9 mm SD

[Half Dog]

I’ve loaded and shot 20 rounds of 9 mm and I’m not sure if the results are good. I understand the differences but my rifle had a SD of 3 feet per second where my 9 mm has 18 FPS. Now I’m wondering if 18 FPS is good for a 9 mm handgun.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

[justindad]

I once shot some .45 Colt ammo through a rifle and a pistol. Same batch of ammo. Powder was AA #5 with WLP primers. The rifle had SD values near 10 and the pistol near 50. I believe the difference was the barrel length. Use a faster powder and the SD difference will get smaller.
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Generally speaking, an SD=18 out of a pistol is good. If you are competing, you might want to do better.

[Tim357]

SD doesn't mean doodly squat if the boolits all land in the same place on target. Don't overthink it

[Der Gebirgsjager]

An SD of 18 fps seems pretty good to me. You'll never get no SD, and can get much more. 18 fps is nothing at handgun ranges/distances.

DG

[gwpercle]

SD doesn't mean doodly squat if the boolits all land in the same place on target. Don't overthink it

LIKE LIKE LIKE

Accuracy beats SD seven ways to Sunday .
Gary

[Half Dog]

Well...I need to blame something other than the shooter.

[Pirate69]

An SD of 18 fps seems pretty good to me. You'll never get no SD, and can get much more. 18 fps is nothing at handgun ranges/distances.

DG

I have to agree. The SD is not really a factor at short ranges. However, the greater the target distance, the greater the potential effect of large SDs. The longer the time to the target the more time for gravity to do it thing. As an example, a 300 Win Mag 150 grain bullet with an exit velocity of 3265 fps will have a total drop of 55.5 inches at 500 yards. The same bullet with an exit velocity of 3250 fps will have a total drop of 56.4 inches. Not a whole of of difference; only a 0.18 MOA negative impact. However, at 1000 yards the 3265 fps bullet will have a total drop of 351.2 inches and the 3240 fps bullet will have a drop of 358.2 inches. This is a difference of a 0.7 MOA negative impact. A 25 fps difference in rounds makes it difficult to shot MOA at 1000 yards while at 500 yards, it is easier. It only gets worse with increased target distance.

[Meatpuppet]

For 9mm, that’s great. Shoot on. Results matter most.

For a while, when I was loading and shooting 9MM a LOT, I substituted small pistol magnum primers due to a supply issue. Dropped my SD into the single digits with barely an increase in velocity. It did nothing to increase accuracy.