9mm powders ?

[milprileb]

Some of you may have tracked my trail of tears trying to sort out 9mm loads and bullet drama in my Flat Tire thread.

One of the solutions was a slower burning powder and Blue Dot was recommended.

Does Blue Dot meter well in powder measures ? I ask this because this IMR 800 X is a large flake powder and is a PITA to measure loads with.

I don't want to experience large flake powders if I can avoid it.

Pls comment on Blue Dot.

Thank you

[casterofboolits]

BlueDot meters well in my Dillon SDB for 9mm nd 38 Super.

[milprileb]

Thank you very much for that information. It takes a lot of mystery
out of buying powder !

[fecmech]

The two best powders I found for the 9MM with accuracy at jacketed velocities were #1 Hodgdon Longshot and close behind Blue Dot. Both would safely give me 1200 fps+ out of a Browning HP and 25 yd groups in the 2" range with the Lee 120 TC. Actually the BD load(7.5 BD) gave me 1321 fps. Both powders do well with all bullet weights in the 9.

[HeavyMetal]

In my 6 inch Custom Barreled PT 99 THe Lee 125 RNL conventional lube groove boolit Give me a consistant 1450 FPS as a 10 round average using Bluedot.

I use Carnuba Red, size .357, use trimmed to .750 WW case's only for this load. Std Federal small pistol primers and every primer pocket reemed to perfection and flash holes deburred.

Case prep is a lot of work but the end result is worth it!

[63 Shiloh]

3.4gn of AP70N ( Universal) has been working very well with my CZ 75 with a 120-125gn boolit, sized to .357" and lube is BAC.

Meters very nicely and burns quite cleanly.

Just my .2 c

Good luck mate,

Mike

[deltaenterprizes]

I shot 7 gr of AA #7 with a 125 gr boolit in my match nine at steel plates and it worked great! Fine grain powder and meters well.

[geargnasher]

Blue Dot meters about like Alka-Seltzer tablets through some measures, but a tap on the reservoir each stroke seems to help. I've never used Longshot in the 9, but used LOTS of it in the .40, it's great stuff for high-end loads, meters extrememly well as it is a very slippery, fine, flake powder. Like Blue Dot, Longshot needs lots of pressure to burn cleanly, so don't use it for plinker loads because it will coat everything with greasy soot.

Gear

[Recluse]

Some of you may have tracked my trail of tears trying to sort out 9mm loads and bullet drama in my Flat Tire thread.

One of the solutions was a slower burning powder and Blue Dot was recommended.

Does Blue Dot meter well in powder measures ? I ask this because this IMR 800 X is a large flake powder and is a PITA to measure loads with.

I don't want to experience large flake powders if I can avoid it.

Pls comment on Blue Dot.

Thank you

For what I call OTP (Other Than Plinking) 9mm ammo, the two best powders, without fail, that I've found has been AA#5 for jacketed (I get better than factory accuracy and consistency) and Blue Dot for lead.

I've run the Blue Dot through the RCBS powder hopper, the Lee disk system and my beloved little Lee Perfect Powder Measure and the Blue Dot has done just fine through all three.

With jacketed, I've had extremely good success reloading, but lead is causing me some [smilie=b: frustration, so take MY findings with a grain of gone-bad powder.

:coffee:

[milprileb]

Oh boy, I just ran the minefields of leading and found a slower burning powder is what was needed to eliminate leading.

Now it seems from all accounts, the Blue Dot recommended powder is a PITA to meter for cast bullet loads.

If not Blue Dot, then what slow burning powder is good for cast loads and meters? or is this one of those times where you just bite the bullet and suffer metering issues in order to gain the advantage of slower powders to prevent leading.

This 9mm cast bullet chapter has certainly been high adventure !!!

[theperfessor]

BD seems to meter just fine through my RCBS powder measure. I drop 10 charges and shoot for a 69 gr total. Then I randomly check weigh 2 or 3 loads out of every 50. (I visually check ALL cases!). Have never seen a variation greater than .1gr, which keeps everything in safe range for the 125-135 gr cast I use.

