Help me choose a powder for 9mm

Z

Zerex

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
Location
Victoria, BC
Starting to gather info on everything I need to know to get into reloading 9mm.
I have a Ruger SR9 and a Kel Tec Sub2k that I want to reload for.
I was thinking Berry's plated 115gr RN bullets, CCI primers and I've narrowed powder choice down to Hodgdon Universal, IMR 700, Win 231 or Aliant Bullseye.
I'm hoping to hear some personal experience (pros/cons) with some of these powders to help me make my choice.
I guess I'd be looking for an affordable, ez to meter, clean burning powder that'll work well in my semi auto 9mm's
Thanks
 
use at least 124 gr bullets for the pistol, they are a ton more pleasant to shoot than 115 gr.

no experience with those powders but titegroup is all that my group of shooting buddies uses for our 9mm and we shoot quite alot every week. its cheap, decently clean and you use almost nothing in a case making it even cheaper.

also something to watch with the carbine is that with the longer barrel there is a greater chance that the velocity will get high enough to cause the plating to separate from the rest of the bullet. The bullets with thicker plating will stop this from happening, CamPro and the Berrys triple plated bullets are both good choices
 
I'd have to say Win 231, Im loading up a pile of 9mm here and I just ordered a 4lb keg of 231 from higginsons for 82$!!. At that point it is cheaper than bullseye even though it's a bit slower and the loads will likely be a grain or two higher..


here's a burn rate chart for all the powders. http://www.reloadbench.com/burn.html


One other thing, I've heard that you might want to load differently to fire out of a 9mm rifle as opposed to a pistol. At least my speer manual mentioned that some loads should not be used in a rifle...
 
I am shooting an SR9 as well and they have a heavy spring ! I am shooting the max load of W231 4.1gr with 147 plated with Win SP. I found any less charge will only lock the slide on the last shot 85% of the time . I have used 124's (have 3000 barrys when 147s run out ) and 115's and have had to go damm near if not max to get the slide lock to function 100% . W231 Meters good +/-.1 out of my Hornady LnL
 
Used to use tightgroups.
Only issue I had with it was temperature.
After a long course of fire, my gun felt like it was on fire.
Good otherwise.

Been using Vit N320 for a while as I bought a lot of it at a good price.
Clean and doesn't run hot.
Its almost gone so I'll be reevaluating my powder choices soon.
 
I make 9mm for quite a few different 9mm guns. I have yet to find one that shot better with the lighter bullet.

My bullet of choice is a 135gr cast lead round nose. Very cheap and works well in all guns, although for best results, I need 3 different loads on hand to match the preference of each gun.

Of the powders you list, I suggest 231 as a starting point. I suggest you load 3.5, 3.9 and 4.2 and try them in all guns. You might find a load that is a good compromise, or you might find that one or two have such a strong preference you have to make ammo labeled for a particular gun.

I might have a dozen different 9mms. Not one of them shoots best with a load near full power. All shoot well with cast lead (including the Glocks) and one is best with a load so mild (a 1911) it won't cycle the action of some other guns.
 
SR9 I use 4 gr of tightgroup with a 124gr triple plated berry bullet, it is the go to load for my wife. Very comfortable to put 200 rounds down range and its nice and clean. I have tried Unique in it as well at 5gr and while it functions perfectly, it does hit a little hard as the gun is very light. Although I love the feel of that load in my Xd-m. As for the Sub2000, 115 gr bullets are better suited to it due the weight of the bolt and the blowback action. Anything you load for the SR9 will work just fine in it but a slower burning powder seens to work better for mine. I use blue dot for my sub2000 loads 7.77gr under a 124 gr bullet and 8.3gr under a 115gr. Those loads push over the recommended velocity for berry bullets so better to stick with gold dots or XTPs, other wise I load them down a bit but blue dot is dirty aas hell if you load under max. As a side note, I have pushed several hundred triple plated berrys over 1500 fps with no ill affects or jacket stripping, but its not recommended. For a standard loaad for a 9mm pistol pushin 1050 - 1100 fps, they will go 1200 - 1300 out of the sub2000 just fyi. Also with the sub2000 I have found increases in velocity to increase accuracy quite aa bit, but that accuracy tends to fall off after 1700 fps regardless of the bullets i've used.

Hope that helps. If you want load data with velocity results I'll dig up an old post I put up for someone else

Here you go, post #4 is all my sub2000 testing (more or less)http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...ocities-are-you-getting&p=7930082#post7930082
 
Last edited:
I load a lot of 9mm for two different pistols, I use Titegroup and buy 8Lbs at a time to get the best price. I have not had any issues with it, as others have said you dont need much of it so it goes a long way. I don't load anywhere near max loads and it burns clean for me.

I chose this powder as i also load .38SPL, .40S&W and 45ACP and use Titegroup for all of them.

I agree with the comments re bullet weight, i have tested 115Gr and 124Gr and the 124Gr shoot better in pistols, also experimented with loads and found the best overall performance was not with a heavy load.
 
nzfireguy said:
I agree with the comments re bullet weight, i have tested 115Gr and 124Gr and the 124Gr shoot better in pistols, also experimented with loads and found the best overall performance was not with a heavy load.
Click to expand...

In what way? I used to shoot 115's out of my Norc but just purchased a Beretta 92F that came with dies ,powder and bullets. The bullets are 124 grains and the powder is BlueDot so I'm curious.
 
Blue Dot is a powder suitable for max power loads. If you are going to make medium power loads you would be much better off with a medium or fast powder. For plinkers I load 231. For match ammo I load Titegroup. Another excellent pistol powder for medium loads is IMR7625, but load data is scarce. I use Unique data and get good results.

I use Blue Dot for max power 147s in 9mm and hot 357 loads.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom