Determining start charge with data discrepancy? 9mm

DaveInPA · July 23, 2009, 04:51 PM

I'm getting ready to start developing a load for 9mm using 125gr roundnose lead bullets and W231 powder.

I'm pulling data from two sources:

Hodgdon lists a start charge of 4.0gr and a max charge of 4.4gr.

My Speer manual lists a start charge of 3.8gr and a max charge of 4.1gr

As you can see, this data overlaps. Speer's max is only .1gr higher than Hodgdon's start charge. How do I tell where to start?

Russ5924 · July 23, 2009, 05:25 PM

I have been using the Hodgdon manual. One of my guns won't even cycle properly using 3.8 W231. Everything works fine at 4.0 with a lead bullet don't think you want to go max loads may get leading

DaveInPA · July 23, 2009, 06:03 PM

In that case I'll start at 4.0gr. Thanks Russ. I think I may need to end up a little higher than 4.0 though, because these will be going through a Glock 17L, so I might need a slightly hotter load to get reliable cycling since it's pretty big pistol.

July 23, 2009, 04:51 PM	#1
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	Determining start charge with data discrepancy? 9mm I'm getting ready to start developing a load for 9mm using 125gr roundnose lead bullets and W231 powder. I'm pulling data from two sources: Hodgdon lists a start charge of 4.0gr and a max charge of 4.4gr. My Speer manual lists a start charge of 3.8gr and a max charge of 4.1gr As you can see, this data overlaps. Speer's max is only .1gr higher than Hodgdon's start charge. How do I tell where to start?

July 23, 2009, 05:25 PM	#2
Russ5924 Senior Member Join Date: February 18, 2005 Posts: 1,874	I have been using the Hodgdon manual. One of my guns won't even cycle properly using 3.8 W231. Everything works fine at 4.0 with a lead bullet don't think you want to go max loads may get leading __________________ Russ5924

July 23, 2009, 06:03 PM	#3
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	In that case I'll start at 4.0gr. Thanks Russ. I think I may need to end up a little higher than 4.0 though, because these will be going through a Glock 17L, so I might need a slightly hotter load to get reliable cycling since it's pretty big pistol.