9mm- 115gr vs 124gr?

[C0untZer0]

If you have a new gun, sometimes the lighter 115 grain will not cycle well initially because of a stiff recoil spring, especially in small guns. The 124 NATO will work better for break in if this happens.

Yes, and especially in the micro-nines.

When someone used to have trouble with their new Rohrbaugh R9 feeding, it was almost always the case that they were using cheap 115gr practice ammo. The advice was almost always to use 124gr Gold Dots, and when owners did that, the problem went away. I imagine that most Rohrbaughs now have been fired enough that they don't have that problem.

When I purchased my Kahr CM9, I used 124gr "NATO" ammunition for the first 500 or so rounds and I never had a problem with it cycling. Now it eats 115gr WWB, 115gr Federal Champion and 115gr Blazzer Brass without a hitch.

Another thing to mention is that some pistols are either built around a particular bullet weight or don't do well with a particular bullet weight. The Kimber Solo didn't cycle 115gr loadings very well and it came with statement to owners to only use quality self-defense ammunition 124gr or heavier. The Diamodback DB9 seems to do best with 115gr or lighter ammunition and comes with the following warning from the manufacturer:

Notice: Due to potential cyclical problems involving recoil energy, Diamondback Firearms does not recommend the use of any 9mm SAMMI Specification ammunition in bullet weights exceeding 124 grain.

For self-defense purposes I think the 147gr weight class generally has the best terminal ballistics.

 

[Dibbs]

This is just a personal opinion. We all like S&B 115 grain FMJ, here. It cycles well through all
our guns, and is effective.

 

[JR24]

Thats 20c per round. Whats it costing you guys to reload 9mm?

Current batch of 147 grain FMJ at around 950 FPS (to match my carry HST) is running me $0.125 per round. 124 grain would be a little less, 10 or 11 cents.

 

[huntsman]

I wholeheartedly agree. However I came to realize the 124g Winchester NATO is actually the same price i pay for WWB 115g at sprawlmart.
115 = $20/100rds
124 = $30/150rds

Also the 124 nato isnt bulk packed like the 115. Comes in the 50 rd foam trays.

Thats 20c per round. Whats it costing you guys to reload 9mm?

My price point is right around $9.00 for 50, just bought 100 rounds of 115gr Federal aluminum for $17.97 at WM. SD(jhp) about $22,00 for 50

 

[scaatylobo]

My price point is right around $9.00 for 50, just bought 100 rounds of 115gr Federal aluminum for $17.97 at WM. SD(jhp) about $22,00 for 50

Just got a door delivery from Target sports.

1000 rounds of Remington 115 fmj ,to my door for 178.00

Looking forward to having a 'ball' with it

 

[Charlie98]

Just got a door delivery from Target sports.

1000 rounds of Remington 115 fmj ,to my door for 178.00

Looking forward to having a 'ball' with it

TargetSports is my source for case quantities as well... for pretty much any bulk ammo that I buy (9, 45, 5.56, 7.62)

Given the economics of it (to include my time... not just component cost) I haven't loaded for 9mm in any quantity in many, many years. I'm trying to fix that, just so I'm not dependent on factory ammo (*has flashback to 2009...*) but, jeepers, I hate reloading 9.

 

[Dudedog]

124gr is just heavier and will probably be a bit faster than the 115gr

124 (Nato)at higher pressure may be faster than 115s (SAAMI standard pressure)however, same pressure limits the lighter bullet will always be faster.

My 9mm guns (5 of them)prefer 124/125s but all guns are different.
For SD I also like 124/125 right combo of expansion/penetration at least for me. 4 legged critters (which of course come in all sizes)have a different penetration requirements that 2 legged varmints.
Expansion depends on velocity and bullet construction, they need to be paired correctly.
A .380 bullet designed to expand a 1000fps will over expand at 1300, a .357 bullet designed to expand at 1200 might not expand well at 1000.
Velocity and bullet weight being equal you trade penetration for expansion and in general you give up velocity with heavier bullets.
I believe the FBI decided on a minimum of 12" most people suggest 12-16" For a bullet to do it's job it need to get to the important stuff in the boiler room. Heads shots are different but center mass is the best target IMO.
So if you think a sideways shot thru an arm then into the body 12" is a good #.

