Good load for 9mm 115g X-Treme bullets....

[shootingblanks]

Hello,

I've looked at Lyman's, Hornady and Hodgons but seems data for 115g RN is non existent or conflicting. I plan on firing these reloads out of a Gen 4 Glock 19:

How does this recipe look:
115 grain X-Treme Bullets
5.7 grains of Alliant Powder Unique
Fired once Speer Nickle brass cases
CCI 500 Small Pistol Primers
1.15 OAL

Please advise.

[Tsquared]

The 115 grain X-Treme Bullet is plated. My Hornady manual does not have anything for plated (or cast) but the FMJ 115 RN has a max of 5.1 gr of Unique @ 1150 fps. My Lyman does not have any 115gr data (It is kind of old). The Alliant web page has 115 gr Speer GDHP Min COAL 1.125 with CCI 500 primer Unique 6.3gr max at 1,244 fps.

With that said, my Speer manual lists the same powder charge for the 3 various bullets they produce and list different COAL. The Hornady manual states that plated and coated bullets should be load to cast standards but list different specs for cast, FMJ, and JHP. You have some decisions to make but I think you are on the upper side with 5.7 gr. I have 5.8gr as the max load for 124gr TMJ in the Speer book.

If you have access to a Chrono I would suggest pressing out about 10 bullets starting at 4.9 and go up to 5.9 in .1 increments and look for a load in the 1050-1200 range that has the best grouping. If you get something above 1200 then stop and pull those bullets with that weight of powder and anything above it. I would not push the plated bullets past 1200 and I would use a very light crimp.

[shootingblanks]

Thanks for the input as I saw similar conflicting or very little information on the 115. If rather be conservative and not be on the upper side with respect to load and work my way up.

[oldengineer]

I shoot those in 5 different 9mm guns. I use 4.3 gr Titegroup and have no problems. Don't quote me but I believe the range is 3.9 to 4.6. Nominal OAL is 1.139 on my setup.

[MarkCO]

I do not use Unique, but I do shoot Xtreme bullets.

I'd back off the 5.7 charge to maybe 5.0 grains to start. Load 10 each at 5.0. 5.2, 5.4, 5.6 and shoot them over a chrono to see where you are.

No roll crimp, and only a light crimp with plated and coated bullets.

[mikld]

As an easy, safe way to start reloading plated bullets, use lead bullet data. I've been doing it this way since I first discovered plated bullets and nope, I haven't stuck any bullets in any barrels, and yep, they shoot accurately without stripping the plating. The "mid level jacketed formula" is for max. loads, keeping the velocity below the "destruction level"...

[Reloader2]

Originally Posted by oldengineer

I shoot those in 5 different 9mm guns. I use 4.3 gr Titegroup and have no problems. Don't quote me but I believe the range is 3.9 to 4.6. Nominal OAL is 1.139 on my setup.

I've been using this recipe with the 115 grain Xtreme RN with an OAL of 1.130.
Also works with the Berry's 115 RN with an 1.110 OAL.

I've been cranking them out on a Lee Classic Turret press and the auto disk powder measure has been consistent with the Titegroup powder.

Just be very cautious as possible to get a double load of powder into the case.

[Worc]

I don't use unique. I use 4.6 grs of 231/HP-38 or 4.3 grs of Bullseye with a COL of 1.130 and CCI 500's. I've used the above for 115gr plated bullets from Berry's, FMP, Xtreme, and Rainer. I'll be loading up some from Rocky Mountain in the next week of so.

[Nick_C_S]

Speer #14 shows from 5.7gn to 6.3gn of Unique for their 115's. So you're in the ballpark.

I will say that Unique is a bit of a slow powder to be under 115's. Personally, I'd use something a little faster (TiteGroup comes to mind). But be that as it may, good rounds can be produced using Unique. But you may find that the rounds will run their cleanest and most consistent when you pump them up a bit. Probably quite a bit. Do your own work-ups for safety, of course.

