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Posted: 3/15/2015 9:15:22 PM EDT
| Ive only loaded for rifle up until now. I have a ton of 9mm brass laying around and would like to start loading for it. I can find a few pistol powders in stock locally so Il grab some up next check. How much do you all have into plinking 9mm loads per round? Which powders do you like? Which brand of dies work the best? Im on a single stage for now. |
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titegroup, AA#2, bullseye, AA#5 are the ones I have tried.
#5 has to load near upper end in 9mmLuger and 9mmMAK, otherwise it does not burn properly. titegroup works well at all load levels and is hot, but a good value. bullseye is good, not as hot as titegroup, but harder to find here. I typically load hand cast lead bullets in 124gr 9mmLuger (moderate) and 95gr 9mmMAK (light), for practice/plinking. I use Lee dies, they work ok, but do require cleaning(from bullet tumble lube) and oiling for storage (to prevent rust) A Lee Turret or a Lee Pro1000 will make short work of 9mm. I currently use a Pro1000 for pistol rounds. You should carefully sort your 9mm, stack them all together to make sure some ass like me who cut lugers down to make 9x18MAK ammo didn't go off and leave all those short casings around. I catch mine since I put so much work into them. Then flip them all up, and sort out the crimped mil brass from commercial. You'll need to swage or cut the crimps before priming. |
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Quoted: Ive only loaded for rifle up until now. I have a ton of 9mm brass laying around and would like to start loading for it. I can find a few pistol powders in stock locally so Il grab some up next check. How much do you all have into plinking 9mm loads per round? Which powders do you like? Which brand of dies work the best? Im on a single stage for now. Cost? Jacketed, plated, or cast bullets? How much you buy powder, primers for? A reloading manual has suitable powders listed. Make a list, go shopping. Not all powders are available. I use True Blue, TiteGroup, and Power Pistol. All brands of dies work. I prefer Hornady, or loading progressive, Dillon. |
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I'm not too different than "motopic".
Lee dies, Lee cast bullets, Lee A-Lox lube I also load jacketed at times. All my loading is on single stage press. I can't remember the last time I loaded 9mm with anything other than Bullseye powder. I seat and crimp in one step but I've been at it for a very long time. Some people have a hard time setting up this way. Like dryflash3 said look up some data in a manual and add up component cost for your cost per round. Motor1 |
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9mm will be painful on a single stage press because straight walled cases ideally use four stages. Not sure if you'll find it worthwhile without upgrading your press.
Great dies, great price: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/885350/lee-deluxe-carbide-4-die-set-9mm-luger I use W234 and Power Pistol powders. 9mm copper plated bullets are going for well over ten cents each, primers are a nickel each, add in the cost of your powder and you'r at about twenty cents per cartridge--plus all the time and effort (and reloading equipment expenses). You can buy factory target ammo for twenty cents per cartridge currently. So unless you plan on shooting lead, it might wind up being a net loss. On the other hand, prices are volatile, and next week 9mm could be unavailable, so it is good to get started. If you can commit to it as a fun hobby then you won't mind the extra time and initial expenses (again, for me at least, not "fun" on a single stage). It became fun for me when I got my Lee Classic Turret Press. |
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My cost in reloading supplies is about 9 cents a bullet (FMJ), 2.5 cents powder and 3 cents primer. About 15 cents a round. You save 2-3 cents each using plated bullets. I'm not adding the cost of the brass, which you can get for maybe 3 cents apiece.
Honestly when I can get new reloadable ammo for 21 cents each the savings is marginal, but I do it for the hobby aspect, and self sufficiency in times of panic. You save more with .45 ACP, I think. Of course casting your own is where the real savings accrue. As far as loads are concerned any Good powder in your manuals you can find in your area nowadays is good. They may not be optimal. I can't find much locally and the ones I have aren't ideal but they work. |
| I am loading Xtreme 147g 9mm bullets. Cost on the plated bullet is about 7-8 cents a piece. I use tula primer for practice ammo and winchester primers for match ammo. Titegroup is my powder of choice. You can find 9mm cases for bout $25/ 1k but I won't include that in the cost - I can load 9mm for about .11 cents each or $5.50 - for a box of 50 rounds.. Good luck in your new loading! I load on a dillon 550b. |
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I only have a set of Lee dies. Carbide resizing die. 9MM, without a doubt, is the toughest brass I resize. Requires more effort than even .223 and .308 cases. I wonder if it's the resizing die but haven't got around to buying another one just to see.
So far I've only used the Missouri Bullet Co. 147 grain lead bullets and some of the newer coated 147 grain Missouri Bullets. I've used hollow points from Nosler, Hornady, Ranier, Berry's Bullets and Precision Delta. I've used AA#5, Red Dot, Unique and Blue Dot. My CZ P09 seems to really "like" Blue Dot with the Precision Delta 115 grain HPs. Yes, Blue Dot is a slow burning powder and the powder is compressed but you out to see the groups (same for my CZ P07 with Nosler 135 grain - .40 S&W, but that's what got me to try the Blue Dot in the 9MM). |
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My favorite powders for 9mm are True Blue, Titegroup in that order. I'm using Hornady dies which are great especially for the alignment sleeve so you won't have to worry about seating. I've also seated and crimped in one step with these dies with no issues.
