Reloading for the 9mm

[wild_weasel]

I have been accumulating components for the past few months now to reload 9mm and finally scored a set of RCBS Carbide Dies yesterday. The following loads are 10% reductions of data on the Alliant Web Site and are in the ball park with other published data. They performed very well in my Ruger 4 5/8 Blackhawk Convertible, P95, and LC-9. The only noticeable difference being how “FLASHY” Power Pistol is compared to Unique. I have also noticed while shooting factory 9mm at the range that Winchester White Box ammo with the NATO head stamp has very little muzzle flash like Unique, while Remington and Federal 115gr JHP ammo have about the same flash as Power Pistol. So if you have a need for a reload to use in low light conditions Unique definitely has an advantage. Finally, with the higher pressure of the 9mm compared to the 38 Special Unique burns very clean, after firing 100 rounds it only took a couple patches soaked in Kroil to clean all three guns. So I am well on my way to finding one load for all three guns. My thoughts for the next batch of reloads are 4.5gr of Unique and 6gr of Power Pistol not changing the other components. So far I am favoring the load using 5gr of Unique.

Load 1
Winchester 124gr FMJ/Winchester Small Pistol Primer/5gr Unique/OAL 1.16”/Velocity 1,100fps

Load 2
Winchester 124gr FMJ/Winchester Small Pistol Primer/5.5gr Power Pistol/OAL 1.16”/Velocity 1,100fps

Cheers,
W-W

[DS94901]

Glad to see this. Was going to use the same combo w/ power pistol. Nice to see it's working well.

[wild_weasel]

Glad to see this. Was going to use the same combo w/ power pistol. Nice to see it's working well.

[wild_weasel]

[wild_weasel]

Okay, here are the 9mm loads I worked up recently using Alliant Power Pistol and Unique. Unique burned very clean at the higher pressure of the 9mm with very low flash. Power Pistol also burned very clean but the muzzle flash was very pronounced, I may be imagining it but to me at the indoor range the hotter load of 5.8gr of PP had a less flash than the lower charge of 5.5gr of PP. These loads were accurate in my three 9mm’s including my 9mm/.357 Mag Blackhawk Convertible and cycled without failure in both my P95 and LC9.

Load 1
Winchester 124gr FMJ/Winchester Small Pistol Primer/4.7gr Unique (RCBS Little Dandy Measure w/ Rotor #10) /OAL 1.16”/Velocity 1,050fps

Load 2
Winchester 124gr FMJ/Winchester Small Pistol Primer/5gr Unique (RCBS Little Dandy Measure w/ Rotor #11) /OAL 1.16”/Velocity 1,100fps

Load 3
Winchester 124gr FMJ/Winchester Small Pistol Primer/5.5gr Power Pistol (RCBS Little Dandy Measure w/ Rotor #8) /OAL 1.16”/Velocity 1,100fps

Load 4
Winchester 124gr FMJ/Winchester Small Pistol Primer/5.8gr Power Pistol (RCBS Little Dandy Measure w/ Rotor #9) /OAL 1.16”/Velocity 1,150fps

[at_liberty]

I have been using the same bullet and 5.2 g PP. I loaded increments above and below that and settled on this one. No chronograph, purely how the rounds felt in the gun and sense of accuracy without meaningful measurements, all subjective.

[sigstroker]

I tried Power Pistol and hated it. Are those velocities quoted above out of a book or from a chronograph? I tried max listed loads with 115 gr bullets and barely broke 1000 fps. I think the book listed those loads at over 1100 fps but by my chrono, they were only about 1000. I got over 1200 fps out of 231 with same chrono, same gun.

[Che762x39]

For 9mm I prefer Bullseye with 125 LRN and Unique with 115 or 124 FMJ.

9mm is a very forgiving cartridge, you can not double charge it and the cases never need trimming.

[sigstroker]

Bullseye and Unique can be smoky but most of the time it's not noticeable with a semi-auto. I had friends with smg's, where it's very smoky compared to 231.

[Kappy]

I've noticed Bullseye is really dirty. I still use it in .45ACP.

Everything else, I just use Winchester 231


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[at_liberty]

I tried Power Pistol and hated it. Are those velocities quoted above out of a book or from a chronograph? I tried max listed loads with 115 gr bullets and barely broke 1000 fps. I think the book listed those loads at over 1100 fps but by my chrono, they were only about 1000. I got over 1200 fps out of 231 with same chrono, same gun.

Before damning Power Pistol, a favorite of others, tell us you double checked your charge weights.