Since you're using a plated bullet, I am assuming your purpose for this ammunition is range practice/general shooting. If so, if you have a faster propellant, I would strongly encourage you to consider using it instead of Unique. Or move to a heavier bullet.

Unique under the light 115's isn't going to run right until you've boosted it up into a pretty darn hot round. Otherwise, it's going to run inconsistent and sooty - maybe even with unspent propellant flakes. A faster powder would deliver a more consistent round while operating in middle of the road "general practice" neighborhood.

[shootingblanks]

Thanks for the insight. I believe I read in the Lyman book as stating Alliant was a good powder to try and I had some to use. I cross referenced with Hornady but will probably get Speer #14. This ammo will be for target shooting which I plan on going to a new range.

I ended up loading about 20 qty 115 xtreme RN with 5.2g Unique and an OAL of 1.15.

I'll look into getting some Titegroup and possibly bullseye.

I'll be shooting them out of my gen 4 G19. Also purchased a KKM precision threaded barrel.

I also made 100 qty 230g xtreme RN to shoot out of my sig p220.

Have about 200 factory target ammo in 45 and 9mm that I'll also be shooting out of the G19, P220 and my G30. Need to save up and get a chronograph.

New to reloading so read up a lot, had a friend teach me and will be taking a free course with a certified reloading instructor. One day will be pistol and another day rifle.

[SHR970]

You load is .1 gr above starting per Speer #13 although a couple components are different. For the record... Speer Gold Dot and Unicor are PLATED bullets so the comparison is more valid than for swaged lead, cast lead, or jacketed.
Edit to add: Look at Alliant on line data for Gold Dot HP and their max for Unique is 6.3 gr. Adding fudge factors in 5.7 is a good starting point.

Unique will run fine under a 115 gr. in 9mm. I've loaded thousands of X-Treme plated driven by AA#7; Unique is a fair bit faster. For 115 gr. AA#7 is definitely on the slow side but I got some screaming loads and stayed in book max territory. With most powders, I have found the best load is usually about .2 to .3 grains under Jacketed Max.

I haven't used Unique in quite a while (I personally don't care for it) but it will work well enough. Fast Powders Like Bullseye may give you cycling issues in a Glock as well as some other brands in 9mm as the impulse is not long enough in duration and ends up causing short stroking of the slide. The original AA#2 was notorious for this and the distributor also warned users about it.

For 115 gr. loads that are for general use and practise I have found that powders in the W231 / Green Dot- Unique / HS6 speed range work well.

Understand that Xtreme Plated are plated thicked than most and use a harder alloy core than many other plated bullets. They can be driven a bit harder than some other brands.

[Tsquared]

I have used TiteGroup and Bullseye with 124/125gr 9mm bullets with no issues in a Gen3 G17, Gen4 G26, Gen4 G19, and Taurus 92AF. The biggest problem is the Bullseye does tend to run a bit dirty.

For 9mm target ammo I try to keep plated and poly coated bullets in the 1000-1050fps range with a powder load that is about half way in between the recommended min-max load data (the poly runs about 50fps faster with the same load). I do up the powder a little to push plated about 100fps faster with the same accuracy. They are both fast powders that work well in my 9mm. My 45 works well with BE but is not as happy with the TG. A slower burning powder works better with the 45.

[bullseyewannabe]

I use rainier 115grain rn plated bullets with 5.5 grains of unique with Winchester primers. Rainier recommends using fmj load data on their web site. My recipe functions well in both my springfield xd9 sc and my S & W shield 9mm. I also use the same combination with 4.4 grains of solo 1000 but it is really hard to find these days.

[sdrnavy91]

5.2 grains of auto comp...very accurate, my velocities are 1.035..1,060..and 1,040. 115 xtereme copper plated bullets. Remington 115 fmj bullets were very accurate with 5.2 grains of auto comp with identical velocities... out of a CZ 75 compact.

[SARuger]

I will throw another one in the mix, I use 6.1g of HS6 with 115g FMJ's

It will be different for the plated bullets but that's a sweet shooting load in all of my 9mm