I just got a LW Comander in 9mm. I load 147 gr Gold Dot for the full size 1911 but am loading lead 124 gr for the Comander. I have to order some powder so would like some input on good to best powder to use in the Comander with the 124 gr RNFP bullet. I am buying the bullets till I can decide on a mold design.
I'm not sure powder is so specialized from one pistol to the next... I've used the same load in all my 9mms interchangeably... What shoots good in one generally shoots well in the others. My go to is 4.5gr of Unique under the MP 359-125-RN right now... But 4.0gr of Red Dot is also a nice load. I load these out to 1.100" and they function just like normal 115gr ball ammo. Though Alliant powder might be hard to find these days. You might look at Ramshot Silhouette, or True Blue. Both of those are nice powders for 9mm.
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I load my 9mm with 125 grain cast bullets with HP38 or it's twin W231. A middle of the road load is pleasant to shoot.Originally Posted by warren5421
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Yep-- and also Titegroup.
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The same bullets can be used both guns and most powders that work with 147 grain bullets will work with 124 grain bullets. What powders are you currently using? A lot of fast to medium burn rate pistol powders will work.
My Pet loads are with a 124 Gr. Truncated Cone NOE 358-124-TC GC .
I have been working up loads with the following powders :
700X
Bullseye
Red Dot
Accurate Arms #2
231/hp38
TiteGroup
Power Pistol
Unique
Accurate Arms #5
Every one of the above powders work well ... I use what powder I can find , I guess my favorite's are Unique and TiteGroup but they can all work well with a little load development .
Load Safe ,
Gary
Last edited by gwpercle; 11-10-2024 at 06:13 PM. Reason: forgot Power Pistol ... added to powder list
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What Gary said:
"Every one of the above powders work well ... I use what powder I can find , I guess my favorite's are Unique and TiteGroup but they can all work well with a little load development .
Load Safe ,
Gary"
I get outstanding results with Blue Dot and WSF.
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In general, there are advantages to using a faster burning powder for cast bullets.
Cast produces lower pressure for the same velocity/recoil/function. Relatively faster powder would burn cleaner, give lower velocity spread, and be more economical. And will still keep pressures below SAAMI max.
Of course this is relative. You might be using a fast powder with your Gold Dots, already.
On the flipside, too fast and you might get too much pressure (still below SAAMI, but enough to "blow the seal" on cast bullets before you get them going as fast as you want).
Be sure to read the sticky about case-swaging and the benefits of using a larger aftermarket expander when loading cast in 9mm, specifically!
Here is the thread that Gloob is referring to:
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...s-in-a-new-9mm
I use several flake powders in various applications, but for smaller cases you might consider the use of a ball powder for potentially better metering of the load. Also, whatever powder is generally available at a decent price in your area. It is always a good idea to select a powder that works well in more than one caliber to avoid buying single pound cans, when a 4 or 8 pound can with several applications will save money over time. Dusty
I use TiteGroup, but I have used HP38. Both work very well for MOST 'everyday' loads.
I came late to the 9mm. Mine is a SR1911 compact (3.6" bbl.). I started with the Lee 124 gr. & HP38 (same as win.231). The Lee 124 worked OK.
On a whim I ordered a MP130 (mainly for the 8 cavities). They drop around 135 with my alloy & my SR1911 loves them sized to .357. My son & his shooting buddy shoot nothing but that MP130 (135). We ordered another (still new in MP box). It is identical to the 1st., but marked MP135. We bought it in the event the original ever wears out.
My SR1911 was throated from the factory. but my son's FN & his shooting buddy's guns (he has several 9's) digest the MP130 (135?) with no problems.
We use only HP38 (Win.231).
For those who haven't tried Accurate Arms powder #2 and #5 ... they are almost a ball powder , much easier to dispense than the "flakey" powders like my favorites Bullseye and Unique .
AA #2 works very well in the 9mm and ... although I haven't tested AA #5 very much in the 9mm Luger ... it may be as good as Unique ... with cast 124 TC GC at +1000 fps ... still developing this one ...
But ...it sure meters and dips much easier Unique !
If you haven't tried them ... grab a bottle if you can !
Gary
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Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
" Let's Go Brandon !"
I just finished testing W231, Unique, Universal and Power Pistol with 124-125gr coated and plated bullets. For me at least Power Pistol was by far the best for mid to full power loads. I don’t pay much attention to pistol load accuracy as for defensive practice pretty much any reasonable load is adequate. But the Power Pistol loads were consistently very noticeable like lasers.
The velocities in the Sierra #6 manual for a 4” barrel are exactly what I get out of my G17 4.5” barrel. I settled on a below max load of 5.4gr according to that manual for 1,150fps which is close to most factory ammo. All around great load. It behaved well down to 5.0 gr but I would switch to a faster powder at that point. Fills the case about 2/3 so a double charge will spill over.
3.7 Green Dot works for me.
I use True Blue and Silhouette with that boolit.
I could be wrong - it happens at least daily.
I tend to use faster powders than most just to keep the cost per round lower.
If you are a more typical shooter, there are a lot of powders that give good performance with "medium" sized powder charges.
Here is a constant pressure Quickload table sorted by lowest charges on top. Unobtainium powders (such as Alliant flakes) were removed.
