9mm Luger Reloading Powder Choice

B said:
When I said 5 to 10,000 rounds I meant more like a month not in a year. 10,000 a year is not something I would call high volume..
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Genuinely curious: where do you get brass in such quantities ? Range pickups or bulk ordering from a supplier or something else?
 
Aliant Power Pistol was the powder developed for the 9mm NATO round when the US military adopted the 9mm back in the 80's. Originally it wasn't released to the cannister market but was the most popular powder loaded by the factories in a variety of common cartridges. It was referred to as BE84 and is a slower variant of Bullseye hence the name BE. Bulleye on the powder burn chart is rated as 100 so '84' referred to its burning rate on the chart.
 
B said:
Yes in the case of the op he's probably not going to care. Loading the volume I do it really does matter and I don't care if VV it's slightly cleaner because other powders push the bullet out just as fast for almost half the price.

When I said 5 to 10,000 rounds I meant more like a month not in a year. 10,000 a year is not something I would call high volume. one of the biggest things that helps me shoot so much is not wasting money, especially on designer powder. I don't know how someone could of miss that piece of simple logic.. My bad for being off topic.
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Some day I hope to have both the time and finances to shoot that kind of volume. I'll probably count myself lucky to shoot a few thousand 9mm per year.

To the others who mention the possibility of a double charge using dense powder... I'm not concerned. I'm meticulous in my loading process. When I throw a powder charge in a case I always visually check it then set a bullet in the neck upside down before it leaves my hands back into the loading block. When I move to seating bullets I have to flip the bullets over and I use this opportunity to visually check powder a second time before starting the bullet.
 
I use HP38; same powder as Win 231. Meters well; reliable ignition, clean shooting. I use it for all of my pistol loads; 9mm, .40, .45 ACP, .38 Special.

I am very happy with all these calibers.
 
5.45 said:
Genuinely curious: where do you get brass in such quantities ? Range pickups or bulk ordering from a supplier or something else?
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Years of buying it by the case and saving the brass. Ranges are a great place to get free brass too. I would clean up after the slobs and help myself to what they left for my trouble. 9mm and .223 are the only thing I load in such quantities.

cbh560 said:
Some day I hope to have both the time and finances to shoot that kind of volume. I'll probably count myself lucky to shoot a few thousand 9mm per year.

To the others who mention the possibility of a double charge using dense powder... I'm not concerned. I'm meticulous in my loading process. When I throw a powder charge in a case I always visually check it then set a bullet in the neck upside down before it leaves my hands back into the loading block. When I move to seating bullets I have to flip the bullets over and I use this opportunity to visually check powder a second time before starting the bullet.
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I started off with a single stage loading what I could when I could. I used to have to bum a ride to the range even. As you progress in the hobby things will expand as you invest what you can.

On your second point I agree. If a bulky powder makes a guy feel more comfortable that is fine but it's not necessary. With diligence loading with fast powders is completely safe. I have never bothered mounting a motor because I want to see each case before a bullet is seated. Makes my loading sessions much, much longer but I can have total confidence in my final product.
 
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5.45 said:
Re: cost - powder is the cheapest component in 9 mm, the price difference per round is negligible compared to everything else.
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$20 more in powder doesn't magically equalize when divided over many rounds, especially when the charge weights between powders are similar (e.g. TG vs N320).
 
I'm finding this thread very interesting. I have never reloaded before but just purchased a Lee Classic Turret and I'm in the process of setting up a new bench in the basement. I've been wondering about powder/projectiles etc so I just grabbed a lb of HP38 powder, some CCI Small and Large primers and Campro 180, 230,and 115 bullets. Whenever I do get started, I'll be loading 40S&W, 45acp, and 9mm so good to know this powder is good for all of these. I have the Lee 2nd edition loading manual but when I looked under .45acp 230grain copper plated bullet the HP38 isn't listed and the same for 9mm 115 copper plated. It is listed for the 40 180 grain. Should I be looking in a different manual for these specs?

GT.
 
I believe HP38 and W231 are the same (double check that) and see if they list a load for 231,or consult another manual either online or in print.
 
