Same load for all like firearms.

[wv109323]

I was wondering if and when you find an accurate load you use the same load in all same calibers firearms?
More specific I am looking for an accurate load in a CZ 75. Do you think that load will be accurate load in other 9mm firearms?
What do you think would affect the answer?
Barrel twist rate
Actual bore diameter
Barrel length
Other?

[nhyrum]

I'd say manufacturing tolerances will probably affect it the most

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[bangerjim]

Considering the VERY small space in a 9mm case, there is very little variation in load data possible!

I use somewhat similar loads for my 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP. And 38/44 SPL and 45 LC are very forgiving due to such large case volumes. I do not mess with wide load variations within the individual caliber families.

Just pull several load data books/maker's data sheets and do some comparisons. You will find much similarity.

[Baltimoreed]

Depends on what the target is. Shooting cas with it’s large close steel I run the same amount of powder in my 45colt, 44-40 rifles and SA/DA revolvers. I do shoot heavier boolits in my rifles than handguns. Minute of sass Marshall. I also run the same load in my ‘03s [30-06] and Krags [30-40] but we’re talking my clubs BAM shoots which are less than 50 yds. All my .45acps [autos-revolvers and pcc] use the same basic load. I do use lighter boolits in revolvers than autos. Arthritis in my knuckles. You’ve got to experiment to see what works. Don’t reload for 9mm.

[1006]

Regarding Pistols:

I like to find a “best all around load” load for each application (steel plates, IPSC, ect), but not for each gun. At 25 yards, I tend to think most guns share the same best load. Some loads are famously standard in certain calibers. For target shooting, I like to use 4.0 Bullseye in every common caliber, with each of the commonly used bullet weights.

[poppy42]

I use the same load in both my 9’s, but I’m not shooting 50 yrd bullseye type targets. So the question is what are you trying to do with your loads? The short answer is yes you can use one load in multiple firearms.

[358429]

I worked these loads for a cz p09: 124 grain miha hollow point with either 5.1 power pistol or 4.3 autocomp, 1.09". They function and are accurate in every 9x19 I have tested them in.

[MT Gianni]

I see my load for a CZ 75 often when looking at other 9mm loads. [4.0 gr AA2 124-135 gr bullet].
I agree twist can make a difference but believe it to be much more noticed at rifle distances. Fit, throat tolerances, and manufacturing consistency play large roles also.
I shoot the same loads in all 3 of my S&W 38's. they are also accurate of a Rossi 92's.

[Ed_Shot]

I judge my 9MM load performance solely on my CZ 75B. I find that that the loads that shoot well in my CZ shoot equally well in the G17, LC9S and BHP that I load for.

[centershot]

The same load, accurate in all other 9x19 mm caliber firearms? Absolutely! Now, where did I put those flying pigs???:kidding:

[Wayne Smith]

Have you ever bought commercial ammo? That's what they have done for over 100 years, load accurate ammo for every gun of that caliber.

[charlie b]

Yep, I use the same load for all. Is it the most accurate? Absolutely not.

A good example was from my father-in-law. He had three .357's. Colt 4"DA, Colt, 5" SA and a Marlin lever. Each one did best with different loads. All did ok with a single load (140gn a little under max). So, that's what he loaded. The good thing is that's the load the rifle liked best.

All of my .45acp ammo has shot well from a variety of 1911's. I usually load 200SWC just under max.

I only have one 9mm and it hates cast bullets (no throat).

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[armoredman]

I was wondering if and when you find an accurate load you use the same load in all same calibers firearms?
More specific I am looking for an accurate load in a CZ 75. Do you think that load will be accurate load in other 9mm firearms?
What do you think would affect the answer?
Barrel twist rate
Actual bore diameter
Barrel length
Other?
Interesting you say that - I do come up with one good solid load and then use it in all the others, and in this case, the main pistol is a CZ P-10C, and then also used in P-10S and P-10M.

[gnappi]

I used to think one load that does it all would be cool, but then I acquired enough powder measures and powder brands / types to make one powder unnecessary. Also due to replacement availability of powder I like using the lowest charge possible for range work / training and different sized semi autos have very different minimum charges they will function with.

With enough powder measures I have the flexibility of buying / trying powder that's available rather than a quest for or waiting for the most recent panic buying spree to ease on one powder. The exception goes for primers. Standard / Magnum I do like the flexibility of using either to light up any load regardless of powder used and document my load development thoroughly so I can use any primer with any load.

Very recently I bought a 6+ pound keg of Red Dot for $14 per pound and couldn't pay fast enough. Even though I'd never used it for pistol cartridges I found it is an excellent powder for 9x25. There goes one load does it all :-)

[dverna]

I used to think one load that does it all would be cool, but then I acquired enough powder measures and powder brands / types to make one powder unnecessary. Also due to replacement availability of powder I like using the lowest charge possible for range work / training and different sized semi autos have very different minimum charges they will function with.

With enough powder measures I have the flexibility of buying / trying powder that's available rather than a quest for or waiting for the most recent panic buying spree to ease on one powder. The exception goes for primers. Standard / Magnum I do like the flexibility of using either to light up any load regardless of powder used and document my load development thoroughly so I can use any primer with any load.

Very recently I bought a 6+ pound keg of Red Dot for $14 per pound and couldn't pay fast enough. Even though I'd never used it for pistol cartridges I found it is an excellent powder for 9x25. There goes one load does it all :-)

I look at things differently. IMO, you are stepping over dollar bills to pick up pennies.

I cannot shoot well enough to take advantage of the accuracy difference between a "good enough" load and an excellent pistol load...unless I am shooting off a bench, and I do not shoot pistols that way. If I can put 10 rounds from the standing position into 5" at 25 yards, it is "good enough".

If I use .5 gr more than the "ideal" minimum charge weight I do not care. My current pistol powders all cost $15/lb or less when I stocked up. Powder is cheap. A savings of .5 gr is silly to chase. You need to shoot 14,000 rounds to save a pound of power. Even if I had to replace my cheap bulk powder with stuff currently selling for $50/lb it is not a big deal. Waste of time to save $50 on 14,000 rounds...and in my case $15.


To the OP,

My advice is to find a powder that works in almost all your pistols and buy in bulk. HP38, CleanShot, Red Dot(Promo), etc, etc they all work for target loads in all pistols and full power in many calibers like 9mm, .45 ACP etc. I few years ago I bought 30 lbs of powder I had never used because the price was too good to pass up. It's a freaking pistol after all!!! And regrettably, I am not a Master class Bullseye shooter.

I like powders that multitask. Red Dot (Promo) can be used in all my pistols, 12 ga and for "The Load" if i want to shoot cast in the .308 (or similar rifle calibers). Unique is another...pistols, 12 ga, 20 ga, 28 ga, cast rifle. My favorite pistol powder is HP38/W231 only because I have been using it for a very long time and it meters well in the progressives; but they could stop offering it and it would not matter. Lots of others will do the job.

Finding the right bullet is more important than powder type or charge.

One last thought mentioned above and worth repeating. Factory ammunition is not too shabby, and it is not "tailored". Many millions of rounds of Match .38 Spl. ammunition have been made and shot in all sorts of guns over the decades and none of it was garbage.

Don't overthink it!

[Larry Gibson]

Never shot any matches with any 9mm handgun, or sub gun for that matter....

I've found over the years that 4 gr of Bullseye und any 115 - 125 gr cast bullet makes for a "universal" load that is also accurate if the bullet is and the handgun is. Have been using that load for 50 years in multiple 9mm handguns and subguns with 100% success.

Currently I have just one 9mm and it is a C 75. I've been using the Lee 356-120-TC in it for numerous years loaded over the suggested 4 gr of Bullseye. Bullets are cast of most any ternary alloy that gives a BHN of 12 +/- and casts well. Bullets are sized .357 and lubed with BAC or NRA 50/50 lube. Any SP or even SR primers will do and not make any difference in velocity or pressure.

[gnappi]

I look at things differently. IMO, you are stepping over dollar bills to pick up pennies.

Why because I use a low charge weight for training? The fact is... out of the holster one or two at a time in 100-200 rounds weekly in a session with hot charges is excessively tiring. Also it doesn't take long to save a pound of powder and REPLACING powder is NOT $14 a pound, so save 1-2 grains per load is NOT stepping over dollars YMMV

[tazman]

I have several different 9mm pistols. The bores range from .355 to .3575. Bullets I load for the larger bore simply will not chamber in the tighter barrels.
That said, I usually use the same powder charges under the same boolit weights no matter which pistol the ammo is going to be fired in.

[dverna]

Why because I use a low charge weight for training? The fact is... out of the holster one or two at a time in 100-200 rounds weekly in a session with hot charges is excessively tiring. Also it doesn't take long to save a pound of powder and REPLACING powder is NOT $14 a pound, so save 1-2 grains per load is NOT stepping over dollars YMMV

You missed the point completely. This is not about lighter loads, it is about performance differences between powders. I use a load similar to Gibson...except with HP38/W231. It is a light load but works. There is no powder that will save 1-2 gr. in 9mm....or .38, .40, .45 ACP.

Please share your powder saving load for the 9mm. In fact, a load for any pistol caliber that has uses 1-2 gr less than HP38.

[gnappi]

You missed the point completely. This is not about lighter loads, it is about performance differences between powders. I use a load similar to Gibson...except with HP38/W231. It is a light load but works. There is no powder that will save 1-2 gr. in 9mm....or .38, .40, .45 ACP.

Please share your powder saving load for the 9mm. In fact, a load for any pistol caliber that has uses 1-2 gr less than HP38.

Load 9mm? Not me. And performance? At 20 feet? REALLY? No my argumentative friend you missed the point that being one load does it all in one powder does not work for me, never did never will.

[Jack Stanley]

I haven't done it with the nine , but have with other cartridges .

Jack

[dverna]

Load 9mm? Not me. And performance? At 20 feet? REALLY? No my argumentative friend you missed the point that being one load does it all in one powder does not work for me, never did never will.

Now that is funny...really funny. You shoot at 20 feet and worry about tailoring your loads.

BTW, I may come across as being argumentative, and for that I apologize. There is a lot of BS on the internet and folks looking for advice can get sent down rabbit holes. When I see stuff that does not make sense, I react to it. I probably should just let it go but I do not. It has got me in trouble before.

This case is illustrative. You offered advice on a thread about loading 9mm, and in your last post admit you do not load 9mm.

I am not qualified to carry Gibson's underwear...but when he can get by with one load that works, I know that what I have been doing (one load for 9mm) is achievable. Maybe we have just been lucky.

[Texas by God]

I've used 4.7 grs of Bullseye with an unsized (lubed or powder coated) Lee 358105swc in Beretta, Sig, S&W, and a Hi- point 9mm pistols and it works great in all of them. So I've come to regard it as a "universal" 9mm load in my opinion.

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[358429]

I load and shoot 9x19 with powdercoated cast bullets and most recently tested at 50

yards offhand; got consistently about 75% hits on a 9 inch white paper plate, with my

left hand in my pocket.

I can do better, and so can you all.

I am most certainly humbled by that guy I saw in the lane next to me, shooting a 32

cal pardini olympic type target pistol. His 10 shot groups at the same distance could

be covered by a quarter.

My jaw fell down when I saw that.

[gnappi]

Dverna,

I no longer do but have loaded many thousands of 9's for many firearms from 3 1/2" barrels to longslides (in the same and different maker platforms) when I was an accuracy fetishist, and no I haven't found a load with powders and bullets I've used in 9 or any caliber that was universally usable across them. Since it seems you have, good on you.

As I said I train, yes at 20 feet and for SD that's an appropriate distance, I find what works in what I'm shooting. Some like 10mm, .357 mag, .45 all "can" pretty much stay the same but add an inch or two of barrel, an optic, or a comp, and loads get tailoring.

[BunkTheory]

You missed the point completely. This is not about lighter loads, it is about performance differences between powders. I use a load similar to Gibson...except with HP38/W231. It is a light load but works. There is no powder that will save 1-2 gr. in 9mm....or .38, .40, .45 ACP.

Please share your powder saving load for the 9mm. In fact, a load for any pistol caliber that has uses 1-2 gr less than HP38.

It not about shaving reloading costs by shaving half grains of powder, and its not about performance of different powders.

it about "if my 4 inch 586 likes random brands dewc sized .3589 with 5.00002 grains of Red Dot, and crimp with .001 of the front band sticking out of the case, and a measured 1.00002 foot pounds of torque applied to the loading lever when seating and crimping WILL that load give the same identical performance in my wifes j frame and in my cousins rock island snubby"

[ABJ]

I was wondering if and when you find an accurate load you use the same load in all same calibers firearms?
More specific I am looking for an accurate load in a CZ 75. Do you think that load will be accurate load in other 9mm firearms?
What do you think would affect the answer?
Barrel twist rate
Actual bore diameter
Barrel length
Other?

