9mm plated 124 gr. with TiteGroup

[Doublehelix]

Been working up some loads with Berry's plated 9 mm 124 gr round nose bullets for my H&K VP9 (4" barrel) using TiteGroup and CCI 500 primers with mixed brass.

I saw some data on Hodgdon's website that listed the load range at 3.6 - 4.1 at 1.150" COAL.

Looks like my best loads so far are at 3.9 and 4.1 gr.

The 1.150 COAL plunks well in my barrel, so I have not really experimented too much with the COAL, and have just left it at 1.150 for now.

I am just curious what you folks are loading with 9mm plated bullets, especially with the 124 gr. pills. I have several thousand of the Berry's plated and now have a couple of thousand of the X-Treme due here any day from their Black Friday sale (took forever to get here... "free" shipping).

I have always heard to shoot for somewhere between the upper end of cast and the middle range of FMJ for plated.

I do not have a Chrony, although I am looking to get one early next year. My local indoor range does not allow them, so I am going to have to wait until outdoor shooting weather to use it anyway.

Thanks in advance!

 

[LiveLife]

Same here. I get 2"-3" shot groups at 25 yards with 3.8/4.0 gr Titegroup loaded to 1.160" and Berry's RN bullets (Glock 22/KKM conversion barrel) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...e-pistol-reloaders.746062/page-2#post-9382933

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I know not every one agrees but it's my opinion Titegroup is too fast a powder for a small high pressure cartridge line the 9mm. It can spike pressures up near the top of the range and adding just a little too much or pushing the bullet in just a little more can raise pressures substantially. Just a warning.

IMO HS-6, CFE-Pistol, AutoComp, AA#5, Power Pistol, W572 and the like are much better choices. I haven't tried W572 yet but I'm hoping it works as well as HS-6 so I have an alternative powder.

For range ammo and lighter loads I really like W231/HP-38. It meters like water, it's clean and products accurate ammo for me shot mostly in a Sig P320 Compac.

 

[kingmt]

I do not have a Chrony, although I am looking to get one early next year. My local indoor range does not allow them, so I am going to have to wait until outdoor shooting weather to use it anyway.

Thanks in advance!

I don't know why they would care unless it is they don't allow anyone in front of the line.

 

[Doublehelix]

Thanks @Linux Mint, that was a great thread to link to.

I know not every one agrees but it's my opinion Titegroup is too fast a powder for a small high pressure cartridge line the 9mm. It can spike pressures up near the top of the range and adding just a little too much or pushing the bullet in just a little more can raise pressures substantially. Just a warning.

For range ammo and lighter loads I really like W231/HP-38. It meters like water, it's clean and products accurate ammo for me shot mostly in a Sig P320 Compac.

Since I am just making plinking loads anyway with these plated bullets, I might try some W231/HP-38 (I have quite of bit) to see how it shoots with these plinking rounds.

Thanks.

 

[Doublehelix]

I don't know why they would care unless it is they don't allow anyone in front of the line.

My local indoor range has the line blocked with a hard stop. There is no way to get in front of the line without crawling over the top of the bench. They have a side door that the employees use to enter to do the cleaning/maintenance. It is a fairly busy range, and I think they would frown on too many cease fires that would slow down business too much.

 

[kingmt]

I haven't ever use Tightgroup & have only read the "how did my gun blow up" threads.

I do use bullseye tho & for plinking I like it because it's cheap. Same reason if I'd ever consider TG. A little goes a long way.

 

[Walkalong]

I have loaded a variety of 115 and 124 Gr RN bullets at 1.130 to 1.135 OAL in 9MM with good success. Of course that is shorter than the OAL used in the data, so between that, the tiny case, and a fast powder, you'd have to back off the charge a bit.

The fastest thing I use in 9MM is N320 for a 124 Gr at 1050ish FPS. Clean, accurate, fills the case better than Tightgroup. I don't recommend pushing velocity with fast powders in 9MM. The tiny case and the pressure 9MM operates at doesn't leave much room for error.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Thanks @Linux Mint, that was a great thread to link to.




Since I am just making plinking loads anyway with these plated bullets, I might try some W231/HP-38 (I have quite of bit) to see how it shoots with these plinking rounds.

Thanks.

I suggest giving 4.2gr to 4.4gr W231 a try with those 124gr plated bullets with the same OAL you are now using. Don't forget the range report...

 

[gahunter12]

Thanks @Linux Mint, that was a great thread to link to.




Since I am just making plinking loads anyway with these plated bullets, I might try some W231/HP-38 (I have quite of bit) to see how it shoots with these plinking rounds.

Thanks.

W231/HP-38 should work well. I have a few friends that load 124gr 9mm with W231. My favorite 9mm load using 124gr Xtreme, or RMR plated bullets is 3.8gr of Titegroup under 124gr plated bullet seated to 1.160". This is a very accurate load out of my Glock 34 with velocities around 1,048-1,050fps which gave me 130PF for IDPA. My current load is 135gr RN Bayou Bullets over 3.4gr of Titegroup seated to 1.160". This gives me a velocity of 963 fps.

