best 9mm bullet

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hvychev77

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just curious as to what everyone likes as far as a 9mm bullet? i am reloading for my glock 26 and i know that you're not supposed to put lead through it, and i don't intend to. why do some fmj's still have the lead exposed on the back? anyways, what's the best bang for the buck here? my local gun stores don't stock a lot of options so i'm sure i'll be forced to buy online..........thanks, hvychev77
 
I use Berry's hollow base plated bullets for my practice round and up to medium duty loads with titegroup powder. Titegroup burns extreemly clean but really heats up the barrel in a hurry. I get the bullets from Powder Valley Inc.
For higher pressure loads I use Hornady's XTPs. With either Unique or Power Pistol. Unique is hard to meter accurratly through a powder measure but it works very well with a 9mm. Plated bullets of any kind are only supposed to be loaded up to medium duty.

I've seen on this forum that a lot of the guys like Ranier's plated bullets also but Berry's plating is alot thicker then Ranier's. They are both fine bullets.

good luck
 
As far as general plinking, I like Missouri Bullets 147gr subsonic(lone wolf barrel).
If I am loading a hollowpoint bullet, I like the Hornady XTP as far as cost vs. Performance is concerned.
 
I load Berry's or Ranier plated, Win 231/HP-38 powder, Wolf primers. No negative issues to report.
 
randy p, in your turret press, how does the 231 meter? are you using the discs on the press? that's what i'm planning to do, just waitin' on my dies and brass......if so, how accurate are is the disc set up? i've only loaded 300 win mag on mine, but of course i can't use the discs for that......
 
the best I've loaded (but pricey) is the Rem golden sabre.
however I get good results with the better priced rocky mountain reloading (montana gold) 124gr jhp.
I have a Marlin 9mm and S&W 5903 and 2 nephews with hi-point and kel-tec and wives also with 9mm pistols so load a good deal of 'premium' stuff useing once-fired hulls from cheap factory plinking ammo (wwb and remmy green box) for them and myself.
don't discount the effectiveness of +P 9mm I've seen it do every bit the damage of .357 mag and .357 Sig in stacked wet carboard and overripe watermelons.
 
randy p, in your turret press, how does the 231 meter? are you using the discs on the press? that's what i'm planning to do, just waitin' on my dies and brass......if so, how accurate are is the disc set up? i've only loaded 300 win mag on mine, but of course i can't use the discs for that......
W231 meters well in the Pro auto disk I have mounted on my Lee turret press. As I only loand pistol, I use the adjustable charge bar, and it maintains consistent throws within half a grain above or below your desired charge. I don't use the disks because they have a fairly wide spacing between holes and weight thrown. there may be as much as a 0.3 grain variation between adjacent holes for 231 and other powders. The holes do throw consistently though.
 
For social work, I load Speer 124gr GDHP bullets for my Glock 17. For practice, I load Hornady 124gr FMJ-Encapsuled or Montana Gold 124gr CMJ. Dardas 125gr LRN bullets also get shot out of the Lone Wolf barrel.
 
Another vote for Missouri Bullets. They have been very good to work with, and answer my dumb questions.
 
For most, the popular bullet is the "cheapest one can get bullet"

I'm with RidgewayCO.

For a "business round" the 124gr GDHP and for practice the Montana Gold 124gr JHP. Both have the same POI using the same aim point so no adjustment is needed from Range to "Real World".
 
I have not experienced any problems metering out the Win 231/HP-38. I've only been reloading for a couple years now, started with this specific powder after reading a lot of recommendations on the web, and have simply not had a reason to change to or experiment with any other powder.

I see Bullseye and Unique get a lot of bandwidth as well and they would be my next choices were Hodgdon to go out of business.

For MY reloading needs the one powder works very well and of course that means I can never grab the wrong powder and use itm, so one less thing to go wrong - LOL

I am always loading plated or FMJ (local range rules) to the low-mid power range on the data charts. I am never in any competitions and the paper zombies I shoot at are never more than about 45' away (the back wall of the indoor range). Well beyond justifiable civilian self-defense distance.
 
hvychev77 said:
why do some fmj's still have the lead exposed on the back?
Because FMJ bullets are supposed to have exposed lead base to expand when the primer ignites powder charge. This expansion helps to seat the bullet base to the barrel and produce more consistent chamber pressure, which in turn produce more consistent accurate shot groups.

what's the best bang for the buck here?
Best 9mm bullet? I have used Winchester/Montana Gold FMJ bullets as my reference practice load but my recent comparison test with Berry's plated HBRN bullets changed that. Hollow base of these bullets help the base expand to seal with the barrel. Powder Valley carries them for $74/1000 (124 gr HBRN-TP).
 
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why do some fmj's still have the lead exposed on the back?

Jacketed round nose "ball" usually has an exposed lead base while JHP's have a copper enclosed base. This is mainly due to the way the bullets are made. The jacket is a copper cup where a piece of lead is dropped in and then ran into a die or successive dies that shape the cup and lead into the bullet. With ball the nose of the bullet is formed from the bottom of the copper cup leaving the open end at the bullet base. Jacked hollow point bullets leave the open end of the cup to make the hollow nose and the base of the cup becomes the base of the bullet so its base is enclosed. On those jacketed round nose bullets that have an enclosed base you can normally see that 2 copper cups where used front and back in forming the bullet.

The standard Remington 115gr JHP's used to be very reasonable in bulk from Midway and I've used them for much of my 9mm loads but selecting bullets for me is usually trying for a balance between good quality and cost.
 
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