9mm hot load

[kkingsly]

hey guys im new at this site so let me know if i posted in the wrong section, but i have been reloading 9mm for a little while now,and want to start experimenting hot loads. i am using 124 grain lead round nose boolits,with 5.4 grains of accurate number 5 and cci primers the books say not to go over 5.4. how far over that can i go. and im shooting with a smith and wesson 915 9mm parabellum

[Blammer]

umm, why do you want to go more?

[nhrifle]

I tend to believe the published data from powder companies, etc. They do extensive testing with pressure sensing equipment and other techniques not available to the home reloader. You probably won't find anyone here who will tell you to go over a listed maximum charge. In smaller cases like the 9mm, the difference between a safe load and one that causes catastrophic failure could be as small as a couple tenths of a grain.

[mongoosesnipe]

With brand new unstresed brass you can load to +P+ levels but I don't recomend it they are hard on your gun and its more than a little dangerous but if insist on continuing down that path considering the lack of a pressure monitoring set up I would recomend getting a chrono and monitoring your velocity +P+ top velocity for 124 jacketed is 1300 use a slow powder and work your way up.... Have fun destroying your gun and try not to hurt your self....

[Errokk]

With 9mm luger do NOT go over +p if you like your gun and hands.

[Springfield]

Get a 357 sig if you want faster 9mm bullets. Or do like I did and convert it to 9mm AE. 125 grains doing 1600 fps,measured on my Chrony. Loud as all get out! Not saying it was safe, but I never blew up the gun. Sure didn't practice much with it.

[Beerd]

kkingsly,

Welcome to Cast Boolits.

See Blammers signature line for good advise.
..

[Boolseye]

I generally load the 9mm under starting loads with cast bullets. A cast bullets will go 100 fps or more faster than a jacketed with the same charge. That's what's so nice about the 9mm with cast–economical. You can load a huge number of rounds per pound of powder, and still get good performance. Start pushing that bullet too hard and you may find leading problems. Also +1 on observing published data.

[kkingsly]

thanks for the help the reason why i was wondering is because when i first started reloading i ended up with a bunch of rounds that were way over the rec weight i just threw them in a box and learned from my mistake i found them the other day and was gona start pulling bullets but thought i would check what the pros had to say about it before i go pulling 100 bullets once again thanks for the help

[MT Gianni]

Pulling bullets is a lot easier than trying to find where all the pieces of the gun went.

[kkingsly]

thanks again guys i love this place so much info im going at this alone trying to learn as i go its nice to have a place to reference when i need hopefully i will be able to contribute after a bit of learning

[Blammer]

there's some easy ways to pull boolits fast if you dont' care about saving the boolit.

single stage press and a vice grips come to mind.

I too have a 'box' of 45acp I need to pull, a few hundred no less. I've been putting it off for about 15 yrs now, I suspect I should get to it....

[Bonz]

http://youtu.be/_q9O-wVfQ-s

And sometimes you just get lucky

[flipajig]

Bad Idea. You want faster and more punch get a 357 mag or any other mag for that fact
Stay with the published load datta a lot safer that way.

[429421Cowboy]

As has been stated before, max loads are for a reason. 9mm is a small capacity, high pressure case that is sensitive to changes in seating depth, powder charge or primer change and would not be my choice to mess with. In fact, I attempt to stay a bit below max to have a little cushion if something changes.
Plenty of guys here that know what they are doing and work up loads in wildcat rounds or wring maximum potential out of hunting revolvers (not nessisarily going over max pressures) by exrapolating a start load then watching for the desired performance before they get pressure signs, but 9mm is not something to mess with.
Good luck, enjoy your time here and never feel like you can't ask questions, this is an information exchange!

[1fast8]

thanks blammer got a pretty good chuckle out of your sig line. reminds me of the old line about what is the last thing a redneck says before going to the emergency room " hey guys watch this"

[khmer6]

hot 9mm loads are extremely snappy and poor accuracy. ive loaded over the book and got terrible results. groupings were unpredictable. hammered the hell our of my guns too

[runfiverun]

if you are seating a thou short you are allready shooting a "hot" load.
the 9m is not a round to be playing with on the top end.

i might could dig up the pictures to prove it if i go look.
the green haze on the chrome did look way cool, but digging brass outta my good hand wasn't.

[ROCKET]

With 9mm luger do NOT go over +p if you like your gun and hands.

Good advice....

[khmer6]

Shooting compressed unique loads topped with 115gr or 122gr is pretty damn harsh. Filled it to nearly the top. Never had a doublre charge though lol

[quilbilly]

For a couple years I tried to max out my 9mm T/C carbine and all I got for it was inconsistent accuracy and occasional cracked cases. As soon as I became saner and went back to a normal load, cases last longer and I got consistent accuracy out to 100 yards. Lesson learned - Don't bother turning a cartridge into something it isn't - in this case, a 9mm into a mini 357.

[khmer6]

This is true. Get a 357 sig or a 38 super for a fast 9mm. Even max book loads I have found to be too hot for 9mm I just load low to mild now. Little variations in oal made a huge difference.

[Houndog]

As i've stated before, I use the 120TC Lee regular lube groove boolet over 4.5 of Unique and it just plain works! That's a middle of the road load that runs about 1100FS if I remember correctly. With the 9mm, give yourself a little cushion with your loads. Seating the bullet just .020 deeper plays havoc with pressures!