A different way of choosing a powder is to decide that a specific velocity is good enough, and see how much powder it takes to get this performance. For me, around 1050 fps would be close enough to "full power". Here is a table showing how various powders compare at this performance level.Code:Cartridge : 9 mm Luger (SAAMI) Bullet : .355, 125, Sierra FMJ RN 8120 Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 1.100 inch = 27.94 mm Barrel Length : 4.0 inch = 101.6 mm C A U T I O N : any load listed can result in a powder charge that falls below minimum suggested loads or exceeds maximum suggested loads as presented in current handloading manuals. Understand that all of the listed powders can be unsuitable for the given combination of cartridge, bullet and gun. Actual load order can vary, depending upon lot-to-lot powder and component variations. USE ONLY FOR COMPARISON ! Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time % Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms --------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ramshot Zip 70.6 4.3 0.28 1057 100.0 30625 3785 0.457 ! Near Maximum ! Winchester 231 78.6 4.3 0.28 1057 100.0 30625 3785 0.457 ! Near Maximum ! Accurate No.2 90.1 4.4 0.28 1051 95.3 30625 4066 0.454 ! Near Maximum ! Vihtavuori N330 95.3 4.5 0.29 1093 100.0 30625 4103 0.450 ! Near Maximum ! Shooters World Ultimate Pistol 63.4 4.6 0.29 1099 98.9 30625 4565 0.454 ! Near Maximum ! Vihtavuori N340 98.6 4.8 0.31 1084 98.1 30625 4356 0.453 ! Near Maximum ! Ramshot Silhouette 82.8 5.2 0.34 1099 96.1 30625 4658 0.449 ! Near Maximum ! Vihtavuori N350 105.0 5.6 0.36 1097 91.6 29810 4790 0.450 ! Near Maximum ! Accurate No.5 75.7 5.7 0.37 1105 86.4 30625 4990 0.447 ! Near Maximum ! Shooters World Auto Pistol 75.7 5.7 0.37 1105 86.4 30625 4991 0.447 ! Near Maximum ! Ramshot True Blue 77.2 5.7 0.37 1095 91.2 30625 4740 0.450 ! Near Maximum ! Alliant POWER PISTOL 100.9 5.8 0.38 1137 83.0 30625 5537 0.443 ! Near Maximum ! Vihtavuori 3N37 102.6 5.8 0.37 1114 91.7 30625 4977 0.446 ! Near Maximum ! Hodgdon Longshot 78.8 5.8 0.37 1101 91.2 30625 4819 0.449 ! Near Maximum !
Code:Cartridge : 9 mm Luger (SAAMI) Bullet : .355, 125, Sierra FMJ RN 8120 Useable Case Capaci: 7.897 grain H2O = 0.513 cm³ Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 1.100 inch = 27.94 mm Barrel Length : 4.0 inch = 101.6 mm C A U T I O N : any load listed can result in a powder charge that falls below minimum suggested loads or exceeds maximum suggested loads as presented in current handloading manuals. Understand that all of the listed powders can be unsuitable for the given combination of cartridge, bullet and gun. Actual load order can vary, depending upon lot-to-lot powder and component variations. USE ONLY FOR COMPARISON ! Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time % Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms --------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Accurate Nitro 100 94.1 3.6 0.23 1050 100.0 32037 3549 0.452 ! Near Maximum ! Shooters World Clean Shot 76.1 3.9 0.25 1050 99.9 32011 3711 0.448 ! Near Maximum ! Vihtavuori N320 92.0 3.9 0.25 1050 100.0 31119 3492 0.458 ! Near Maximum ! Hodgdon TiteGroup 67.2 4.0 0.26 1050 100.0 34170 3353 0.444 ! Near Maximum ! Accurate No.2 90.1 4.3 0.28 1050 95.3 30597 4063 0.455 ! Near Maximum ! Shooters World Ultimate Pistol 59.9 4.3 0.28 1050 97.9 27020 4329 0.482 Winchester 231 77.9 4.3 0.28 1050 100.0 30038 3760 0.462 ! Near Maximum ! Ramshot Zip 70.0 4.3 0.28 1050 100.0 30038 3760 0.462 ! Near Maximum ! Vihtavuori N330 90.5 4.3 0.28 1050 100.0 27068 3964 0.476 Vihtavuori N340 95.0 4.6 0.30 1050 97.2 28025 4203 0.472 Ramshot Silhouette 78.6 5.0 0.32 1050 94.6 27151 4402 0.475 Vihtavuori N350 100.2 5.3 0.34 1050 89.6 26375 4521 0.476 Accurate No.5 71.7 5.4 0.35 1050 83.9 26776 4637 0.477 Shooters World Auto Pistol 71.7 5.4 0.35 1050 83.9 26772 4637 0.477 Ramshot True Blue 73.8 5.5 0.35 1050 89.4 27351 4481 0.474 Hodgdon Longshot 74.9 5.5 0.36 1050 89.1 26971 4525 0.477
Last edited by P Flados; 11-12-2024 at 12:44 AM.
I load the Lee 358-125-RF with 5.0+ grains of Herco.
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been using 4.5 grains of red dot under a 125grain hard cast rn lubed with liquid alox in my luger + all my other 0X19's for many decades with no problems -
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HS-6 for 147 gr 9mm Luger.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...9mm-luger.317/
Accuracy all comes down to the gun.
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AA#5 is a great powder in my 9mm. It is my go to for heavy loads. HP38/W231 for light to medium loads.
ACC
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