Loading 9mm

For a plinking load with 115s, I use either W231 or Unique. Like to use those because they also work well for .38 spec which I shoot a lot of.

I’m back to reloading 9mm also but all I have for powder are shotgun powders. Green dot 8 lbs, Promo 16 lbs,and 6 pounds of Unique. I’ve used all of them before except Promo which is just a replacement for Reddot. I’ll start at 4gr and work up from there. I’ll be using 124 rnb

On nice thing about 9mm is lots of powders work well.
I currently use mostly WSF works well form mid to high but gives up some vel on top to others.
I have had good results with Sport Pistol, BE86, N330, Silhouette, and CFE-P as well.

Promo/Red Dot and Universal worked well for me when I was shooting lubed lead bullets.

I've went through a couple 1 lb jugs of Bullseye while loading 9mm. It's my go to for paper punching. It's a little dirty, but it's cheap and effective. 4.2 grains behind an RMR 124 grain FMJ is an accurate, almost 1000 fps load for me.
However, I picked up an 8lber of BE-86 and that's going to be the next go to for virtually all my pistols as soon as I use up what I have hanging around.

otnot said:

I’m back to reloading 9mm also but all I have for powder are shotgun powders. Green dot 8 lbs, Promo 16 lbs,and 6 pounds of Unique. I’ve used all of them before except Promo which is just a replacement for Reddot. I’ll start at 4gr and work up from there. I’ll be using 124 rnb.

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Promo, like RedDot, is in a great burn rate range for 9mm plinking. However, the flakes are so big that it rarely meters very consistently.

I have shot up literally half a pickup bed full of lead 124 RN using Promo mostly over the years. Still have 3 kegs to go and swapped from wax lubed to HiTec coating for the last couple years or so.

Looks like it, darn powder made that one shot low
(I usually go with the target moved due to wind excuse myself)
Silhouette is good stuff in 9mm IMO.

Dudedog said:

Looks like it, darn powder made that one shot low
(I usually go with the target moved due to wind excuse myself)
Silhouette is good stuff in 9mm IMO.

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This past Friday at the indoor range testing .40S&W loads at the 25yard line. I had a far left flyer. Very disappointed but not surprised. I really can’t see the sights and target too good. Not at the same time anyway. Then I counted holes. There was one too many. Then I checked hole size and realized the person in the lane next to me shooting the 9mm put a hole in my target. I thought about saying something. Then realized the hole they added wasn’t the flyer.

Red Dot here, I use it for all my handgun loads, and shot shells too !

I've used a few powders now with 9mm, but my favorite is True Blue. I use that powder with cast, plated, fmj, and powdercoated 9mm bullets. Great clean powder, meters excellent, and gives good case fill. Easy to spot a double charge.

I like Accurate powders, #5 and #7 for 9mm. Those are my go to for sure. I dont know why folks don't seem to talk about it (Accurate)very often, because I can't say enough about it. Super accurate and I think even better then 231/Hp38 (in my opionon) which seems to be the go to for many folks. I use and have no problem with plated bullets, they seem to work well and I have no issue with them at all. I have mainly used Berrys and have recently used Xtreme THP and have been happy with both. An excellent load for me using Berrys.
115g RN with 5.7g of A#5. OAL- 1.105. FPS=1,072

Walkalong said:

Silhouette is crap in 9MM.
View attachment 996159

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Thank you
I've got about 6000 of the same bullets and wondering what powder to use. I think my 2 pounds of Silhouette has found a home.

I prefer coated over plated. SNS, Bayou, BlueBullets, etc..

kelbro said:

Thanks for all of the great feedback. I really appreciate it.
Seems like finding the 9mm setup for my Dillon SDB is going to be as hard as finding loaded ammo!

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Oh, no. That's not what I meant to infer. Promo or RedDot will be fine in a SDB as long as you...

• Use the "averaging method" to set your powder measure. [Say you want to achieve a 4.1gr load. Adjust your measure by dropping 10 loads to achieve 41.0gr. Even if you only hit 40.8gr, that's still an average of 4.08gr per load, which is closer than a single drop will bring you.]
• Don't expect Olympic-grade results. Expect to have fun and end up with 2-3" groups at 15 feet.

Hope this helps.

derek45 said:

I prefer coated over plated. SNS, Bayou, BlueBullets, etc..

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I agree with your powder selection, also....

I was out shooting with the caldwell this afternoon and i ran some of my reloads over it. I shot my 9mm reloads, factory fiocchi, and some 40 s&w. Ive only used Titegroup, which alot of ppl seem to dislike but i like my 9mm recipe. I have other powders i need to compare with. Have fun be safe.

