Beginner looking for help

[Drochotte]

I am not sure that this post is in the right area. However, I am just starting out and looking for advice. I picked up some bullets today From SNS. They are 115 grain, cast lead, and coated. I was told that I could use Power pistol to load them with but I am unable to find any load data for that combination of projectiles and powder. If anyone is able to help me with a starting point, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

[sawinredneck]

Welcome to the forum! To be able to help we need a little more information, the caliber you are wanting to load would be a good start.
What gun are you wanting to shoot these loads out of?

[TexasGrunt]

115 gr would most likely be 9mm.

Use lead bullet data. If you don't have it get the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook.

[bedbugbilly]

As already mentioned - caliber and more information is needed.

That said - I purchased a box of SNS coated 115 gr. to use in my 9mm at the suggestion of a fellow who works at the LGS I go to - he reloads and shoots IDPA. They work very well and even though I had never used PC'd before, they made me a "believer". :-)

I don't use Power Pistol so can't help you out on a load for that. However . . . loading data for any 115 gr. lead boolit of the same profile and for the powder you are using should work just fine. IF you are talking 9mm, overall length may vary a little depending on how your particular pistol likes them to feed correctly. As with any reloading - start at the minimum powder charge and work your way up until the pistol cycles well and you get the accuracy you are looking for.

As far as overall length - the SNS I was using was the round nose. I started at the recommended overall length for the 9mm RN and loaded up a few "dummy rounds" and hand cycled them through my pistol to make sure that they would feed OK. A minor adjustment and all worked well. I was loading for a Ruger SR9 that I had at he time.

Just remember, the deeper you seat a boolit/bullet in a casing, the less volume in the case so the pressure increases - so it is important to follow the cardinal rule of starting at the minimum charge and working your way up until you find the "sweet spot" where you pistol cycles reliably and you get good accuracy. That can vary from pistol to pistol.

For my 9mm loads and the boolits I cast, I normally size to .357. With the SNS, if I remember correctly, they were .356. I was worried a little about "leading" in the pistol I had but the PC'd SNS shot very well and I had no leading at all.

Good luck and welcome to the forum! Good folks here and a lot of good information. Be safe and have fun!

[runfiverun]

I'm assuming you have the power pistol in hand.
it can be used to load the 9mm round although it is on the slow end for the round.
I don't buy store made stuff but it shouldn't be any different than working with the unknowns we typically deal with.
first start with a dummy round or two.
you need to determine a length that will feed from your magazine and that will chamber 100% of the time.
once you have that then you determine your load volume.

as an example your oal would come in at say 1.120.
that's okay.
but you need to look at how much of the actual boolit is in the case to determine a safe starting point.
if the oal [of the bullet not the round] is close to a known tested oal of a bullet with a similar weight and shape then you can use that data to work from.

[mdi]

Good info so far, but a hint for newer reloaders; find a load (bullet, powder) in your reloading manual before you buy components. Many fewer headaches and time lost that way...

[Hardcast416taylor]

Good info so far, but a hint for newer reloaders; find a load (bullet, powder) in your reloading manual before you buy components. Many fewer headaches and time lost that way...


Very sound advice! Avoid the `Darn best shootin` load I`ve made yet`oral advice given to you by your Brothers, nephews, sisters, cousins, Uncle that doesn`t own a loading manual and got his load from a gun rag in the grocery store thirty years ago. Invest in a Lyman cast bullet manual to keep all your fingers on the hand when shooting a load already tested and proven.Robert

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Beginner looking for help

I am not sure that this post is in the right area. However, I am just starting out and looking for advice. I picked up some bullets today From SNS. They are 115 grain, cast lead, and coated. I was told that I could use Power pistol to load them with but I am unable to find any load data for that combination of projectiles and powder. If anyone is able to help me with a starting point, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
your question is in the correct area.

There is much to learn about loading home cast boolits, so just throwing out some loading data here will not due. But if you just want a quick answer, I'll offer this:

Before I started casting my own, I bought several brands of cast bullets for my pistol shooting, including SNS. It's been about a decade since I bought and loaded any SNS lead bullets. But what I did back then was to load them the same (with the same data) as I would jacketed bullets. Start with a starting load (or 10% below MAX) and seat to a depth that a similar weight and shaped jacketed bullet was spec'd in my reloading manual (I didn't own a manual with cast bullet data back then). I got OK results and usually some lead fouling in the barrel, but not too much to worry about. Most large commercial cast bullet manufacturers (this surely includes SNS) make their bullets with hard alloys and slightly undersized. That will allow a reloader, who loads their cast bullets like Jacketed bullets, to NOT get into trouble.
...

