 75b and shoots nice and soft.
I put weaker recoil spring in as I had the occasional FTE due to slower recoil impulse.
147 grain Frontier seated to 1.085"
Makes 136 PF out of my CZ 75b and shoots nice and soft.
I put weaker recoil spring in as I had the occasional FTE due to slower recoil impulse.
You didn't screw anything up, you've just proved that that load is too weak for your gun and recoil spring. Either purchase a softer spring to fire lighter loads, or increase the charge of Blue Dot. Last 147gr. I loaded were backed by 6.4gr. Blue Dot.
"...the Alliant site they give only one value: 5.8..." Read the 'Warning' page. That is the max load. Reduce it by 10% and work up.
You'll have to work up the load for each pistol too. No two firearms will shoot the same ammo the same way.
Unless you didn't weigh each charge to be sure it's actually 5.7 grains, your pistols don't like Blue Dot.
You'll have to work up the load for each pistol too. No two firearms will shoot the same ammo the same way.
Unless you didn't weigh each charge to be sure it's actually 5.7 grains, your pistols don't like Blue Dot.
OAL of the rounds were 1.100 or less, a couple measured 1.098, I didnt think 2 thou would make a difference.
According to the book it would have a muzzle velocity of 1000fps but I do not have access to a chronograph to confirm this.
And no I do not have a dehumidifier.
I have not checked the cases before using the guns but I did make a couple of batch's of 124 grain JHPs over HP-38 and they worked fine and they were not max loads but as I couldnt find a formula for the HP-38 on 147 grain bullets I tried the Blue Dot. If anybody does know of a formula to use the HP-38 I'm open to that option as well.
I probably will try upping the load a bit with the Blue Dot, good to know I could potentially 6.6 grains thanks for that info.
And yes I have checked my scale and it seems fine.
According to the book it would have a muzzle velocity of 1000fps but I do not have access to a chronograph to confirm this.
And no I do not have a dehumidifier.
I have not checked the cases before using the guns but I did make a couple of batch's of 124 grain JHPs over HP-38 and they worked fine and they were not max loads but as I couldnt find a formula for the HP-38 on 147 grain bullets I tried the Blue Dot. If anybody does know of a formula to use the HP-38 I'm open to that option as well.
I probably will try upping the load a bit with the Blue Dot, good to know I could potentially 6.6 grains thanks for that info.
And yes I have checked my scale and it seems fine.
dinsdale
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Just outside the Ottawa City Limits!
HP-38 is Win231.
Recipes in the following thread.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=79
