Another 9mm 115 gr FMJ with Unique Question

[JefferS]

I've (bit of a noob) been looking through recipes to use with Remington 115 gr FMJ using Unique powder. I came across a reference to an article in another thread to Handloader Magazine which went through a lot of handload data. They didn't have Unique for 115 g FMJ, although they had a statement:

The only FMJ roundnose bullet listed is the 125-grain Sierra. Both the Hornady 115-grain FMJ and Speer 124-grain TMJ roundnose were tried with excellent results, but due to space limittaions and to avaoid redundancy, that data was not included. It is suggested to use the Hornady 115-grain XTP data and the Speer 124-grain GDHP data, respectively, and seat bullets as outlined.

So, would this be a blanket statement that one could take that you could use 115 grain XTP data for Remington FMJ? I'm assuming that because it says that Remington bullets are jacketed an not plated, that I would not necessarily use Rainier data (and I didn't see anything on the Remington site).

What has me concerned is that most of the posts I've seen have 9mm with Unique around 5 g. If I go with the Lee manual, it has 115 g XTP with Unique starting at 5.5 g and a max of 6.3 g, which seems hotter than what a lot of folks seem to use in this forum. The Alliant site has 115 g Speer GDHP at 6.3 g.

So, do you think the following is ok?

Start: 5.7
Max: 6.3
OAL: 1.125

Or should I go with Rainier data for 115 g RN:

Start: 4.3
Max: 5.3
MAX OAL: 1.169

[jwrowland77]

Go to Alliants website. Use the powder manufactures website. Don't use hollow point data for a RN. If you can find data for other FMJ-RN, and since its a like profile, you can use data in other manuals.

[JefferS]

By the way, I looked through the Lee, Lyman, and Nosler manuals and I didn't see anything with 115 g round nose FMJ using Unique. If there are manuals that have that particular data, then I'd like to get it on my to-buy list.

And, the only thing Alliant had on their website for Unique/9mm was the one I listed.

[Unclenick]

Frankly, unless you have reason not to, I would start at 4.5 grains and work up in 0.2 grain steps while looking for the load that shot best from my gun and didn't dirty it too much (the lower pressure loads can). You should get to the velocity military ball produces in your gun at somewhere around 5.5-5.7 grains. You can go higher if you want to, but unless you have a certain power factor you are looking to reach for a match, the military ball level is likely to provide a satisfactory rehearsal load.

[JefferS]

I don't have a reason not to go with your suggestion, unclenick. It sounds reasonable to me. Is this from your experience, or do I need another manual?

Or maybe my thread searching skills are severely lacking.

I'm not looking for any particular power factor, either. Just a nice, decent, accurate load for a Glock G19 (for target practice), using the components I have available. And I'm trying to get better at figuring out loads without always needing to jump to my lifelines.

[WESHOOT2]

5.5g Unique with most any 115g bullet seems to work in most any gun.

I do not personally prefer Unique with anything, but I cannot dispute the historical success of this load.
Someone taught me about it......

[Unclenick]

Originally Posted by JefferS

Is this from your experience, or do I need another manual?

Well, in the same vein as "he who dies with the most toys wins", we always need more manuals. But no, you don't need another manual for the 5.5-ish load of Unique with 115 grain bullet. As WESHOOT2 says, it's been around for a long time. Not as long as the .45 Auto load of 5 grains of Bullseye under 230 grain FMJ, but it probably was an early handload for the Browning High Power, so it would likely date from between the World Wars. There's a lot of experience with it out there, my own included from loading for a borrowed Berretta 92 one time. But even with an old standby standard load, it never hurts to start a little low and see if something you like for accuracy appears as you work up.