Don't use a progressive or have any other powder measure so no comments there. What I do works for me, YMMV.

[timkelley]

Blue Dot works very well in my my measures and my pistols.

[HeavyMetal]

reloading, particularly cast boolit reloading, is a continues growth hobby.

One of many reasons that it has held my interest for so many years!

Powder measures and metering issues have always been around and will continue to be a spotty problem for as long as either of us reloads.

I remember loading 30-06 for the first time, at 16, and the odd crunching noise the RCBS powder measure made as it "cut" the IMR 4198 my mentor used to charge his cases with. It was "startling" to say the least!

Yet it was amazing how stable the charges were! He also taught me that if I was to put up maximum effort loads with a powder that did not meter well then it was a good idea to charge under my load "goal" and then use a trickler to bring each case up to speed before seating a boolit.

In most case's this has been avoided by simply changing powder or finding a measure that worked with a specific powder.

I've never found Bluedot to give me metering issues in any of the measures I've owned and, since you are still experimenting with loads in the 9mm, I will suggest you get a pound and try it in your measure.

If it works your good if it doesn't buy another powder in the same burn range and try it.

This is what makes reloading fun!

[Echo]

Although I'm not using right now, BD never gave me problems when I loaded it through my O-Haus Duo-Measure into my 357 cases.

[michiganvet]

Yesterday I loaded up a few hundred 147gr RNFP using Power Pistol.

[Tag]

6 gr. HS-6 125 gr lead droped from Lee die sized .357 lubed with BAC, meters great shoots great with no leading

[geargnasher]

PP is good too, but a bit fast for high-end loads IMO. It also creates one heck of a muzzle flash.

I didn't say BD was impossible to use, but it doesn't meter as well as some other powders. Just something to be aware of.

Gear

[geargnasher]

6 gr. HS-6 125 gr lead droped from Lee die sized .357 lubed with BAC, meters great shoots great with no leading

That's another good powder for medium to hard boolits. I use a lot of HS6 with cast.

Gear

[Artful]

Blue dot worked well for me at one point - now I'm loading heavy boolet and plated heavy bullets and use VV320 or VV340 - very clean burning and quieter with a can on the handgun.

[putteral]

Just to through my 2 cents in, I like AA #5 and Power Pistol for my cast boolit loads. I use Mihec's 125 gr HP and the Lee 105 SWC. Leading has never been an issue. Remember size of boolit to the barrel is the answer. By the way Hate the TC boolits for 9MM

[milprileb]

Let me ask this question another way: Is Unique a better metering powder than Blue Dot ?

[geargnasher]

Let me ask this question another way: Is Unique a better metering powder than Blue Dot ?

Same-same.

Gear

[Mike the Dane]

4.0-4.5 VV N340 under a 120-125 grs is very accurate and Burns very clean.

[HeavyMetal]

I've heard great things about the VV powders for the last 10 years or so

The down side is, at least here in SoCal, I've never seen them for sale.

Ordering a single pound of powder can be real expensive once the "haz Mat" fee's get figured in. Often making it more expensive than one is willing to pay to try it out.

I have had exactly one pound of Power Pistol bought through Turners here in LA. Cost me 38 bucks as a special order! Never again.

One wonders if the powder makers provide a stocking dealer list for the Powders they make??

In cases like this it sure would make life simpler.

[Shiloh]

AA#5 for bot lead and jacketed.

There are are lot of powders that give good results. I just settled on AA#5. Has given fine results with jacketed, and now the same with my recent success with lead.

Shiloh

[BeeMan]

Powder / load search for 9mm:

Been doing that for a year now...looking for a solution to leading. This lead to buying some Blue Dot to try a slower, lower pressure launch. This was after sorting out case expansion to prevent under size bases after seating, trying ACWW, WDWW, different lubes, etc.

Blue Dot did not display the kind of uniformity I like, using my Redding measure with the pistol insert. It did reduce leading more than most other attempts though. Some Google work pointed to WSF. Rock Raab's powder burn rate chart says it should be similar to Blue Dot

http://www.reloadingroom.com/index_files/Burn%20Rates.htm

I haven't had a chance to shoot the several load variants I want to try, but WSF is very uniform from the Redding measure.

