Typical Grain count for 9mm?

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Challenger2010

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Is the typical grain count for a 9mm, 124 grains, or 115 grains?

I noticed for instance that for 45 caliber's it looks like 230 grains is typical.

Reason I ask, I have a Colt 1911 9mm brand new. I've used 124 grains with no issue. The range I shoot at was out so I was sold 115 grain and experienced 3 jamming issues because the spent casings weren't flying out the ejection port fast enough to not get caught in the slide recoil. I'm thinking the grain count isn't high enough to clear the tight recoil springs on the gun to the slide hence why I need the 124. I also noticed when I was loading the magazine, that the 115 grain 9mm of the other brand was in a slightly smaller cartridge so it wasn't filling out the magazine very well. Magazine was made for a bigger cased 9mm than that 115 grain stuff I was sold.

I'm not sure if maybe it could be a manufacturer issue on behalf of the 115 grain rounds.

What do you guys think?
 
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I've never experienced any issues with 115,124 or 147 grn bullets. I have had issues with any of those depending on if they were new or reloads and who the manufacturer was.
 
Grains. That's a unit of weight measurement. It has no affect on clearing springs. I find that 115 grain loads are snappier than 124 ones, and 124 loads more than 147. Not sure what you mean about the cases being smaller either. Are you sure you were using the right 9mm cartridge?
I'd blame the 1911 platform. It's 2016 and it wasn't designed for 9mm. Haha!
Limp wristing will cause you grief as well.
 
The 115 grain round is faster than the 124 which is faster than the 147. Personally, I like the 147. Bullet shape is different with the 147s being stubbier than the 115s which seem svelte in comparison.

The 45ACP is 230 grains for fmj bullet. SWC is usually 200 grains.

FF
 
Tenguns said:
Grains. That's a unit of weight measurement. It has no affect on clearing springs. I find that 115 grain loads are snappier than 124 ones, and 124 loads more than 147. Not sure what you mean about the cases being smaller either. Are you sure you were using the right 9mm cartridge?
I'd blame the 1911 platform. It's 2016 and it wasn't designed for 9mm. Haha!
Limp wristing will cause you grief as well.
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Using the "right" 9mm cartridge? I didn't know that there were various 9mm cartridges.

Limp wristing, I'm assuming you mean I wasn't holding the pistol firmly and upon firing, allowed my wrists to go "up-down" and this caused the casing to get jammed? If this is legitimate, it is possible as a new shooter this occurred.

I always liked the steel-1911 as I am an old guy (43 years), and was never interested in pistols with plastic frames. I tend to associate plastic with cheap Chinese products. If I can avoid it, I'll buy something in metal and that has 100+ years of a proven track record. A cracked metal frame caused by pistol disfunction counts to me as "unusual". Likewise, a cracked plastic frame would count as "typical".
 
I found that different pistols liked different bullet weights. My 92fs wouldn't feed 115 reliably, yet ate 147's all day long.
 
FyreFighter said:
The 115 grain round is faster than the 124 which is faster than the 147. Personally, I like the 147. Bullet shape is different with the 147s being stubbier than the 115s which seem svelte in comparison.

The 45ACP is 230 grains for fmj bullet. SWC is usually 200 grains.

FF
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Thank!!!!

So the 115 grain cartridges are thinner so I wasn't imagining things. Will have to double check these things when purchasing different brands of 9mm.
 
Challenger2010 said:
Thank!!!!

So the 115 grain cartridges are thinner so I wasn't imagining things. Will have to double check these things when purchasing different brands of 9mm.
Click to expand...

Not thinner, they can't be since they still have to engage the lands of the barrel. The lighter bullets are shorter in length measured tip-to-base. It could just be that the ammo you purchased at the range was too lightly loaded to cycle your action reliably. Nothing to do with the weight of the bullet.
 
The shape of the bullet changes. Heavier means more lead so more of a round nose. Lighter less materials so more if a pointy shape than round nose.
 
Well, the original 9mm Luger was 124gr, so you count that one as being the "typical" weight, I suppose. :)

I've seen bullet weights ranging anywhere from 90gr to 147gr, with the most common being 115gr, 124gr and 147gr. Some people reload with even heavier bullets.
http://www.shootingtimes.com/reloading/reloading-heavy-bullets-in-9mm-luger/

Typical barrel twist rate is about 1:9.8 (1:250mm), but can go to 1:16 AFAIK.
 
The weight of the bullet is not the issue.

9mm ammo is made with different weight bullets by a number of different manufactures.

The shape of the bullet will differ from brand to brand and the power of the ammo will differ from brand to brand.

Your pistol will shoot very well with some choices and poorly with others. You have found one it does not like.

Buy a variety of 124 and 147 boxes and try them. I have found that the 124s and 147 shoot best in my pistols.

When you find a box that shoots better than the others, buy a case of that brand/model and bullet weight.

Was the 115 gr ammo Winchester white box? I find it to be loaded rather mild and it will not cycle some guns. If you gun shot that ammo very, very accurately, but did not cycle properly, the $10 solution is a lighter recoil spring.
 
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