I reload so factory ammo prices don't matter to me (Use Factory stuff for SD but within reason price does not matter there for me).
If I was buying factory ammo for practice I would see what shot best for me and decide based on a combo of price and accuracy. 115s/124-125s.
You need to know how your SD ammo shoots compared to your practice ammo and it's a good idea to practice with some that gives the same feel POI of you SD stuff,
but I feel even if you use less expensive stuff for practice the possible difference in feel and POI will be offset by the fact your are practicing more.
No replacement for trigger time IMO, more trigger time is a good thing.
If you think about it in most SD cases if your SD ammo POI is say 1" different than your practice ammo POI it is probably not going to make any difference.
Different people have different feeling on this, not saying what I feel about it is the "Right" answer for everybody, it is the right answer for me. YMMV.

 

[jonb32248]

I wholeheartedly agree. However I came to realize the 124g Winchester NATO is actually the same price i pay for WWB 115g at sprawlmart.
115 = $20/100rds
124 = $30/150rds

Also the 124 nato isnt bulk packed like the 115. Comes in the 50 rd foam trays.

Thats 20c per round. Whats it costing you guys to reload 9mm?

Less

 

[George P]

I love TargetSports for case buys; they have great deals and awesome pricing.

 

[Rock185]

milemaker, I don't have a Kahr or CZ, but have used thousands of rounds of both the Winchester white box 115, and the Winchester 124 grain NATO in a variety of semi-auto pistols, and Marlin carbines. I have several very accurate 9MM pistols, but can't say whether the regular 115 or 124 NATO is the more accurate. One thing I do like about the 124 NATO, is that it reliably functions any pistol I've used it in. Even the 9mm 1911 types with their heavier slides, etc. Never any fail to extract, eject, fail to lock open on empty,etc. with the 124 NATO. Should be no surprise I guess, since NATO ammo is designed to function reliably in any weapons a NATO member nation might field....

 

[Tallball]

If your pistol has fixed sights, whichever weight hits closer to POA is best.

Mine often prefer 147 grain.

For SD, they will all basically poke .36" holes in things, so how accurate the gun and ammo (and shooter) is, that's what really matters.

 

[C0untZer0]

The most accurate, commonly available commercial load out of my Rohrbaugh and Kahr CM9 has been 124gr Lawman TMJ.

That is nice and everything, but I still keep them loaded with 147gr Winchester Ranger "T" Series.

 

[Monac]

For self-defense purposes I think the 147gr weight class generally has the best terminal ballistics.

Is that true these days? All I remember is that there was a big fad for 147 grain 9mm JHPs about 25 years ago (IIRC), and then a big backlash when it was found they would not expand well from pistol length barrels. I think they had been popularized by Navy SEAL teams, but those were using them from carbine length barrels, where the extra bullet weight gave them better long range accuracy (and I think they were subsonic, making for better noise suppression). So they got the bugs out of them for use in pistols? Boy, it seems like the engineers can do anything now.

 

[C0untZer0]

I think so, and even out of short-barreled pistols:

 

[JTQ]

Is that true these days? All I remember is that there was a big fad for 147 grain 9mm JHPs about 25 years ago (IIRC), and then a big backlash when it was found they would not expand well from pistol length barrels. I think they had been popularized by Navy SEAL teams, but those were using them from carbine length barrels, where the extra bullet weight gave them better long range accuracy (and I think they were subsonic, making for better noise suppression). So they got the bugs out of them for use in pistols? Boy, it seems like the engineers can do anything now.

Yes, the 147gr's of years ago were originally designed for the Uzi, MP-5, etc., and when used in pistols, they didn't work well. Of course, lightweight, high velocity, rapid expanding, 115gr (ex, Win Silvertip) didn't perform that well either.

In the ensuing years, (most of) the lightweight bullets (115gr) have been reformulated for more penetration, and (most of) the heavyweight bullets (147gr) have been reformulated to expand at pistol velocities.

 

[George P]

And the 124s just keep chugging along

 

[Monac]

Thanks for bringing me up to date, C0untZer0 and JTQ.

 

[Texas10mm]

I wholeheartedly agree. However I came to realize the 124g Winchester NATO is actually the same price i pay for WWB 115g at sprawlmart.
115 = $20/100rds
124 = $30/150rds

Also the 124 nato isnt bulk packed like the 115. Comes in the 50 rd foam trays.

Thats 20c per round. Whats it costing you guys to reload 9mm?

At or under $0.05 per round or $5/100 or less.