OK, with that said, the real answer is for you to buy a cast bullet reloading manual, like the Lyman cast bullet handbook 4th Ed and read all the chapters...you will learn lots...and the book will supply you with most of the cast boolit data you will ever need.

Also, you may find out sooner or later (like I did), that Commercial cast bullets, like those made by SNS, are a poor compromise for a pistol projectile ...especially in 9mm Luger, as most 9mm barrels are over sized.

[Yodogsandman]

http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/powderlist.aspx?page=/reloaders/powderlist.aspx&type=1&powderid=8&cartridge=23

[Drochotte]

Many thanks to everyone who responded and my apologies for not responding sooner. I thought I had given all relevant information but I apparently did forget to mention that I am making 9mm cartridges. It ended up that I could not find any data for 115 grain cast projectiles. However I did find data for 120 grain and 90 grain. I have worked up five different loads based on the data for those two weights. All of the rounds cycled in my gun. I was unable to find any signs of dangerous pressures. I will post my data on here once I am done testing just in case anyone is interested in trying it for themselves. Thank you all.

[runfiverun]

I'm gonna throw out a guess based on burn rate of 4.2 grs.

[Grmps]

ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK ANY LOAD DATA YOU GET FROM ANY FORUM WITH A RELOADING BOOK OR OFFICIAL LOAD DATA SITE
This is a great refferance site for cast bullets http://www.castpics.net/dpl/index.php/reloaders-reference/cast-bullet-data-lookup I strongly second the motion that you get Lyman cast bullet Handbook.
The search box at the top right of this forum is your friend

[Cherokee]

I load 5.0 gr PP behind 121 gr Lee TC (not TL) @ 1.055" OAL for plinking ammo. Start lower and work up...the 4.2 mentioned above should be good.

[rintinglen]

Lyman's #4 shows 5.1 grains as a starting load for their similar, but slightly heavier 356-402. They show 1124 fps @ 28,200 psi.

[MaryB]

As mentioned ALWAYS check any internet load against the manuals. I use the Lee 120TC in my HiPoint C9 as cast due to the over sized barrel which as mentioned is common in 9mm pistols. Works well just tumble lubed. I blend my own alloy to approximate Lyman #2 give or take a bit on the tin and antimony(depends what the ingots weigh and I am not that fussy to demand exact). I have used several powders but all from the Lyman manual for load.

[sutherpride59]

STAY AWAY from power pistol. In 45acp it's entirely too snappy, not any better in 40 and I can only imagine it would not be a good choice in 9mm.

[rintinglen]

Southerpride59, you know not what you speak. Power Pistol has worked very well for me in 9 mm. With either a Lyman 356-242 120 grain or the NOE clone of the Lee 356-120tc 5.2 grains has been a very good load. In particular, I recommend it to "newbies" due to the fact that double charges will be very hard to ignore.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I imagine power pistol "could" be considered too snappy for a low pressure round like 45acp, but 9mm Luger is a high pressure round, and power pistol should be an excellent choice for that. On a similar note, power pistol is my GO TO powder for 9 Mak.

[gundownunder]

I notice you are trying loads based on 120 gr and 90 gr bullets. The 120 gr loads should be safe, but No way would I try the 90 gr loads with a 115 gr bullet. From 90 gr to 115 gr is an increase of almost 30% bullet weight. The results could be catastrophic.

[Drochotte]

Alright I haven't been on here in a while but I tested the loads I made and found what I liked. My preferred recipe was 115 grain SNS coated bullet on top of 5.6 grains of power pistol with winchester small pistol primers. Gundownunder, I was aware that I could not use the data for 90 grain bullets but I did use it as a reference for where not to go. I kept way closer to the 120 grain load data. The bullets were going at an average of 1125 FPS out of a 3.8 inch barrel. I had no issues of any kind with them. I only went through about 125 bullets so I will continue to be watching them but I am pretty pleased with them so far. I also did not have any issues with accuracy or the rounds being "snappy". Unless something changes Im going to stick with this load for a while.