Help with X-Treme 9mm 115 gn RN

[Zaggin]

This is my first attempt at reloading. I purchased some X-Treme 9mm 115 gr RN bullets from Field Time & Sports (btw, great store), but I'm a little lost on the reloading recipe. I'm trying to use Unique powder. Looking back, using Unique powder may not have been the best choice for a first timer. At 4.6 gr, the powder was nearly at the top of the brass which made me very cautious. The Lyman book suggests starting at 4.4 gr for a 115 gr bullet but the Speers book starts at 5.2 gr.

Would anyone mind sharing your experience and load data for this bullet? I'm feeding these into my Glock and M&P.

Any suggestions and guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Bill Steele]

Unique is not very dense (kind of fluffy), so it will fill a case a lot more than say, Titegroup or W231. I actually think Unique is the most variable in density (from bottle to bottle) of any powder I load. That makes weighing each setup carefully important (versus just using a given volume, like a certain Lee Auto Disk cavity)

4.5 grs under a 115gr RN, seated to 1.135" cycles all my 9's fine, albeit pretty soft.

[sequoia_nomad]

I guess your mileage may vary, as I've used the exact same load (4.5 gr Unique/115 fmj) and it really didn't want to cycle my Beretta 92. Just start low and work up until you find a load that works.

[Bongos]

Actually is a good powder for 9mm, 40 & 45, because it is so much in flaky volume, if you ever get a double charge, it will overflow and let you know something is wrong (more so in a progressive)

[Triple R Munitions]

using unique is a good first powder. even if you have filled the case with powder (will be over max...) you wont be able to blow up the gun. not enough room to get powder in there.... 5.2gr with a xtreme projo is a great little plinking load. very mild recoil compared to 231 or titegroup or bullseye....

use unique to start off then move your way up to the "lower volume" charge powders.

MY .02
R

[yoitsbruce]

after u set the bullet make sure the oal is ideal. i would
chamber each round just to make sure it goes into battery. i have nothing good to say about fieldtime though

[Les K]

[QUOTE=yoitsbruce; i have nothing good to say about fieldtime though[/QUOTE]

Before I found Fieldtime, I bought pretty much everything from Fowlers, the Stockade, or made the trek out to Rancho to Bass Pro. Fieldtime has good selection compared to the others especially for reloading. Prices are generally good but can be hit or miss. For example: HKS speed loaders, for the 44 mag model, field time was 8 dollars and something and EVERYWHERE else was closer to 11 dollars.

I recently bought a weapon from Fowlers that wasn't in stock at any other store I checked with. Later, Fieldtime got in one of the same model but priced it nearly $200 less than Fowlers. On the other hand, sometimes they price things above retail so you have to shop around. They also have an archery department with an indoor range which is nice and I'll have to give that a try one day.

Another place with better prices is Phillips Wholesale in Covina, but it has very limited hours (open only Thursday thru Saturday) and it's a small mom and pop. I bought 2400 powder for $19/Lb which was $22 at Bass Pro. X-Treme plated 240 grain .44 bullets were $60 versus $68 everywhere else. 44 mag brass was $19/100 (Starline) versus $30 or more anywhere else. This place is worth it for hand loaders but I didn't see any guns for sale there.

I've heard good things about Ammo Brothers in Cerritos, but I went there and just couldn't stand the way it's organized. It's entirely caged in so they have to buzz you in and out, and I bought a little thing from the floor and had to wait forever to check out because they apparently don't have anyone setup to do this. There was a long line of people waiting to check out and everyone was either talking to people looking at weapons, on the phone, or filling out paperwork. There were many that left the line, put their stuff back on the shelf, then had to yell to get buzzed out. No thanks, I'll pay a little more to have a better shopping experience!

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I couldn't ignore the Fieldtime comment and felt I had to add my .02.