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

BeeMan

[milprileb]

Power Pistol
WSF
AA5

Do they all meter well or are they a bit problematic as Blue Dot is reported to be.

[BeeMan]

Milprileb,

WSF meters like water for me so far. I targeted 4.1 grains. While validating the measure set up, checking every 5 rounds for 30 rounds, and at the end of 100 drops a day later, it was always 4.1 or 4.2 grains.

Now need to get back to full health and for this heat to break so I can go shoot them.

BeeMan

[MtGun44]

Power Pistol is a tiny round flake powder, meters well. Never used WSF, but I think it is
a ball powder, if so, it will meter very well. Never used AA5 either.

Bill

[UNIQUEDOT]

I don't think you will find a powder that meters any better than Accurate #5.

[milprileb]

Burn rates: I see Blue Dot is 49 and that was recommended for my 9mm loads to help prevent leading. 800x is burn rate 38 and is working (terrible to meter as stated and filthy).

Should I be focused on powders that are in the 38 to 49 burn rate with the higher the better in a powder that meters well.

This is a whole new dimension to reloading for me so I am trying to catch up with you guys on how to judge right powder from wrong. That and discovery learning is expensive.

[Sapper771]

I have heard AA5 meters great. But havent heard much on HS-6. Does HS-6 meter better than BD?

[GabbyM]

HS6 is ball powder. It's the old WW 540.
I burned one pound of AA#5 once. lked it.

[Kraschenbirn]

+1 for HS-6 in the 9mm but, for me, AA#5 works almost as well (it's a flake powder and just a little dirtier). On the other hand, AA#5 is a bit more flexible and I've also loaded it in my .44 Spl. and .45 ACPs.

Bill

[Sapper771]

I picked up a pound of AA#5 today. It meters great through my Hornady powder measure.

[Bullwolf]

I loaded up some .40 S&W on the weekend using Blue Dot.

It metered consistently for me in an old RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure.

I checked it constantly, and it was spot on each and every time.

I have never had metering issues with Blue Dot in handgun, shotgun, and even some rifle applications.

I have been using a lot of IMR 4831 stick powder in 300 Winchester Magnum lately, and it doesn't meter as well through the Uniflow for me, but it has been so accurate that I put up with it. I think that is why I have been double and triple checking myself a lot more often lately on measured throws.

The .40 that I loaded with Blue Dot all metered well, shot consistently, and FPS was consistent across the chronograph as well.

If you are having a hard time getting Blue Dot or other flake powders to meter, you could always try using another brand of powder measure perhaps. Or you can consign yourself to using ball powders. I personally don't find Blue Dot, or Unique to be hard to meter at all.

I have never had trouble using standard flake powders, or ball powders when metering them through a Dillon, or RCBS powder measure, but your experiences may be somewhat different than mine.

- Bullwolf

[milprileb]

Bullwolf

Do you find like others that Blue Dot does not burn efficiently and you get
powder flakes ? That is most definitely a issue with 800X which does not meter
well and burns filthy.

The concern with flake powders with me is metering and powder flakes unburnt. Its why I have asked about Blue Dot and other 9mm friendly powders.

[fecmech]

Mil--you're over thinking this Blue dot thing. It works fine in the 9MM with all cast bullet wts from 115-150. You can't overload it because of its bulk and speed and it give pb cast a gentle start down the tube,what more could you ask of a powder? IMO there is one other powder better (but not by much) and that is Longshot, both will give good accuracy at speed with cast with the accuracy edge going to Longshot.

[Freischütz]

I second Tag's HS-6 + cast boolit combination. I use 5.9 gr of HS-6 and the NEI truncated bullet sized .357" in my P.08 with excellent results. I have little leading. The powder meters consistently too.

I also successfully use HS-6 with heavy bullets in the 32 Auto.

[Pirate69]

I think I got my eyes opened by this thread. I thought that either Unique or Bullseye was the preferred powder for the 9MM. Got something new to try!!!!!!!