Description: 115gr RMR FMJ RN
Notes 1: 4.4gr titegroup/WSP
Notes 2: 1.125 oal
Distance to Chrono (FT): 10.00
Ballistic Coefficient: 1.000
Bullet Weight (gr): 115.000
Altitude (FT): 0.0
Temp: N/A
BP: N/A
Shots
# FPS FT-LBS PF
14 1087 301.77 125.00
13 1149 337.17 132.13
12 1130 326.11 129.95
11 1130 326.11 129.95
10 1139 331.33 130.99
9 1123 322.09 129.15
8 1126 323.81 129.49
7 1140 331.91 131.10
6 1150 337.76 132.25
5 1119 319.80 128.68
4 1132 327.27 130.18
3 1112 315.81 127.88
2 1143 333.66 131.45
1 1151 338.35 132.37
Average: 1130.79
StdDev: 17.33
Min: 1087
Max: 1151
Spread: 64
True MV: 1132.07

Description: 115gr fiocchi factory
Notes 1:
Notes 2:
Distance to Chrono (FT): 10.00
Ballistic Coefficient: 1.000
Bullet Weight (gr): 115.000
Altitude (FT): 0.0
Temp: N/A
BP: N/A
Shots
# FPS FT-LBS PF
12 1133 327.85 130.29
11 915 213.82 105.22
10 ERROR 2
9 1134 328.43 130.41
8 1059 286.42 121.79
7 ERROR 3
6 ERROR 2
5 1124 322.66 129.26
4 1150 337.76 132.25
3 1181 356.22 135.82
2 1155 340.70 132.82
1 918 215.23 105.57
Average: 1085.44
StdDev: 101.26
Min: 915
Max: 1181
Spread: 266
True MV: 1086.68
Shots/sec: 0.23

escription: 40sw 180gr berrys FP
Notes 1: 4.5gr titegroup/WSP
Notes 2: 1.125 oal/lil snappy
Distance to Chrono (FT): 10.00
Ballistic Coefficient: 1.000
Bullet Weight (gr): 180.000
Altitude (FT): 0.0
Temp: N/A
BP: N/A
Shots
# FPS FT-LBS PF
16 917 336.14 165.06
15 920 338.35 165.60
14 919 337.61 165.42
13 895 320.21 161.10
12 928 344.26 167.04
11 928 344.26 167.04
10 924 341.30 166.32
9 919 337.61 165.42
8 932 347.23 167.76
7 948 359.26 170.64
6 931 346.49 167.58
5 929 345.00 167.22
4 911 331.76 163.98
3 -1 0.00 -0.18
2 919 337.61 165.42
1 907 328.85 163.26
Average: 864.13
StdDev: 231.01
Min: -1
Max: 948
Spread: 949
True MV: 865.11
Shots/sec: 0.35

For now in 9mm for me, Power Pistol and W244. Probably leaning towards W244 since it is accurate in multiple cartridges for me.

I use plated bullets for my 380, 38 sp, and 9mm reloads. The powders I use are all fast pistol (Bullseye, Red Dot etc). Of the powders I’ve tried, Accurate #2 is the cleanest burning powder I’ve used so far. The cases hardly look like they need to be cleaned afterwards. It leaves the gun relatively clean as well compared to some of the other powders.

Zendude said:

I use plated bullets for my 380, 38 sp, and 9mm reloads. The powders I use are all fast pistol (Bullseye, Red Dot etc). Of the powders I’ve tried, Accurate #2 is the cleanest burning powder I’ve used so far. The cases hardly look like they need to be cleaned afterwards. It leaves the gun relatively clean as well compared to some of the other powders.

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That's good to know. When some #2 shows up around here, I'd like to give it a try.

Try #5, I have great results with it for 9mm (probably my favorite for 9mm. #7 works great too. With #7 I can load up some 115 grains with a max load of 6.5 grains then use the same 6.5 grains of #7 for 147 grain projectiles. Both are excellent loads! I dont think accurate powders get enough credit. Oh and I use Berrys RN for loads mentioned.

Zendude said:

I use plated bullets for my 380, 38 sp, and 9mm reloads. The powders I use are all fast pistol (Bullseye, Red Dot etc). Of the powders I’ve tried, Accurate #2 is the cleanest burning powder I’ve used so far. The cases hardly look like they need to be cleaned afterwards. It leaves the gun relatively clean as well compared to some of the other powders.

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I like #5 and think it's pretty clean too. I have used #5 #7 #9 but yet to try #2.