147gr or 115gr for 9mm paper punching?

[edSky]

What's better for punching holes in paper at either 10 or 25 yards with a 9mm, 115gr or 147gr bullets?

I believe the heavier bullet will maintain more of it's velocity over the same distance, but would that equate to tighter groups?

thanks

 

[rcmodel]

No.

Velocity has nothing to do with anything at 15 - 25 yards.

As long as it gets out of the barrel it will make it 25 yards!

The standard 9mm bullet, from day one, has always been in the 115 - 124 grain range. Fixed sight guns are supposedly regulated with that bullet weight.

That is also what the guns are rifled to shoot well, and you could expect good accuracy with any quality bullet in that weight range.

Bottom line however, is what your gun likes the best, so you need to try 115, 124, and 147.

rcmodel

 

[edSky]

Thank you, sir

 

[Grandpa Shooter]

One thing to remember is that a general rule in shooting is that the heavy bullets have a higher point of inpact due to recoil. In the hands of an inexperienced shooter it might not show up, but it is there. Stick with 115g loaded down to a mild load (enough to cycle your action) and go out and get in some fun shooting. It will be time to play with the loads and bullet weights when you are good enough to want to play with all that. Get good first, then experiment.

No point being all over the paper and never know what is going on.

 

[Chief-7700]

I would stay away from the 147 grain bullets. Still attempting to work up an accurace load using W-231, Titegroup, Bullseye and Unique. So far the accuracy has been well not great.
Chief

 

[The Bushmaster]

My vote is for the 115 to 125 grain bullets.

 

[Jim Watson]

Strange, I really like the 147s. A standard load with them is subsonic, the blast is not bad and the recoil soft. Ballistics close to .38 Special, accuracy good in my pistols.

Serious target shooters get excellent accuracy out of 124 grain 9mms in accurized Berettas for NRA-CMP Service Pistol competition.

The Federal 9BP 115 grain JHP factory load has long been a standard for accuracy in a lot of guns.

So they will all work. Finding out what works best in your gun is part of the fun.
You will probably find that the lighter bullets are less expensive, for a given type and brand; they use less lead and copper.

 

[Rancho Relaxo]

I like them both, but I do notice that it takes longer to cycle with 147grain versus 115. A good slow-ish velocity 147grain load is more fun for me.

 

[evan price]

What is cheapest, for me it's 125 grain lead slugs. Paper won't care what hit it and at standard distances POI/POA won't matter either.

 

[Walkalong]

I have been shooting 115 Gr just because that was the standard, and they were cheaper. Although I have loaded 9MM for over 20 years, I have only recently started loading 9MM seriously and want to try the 147 Gr bulllets as Jim mentioned. Before it was just what was cheap for blasting ammo mostly for my brother, and some for me, prefering .45.

 

[edSky]

Strange, I really like the 147s. A standard load with them is subsonic, the blast is not bad and the recoil soft. Ballistics close to .38 Special, accuracy good in my pistols.

Jim, I guess that's where I was going with this. I've seen some bullseye shooters with their soft and slow .38 Specials and was wondering if the same thing could be achieved with the 147 grain bullets.

If the 115-124 grain bullets are what the 9mm likes, then it makes sense to stick with that. I was hoping to get a definitive yes or no as to which end of the spectrum was best for tight groups. There's only one way to find out.

 

[KegCommando]

Well, I must say I have Jim to thank for hooking me onto 147's.

For some odd 18+ years I always shot 115's except for the occasional 124 SD because at least where I shop, that was the "standard".

But I recently started loading 147's and I don't think I'm going to switch from using that as my preferred load.

 

[schmeky]

I've always used the 115 FMJ with great results, but I have a batch of 147gn cast bullets I'm going to try tomorrow in my SP-01.

With an 11# recoil spring (this is what Angus installs in all custom shop SP's) I can lock the slide back (my test of adequate operating pressure) using 3.2gn of WW231 with the 147 cast slug.

Hopefully I'll get good accuracy and no leading with the 147 gn bullet.

 

[tblt]

115 gr.

 

[RyanM]

If it's a defense gun, use the same weight and velocity as your social ammo. Personally, I wouldn't carry anything that's not 147 gr Remington Golden Saber, if I had a 9mm. Federal 147 gr HST might be a distant second.

 

[Jimfern]

I found my WWII Radom likes the 147 grain bullets better than the lighter loads.