[Bullwolf]

Bullwolf

Do you find like others that Blue Dot does not burn efficiently and you get
powder flakes ? That is most definitely a issue with 800X which does not meter
well and burns filthy.

I find that Blue Dot burns cleanest at close to near maximum charges. You have to realize though that Blue Dot is primarily designed to be a shotgun powder though, it also seems to work better in longer barrels, than in shorter ones.

In my experience lighter charges of Blue Dot aren't as clean as heavier ones, but most bullet lubricants aren't exactly what I would call clean burning either.

I don't find Blue Dot to be very dirty. If a starting load isn't as clean as you were expecting, don't fret it, and keep working with the caliber, as you get closer to maximum loads it cleans up quite a bit.

As you can tell, I like Blue Dot, and as we get older, we all tend to get just a little a bit opinionated.

Blue Dot is a somewhat bulky powder, so loads will be near max case capacity. I think this is a bit safer, and burn rates along with accuracy seem to be more consistent because of this.

You will not accidentally double charge a 9mm shell with Blue Dot, without the powder spilling out.

I will also say that when using Blue Dot, I have never had to dump a powder measure, and throw it out because I wasn't 100% sure what was in it.

The unique blue colored identification flakes that give the powder its name are actually pretty neat. If someone else was using the machine, and left the powder hopper full.... well better safe than sorry, and I really hate to have to throw any powder away.

All that being said, Blue Dot is very good at what it does, and is a very useful tool in your re-loading toolbox.

There is a good reason that people use Blue Dot, and it's name keeps coming up. Quite a few people have found it a convenient powder to achieve major velocities with in 9mm, without showing signs of excess pressure. It also seems to work good with gas sealing particularly troublesome cast boolits. I think you should give it a shot, it might just do what you are looking for.




The concern with flake powders with me is metering and powder flakes unburnt. Its why I have asked about Blue Dot and other 9mm friendly powders.

I think it metering well all depends on what type, and or brand of powder measure you are using. I have had good results with it in a RCBS Uniflow, it might not meter well in say a Lee Auto-disk, but you would have to ask someone who has used it, in your brand of powder measure, or just try it out yourself to see.

In the end you will be the final judge on how well it works for you, and what is an acceptable level burnt, or unburnt powder.

If I place a white towel down on the shooting bench when shooting ball or spherical powder, I tend to notice quite a bit of smaller pieces of unburnt powder that I ordinarily would not have seen, or I may have possibly mistaken for soot or fouling.

An unburnt piece of flake powder however is much easier to spot, but a couple of pieces of unburnt flake, or ball powder don't really hurt anything, or cause any malfunctions.

If a powder is a little dirty, or leaves unburnt flakes, but it is the only powder that keeps my gun from leading, or lets me achieve the velocity that I am looking for, I can live with a little bit of unburnt powder. I will just clean the gun after I shoot it.



- Bullwolf

[CZ shadow]

Hi Everyone, I'm a new member, so forgive any mistakes.

I have recently taken up the fantastic sport of pistol shooting. I have bought my first pistol a CZ shadow 9mm.
I already reload, but i want to get into casting my own boolits for the shadow.

I'm looking to cast 124-125 grain what I would like to know is:
1. how hard should my lead be have been told Lymans No 2 should be OK
2. what sizing die would be best, have read conflicting info I know 9mm is a standard .355 and that .356, 357, 358 works.
3. would range lead be Ok to melt down and used in my CZ.

Thanks I ook forward to reading what people can advise me.
Thanks
Ray

[MtGun44]

Please read the sticky on setting up a new 9mm for boolits.

#2 is harder than needed, .355 is almost always wrong in lead and most folks have
success with .357 or .358, but some guns demand .359. Range lead is very soft,
but may well work with some luck, a good boolit design, a good lube, good fit
and care in loading.

I have shot 8 BHN range lead in .357 mag at full power with no GC and great accy,
which many folks will call impossible.

Bill

[Bullwolf]

The best advice that I can give you is to slug your CZ and find out what size the barrel really is.

