Bullet Weight Choice for Browning HP

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HuntAway

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I am about receive a new Browning HP 9mm and was curious which bullet weight works best in them.

Thanks for your opinions.

HA
 
Mine (a 'classic') is finicky - not toward bullets, but toward muzzle velocity. I was using boolits and low-power loads, trying to cut-back on recoil and smoke, and it sprayed the target; a few here, a few there, one always in the 10-ring :) but a couple of the rest on-paper misses :( . I don't shoot THAT bad - I tried 'most everything I could think of - learned a WHOLE LOT about reloading 9mm, but didn't solve the problem. The best I got-to was with the Lyman 147gr FN2R - a BEAUTIFUL mold to use - and I would size/lube them in a .358 die, which yielded a ~.3575" boolit (the actual diameter of that boolit out of the mold); I ran them through that die to lube them.

Then I realized that usually, one per set of the 147gr would keyhole. Now isn't that interesting? It suggested to me that they weren't spinning fast enough to stabilise out of the barrel - so I tried, quite literally, 0.1gr more powder - and the HP started showing-off.

I use ~3.2gr Titewad, and I CAN NOT RECOMMEND the load - I worked the load up myself, it's not out of a reloading manual, and Titewad is an extremely fast powder that nobody recommends for pistol so use at your own risk. I only ended-up using it because I went out desperate to buy some powder, and Titewad was all they had. But I love how well it meters, it's a small, fine powder that leaves enough room for the bullet in that tiny 9mm casing, it burns reasonably clean and the HP shoots real well with it. I haven't chrono'ed the load yet but it's definitely subsonic, even with the 125gr Lee TC, so I suspect the pistol is in no danger - and it develops pressure fast enough that even with that bullet (which neither of our 9mm's liked with 700X), the HP shoots outstandingly well ( - for me... - ).

I'm not planning to use Titewad in the Webley, but the .357 Magnum Dan Wesson likes that load too.
 
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I have heard good things about 147 gtain at 1200 fps with Vihtavouri powders on the Hi Power. These are not +p loads either.
 
I will be reloading for it once my supplies come in and I get some time to set up my new turret press.
I got some 115 Winchester white box and some 124 gr Vollmantel Geco? to start with. The Geco stuff is European I think. It says it's IPSC approved whatever that means.

We'll see if it will go bang tomorrow.

Thanks for the replies every one.

HA
 
Dumantepe said:
I have heard good things about 147 gtain at 1200 fps with Vihtavouri powders on the Hi Power. These are not +p loads either.
Click to expand...

147 at 1200 NOT +p?! i've seen few loads over 1000 with 147 that where not +p. That said i'm not a vihtavouri user....

most factory 115 barely makes 1200. My HP 3 practical HATE'S cast bullets of any kind, one of my only pistols that does. Does it's best work with 124's, but it likes 115 almost as much. likes the loads at the upper end of book value as well. Same comment as the earlier poster....light loads spray
 
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