Help with 9mm 120 gr FP

[Paul4895]

Requesting expertise from you fine folks in finding a accurate 25 yd load for a 9mm 120 gr FP cast bullet. I casted these bullets yesterday and they were supposed to be 122 gr. but they casted out at 120 gr. I sized them today, to .356. I was hoping the boolits would weigh out closer to 124 gr. As I have plenty of load data for 124 gr.

Anyway any help in load data and OAL recommendations for a 120 gr cast would be greatly appreciated. 120 gr falls right in between 115 and 124 gr boolits and I'm not sure were to start safely. I'd like to have a accurate 25 yd load. I have Win 231, Clays, WSF and Power Pistol for availbe powders. Thanks, Paul4895

[NuJudge]

The difference in weight will make no difference. Seating depth will make far more difference.

My recent experience with 9mm pistols has been that groove diameter is considerably larger than it's supposed to be. In my Beretta 92FS and Walther P-38 I'm now shooting .359" bullets with excellent results. Don't use bullets that large if a cartridge loaded with them does not chamber freely.

What shape are your bullets, or which mold? Nobody can suggest an OAL without this info.

My Beretta and Walther are really shooting well on the lighter end of powder charges, the lighter they are the better they shoot. Be careful not to stick a bullet in your bore.

CDD

[Paul4895]

NuJudge, The pistols these bullets will be shot out of are two Springfield custom PPC 1911 9mm. One is a 5" and the other one is a 6" longslide, the longslide 1911 will get the lions share of these cast bullets. I did slugg both pistol's barrell's and both guns have a groove of .355 so I should be ok there.

My mold is a magma mold 122 9mm FP that cast out to 120 gr. I was thinking of starting at the low end recipe for 124 gr lead and work up. I'm still concerned about oal though. I'm not going to be pushing these loads hard. I'm more concerned about finding an accurate load.

Thanks
Paul4895

[bobthenailer]

although not listed try 3.8 of bullseye. 4.0 wsf . i also have several barrels that slug .355 but shoot the best with .357 dia cast bullets in 380,9mm & 38 super

[Daves1]

I size to .358 and load 4.9 grns of Unique with bullets that weigh from 122-124 grns. and get very good accuracy.

[GabbyM]

I've never loaded the Magma 122 TC bullet. Most of the TC bullets will like between 1.140" and 1.040" OAL. Remove your barrel and use the chamber to gauge OAL. I like to load them out to where they start to touch rifling when dropped in. Holding short of pushing the bullet out to the breach face. or flush with the back end of the barrel. You'll notice a lot of room for cartridge growth in a 9mm NATO chamber before the round tightens up against the bolt face when slide is closed. If you want the ammo to work in a variety of guns you want to leave it loose.

Hornady published OAL for their 124 grain FMJ-TC old style #3556 bullet is 1.040". That bullet hits the rifling in my S&W's at 1.100" so they figured plenty of room. Any changes in length will greatly effect pressure in a small case like 9x19mm. So make sure you don't get lube build up on your seat die and start deep seating bullets. In short measure your last few bullets at least to see if they are the same as your first. With the TC bullet you have that shoulder to visualize how far out the case it is. In a RN you can't tell much of OAL by looking at it.

[Paul4895]

Thanks to everyone for the info and the help. And thank you gabby for turning the light on in my head.

This was my first attempt at casting and then loading my own cast bullets. As I said earlier I was looking for a accurate 25 yd load for these 120gr 9mm.

What I did to find the oal for these bullets was to take a cleaning rod and with the slide closed, I inserted the cleaning rod down the barrel until it hit the breach. I marked the rod at the muzzel. I then but a bullet in the chamber and held it snug with a long Q-tip re-inserted the rod untill it touched the bullet and then marked the rod at the muzzel. I then measured the distance between the to lines, this gave me my max oal for this bullet in my longslide Springfield 1911 9mm whch came out to be 1.080. I subtracted a tenth and used 1.070 as a OAL for these bullets.

I loaded a bunch up using WW231 and WSF. I started at 4.2 WSF and worked up to 4.6. With 231 I started at 4.0 and went up to 4.4. I'm only looking for an accurate 25 yd load. Velocity is not an issue in PPC so I didn't chrono any loads. I shot these loads into a B-27 target and wanted the loads to be at least be X-ring accurate on a B-27 target. The X-ring measures 3x2 and the ten ring is 6x4. I was pleasently suprised to find that all the loads tested using both WSF and 231 were X-ring accurate at 25 yds. The best load was 4.3 gr of WSF it shot one inch at 25 yds. so that will be my load for this gun. I checked the cases after each shot group and there was no pressure signs or issues with all of the loads tested.

I ended up shooting 200 rounds out of the gun during the test, when I got home from the range I stripped the gun and inspected it for leading. There was no leading in the barrel. So I must have done this right.

I'm real happy at the outcome of my first try at this and again I want to thank all who gave me advise. I hope this information will help others, Thanks
Paul4895