Posted: 9/15/2020 11:30:52 PM EDT
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***Disclaimer*** All loads are safe in MY guns, as always, work your way up. I started reloading pistols just after sandy hook. Started with 45 Colt, then went to 9mm. In my search I found that a lot of barrels for 9mm have .357" bores. Because of this, and the scarcity of reloading components, I started using 38 special and 357 bullets in my 9x19 guns. Now, the profiles are different so that can lead to feeding and chambering issues. ALWAYS do the plunk test, that includes giving it a spin to ensure there is plenty of freebore for the the bullet. Weatherby rifles have lots of freebore, this helps keep pressures from spiking. The same concept is applied to the 9x23 Winchester and can be applied here. What I found when trying a few guns are that some barrels have a lot of freebore, and others have almost none. Beretta 92's are pretty generous, so are Springfield 1911's. Also tried a SIG P239 and that was about the same as Beretta. CZ and Tanfoglio are known for having short barrel throats. Patriot Defense offers a service to increase freebore/throat/barrel leade and so do many other gunsmiths (see here). I bought a barrel reamer for my Tanfoglio's, Grand Power was the same and needed to be reamed. With that all out of the way, I used a Beretta 92 with a threaded barrel which is 5" for this test. Also used a LabRadar for the chronograph, 1st time using it and still getting used to it. Attached File The bullet I used was a Remington 158gr SJHP. The profile of the bullet works perfect for the Beretta. The diameter from the base up to the cannelure is .357", it starts to taper down from the cannelure to the tip. They look like they are sticking way out, but the cartridge OAL is 1.60". 158gr Loaded: Attached File Beretta: Attached File Some notable notes on those loads: The most accurate was Hodgdon HS6, it felt great when shooting and had about a 2" group at 15 yards using a shooting stick. This would be the one I would pursue further. Next up for accuracy was IMR 800X, about 2.5". I love everything about this powder except the metering. I found that if I tap the powder measure at the bottom of its stroke 5 times to settle the powder before dumping the charge, it seems to be much more consistent. Next up was IMR Blue and Power Pistol at about 3". Longshot seemed to swing a little bit so I would not push that one further. The True Blue load was HOT, pretty snappy and most likely because of that had the worst accuracy. Shooter's World Heavy is similar to AA#9, I thought with the heavy bullet and compressed load would help with ignition. That was not the case and it had a lot of unburned powder. Next up, 135 and 140 grain bullets: Attached File |
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For the 135 and 140gr. loads, I only used AA#7. It has good energy, medium/slow burning, and fills the case. Many 9mm major shooters use it with 124gr bullets. I don't think you can fit enough in the case to cause any trouble in 9x19. The 135 and 140 gr load is 8.5gr of AA#7 (compressed). The cartridge OAL is 1.1". These bullets are almost like flat points and require a short OAL. From left to right in groups of 2: Attached File 124gr Federal HST, 135gr Speer GDSB, 140gr Sierra, 140gr XTP I only tested the XTP but out of the same Beretta: Attached File This is what I carry in my 9mm's(not pocket guns). |
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I know that you aren't a fan of clear gel, but looking at lucky gunner's tests is exactly why I tried this: Attached File The 800X load is the same as the 2" snubby Courtesy of Lucky Gunner |
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Any plans to try a hard cast flat point bullet? Like the 158gr used by buffalo bore in their .38 outdoorsman load. To me a flat point hard cast is what I want for a “woods” load. I carry the Buffalo bore 147gr hardcast 9mm outdoorsman loaf in my 9mm when I take it to the woods with me. |
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Quoted: Any plans to try a hard cast flat point bullet? Like the 158gr used by buffalo bore in their .38 outdoorsman load. To me a flat point hard cast is what I want for a “woods” load. I carry the Buffalo bore 147gr hardcast 9mm outdoorsman loaf in my 9mm when I take it to the woods with me. I tried them before, the issue is bullet length and bullet profile. Not all SWC are the same, but the ones I had were .713" long. The maximum OAL for 9x19 is 1.169", sometimes even that doesn't work when you load them in a doublestack magazine. Attached File When I tried to seat them deep enough so they would chamber, they would swell the case about midway down. Below is a section view, you can see that you can only seat them so deep until the case taper thickness becomes an issue. So basically you need to seat them deep enough to chamber and fit in the magazines, and also leave them long enough so the case doesn't bulge. That particular bullet that I tried didn't work and I wasn't going to buy a bunch of different 158gr SWC to try and find one that did.  I have loaded some of these with success, but I haven't chronographed them yet. They are 160gr from Matt's Bullets:  here |