AB.boy said:
I believe HP38 and W231 are the same (double check that) and see if they list a load for 231,or consult another manual either online or in print.
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Yes they are the same. I was told by the place that sold it. 231 is not listed either for what I previously posted so I'll have to check other sources as suggested. Thanks.
 
titegroup and cfepistol works the best. Use blue dot or power pistol if you want turn your gun into a flame thrower like those 80s Hollywood movies.
 
dearslayer said:
I'm finding this thread very interesting. I have never reloaded before but just purchased a Lee Classic Turret and I'm in the process of setting up a new bench in the basement. I've been wondering about powder/projectiles etc so I just grabbed a lb of HP38 powder, some CCI Small and Large primers and Campro 180, 230,and 115 bullets. Whenever I do get started, I'll be loading 40S&W, 45acp, and 9mm so good to know this powder is good for all of these. I have the Lee 2nd edition loading manual but when I looked under .45acp 230grain copper plated bullet the HP38 isn't listed and the same for 9mm 115 copper plated. It is listed for the 40 180 grain. Should I be looking in a different manual for these specs?

GT.
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Keep an eye on your powder throughs on that LEE Turret press. I have the same press for pistol rounds and when dropping 5g of Titegroup, I literally flick the powder drop before each round to ensure it drops into the disk. Prior to doing this, I was getting squib loads on my .357 rounds - luckily, I caught each one simply by sound, as a few of those squib bullets didn't exit the barrel.

As I am in the midst of picking up my first 9mm, I have been reading a lot on reloading this new cartridge. Due to lack of supplies, I may be using CCI 550 primers - and from what I've read, it won't matter with this cartridge.
 
Zedbra said:
Keep an eye on your powder throughs on that LEE Turret press. I have the same press for pistol rounds and when dropping 5g of Titegroup, I literally flick the powder drop before each round to ensure it drops into the disk. Prior to doing this, I was getting squib loads on my .357 rounds - luckily, I caught each one simply by sound, as a few of those squib bullets didn't exit the barrel.

As I am in the midst of picking up my first 9mm, I have been reading a lot on reloading this new cartridge. Due to lack of supplies, I may be using CCI 550 primers - and from what I've read, it won't matter with this cartridge.
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This. Had the exact same issue years ago when I tried TG and was using the Lee adjustable charge bar. The powder would bridge. I got rid of both the powder and adjustable charge bars.

Auggie D.
 
Just looking at the Hodgdon site, HS6 seems the best for 147 grn.? Highest velocities with the lowest pressures. 700X seems to be the most economical. I'll probably try HP38 first, because that is what I have the most of.
 
dearslayer said:
Yes they are the same. I was told by the place that sold it. 231 is not listed either for what I previously posted so I'll have to check other sources as suggested. Thanks.
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Oh yeah, I forgot that Campro has load data on their website. Just click on the type of bullet you are using and under the specs they have a link to a pdf with load data for that particular bullet.
 
Campro has the load data for all 3 calibers using HP38 with Campro bullets. Thanks again. So I have a stupid rookie question ... Is there a difference between a tapered crimp ( listed in their data ) and a factory crimp supplied with the Lee dies or are they the one and same?
 
dearslayer said:
Campro has the load data for all 3 calibers using HP38 with Campro bullets. Thanks again. So I have a stupid rookie question ... Is there a difference between a tapered crimp ( listed in their data ) and a factory crimp supplied with the Lee dies or are they the one and same?
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Taper crimp is used for straight-walled pistol cases like 9mm, roll crimp for things like revolver rounds. The Lee FCD is a tamper crimp die that swages the entire round in an attempt to improve reliability. When "crimping" 9mm you just want to remove the flare and return the case mouth measurement to .377 - .379.
 
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heliace said:
Just looking at the Hodgdon site, HS6 seems the best for 147 grn.? Highest velocities with the lowest pressures. 700X seems to be the most economical. I'll probably try HP38 first, because that is what I have the most of.
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It depends on your goal.

Generally speaking, slow(er) powders like HS6 in 9mm are used to obtain higher velocities. The issue with using slow(er) powders is that they are very dirty when loaded lightly. Since most try to avoid heavy recoil in 9mm you'll find that heavy 147gr bullets are generally paired with fast powders so that you get cleaner/more efficient ignition with reduced felt recoil.

The HP-39/231 you have will sever you well. If I recall correctly my 231 load was 3.7gr(ish) under a 147gr CamPro yielded around 130(ish) PF.
 
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