To be honest, I have reloaded any 9mm in probably three years as I made up several thousand when I did and I prefer to shoot my 45. However when I did make up those loads I was in the $0.07 per round area and that was using 124 FMJ. I would recommend checking out the coated lead options that are out there as I use those in 45. Some ideas are Blue Bullets (my preference), Missouri Bullets, etc. |
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Just ordered 1000 124 gr plated bullets from Rocky Mountain for $81 shipped. I think I paid $55 for 1k 115 gr plated from them before.
Powder is a weird situation for 9mm. Yesterday I plowed through various load data sources and came up with over 20 different powders and loads ranging from tightgroup (fastest) to blue dot (slowest). I'm using blue dot because I have about 4 lbs of the stuff. I'd like to find a nice metering ball powder that is in the 1150-1200 fps range for the 115 gr bullet that doesn't fill the case too far (powder shake on indexing), but can't be double charged, and has some margin on the saami max pressure of 35kpsi. I think a powder in the middle of the range perhaps. I have a 134 gr. Noe mould that makes a really nice bullet, probably 1/2 the cost of plated bullets. |
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Check out coated lead bullets instead of plated. Can be pushed harder (if you want) and usually cheaper due to no copper being used.
Blue Bullets Black Bullets International SNS Casting Bayou Bullets Mostly the same things, just different colors. I buy the bullets 3,000 or more at a time so my cost for 9mm is about 11 cents. |
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American Select at 4-4.2gr is a good plinking powder. Shoot soft and is accurate as far as I'm concerned. It was all I could get locally, and I've been pleasantly surprised. Doesn't seem overly dirty compared to commercial ammo(UMC/remington and Wolf/tula I have used). I would recommend a Lee Classic turret. I could make 150-200 rnds/hr on mine when I started with 9mm on that. I would probably get too irritated on a single stage with pistol plinking rounds, but that's my impatient self talking. I've used Berrys, Xtreme, Montana ammunition plated bullets for plinking. I can't really tell a difference other than I do like the Xtremes best, if only b/c they are a bit "nicer" color to me. Berry's are darker/duller, at least the ones I used were. The Montana are new to me, so I have to use them more to get a better opinion. I use Tula primers, and they work fine. Have fun and be safe. |
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Quoted: Check out coated lead bullets instead of plated. Can be pushed harder (if you want) and usually cheaper due to no copper being used. Blue Bullets Black Bullets International SNS Casting Bayou Bullets Mostly the same things, just different colors. I buy the bullets 3,000 or more at a time so my cost for 9mm is about 11 cents. I'd add Lucky13bullets.com (their zombie coated bullets) I've personally used SNS and Lucky13 coated, and love em. |
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I buy Blue or L13 Zombie bullets for use in my G17 because they are local to me, within 20 miles, otherwise I'd probably buy plated as the price difference is minimal, they're good bullets for plinking and action games. If you use them make sure you expand enough, the coatings transfer a little to the bore, but as long as there is no lead fouling it's insignificant, I get no lead fouling.
A 147 over 3 grains of Bullseye is soft shooting and I can get 4-5" groups at 25 yds from them, and I suck with a pistol. The only time I ever checked my 9mm price per round was a couple years back with plated bullets and I was running at ¢13. ETA: I use Lee dies, haven't used any other pistol dies, they work just fine, on the single stage consider an auto-disc powder measure, for minimal investment it will speed the process some by combining a couple steps. |
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No way I would load pistol on a single stage. I shoot 3 gun /uspsa stuff and just did a man vs man match a few weekends ago and had a round count of around 700.
You can pick up a lee pro 1000 for cheap and they are effective and fast. http://www.titanreloading.com/presses/lee-pro-1000/9mm-luger-lee-pro-1000 
I like tite group the best for powder I have used Berrys plated at first and just tried some of RMR's this last batch and was happy with both. Extreme makes a new 165grn that I want to try out next for a real shoft shooting load for 3 gun with a light recoil spring. |
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Quoted:
No way I would load pistol on a single stage. I shoot 3 gun /uspsa stuff and just did a man vs man match a few weekends ago and had a round count of around 700. You can pick up a lee pro 1000 for cheap and they are effective and fast. http://www.titanreloading.com/presses/lee-pro-1000/9mm-luger-lee-pro-1000  http://youtu.be/88AEW3hIr18
I like tite group the best for powder I have used Berrys plated at first and just tried some of RMR's this last batch and was happy with both. Extreme makes a new 165grn that I want to try out next for a real shoft shooting load for 3 gun with a light recoil spring. Until it breaks. They are cheap but not worth the headaches. Even if they send you the parts for free it's still a PITA. I'm much happier with the Dillon 650. |
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Quoted:
Until it breaks. They are cheap but not worth the headaches. Even if they send you the parts for free it's still a PITA. I'm much happier with the Dillon 650. Quoted:
Quoted:
No way I would load pistol on a single stage. I shoot 3 gun /uspsa stuff and just did a man vs man match a few weekends ago and had a round count of around 700. You can pick up a lee pro 1000 for cheap and they are effective and fast. http://www.titanreloading.com/presses/lee-pro-1000/9mm-luger-lee-pro-1000 http://youtu.be/88AEW3hIr18
I like tite group the best for powder I have used Berrys plated at first and just tried some of RMR's this last batch and was happy with both. Extreme makes a new 165grn that I want to try out next for a real shoft shooting load for 3 gun with a light recoil spring. Until it breaks. They are cheap but not worth the headaches. Even if they send you the parts for free it's still a PITA. I'm much happier with the Dillon 650. Haven't had any major issues with mine and it has done thousands of rounds. If you ask me they are great value for the money a $600+ press setup isn't in every ones reloading budget and this will be way better than using a single stage. |
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