9mm Blue Dot 115gr Speer Data

[Hartkopf]

Over a year ago I loaded up a bunch of 9mm with Blue Dot using Speer data.

At the time I shot the starting load at 7.7gr and some at 7.9gr. Lots of fire ball and big boom (for 9mm) with a good push for recoil. Nothing crazy but not like most 9mm I’ve shot.

Just recently I shot the next level I had loaded back then, 8.2gr through my Glock 22 with a 5” conversion barrel. I thought maybe I was getting old and soft because the recoil surprised the hell out of me. It felt like I was shooting the hottest Underwood 155gr 40 S&W. It was REAL hot. I stopped because it didn’t seem right for being .3gr under max. A few days later I brought the chronograph along. First shot was 1372fps. Then 1376 and 1358. I stopped there. I pulled three rounds to double check my previous work and I got exactly 8.2gr on each.

So has anyone else ever loaded 9mm with Blue Dot and 115gr projectiles? Is Speer data right? I would really be concerned with a 8.5gr load beating even a strong gun to death.

 

[fxvr5]

Were you using Speer's bullet?

I've shot the max 8.5 gr. load with Speer's bullet and got just a tad over 1300 fps from a 5" barrel.

 

[Hartkopf]

Were you using Speer's bullet?

I've shot the max 8.5 gr. load with Speer's bullet and got just a tad over 1300 fps from a 5" barrel.

Yes but I’ll admit I was using their plated version which was surprisingly accurate and stable even at 1370fps. I would not choose that bullet now but I was newer and overly enthusiastic when I loaded these. But even so, the recoil was over anything I’ve loaded in 9mm and the velocity was 100+ fps over the Speer data. I used Federal thin wall cases which are very similar to Speer, cci spp, 1.135COAL.

 

[NMexJim]

I have used Blue Dot w/ 115 FMJ 8.7 grains at 1450 fps on my chrono and altitude many years ago. That's w/ buffers and Wolff springs. Yep, big bang. What was most notable for me was barrel heat. I think most longer barrels will heat up w/ BD. Used to be that was THE powder if you were hunting fps.

 

[sparkyv]

Blue Dot tends to be a nice, hot powder. I hadn't considered using it for 9mm. I dedicate its use to my 10mm loads...really spicy ones!

 

[LiveLife]

I was using their plated version

Speer sells thicker plated TMJ (Total Metal Jacket) that has dished base and also sell other plated bullets with flat base. Thicker plated TMJ has around .015" copper plating (around .018" for Gold Dot HP which is around the thickness of gilding metal of jacketed bullets) and can be driven to full jacketed load data but regular plated bullets with thinner copper plating will lose accuracy if pushed past mid-range jacketed load data (Regular plated bullets have around .004" thick copper plating) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ng-at-25-50-yards.808446/page-3#post-10470195

BTW, picture of 115/124 gr TMJ showing "dished" base

Factory 9mm Blazer 124 gr RN (Econoline of CCI/Federal/Speer under same parent company Vista Outdoor) pulled apart to show plated solid base bullet - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-with-regard-to-jackets.842426/#post-10943642

 

[N555]

Most of your factory loaded 125gr 9mm is loaded with like 5 to 6 grains of faster stuff.
Using 8gr of slower, almost magnum handgun powder is going to be a whole new beast.
I don't run powder that slow in pistols. For stuff like bluedot, aa7 I would want more like a 9 inch barrel.
But HS6 works very well in a 5 inch barrel.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Over a year ago I loaded up a bunch of 9mm with Blue Dot using Speer data.
View attachment 1143584
At the time I shot the starting load at 7.7gr and some at 7.9gr. Lots of fire ball and big boom (for 9mm) with a good push for recoil. Nothing crazy but not like most 9mm I’ve shot.

Just recently I shot the next level I had loaded back then, 8.2gr through my Glock 22 with a 5” conversion barrel. I thought maybe I was getting old and soft because the recoil surprised the hell out of me. It felt like I was shooting the hottest Underwood 155gr 40 S&W. It was REAL hot. I stopped because it didn’t seem right for being .3gr under max. A few days later I brought the chronograph along. First shot was 1372fps. Then 1376 and 1358. I stopped there. I pulled three rounds to double check my previous work and I got exactly 8.2gr on each.

So has anyone else ever loaded 9mm with Blue Dot and 115gr projectiles? Is Speer data right? I would really be concerned with a 8.5gr load beating even a strong gun to death.

No, I stopped at 8.0gr but I was pushing a surplus Russian steel jacketed 115gr bullet. Maximum velocity from my old Star M-30 was 1350fps but my current Hungarian PJK-9HP is happier with 7.8gr. It does take a pretty stout pistol to handle that load. And Speer’s data is for their bullets, not just any generic 115gr, so keep that in mind, too.