9mm hollow points

I believe you are under max length. What does your load manual say? I wouldn't try to do a visual on anything when reloading.

When loading your own just load them short enough to fit in the magazine, short enough to not stick the bullet into the rifling, shirt enough to properly feed.

For example all of my 9mm ammo is a little over book COAL.

But if you load them too short pressures will skyrocket.

Look up plunk test here.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/col-question-9mm.909923/#post-12398678

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/col-question-9mm.909923/#post-12400639


You can load shorter than what will plunk just be aware as you load shorter you need to drop your powder charge as the shorter OAL will up pressure.
I have various 9mms and some require a shorter OAL than others, I just load everything to an OAL that will work in the shortest chamber I have.

Remember book OALs are just what they used your OAL does not have to be the same.
(again remembering that shorter ups pressure)


This is a medium load showing the difference in vels at two OALs, with a heavy load (closer to book max)there would be even less space in the case so the difference would be greater
between the two.

String: 4
Date: 4/23/2017
Time: 12:54:31 PM
Grains: 124
Hi Vel: 1089
Low Vel: 1052
Ave Vel: 1076
Ext Spread: 37
Std Dev: 14
Xtreme 124 rN 5.0 BE86 OAl 1.11
Velocity Power Factor Ft/Lbs
1089 135.036 326.497
1076 133.424 318.748
1084 134.416 323.506
1052 130.448 304.688 (NOTE this one skewed the avg vel)
1080 133.92 321.123
String: 1
Date: 4/23/2017
Time: 12:50:35 PM
Grains: 124
Hi Vel: 1065
Low Vel: 1038
Ave Vel: 1056
Ext Spread: 27
Std Dev: 11
Xtreme 124RN 5.0 BE86 OAl 1.155
Velocity Power Factor Ft/Lbs
1038 128.712 296.632 (NOTE this one skewed the avg vel)
1064 131.936 311.678
1065 132.06 312.264
1062 131.688 310.508
1055 130.82 306.428

Start by taking them out and running them through your pistol. Then go from there.

Plunk test is your best buddy to find what your max OAL is for your pistols. If multiple 9MM’s find the max your pistols like and annotate. Finally, reference the max that will fit in a magazine and then set your OAL accordingly.

I have on rare occasion, seated HP bullets to the same OAL as a flat point bullet. But I have not had need to do that as I have several manuals and I can find data on almost every bullet I have reloaded. Does Midway mention bullet manufacturer? I have seen seconds by Nosler sold by larger online vendors...

Buckshot44 said:

I purchased some 9mm 125gr hollow points....They are factory seconds from midway,

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Were they cheap?

Buckshot44 said:

$21.69 for 100

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Don't know your reloading experience, but that's a bit high price for 2nds. Depending on your budget, you should look into RMR and Everglades. If just poking pukas in paper, look into Berry's and XTreme.

Buckshot44 said:

They do not list the manufacturer, but do say they're American made. I checked the first 10 for diameter and weight, diameter was right on and weight by a couple tenths of a grain.

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Pictures of the bullets, as well as the loaded rounds would be interesting and might identify the bullet brand as well. It would be good to see the manufacturer’s recommended overall length, as well as powder charges they list.

Buckshot44 said:

$21.69 for 100

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For that price, you might consider these:
https://www.rmrbullets.com/shop/bullets/pistol/9mm-355/9mm-124-gr-rmr-jhp-mpr-nuke/
I can vouch for the quality of both the product and the people that produce them.

PS, they are about half the price you paid per 100 if you order 1,000 of them. Including shipping.

Buckshot44 said:

I purchased some 9mm 125gr hollow points. Then I couldn't find any load data for them.

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Welcome to THR.

Keep in mind that many 9mm bullets (lead, coated lead, plated, jacketed) can vary in weight from .5 gr to 1+ gr average so I interchanged load data for 124/125 bullet when referencing load data for my load development.

But if you insistt on using load data for 125 gr, go to - https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center

Here are some examples using W231/HP-38 and ZIP, two comparable powders (NOTE: HAP for match shooting is same bullet as XTP without the expansion cuts ... Also note the linear progression of W231/HP-38 velocity related to powder charge between 124/125 load data):

• 9mm 125 gr Hornady HAP W231/HP-38 OAL 1.069" Start 2.8 gr (753 fps) - Max 3.3 gr (876 fps)
• 9mm 125 gr Sierra JHP ZIP OAL 1.035" Start 3.4 gr (886 fps) - Max 3.8 gr (970 fps)

And 124 gr load data for comparison:

• 9mm 124 gr Hornady XTP W231/HP-38 OAL 1.060" Start 3.7 gr (957 fps) - Max 4.2 gr (1,050 fps)
• 9mm 124 gr Hornady XTP ZIP OAL 1.060" Start 3.3 gr (888 fps) - Max 3.7 gr (967 fps)

2ndtimer said:

For that price, you might consider these:
https://www.rmrbullets.com/shop/bullets/pistol/9mm-355/9mm-124-gr-rmr-jhp-mpr-nuke/
I can vouch for the quality of both the product and the people that produce them.

PS, they are about half the price you paid per 100 if you order 1,000 of them. Including shipping.

Click to expand...

And we are starting to see RMR specific load data.

• 9mm 124 gr RMR JHP Accurate No. 5 OAL 1.120" Start 5.5 gr (989 fps) - Max 6.1 gr (1,076 fps)
• 9mm 124 gr RMR JHP Ramshot True Blue OAL 1.120" Start 5.0 gr (992 fps) - Max 5.6 gr (1,084 fps)

$21.69 for 100

Click to expand...

For that price, you might consider these:
https://www.rmrbullets.com/shop/bullets/pistol/9mm-355/9mm-124-gr-rmr-jhp-mpr-nuke/
I can vouch for the quality of both the product and the people that produce them.

Click to expand...

I Agree.

The MPRs are a good deal, a good bullet and RMR is great to do business with
Once you have some more posts here you will be able to use the 5% THR discount there as well.

Is a good idea to measure the bullet length. If you have decided on COAL, you can calculate volume of case.

Dudedog said:

I Agree.

The MPRs are a good deal, a good bullet and RMR is great to do business with
Once you have some more posts here you will be able to use the 5% THR discount there as well.

Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with the discount. Did I miss an important section on THR?

I use several different HP'S in all of my pistols. I have always started out using the removed barrel and dropping them into the chamber and with a dummy round to establish the seating depths. Once found, I'll check the fit in the magazine and how they feed, and adjust as needed.

When that is good, I'll bump that bullet out just a touch and add a slight amount of super glue around the neck and reseat. That goes in the die box with the brand and weight written on the side with an ultra fine sharpie marker.

Yes seating too deep can drastically increase pressure with some powders so I usually stay at the lower to middle ground of the data. For the high octane loads they are carefully worked up in small increments. I prefer to load for accuracy over velocity, even so I have a few loads that are still a bit peaky depending on temps, but in 30+ yrs of shooting them I haven't had any issues.

Just pay attention to what you are loading and the temperament of the powder and primers and you should be good. One of the best tools to have handy is one of the inertia type pullers to help readjust things as needed.

Did you read this...

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/col-question-9mm.909923/