Hp-38 max load for 9mm

Ww in 231 is same powder....look under that

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

Hodgdon's max for 124, 125 gn FMJ is 4.8 gn W231/HP38
The 4.4 gn reference you are seeing is for cast lead.

Win 231 is the same thing. 124 or 125 is the same assuming similar bullet profiles.

Lead data and jacketed data are not necessarily interchangeable.

Get a couple good reloading manuals like a Lyman 49th (or 50th now) and a manual from the manufacturer of the bullets you are going to use (Lee is the last place I look, not "bad", just old and incomplete). HP 38 and W231 are the same powder, different labels. If you run into differing loads from different manuals, use the lightest listed starting load and work up. As a new reloader err on the side of caution and K.I.S.S., using loads only data from one of your manuals (after 30+ years of reloading I pay little [no] attention to any forum expert, gun counter clerk, pet loads website, or gun shop guru as far as load data is concerned. My data comes from published manuals and occasionally from powder manufacturer's websites, mebbe 1%). There is no downside to starting low, and your target won't know a 200 fps difference, but your gun prolly will...

The powder manufacturer/distributor load data site us usually a good source for current up to date data. The conflict in charge weights you see is usually during to a different bullet, different seating depth or both plus more. Every source will give you a charge range to compensate for these differences. That said, yes, just have loaded 4.8gr HP-38/W231 under a 124gr jacketed bullet and they shot just fine, even somewhat light. I'm sure you can work up to that number safely.

Joshboyfutre, First of all, even though it is counter-intuitive, you do NOT increase the charge for heavier bullets. Remember with heavier (and longer) bullets, you have less volume inside the case. With X charge, the less the volume, the more energy is released.

You can also look up more "recipes" that you can shake a stick at by googling "9mm load recipes" Good luck.

load manuals, handloads.com, hodgdenreloading.
You really need to reread Lee's 2nd edition. The first half is about reloading.

For minimum charge, I should note that Win 231 @ 3.8 grains behind a 124 grain Berry's plated RN, clocks at an average 900.3fps...but it clears the barrel consistently and cycles the ammo perfectly. SD is 18.9.

What some here have not mentioned is OAL. That is very important too. 4.8 (or whatever) may or may not be fine depending on oal.
BTW, I using 231/hp38 at 4.2 with RMR plated 124 rn at ~1.135 oal. Works fine for me.

The jump can have affect on accuracy, .On 40 s&w I increased OAL by .005 and increased my accuracy by about 30%.

As to using heavier bullet load data for lighter bullets it may or may not work. there are many variables to consider. The difference in weight, do the charges overlap at all.The bullet, How heavy or light is the recoil spring,

Basically if you are not shooting completion that requires a certain power level if a round cycles the slide and you hit the target where you want call it good.

Joshboyfutre said:

Mhumm 2. If I use 130g info for a 120g bullet it will work wont it? Just not vice versa?

Click to expand...

Most data sources will have data for a 124gr bullet in the 9mm. That is what I would use with a 120gr bullet but yes, you have the concept correct. Data for the slightly heavier bullet is safe with a lighter bullet.

There is no shame in loading light; starting with lowest common load. Nobody's gonna call you a sissy for not shooting max. loads. But a lot of folks, mostly experienced reloaders will call you smart!

mdi wrote:

...pay little [no] attention to any forum expert, gun counter clerk, pet loads website, or gun shop guru as far as load data is concerned.

Click to expand...

Amen.

Words to live by - - literally.

Maybe we could get that put in its own thread and made into a sticky.

I always wonder why the threads about load data seem to rarely ever mention OAL. In this thread, the OP never mentioned his OAL, and only one of the replies mentions it. I just don't understand why people ignore that critically important part of any discussion of load data.

valleyforge.1777 said:

I always wonder why the threads about load data seem to rarely ever mention OAL. In this thread, the OP never mentioned his OAL, and only one of the replies mentions it. I just don't understand why people ignore that critically important part of any discussion of load data.

Click to expand...

That's because every bullet and gun will shoot better with different seating depths. The ogive on each bullet is different and every barrel will pass the plunk test with the bullet seated at a different OAL. The OAL given in the published load data is useless unless you are using the same exact brass trimmed to the same length and loading the same exact bullet. Even then your barrel is different from their test barrel.

+1.

While in theory, using the longest OAL/COL that will fully chamber and not allow the ogive/bearing surface of the bullet to hit the start of rifling will minimize gas leakage to build more consistent chamber pressures BUT many factory barrels have longer leade/freebore and oversized groove diameter that allow longer than SAAMI max length OAL and a lot of gas leakage.

For these barrels, using longer OAL may be moot and actually benefit from using shorter OAL/deeper seating depth to increase neck tension for more consistent chamber pressure build, especially with 115 gr FMJ/RN with shorter bullet base.

IMO this is the reason why Atlanta Arms (which supplies match ammo to various match teams and AMU/MSP teams) uses shorter 1.130" OAL for their 115 gr FMJ and 1.145" for 124 gr FMJ match ammo - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=10298638#post10298638

Joshboyfutre said:

My oal is 1.165 with 115g fmj over 5.1g hp-38. Havent tried it for 124g yet.

Click to expand...

While Hodgdon website lists 5.1 gr of W231/HP-38 as max charge for 115 gr bullet, that's for Gold Dot HP loaded longer at 1.125" which is kinda longer for HP profile bullets (key is bullet seating depth ).

1999 Winchester load data lists 4.9 gr as max charge for 115 gr FMJ at (I believe) 1.169" - http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=159609&stc=1&d=1329800605

115 gr FMJ W231 Start 4.4 gr (1045 fps) 25,900 psi - Max 4.9 gr (1135 fps) 32,600 psi

124 gr FMJ W231 Start 4.2 gr (1005 fps) 28,800 psi - Max 4.5 gr (1060 fps) 32,700 psi

Click to expand...

For decades, my reference 115 gr FMJ/RN load has been with 4.8 gr W231/HP-38 loaded to 1.135" OAL.

But as ArchAngel posted, different pistol/barrel will perform with varying levels of accuracy from different OAL/powder charges. It's best to do comparison range tests to see which OAL/powder charges your pistols like.

Many times we theorize and discuss to death different aspects of reloading but for me, it's the holes on target that really matters.

My suggestion would be to test 115 gr FMJ with 4.8 gr of HP-38 at 1.130"-1.135" (chances are you will likely get that variance anyways ) and see how accuracy trends.

So as rcmodel usually recommends, "choot'em" and see how they perform and post back with a range report.