Hi all! New to THR, thanks in advance for the help.
"SWMBO" recently got a H&K P30L, a darling little gun she's wanted for a long time { - is it even legal to call a gun "darling" on this continent anymore? Maybe down there; I'm pretty sure that up here in Canada it's good for at least 10 years...}. It has polygonal rifling and H&K don't recommend cast lead for it, but until jacketed bullets are as cheap as wheelweights, that's what it's getting fed.
So I spent ~$350 on 9mm reloading stuff, put together some reloads for it and off we went to the range. Bullets are Lee 90387, 120gr TC with the wide driving bands and single grease groove, sized .356 and lubed with beeswax-ish. Powder is 700X, the only fast powder I've got at the moment.
Results at the range were:
1) 3.8gr 700X - HOT!!! Definitely supersonic, and the P30L sprayed them all over the target, no grouping at all; but at least with all powder loadings, the TC's went straight through the target, no keyholing. The load was obviously 'WAY too hot, so I went lower;
2) 3.3gr 700X - still spraying but still cycling the action normally, although she was beginning to have problems with it;
3) 3.0gr 700X - still spraying, but beginning to sorta' look like a group. Most of them cycled with me, most of them stovepiped with her; and
4) 2.7gr 700X - NICE group; the P30L put them all in a small circle, but the slide had to be manually cycled every shot. And,
5) three different types of store-bought ammo; it grouped about as nicely as it did with the 2.7gr load, cycled normally and seems to like 115gr FMJ best.
I'm going to take a page from my .45 loading book, and go with a heavier bullet. Our .45's don't like light bullets; I have a SAECO 200gr SWC that is inaccurate and needs 3.6gr Trail Boss to cycle their actions, but they'll cycle just fine as low as 2.9gr with a 255gr Keith-form SWC, Lyman #452424.
So, what boolit and/or powder (and how much) would anybody recommend for a light 9mm lead-load? I've been thinking of Lyman #356637, a 147gr BBFP; does anybody have experience with this mould? One thing's for certain - I've spent too long trying to feed three hungry .45's with a two-cavity mould; it's 4 or 6 cavity for me!
Oh and; does anybody know a good, accurate .45 ACP load for that SAECO 200gr SWC? I'd love to use it instead of the 255gr, because I only get 28 bullets per pound of lead with the 255gr's...
"SWMBO" recently got a H&K P30L, a darling little gun she's wanted for a long time { - is it even legal to call a gun "darling" on this continent anymore? Maybe down there; I'm pretty sure that up here in Canada it's good for at least 10 years...}. It has polygonal rifling and H&K don't recommend cast lead for it, but until jacketed bullets are as cheap as wheelweights, that's what it's getting fed.
So I spent ~$350 on 9mm reloading stuff, put together some reloads for it and off we went to the range. Bullets are Lee 90387, 120gr TC with the wide driving bands and single grease groove, sized .356 and lubed with beeswax-ish. Powder is 700X, the only fast powder I've got at the moment.
Results at the range were:
1) 3.8gr 700X - HOT!!! Definitely supersonic, and the P30L sprayed them all over the target, no grouping at all; but at least with all powder loadings, the TC's went straight through the target, no keyholing. The load was obviously 'WAY too hot, so I went lower;
2) 3.3gr 700X - still spraying but still cycling the action normally, although she was beginning to have problems with it;
3) 3.0gr 700X - still spraying, but beginning to sorta' look like a group. Most of them cycled with me, most of them stovepiped with her; and
4) 2.7gr 700X - NICE group; the P30L put them all in a small circle, but the slide had to be manually cycled every shot. And,
5) three different types of store-bought ammo; it grouped about as nicely as it did with the 2.7gr load, cycled normally and seems to like 115gr FMJ best.
I'm going to take a page from my .45 loading book, and go with a heavier bullet. Our .45's don't like light bullets; I have a SAECO 200gr SWC that is inaccurate and needs 3.6gr Trail Boss to cycle their actions, but they'll cycle just fine as low as 2.9gr with a 255gr Keith-form SWC, Lyman #452424.
So, what boolit and/or powder (and how much) would anybody recommend for a light 9mm lead-load? I've been thinking of Lyman #356637, a 147gr BBFP; does anybody have experience with this mould? One thing's for certain - I've spent too long trying to feed three hungry .45's with a two-cavity mould; it's 4 or 6 cavity for me!
Oh and; does anybody know a good, accurate .45 ACP load for that SAECO 200gr SWC? I'd love to use it instead of the 255gr, because I only get 28 bullets per pound of lead with the 255gr's...