Measure the slug, and go with a boolit that is a tad larger. IE if your barrel slugs at .356 try a .358 boolit assuming you can get a .358 dummy round to chamber.

In my experience 9mm barrels are often larger than .355 unfortunately.

There is a nice sticky post by MtGun44 on setting up boolits in a new 9mm.
Here is a link to it.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=121737

Regarding your alloy question, there is no single perfect answer.

There is nothing wrong with using range scrap, if you find out you need more hardness you can always water drop it, but don't rush into a super hard alloy immediately.

Try what you have" as is" first, and adjust it if you are not pleased with your results. Sometimes a softer alloy will shoot better than a harder one . A hard cast boolit is not always the solution to every single problem.

The right hardness, or softness of your alloy will depend on your powder choice, and the pressure that your specific 9mm loads operate at.


- Bullwolf

[milprileb]

Please follow what the two gents have posted as I have gone thru this recently and got into a quagmire. 9mm is temperamental to reload for but worth the effort to find right alloy, sizing and powder charge for your pistol.

Unless you desire (I did not) a collection of sizing dies on hand with the expense that entails, do the slugging of bore and find out what you need. I did not understand this and bought .356, then .357 (which is working) and have .358 dies in bound which will be ideal. I did not slug and that wasted time and money.

The answers will come, you just got to hang there and see what you pistol demands. My Taurus 1911 in 9mm wants a specific alloy, sizing and seating depth and powder. My High Power shoots anything well: clearly barrel is tighter. Pistol specific needs will be obvious as you journey down this trail.

[garym1a2]

WSF seems like a great powder for a beginner like me in 9mm. It gives good preformance and you don't have to worry about double charges as it won't fit. It meters very well also and with my Glock and aftermarket barrel it shoots clean.

[Lizard333]

Am I the only one that uses HP-38 for my 9mm?? I find it burns clean and I have no leading. As far as metering is does very well in my Dillon. Not BD, but a very good powder for my needs.

[Shiloh]

Hi Everyone, I'm a new member, so forgive any mistakes.

I have recently taken up the fantastic sport of pistol shooting. I have bought my first pistol a CZ shadow 9mm.
I already reload, but i want to get into casting my own boolits for the shadow.

I'm looking to cast 124-125 grain what I would like to know is:
1. how hard should my lead be have been told Lymans No 2 should be OK
2. what sizing die would be best, have read conflicting info I know 9mm is a standard .355 and that .356, 357, 358 works.
3. would range lead be Ok to melt down and used in my CZ.

Thanks I ook forward to reading what people can advise me.
Thanks
Ray



1) Lyman #2 is plenty hard. I'm using lead that is less hard than that with great results so far.

2) As stated slug your bore. If yours goes .355 you are fortunate indeed. Mine go as high as .3563
I size to .358

3) Works good in a several pistols for me, and several more for friends. None are a CZ, but I see no difference. Mine is sweetened with just a bit of lino and water dropped. After 7-10 days, you cant dig your nail into it. You can when just cast though.

Shiloh

[Shiloh]

I think I got my eyes opened by this thread. I thought that either Unique or Bullseye was the preferred powder for the 9MM. Got something new to try!!!!!!!

Both good powders.

I have used both of them. I prefer Unique to Bullseye and AA#5 to Unique for the 9mm.

To me, Bullseye is a bit too fast for 9mm. Unique and Bullseye Shine with .45ACP.

Shiloh

[MtGun44]

HP-38 is the same powder as W231 and is a good choice for 9mm. You might
not be able to get quite the absolute max possible velocity with it, but so what?

Bill

[Lizard333]

If the OP wants the fastest velocity available stick with jacketed rounds. If be wants a reliable, accurate, budget friendly round, do what works.

[GabbyM]

Oh blasphemy. Can't believe my eyes. I must be on the wrong forum :not listening:

Cast will shoot faster than jacketed in a 9mm.
So I have to disagree with your conclusion.

[milprileb]

Before the Food Fight starts on velocity , I am the OP and my intent was to finding slower burning powders for 9mm that meter well and burn completely. Not chase high velocity rainbows.

