quickload please?

[9miller]

WARNING: THE POWDER CHARGES LISTED BELOW ARE ABOVE ANY PUBLISHED MAXIMUM LOAD DATA. DO NOT USE THESE WITHOUT WORKING UP THE LOAD APPROPRIATELY AND HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH PUSHING LOADS. THE OP NOR THE FIRING LINE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE IGNORANCE OF YOU BLOWING UP YOUR GUN FOR USING A LOAD THAT A STRANGER POSTED YOU DO NOT KNOW THE CREDENTIALS OF.

Hey guys, I just need a quick quickload calculation if anybody has a second (I gotta convince the wife I need this along with a chrony one day). I worked up 124gr gold dots with up to 6.0gr of unique without any signs of over pressure but have not gone any higher as of yet. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what pressure and velocity I'm predicted to be running at.
All are in 9mm FC head stamped brass, CCI 500 primers, OAL is 1.135, and 124gr gold dots out of a 4.04" barrel

I am curious on 3 different powder charges of unique:
-Alliants max load of 5.8gr
-The 6.0 grains I worked up to
-And 6.2 gr; although I find this would be probably unrealisticly hot

Thank you for any support you can offer, 9miller.

[Nick_C_S]

Sorry I don't have QuickLoad.

I worked up 124gr gold dots with up to 6.0gr of unique

But I'd sure like to know where you found 124g GDHP's

[9miller]

Just ordered them last Sunday and arrived on thursday, I got them from wideners.com and posted they had them on the Where Is Everything post in the general discussion. They had them for 20 bucks /100

[9miller]

And they are back in stock too!! Better hurry along now!!

[jepp2]

Gold dots aren't listed in V3.5. So I substituted Sierra 125 HP, don't know how the bullet lengths compare.

Cartridge          : 9 mm Luger (SAAMI)
Bullet             : .355, 125, Sierra JHP 8125
Useable Case Capaci: 8.978 grain H2O = 0.583 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 1.135 inch = 28.83 mm
Barrel Length      : 4.0 inch = 101.6 mm
Powder             : Alliant UNIQUE

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 2.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms

-20.0   90     4.80   1067     316   25404   5002     97.0    0.491
-18.0   92     4.92   1090     330   26808   5131     97.6    0.478
-16.0   94     5.04   1112     343   28268   5255     98.1    0.465
-14.0   97     5.16   1133     357   29787   5375     98.5    0.454  ! Near Maximum !
-12.0   99     5.28   1155     370   31365   5490     98.9    0.442  ! Near Maximum !
-10.0  101     5.40   1176     384   33005   5601     99.2    0.432  ! Near Maximum !
-08.0  103     5.52   1197     398   34710   5707     99.5    0.421  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-06.0  106     5.64   1218     412   36480   5808     99.7    0.411  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-04.0  108     5.76   1239     426   38320   5904     99.9    0.402  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
-02.0  110     5.88   1259     440   40231   5994    100.0    0.393  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+00.0  112     6.00   1280     454   42216   6078    100.0    0.384  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.0  115     6.12   1300     469   44277   6160    100.0    0.376  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0  117     6.24   1319     483   46419   6240    100.0    0.368  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+06.0  119     6.36   1339     498   48643   6319    100.0    0.360  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+08.0  121     6.48   1358     512   50954   6398    100.0    0.353  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+10.0  124     6.60   1377     527   53355   6476    100.0    0.345  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba    112     6.00   1318     482   48842   5872    100.0    0.361  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba    112     6.00   1223     415   35581   6173     97.9    0.415  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

[Nick_C_S]

Speer maxes at 5.8g of Unique, but they're squeezing theirs down to 1.120" so I'm thinking you are still in the "wiggle room" neighborhood. Not to mention that 9mm's tend to have a lot of "headroom" compared to the SAAMI spec for pressure max.

Of course, proceeding with knowledge, caution, and a good bit of common sense is always good practice. Hence, the reason for your OP, I know.

[Nick_C_S]

I gotta convince the wife I need this along with a chrony.

You do need a chronograph if you're working up max pressure rounds. A chrony will tell you if you're approaching your realistic velocity expectations. It can also detect the onset of pressure spikes (not that you want to go searching for them!!). Yes, a chrony is vitally important.

QuickLoad is nice and can keep you out of trouble - that's for sure. But at the end of the day, it is "on paper" calculations, and not the real world - actual mileage may vary. Therefore, I don't consider it essential.

[Clark]

As QL says, they error on the conservative side with straight wall cases overloaded. They don't know how much powder will blow out the muzzle before it burns.

QL maybe predicting velocity and pressure with in 1% on bottle neck rifle cartridges, but it thinks that some of my 9mm loads are 1.5 million psi and 2.5 thousand fps from a handgun... and yet they never pierce the primer.

[9miller]

Your pistol must have a really well supported chamber to hold 1.5 million psi. all those 9mm major shooters must be jealous

[Clark]

Miller,
CAUTION: The following post includes loading data beyond or not covered by currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.
I started out reloading 15 years ago by overloading several 9mm bullets and powders to the point of brass failure.
Not enough Unique will fit in a 9mm case with a bullet to make pressure problems in a typical 9mm chamber.
The 35,000 psi 9mm SAAMI registration is a long way from a real limit.
C26000 brass (cartridge brass) Temper - H06 has a Tensile yield strength - 65,300 psi.
To get an idea of how much I can overload a cartridge before the brass starts to yield, I can compare it to that number.
But QL is wrong about the numbers for high pressure 9mm.
What to do?
Empirically I have found that AA#5, HS-6, and 3N37 can make trouble in the 9mm.
Not so with Unique, Bullseye, Blue Dot, Power Pistol, 2400, 800X, AA#9, H110, nor LIL'GUN.

The most power I can get out of a 9mm 1.169" is with a throated chamber, 158 gr bullet, and 11 gr Power Pistol triple pre- compressed into the case, and then the loaded ammo resized.