My new 147 grain 9mm ammo

[iraiam]

I just finished loading 500 rounds of the 147 grain ammo recipe I swtched to, I am very happy with it.

It's the Hornaday 9MM 147 grainHP/XTP, loaded with 6.9 grains of 3N38 powder;(Max Load per manual),in StarLine brass, CCI 500 primers. wound up to be about 1185 fps average, considerably more potent than the 1025 fps.

I thoroughly tested this recipe, I fired a few hundred rounds of it through all of my 9MMs. The last test I did was to buy a bag of range brass and load the same recipe with mixed brass, no problems detected.

The next step is to work up the same recipe with a cast bullet, I am thinking of Berry's 9mm 147 grain plated RN, about $100 per 1000, pretty tough to beat.

[xLPlushy]

I'm very interested in this load. What was your starting load and OAL? You wouldn't happen to have chronographed it out of a 3" barrel as well?


Tapatalked via my highly abused iPhone

[rajbcpa]

...i bought some berrys platted for the first time last week. ....they are nice.

[tkglazie]

That is a screamer of a 147gr round. I load my cast plinkers at 900fps. How is the recoil?

[5R milspec]

it's not a 3 inch barrel for sure

[Gerry]

I wouldn't test that load in "all my 9s". That works out to 174 power factor, a good 10 over major which is what most major 9mm IPSC shooters strive for.

Well done, except they use special custom race guns with compensated barrels with special chambers for such loads. They're also equipped with extra strong recoil springs and such. Shooting 174 power factor in a gun not designed for it is just putting your safety and the safety of anyone standing near you at risk in my opinion, apart from just beating up your gun like crazy.

[5R milspec]

no matter to what barrel length or Case Over All Length I put into QL its just to HOT OF A LOAD FOR MY TASTE

[45YearsShooting]

If your reason for trying a cast bullet in the 9mm is to reduce expense, have you taken a look at Precision Delta bullets? You can get the Precision Delta 9MM 124gr JHP for $86 per thousand including shipping. I tried 100 of them and I think they are very good and accurate bullets, with a real jacket, not plated, so you can push them to higher velocities than the cast bullets. I just bought another 1,000 of them. If you order only 1,000, they charge an extra $5, so total cost is $91. If you order 2,000, there is no additional charge, so it is truly free shipping. Here is a link:
http://www.precisiondelta.com/detail...ku=B-9-124-JHP

Here is a link from their website that shows a picture of the bullets:
http://www.precisiondelta.com/detail...MPLE-9mm-124JH

[iraiam]

I'm very interested in this load. What was your starting load and OAL? You wouldn't happen to have chronographed it out of a 3" barrel as well?

Starting load was 6.3 grains OAL is 1.142" as per the VihtaVuori loading manual (Edition 6). "All my 9MM's" = Beretta M9, Beretta 92FS, Taurus PT92AF. I did not chrono it out of anything else. One thing the VV manual fails to mention is this is a compressed load from start to maximum.

That is a screamer of a 147gr round. I load my cast plinkers at 900fps. How is the recoil?

Recoil was surprisingly lower than I expected, but I have been shooting the same weight bullet above 1000fps for several years. there was not so much as a flash or fireball of any kind when shooting, and I think I can say the 3N38 powder is possibly the cleanest burning I have ever shot. The primers are just beginning to show signs of pressure at the firing pin dimple, nearly an exact duplicate of some high $$ 147 grain SD ammo, which is what I set out to duplicate.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Originally Posted by 5R milspec

no matter to what barrel length or Case Over All Length I put into QL its just to HOT OF A LOAD FOR MY TASTE

QL doesn't do so hot with straight (or nearly so) cases so I wouldn't put a lot of stock in the pressure prediction.

Using the data from Vihtavouri, QL thinks that load generates 45,880psi and still doesn't reach the stated 1,200 fps.

However, if I increase the case capacity just 5% (which I find is usually closer to real world), from 13.3gr to 13.95, the pressure drops to just 36,863psi... though the velocity drops with it.

However, going with the 4.95" barrel in the OPs Beretta rather than the 4" shown by VVH, QL predicts 1,135fps at 13.95gr H2O. If I decrease the case capacity to match the velocity reported by the OP, I'm back to 13.3gr and 45,880psi.

Anywho, the pressure is probably not quite as high as QuickLoad thinks it is but that's a load to be worked up from starting, for sure. I would guess it's almost certainly a "+P" load, maybe more.

[sidewindr]

I'm not surprized at the lower felt recoil, it's why I like VV powders in quite a few calibers. If I'm going to load some hot rounds for SD/hd or whatever, I turn to them, just have to remember that lower recoil doesn't translate to safe pressures.
N320,N340,n350,3n37 and 3n38 all great ,clean also.

[shoot1forme]

I've been using these folks lately for really good bullets with fast free shipping. They sell plated bullets for less than most suppliers charge for lead.

http://www.xtremebullets.com/cast.htm

[iraiam]

I am revising the stated muzzle velocity, I'm not sure why I got the readings I did, but now I measure an average 1125 fps.

The only difference is these readings were taken outdoors, my original chronograph readings were indoors with a lighting kit on the chronograph.