A non leading load for 9mm that can be prepared with a slow burning powder that meters well and burns well : the end state.

I think I got enough input to allow me to make some good powder choices and pursue such loads for 9mm.

If the interests now are to chase velocity, then it will be interesting to read what your experiences are doing that. However, be sure to tell us alloy, OAL, Lube, load data , bullet style, air or water quench cooling etc etc etc.... and if it leads !

[fecmech]

A slow powder that meters well is Hodgdon Longshot and IMO it's the accuracy champ with cast in the 9MM, it is a very fine ball powder.
That said there are times when metering well is meaningless and Blue Dot and the 9MM is one of those times. If you Blue dot load should vary + or - .3-.4 grain so what?? You can't overpressure a 9MM with BD ( you run out of space before you overpressure with any bullet weight). Most 9MM's are 3" 25 yd guns so if the velocity vary s 50-70 fps you won't see it on the target. Plus a slower powder with a few tenths variation will give a smaller velocity spread than faster powders like Unique. Looking back through my loading notes SD's with BD run between 13 and 21 fps over about 10 different loads with 3 different bullet wts. Those are loaded on a progressive with a sliding bushing powder measure. It is not a powder for light loads and should be used IMO for mostly duplicating standard and +P velocity of jacketed loads with cast bullets.

[Doble Troble]

I think its hard to beat Unique for the 9. It meters fine, it works with a wide range of bullet weights, it's accurate, and it works acceptably well for just about anything else you'll every want to load - 32 ACP to 30-06 to 12 ga. The leading issue is more a function of bullet sizing; like a few other things in life, bigger is usually better.

[jimkim]

AA#7's burn rate is very close to Blue Dot's. It works great in 9mm's and meters very accurately in my Lee ADPM. It is very fine so if your measure is loose in any way it will probably leak.

[roysha]

700X. I have used this powder for 1000's of 9mm , 38 Spec. and 45ACP rounds and have found nothing cleaner nor more efficient and it meters as well as anything else and better than most.

I had a bad experience with BD in the 9mm which Alliant made right but I can't get past that so don't really care for BD.

[Tinbullet]

I have used Win 231, it meters best and 5 gr. yields 1125 fps from a 3.5 " S&W. I also use 4.0 to 4.5 gr. of Unique yielding 975 to 1145 fps. But Unique tends to be smokey. I'm currently using 4.0 gr. of Titegroup with good results. 4.0 gr. yields 1100 fps from the Glock 19 that I use for N R A Bullseye comp. I've only noticed leading once using the stock Glock barrel. All of the cast bullets used are made by by myself and are 14 to 15 BHN. Have fun casting, loading, and shooting.

[blikseme300]

Am I the only one that uses HP-38 for my 9mm?? I find it burns clean and I have no leading. As far as metering is does very well in my Dillon. Not BD, but a very good powder for my needs.

Nope, you are not alone Lizard. I use HP-38 for my 9's, 38spl, 40s&w and 45acp. I especially like this powder because it is available in 8lb jugs. A very versatile powder and it meters well in my progressive loaders.

My recipe for 9mm happiness is simple: size at .357, lube using BAC, 4.2gr HP-38 and modified Lee expander to prevent boolit squeezing. (It works similar to a M-die.)

YMMV-UWC <- your mileage my vary, use with caution.

Bliksem

[Boolseye]

milprileb: my work with the 9mm lead me to conclude that AA #5 or #7 were the best powders for cast load (IMO). This is with the much-maligned Lee tl356-124tc. I have dialed in loads that are accurate and don't lead (much). I did a fair bit of testing with Blue Dot, Bullseye, 700x and a couple others.
-jp

[lead Foot]

Has anybody used SR4756. As it is close to AP100 I use for great results. (5grs):coffee:
Lead foot;

[gerrycan]

Lead foot[or bigfoot],
Hey I ,m in Oz also.I liked your mention of AP100 I use it in a 45LC rifle and find very easy to use {11.5 grs] I don,t have a 9 mm but I cast a variety of 356/7 pills and I am interested to hear your experiences .Cheers ,Gerry.

