9mm accuracy problems

[Seaweed02]

Hello. I am not getting the same kind of accuracy out of my reloads as I do with factory ammo. Any advice or loads?

[Bill Steele]

Hello. I am not getting the same kind of accuracy out of my reloads as I do with factory ammo. Any advice or loads?

Talk a little about what components you are using, your process, load specs, etc.

There are lots of things that affect accuracy both internal to the load and external to the gun and shooter.

[bubbala]

A chronograph would be a good place to start,match speed with the ammo your gun likes.you still might have to try some different powders, unless pulling a factory round and looking at the powder will give you a clue as to what it is. Unlikely though.
Hey,,,welcome to the fun of reloading! !!!

[Eljay]

Seems like the most common thing that can cause that is to overcrimp plated or hi tek coated bullets. If you're using those pull a bullet and if you see a serious line across it that's bad. You definitely shouldn't be able to feel it with your nail.

It's also possible you've not belled the cases enough and you're shaving lead when you put them in. Pulling some bullets will also let you see what shape they're in towards the bottom.

If it's not that you'll have to fill us in on what you're doing.

[Whiterabbit]

Lots of factors can cause that.

bad ignition will cause bullets to go all over the place. Bad ignition can be caused by lots of empty space in the case (powder dependent), primers not seated evenly, so your firing pin seats the primer before setting it off, a bullet with bad tension, a bullet with insufficient crimp, maybe more.

Damaged bases cause poor accuracy. Bases can be damaged by rattling around in a box, inspect your bullets.

Undersize bullets can cause accuracy issues. bullets can be undersized from the factory, or squeezed down by too much crimp. Loads that are too low can cause insufficient brass expension, sizing or shaving the bullet down as it leaves the case, causing bad accuracy.

Your bullet choice might be no good for the barrel twist, causing tumbling/bad accuracy.

your powder choice might not play well with your bullet choice. Some cartridges, some powders might ignite best with heavy for cal bullets vs light for cal, etc.

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Not sure if you share your load details someone will recognize any incompatibilities. You can try. But maybe the suggestions above can get you thinking about what might be out of spec on your own.

[CalTeacher]

It is very likely that the accuracy, or lack thereof, can be attributed to bullet selection. Plated bullets are notorious for bad accuracy when compared to quality jacketed or hi-tek coated bullets.

[actionwatcher]

Plated bullets are notorious for bad accuracy when compared to quality jacketed or hi-tek coated bullets.

+1

+ gun. I have several different guns in 9 mm all of them shoot differently different ammo. Surprisingly the most stable shooter is XD9 tactical. The most sensitive to the ammo is Shield. Still sensitive but to the lesser degree P226. AR9 also quite a bit sensitive.

I typically have 1/2 inch group @ 7' with 115 gr Blazer. Similar results with FMJ and cast 115/124gr reloads, 1 inch @ 7' with 124 gr plated with p226 the group size grow even bigger with Shield.

[ironhorse1]

Post your load data. As above if you are using plated bullets you may be pushing them too fast.

Details man, it's all in the details.

Bullet type,weight and manufacturer.

Powder name and charge weight.

Primer and cases mixed brass or one brand.

OAL of your loaded round.

irh

[Seaweed02]

OK

Ok, it's been a while since I was on here, and I've been loading and shooting some loads. Details. OK.

I started out by using the load data out of my Lyman manual for 9mm. I was using 700X and Universal powder, CCI 500 primers, and a variety of plated bullets. 124 grain Rainier RN bullets, 124 grain Highborn RN bullets, 115 grain Berry's Bullets, and 115 grain HSM Bullets. I started from the bottom of the powder scale and worked my way up to the max load.

Then I decided to use Remmington 1 1/2 primers and try some loads with that. Then I went to use Winchester WSP primers and tried some loads with that.

I measured my crimp at .378 and I think that is OK for 9mm isn't it?

I started measuring the OAL of the factory bullets I had on hand. 115 grain, 124 grain, and 147 grain factory ammo. All but the factory ammo was between 1.150 and 1.160 where as the Lyman manual had my OAL at 1.090 for 115 grain loads, and 1.075 for 124 grain loads. So I even worked up some loads with the OAL out to 1.155 and even though some of them have been OK, none of them are quite as accurate as my Factory Reloads from Minuteman Munitions.