I have found that there is some universal loads in a lot of my same caliber firearms. Examples are 5.0 Bullseye under a 240 gr. 44 special. Shoots excellent in four different revolvers and in a 44 mag rifle. Ex... 3.5 grs. of Unique under any DEWC in 38 special, I can't count how many different revolvers that load will shoot one ragged hole at 20/25 yds. Ex... 5.6 grs. of 700x under a 150 plain base in 30-30 sub load.
EX.... 4.1 grs of HP-38 under a 158 gr in 38 spl. There are many others. Will these loads shoot in every gun? of course not but they are good starting points.
To address the OP's question of 9mm, I don't remember the exact load but its the max listed in Hornady's book for a 147 and I use the same charge for 125 lead and 115 extreme plated.(5.0 power pistol but check the book) It has worked in a dozen or more small 9's like Shields, Glock 43's, Springfield's and 92's.
As far as what effects the accuracy? Everything. Having said that I don't expect the same accuracy of a 9mm sub 2" barrel as I do the 44 special. At 15/18 yards my 9 load will print an OTO group around 2/2.5 inches, beyond that it's not pretty. We do bang steel out to 50 yds but on 12 inch and bigger targets.
My family and friends shoot a lot and have several different Dillon's set up for these Universal loads and for banging steel they work. I also shoot Bullseye match's and yes there is some "close" universal loads for these target guns but the OAL, crimp and exact powder charge will differ on almost every gun. Our starting point on a 45 ACP with a 200 gr. SWC is 3.5 Bullseye, then it will take over a hundred rounds to get the exact load for that gun.
I hope this helps, and by no means am I saying to use my loads these are just some of the combinations that have worked for us. There are many, many combos that will give you the same basic results.
Tony

[charlie b]

As someone mentioned, factory loads are basically 'universal'. At self defense ranges you really don't need anything more accurate at short ranges.

The issue comes down to what accuracy level you demand from your guns. If you want consistently small groups at longer than defensive ranges, eg >25yd) then you will need to tailor the load to your gun.

[rbuck351]

I have 3 45 acp pistols. Two will shoot about anything as good as I shoot. The third won't feed reliably anything but round nose. Also I like a light boolit and a heavy hitter for my handguns.

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK: I have been a proponent of 1 standard load for any given caliber since I started reloading in 1971. I don't get into chasing loads searching for that one load that is so much better than the others that I immediately adopt it. ONce I get a load that shoots better than I can I'm done, and that's what we are going to do for that caliber.

In most cases the first load I select turns out to be the one I use forever. For .44 Magnum Midrange that is 8.0 gr of w231 with PC'd Keith Boolit. The Magnum load is 23 gr of H110 using a Thompson 429244 boolit, used in the SBH and Marlin 1894. .44 Special is 6.0 gr of W231 with the same Keith Boolit because it shoots to the sights in my S&W696.

For .308 with 147 gr pulled M80 Ball Bullets 45.0 gr of IMR 4895 produce <MOA first time out so I stuck with it. Same exact load for my .30-06's.

.45 ACP gets 5.7 gr of W231 with a .452-230 Cast and Pc'd or plated 230 gr bullet.
.40 S&W gets 5.4 gr of W231 with either a 165 gr plated bullet or Cast and Pc'd 165 gr boolit.

These are my "Standard Loads" for these calibers. Been using most of them for many years because there is no good reason to change. If something else is required I can usually interpolate available Load Data so that I can use my normal powders and components maybe changing a bullet. None of my loads ever come close to the high end as I am not a proponent of HOT RODDING ! I see no reason for it for the types of shooting I do, and even if I was to be able to hunt something big I would simply use a gun that was commensurate with the quarry. I have a .45-70 that I can load up to butt kicker levels and then there are the Shotgun Slugs which will take down anything even at relatively low velocities.

It is not hard to cover all the bases with only a few different loads. When you find what you are looking for you usually realize that what you have is better than you can shoot anyway. Maybe more practice shooting is in order?

Randy