[paul edward]

Am I the only one that uses HP-38 for my 9mm?? I find it burns clean and I have no leading. As far as metering is does very well in my Dillon. Not BD, but a very good powder for my needs.

Nope. Been using it for a long time. HP-38 is the same as Win 231. My usual practice load is 5.1 grains with 115 grain FMJ. Only use Winchester brass. Meters well in a Redding powder measure.

[crabo]

This is a little detour, but what effect does mixing cases, if they are all trimmed to the same length make? I have thousands of mixed cases. Do I need to seperate?

I am about to start loading for my 9mm AR and from what I have read here, BD is a good place to start.

[midnight]

I used to be fussy about sorting headstamps in the 9mm but I've found it doesn't matter with the mid-range loads that I shoot. Pinpoint accuracy is not my goal but reliability is. I use 700X and PB because I have so much of it from my trapshooting days. Using range lead bullets from two Lee molds (RN & TC) at 1100fps, it keeps me happy. For some reason, these Lee molds drop bullets about 104gr even though they are labeled 124gr. Hardness is Saeco 5. I may change powders for Miha's 125gr HP. This thread has been helpful for that.

Bob

[GabbyM]

9mm is very sensitive to case volume and the 9mm cases range wide in capacity. So a big yes to sorting cases. Don’t be surprised if you end up with 5% less powder in a Federal Case than a Remington case.

When you look in the Speer and Hornady books you’ll see they list higher powder charges than a Lyman book. Part of that is Lyman uses the Federal cases while the others use there own proprietary cases. When you look at Blue dot and 9mm 124 grain bullets. Speer calls for 8.0 grains max, which is real hot, Hornady calls for 7.7 gr and Lyman 7.1 grains. Plus the 7.1 gr is listed as a compressed load in the Federal case under a 125 gr JHP.

A chronograph is real helpful when working up max loads in a 9mm. Wide variations in grove diameters change how the loads work also. My S&W 659 has a true SAMI spec bore and chamber and loads will closely match book values. Had a Taurus 92 with 5 inch barrel that shot slower than my 4” barrel Smith using the same loads. A ration of common sense needs to be injected into the load work up. I never increased loads for the Taurus rather just let it run where it did.

[Three44s]

+1 ........... sorting cases is just a good idea and with a small case opperating at high pressure such as the 9mm Para .........

............. it's cheap life insurance.

Three 44s

[Three44s]

I had not caught up with the latest on this thread for some time and just finnished "catching up" just now.

The trend here is that when a member has a problem and others make recomendations including a powder or charge change ........... other members take it to mean that what they are doing .... successful or otherwise ........... that these recomendations apply to them as well.

But that's not the case ........... if you're gig is working ............ more power to ya!

The only exception would apply to safety!

Other than that ......... remember ............ guns are individuals ........... we tend to get tunnel vision and give all those stats ......... a Brand Z with a 4.2 inch barrel measuring .... XXXXX.00" and get our shorts all bunched up ........ but the simple truth is that guns are individuals.

Much of the sucess with lead in my opinion besides a good relative fitament ..... is driven by a moderate application in a load and a SMOOTH internals and a good lube.

Don't automatically assume you are wrong with what you are doing that's working.

Making lead work with a gun tends to end up like a journey most of the time ......... if you already been there, done that ............ relax!


Three 44s

[Boolseye]

I have never trimmed or sorted a 9mm case in my life. Tumble and load, check each round before I put it in the box. Never had a problem in thousands of rounds.

[lead Foot]

Lead foot[or bigfoot],
Hey I ,m in Oz also.I liked your mention of AP100 I use it in a 45LC rifle and find very easy to use {11.5 grs] I don,t have a 9 mm but I cast a variety of 356/7 pills and I am interested to hear your experiences .Cheers ,Gerry.

G'day Gerrycan [smilie=s:~ only use AP100 in the 9mm. Same story as most. It's a slow powder and if you max it, it burns clean with very good accuracy. I use AP70 in my 686 .357.
Lead foot.