ArchAngle was right about Titegroup being spiky at max load in high pressure rounds like .40s&w, and 9mm. I was a safety officer at a local IDPA match two years ago when a M&P 9 blew up. His load was 4.1gr of Titegroup, but I think the case had a few to many firings. With good loading practices Titegroup is safe.

 

[JO JO]

I avoid tightgroup instead I have been happy with HS6 ,

 

[AR-Bossman]

My local indoor range has the line blocked with a hard stop. There is no way to get in front of the line without crawling over the top of the bench. They have a side door that the employees use to enter to do the cleaning/maintenance. It is a fairly busy range, and I think they would frown on too many cease fires that would slow down business too much.

Magnetospeed solve all those problems

 

[Jim Watson]

Magnetospeed has attachment for auto pistols now?

 

[AR-Bossman]

Magnetospeed has attachment for auto pistols now?

If you have a rail on the bottom... which seems to be pretty common and based on the pics I could find the OP's pistol has one

 

[rmelton]

Magnetospeed has attachment for auto pistols now?

they make one, http://www.magnetospeed.com/collections/magnetospeed-accessories/products/v3-rail-adapter

 

[Jim Watson]

OK, good gadget. And if you don't have a rail these days, you just aren't With It.

 

[AR-Bossman]

OK, good gadget. And if you don't have a rail these days, you just aren't With It.

Yes, that means you aren't "tacticool".... which also means you will be some of the initial zombie victims.

 

[GLOOB]

Middle of the road jacketed level, tops. I foolishly went with full jacketed data using plated bullets, once. One of my guns didn't like the extra power and wouldn't extract the cases.

 

[kingmt]

OK, good gadget. And if you don't have a rail these days, you just aren't With It.

Yes, that means you aren't "tacticool".... which also means you will be some of the initial zombie victims.

That just makes me feel small. My new carry is a Gen 4 G27 with no rail. I did wonder why they didn't put one in it but to be honest with myself i can't see me ever using it. I went with this gun to stay small, light, & comfortable. So I can't see me adding anything on a rail to have to deal with. Now my ARs is a different story.

 

[Doublehelix]

Magnetospeed solve all those problems

It's on my wish list, but at $400, it is still down there on the priorities. I am trying to budget for it for sure... Also looked at the Labradar of course, but at $560, that is even further down on the list!

 

[Walkalong]

That just makes me feel small.

Heh, heh, you and me both.

 

[AR-Bossman]

It's on my wish list, but at $400, it is still down there on the priorities. I am trying to budget for it for sure... Also looked at the Labradar of course, but at $560, that is even further down on the list!

If you have patience I seen the Magnetospeed go on sale at Cabela's web site for 20% off ($304). Made me sick because I had bought one just a week earlier.

 

[ducknshoot]

I have been using Tite Group at 3.8 with plated bullets; RMR, Xtreme and Berrys with a 1.130 OAL and have had good success. I do not have a chrono, but these seem to be within the same feel as Blazer or WWB commercial rounds. I check each case before I use it again and there is no indication of over pressure with the case or the primer. These feed fine and shoot well for my M&P 9c. I don't check every round for the powder weight, but do about 10% of the loaded rounds on a random basis. Never had a problem and these rounds leave my gun cleaner than when I was using Unique.

 

[LiveLife]

Thanks @Linux Mint, that was a great thread to link to.

You are very welcome. BTW, I go by "bds" on THR. Linux Mint is the operating system I run on my computers (FYI, Linux Mint is a free open source OS that is a streamlined "hotrod" version of Linux/Ubuntu to work faster).

Getting back to OP, it used to be that we didn't have enough load data for plated bullets and we used either lead load data or mid-range jacketed load data but that's no longer the case. More and more plated load data have been published in recent years and we can reference them for our load development - http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

Hodgdon lists Berry's plated bullets as BERB and thick plated as TP. I have used the TP load data for regular plated bullets and gotten good results

124 GR. BERB HBRN TP Titegroup Dia .356" COL 1.150" Start 3.6 gr (957 fps) 27,700 PSI - Max 4.1 gr (1,057 fps) 32,700 PSI

Here's Sierra FMJ load data for comparison

125 GR. SIE FMJ Titegroup Dia .355" COL 1.090" Start 4.1 gr (1,069 fps) 27,300 CUP - Max 4.4 gr (1,136 fps) 30,600 CUP

Since I am just making plinking loads anyway with these plated bullets, I might try some W231/HP-38 (I have quite of bit) to see how it shoots with these plinking rounds.

As many others posted, W231/HP-38 is great for lower velocity target loads. It is my reference powder that I use for comparing other powder load development.

 

[Tcruse]

Same here. I get 2"-3" shot groups at 25 yards with 3.8/4.0 gr Titegroup loaded to 1.160" and Berry's RN bullets (Glock 22/KKM conversion barrel) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...e-pistol-reloaders.746062/page-2#post-9382933

Have not used Berrys Plated bullets, however, using Frontier and Xtreme I find that using FMJ load data provides better accuracy.
For 124g, I found that 4.2 to 4.4 as much better. (Note: 4.4 is listed as max in many guides)
For 115g, I found 4.8 (max) as best.