[Seaweed02]

Hi-Tek

It is very likely that the accuracy, or lack thereof, can be attributed to bullet selection. Plated bullets are notorious for bad accuracy when compared to quality jacketed or hi-tek coated bullets.

What are Hi-Tek Coated bullets?

[CalTeacher]

What are Hi-Tek Coated bullets?

Bullets that use Hi-Tek's bake on coating. The coating is like an epoxy type coating that adheres to the lead and simply won't come off even at velocities up to about 1500 fps. Here are a few companies that make them:

Black Bullets International (I use these exclusively now)
Bayou Bullets
Black and Blue Bullets
Missouri Bullet Company
SNS Casting

Blue Bullets uses a similar style coating, but it isn't Hi-Tek.

[CalTeacher]

You can do a few things.

First, if you don't want to switch bullets and go away from plated, you can play with your seating depth. Also be sure that you're not crimping into those plated bullets because accuracy will go to hell quickly. Are you using any sort of post sizing die like a Lee Factory Crimp Die? If so, throw it in the trash.

If you're not stuck on those bullets, order some BBI's or Bayous and give it a shot. I've never met anyone who has had accuracy issues with these.

I could only get one type of plated bullet to shoot accurately and it is the heavy plate 180gr from Xtreme. Standard plated bullets look like a shot pattern past 15 yards out of all my 1911 style pistols. Granted, they are .40s and not 9mm, but I've met many other competitors that I shoot with that had the same issues.

[Seaweed02]

OK

You can do a few things.

First, if you don't want to switch bullets and go away from plated, you can play with your seating depth. Also be sure that you're not crimping into those plated bullets because accuracy will go to hell quickly. Are you using any sort of post sizing die like a Lee Factory Crimp Die? If so, throw it in the trash.

If you're not stuck on those bullets, order some BBI's or Bayous and give it a shot. I've never met anyone who has had accuracy issues with these.

I could only get one type of plated bullet to shoot accurately and it is the heavy plate 180gr from Xtreme. Standard plated bullets look like a shot pattern past 15 yards out of all my 1911 style pistols. Granted, they are .40s and not 9mm, but I've met many other competitors that I shoot with that had the same issues.

OK I guess I can look up those bullets you mentioned and give them a shot. Or maybe some lead hard cast bullets from Missouri bullet company or Oregon Laser something or other. If I get a good load out of them then I'll just plink away my supply of plated bullets and go from there. I have already played with the seating depth and some loads are better than others, at various seating depths. But none the way I want them to be.

I do use a Lee Factory Crimp die. You don't think I should use it then?

Anyone have suggestions on bullets to use? Or boolits?

[Whiterabbit]

I'd suggest you first try to make your bullets work.

If there's lots of empty space in the case, I'd first seat the bullet all the way down so there is minimal full diameter length before the ogive starts exposed. (basically seat all the way down). That is assuming you are not taking case fill past 100%. In that case, I'd drop the bullet down to 100% case fill.

Less air tends to promote uniform ignition.

overcrimping can indeed be a problem, the FCD can crush the bullet down easily so it's undersized, giving you bore seal issues that can translate to poor accuracy by affecting gas release as the bullet passes out of the crown.

This is also why a nice clean uniform bullet base is also important. Your plated bullets probably already have this.

you can also undersize bullets by shaving them via insufficient belling. I don't know if you are doing this either.

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Just some more ideas to check. You don;t have to tell me about your load to check these, the criteria for acceptance is there.

Hopefully it helps get you there.

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Dumb question, what is the accuracy difference between factory ammo and yours? 9 ring vs 8 ring accuracy at 15 yards? less? more? What kinda difference?

[Seaweed02]

Dumb question, what is the accuracy difference between factory ammo and yours? 9 ring vs 8 ring accuracy at 15 yards? less? more? What kinda difference?

At 30 yards using ammo reloaded by a company called Minute Man Munitions I get a 5 to 6 inch group while resting my gun on my ammo bag, and I'm sitting down of course. When I use my reloads I seem to just open up to double that, with at least a few flyers way out of the target area. Sometimes off the paper.

I'm worried that if I don't crimp at least a little, which is what I'm doing now, then the bullet will go deeper inside the case when I chamber a round.