Flat Point or Round Nose for 9mm?

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Captaingyro

Captaingyro

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I have quite a bit of experience reloading for .40S&W and .45ACP. Each seems to like a certain bullet shape. I think a lot of us like semi-wadcutters for .45, and I've always had great luck with flat-points for .40.

Now, I'm going to start reloading 9mm for the first time in years. I'd really like to go with flat points for paper-punching, but most of the ammo I see for 9mm is either round-nose ball or hollow-point with a long, gradual taper. I see very little flat point for sale.

What's your experience with FP's in 9mm? Do they feed reliably? Are round nose a better choice for paper targets? Any other considerations I haven't thought of?

The specifics: S&W M&P9's, both full size and compact. I prefer plated bullets, and have a lot of experience with both Rainier and Berry's (slightly prefer Berry's, and was looking at their 124gr PFP).
 
Flat points in 9mm are better than round nose for defensive purposes (but not as good as a quality hollow point). For target shooting I'd go with round nose.
 
I shoot flat points all the time with no problems. Currently I'm using the 147 grain bullet shown below. They work great in all my 9mm's. I actually switched to flat point because the round nose bullets would hit the rifling in my SIG P6 unless loaded really short, and the short rounds would jam in my Luger magazines.

BC9.jpg
 
For the same price as Berry's you can get Precision Delta's 124gr JHP.
Precision's are jacketed have have no restrictions on how fast you can drive them.

Edit: If you're set on Berry's, look at their 124gr HBRN-TP. It has a thicker plating and can be driven above 1200 fps.
 
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They say it can be driven to 1400. I have driven it to 1350 with excellent results.
 
I've used 1.5K of the Berry's 124 gr FPHB-DS. (Flat point, hollow base, double-struck.) Also shot a box or two of the regular FP.

They feed fine in my Glock. Worked fine in my DP51, too.

2 potential issues that I have noticed:
1. Seating depth. This bullet needs to be seated around 1.05" max to chamber in some guns.
2. Seating depth variation. Plated bullets are dead soft lead with a relatively thin "jacket." With a standard Lee seating plug, I noticed deformation of the bullet tip which varied with the thickness/headstamp of the brass. This caused significant variation in seating depth. I wanna say over 15 mics extreme spread. I made a custom seating plug, and this brought my OAL spread back down to the single digits with no visible deformation.

As for your purposes, I'm not convinced these actually cut better holes in paper than ball. The edges are fairly well rounded on this bullet.
 
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Go with flat points if your pistols will feed them. I've found them to be more accurate than round noses and easier to seat straight. Make sure you seat them so the bullet doesn't hit the lands of your barrel. I had a decent load worked up with Xtreme's flat points in a P89. When I traded it off for a Witness Elite Match and tried the load the gun wouldn't go into battery and the bullet was stuck in the rifling. After much pulling on the slide I finally managed to get the slide opened and the round out. I had to seat them another .050" deeper for the new gun, and rework up the loads with less powder. I get the occasional FTF with the Match but my new Witness PS doesn't like them a bit with the mag loaded over about five or six rounds. Once they do get chambered it is a tack driver though. I polished the feed ramp recently and need to get it back on the range with those loads. I'm not ready to give up on flat points yet but I may have to settle for round noses in this gun.

I'm not quite sure how you get round noses to jam in your pistols rifling though. I recently bought Xtreme's round noses in 9mm and 45. When trying to determine the proper OAL for these bullets I realized that with the short driving bands on these bullets that the bullet will tell you when it is seated properly. I simply started seating incrementally and when the bullet diameter at the case mouth went from .451 to .450 on the 45s and from .355 to .354 on th 9s I was done, apply a light taper crimp and box 'em.
 
Thanks to all who have responded with recommendations for bullets with the potential for high velocity, but I'm not really going for an energetic load. I only bought the 9mm's for my little girls. The forties and forty-fives are still just a little bit much for them to handle. They love the .38, and I want to gradually introduce them to center-fire semiauto's.
 
I trying both Berry's 124 HBRN and the 124 HBFN. At the present time I like the FN because I think they are a little more accurate(?). Looking forward to trying PD's 124 JHP, but right now they are still on back order. As far as powder goes, I'm using both BE and WSF. And as much as I like the accuracy of BE, WSF may be my new choice for 9mm.

Mike
 
Popper (and all others!),

I think you were asking if anyone makes a thick plated 9mm in 115 grain. I bought some from Berry's. It's a new bullet. I haven't seen my usual places on the web stocking it yet so I ordered straight from the factory. Prompt, free shipping, good price.

I haven't loaded them up yet but it does look promising. I want to try them in both my pistols and my Hi-Point carbine. The higher speed rating should work out fine for the carbine.

Dan
 
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