Getting ready to order stuff for 9mm, want to make sure everything is g2g.

[45taurus]

I'm getting ready to start reloading 9mm and i'm wanting to use....

W231 powder with a MBC 115g LRN bullet.
W231 powder with a 124g FMJ bullet.

Hodgdon shows the 115g LRN at 4.3-4.8g. With a OAL of 1.100. It shows the 124g FMJ at 4.4-4.8g. With a OAL of 1.090.

If i load them both at 4.6g would that be a good load to plink with? It would also give me a little leanancy if Lee's disk is a .1g +/- off. I'm going to weigh it either way but im not sure how consistant the Lee disks are.

Also does that seem a little short on the OAL of those rounds?

These will be shot in a G19 and M&P

Any suggestions will be appreciated. I'm pretty much set on the powder and bullets. I just dont know what load i should use. I'd like a fairly accurate round but my biggest concern is leading with the LRN bullets. I'm hoping someone will already have a load with the combo that they can give to me to try out, so i dont have to go through all the guessing stages....

 

[TheCracker]

I had really bad results with 125g lrn. Did not lead but they where horrid on accuracy. I'm thinking about trying plated bullets next since they are not that expensive.

 

[45taurus]

i'm going to use the 115gLRN not the 125.

The 125g will be FMJ

 

[GLShooter]

You should do fine with that load level. Many 9 MM's won't shoot lead well but many will. It is just a matter of loading and shooting some up. I've shot lead quite a bit over the years and they were fine for plinking. Not 8" plate 50 yard loads but plenty good for desert or river bank stuff.

Greg

 

[mbruce]

basically you want the lightest load that you can shoot accurately while your gun still functioning (cycling). My wife's M&P will cycle 115gr LRN with 231 @ 4.1gr of 231 all day long...the 4.1 is not as accurate as 4.3 and 4.5 in her gun. So I load her rounds at 4.3. They are super light, fall right by her feet, and shoot well enough.

As many of the experiened reloaders will tell you -- do not pick a powder charge and just start loading. Load 10 rounds at increments of .2gr beginning at the Min load and go to 4.7. 4.7 were not near as accurate as 4.3 - 4.5. (again using MBC 115gr LRN)

It can be said that while shooting the 4.1 I was still adjusting how to shoot from a vise.

So ideally shoot 5 rounds from each increment and then shoot the remaining 5 rounds for each increment...that will give you time to adjust to shooting off rest or vise and should be more fair....

I'm determined that 4.1gr of 231 is accurate -- so I'm loading 10 @ 4.1 and going to go shoot to see...i'll warm up on the vise with some factory loads.

Set your lee at 4.3 and you'll be ok...then set it at 4.5. and load some more... I really don't see a reason to go above 4.5 unless you just want some snappy loads.

I found that WWB (winchester white box) has equivalent fps as 4.7 of 231 ... (some people may disagree -- that was my findings though.)

Just curious -- why 115gr LRN and then 124gr jacketed? Didn't want 124 lead?

115gr LRN with 4.5 shoots a very impressive grouping..... 4.3 shoots well enough -- still better than WWB. There is a noticeable recoil difference in 4.3 and 4.5 for us....may not be for a macho man...

 

[mbruce]

I had really bad results with 125g lrn. Did not lead but they where horrid on accuracy. I'm thinking about trying plated bullets next since they are not that expensive.

hmm...did you work up loads in increments? Do you know the diameter of your bore? definately a lot of variables....

 

[45taurus]

Hey mbruce,

Thanks for the information. I do plan to start at minimum and work up, however i just wanted to see if anyone has found a good load with the listed formula. That way i can pay special attention to it.

As for the 115gLRN and the 125FMJ, i chose the 115LRN because hodgdon doesn't show a 125LRN only a LCN, and i'm betting the OAL would be different and i dont want to accidently seat it too deep. So for now i'm going with what they have posted until i get better at the 9mm and reloading all together.

if the 4.1g of w231 will cycle the M&P, it will most certainly cycle the g19 wont it? I have the g19 and my buddy wants me to make him some and he's got the M&P. Were going to do the testing in both guns and try to find a load that works well in both so we can make mass quantities of the same round for both guns. though i'm not sure i want to go quite so low on like the 4.1 charge. i will start there and work up, but am hoping to end up somewhere in the 4.5-4.6 range for a "medium" load. Again thanks for the reply!

Also how 'bout those OAL's? they seem a little short to me. I know when i started .45 the OAL hodgdon posted was 1.200 and it was WAY to short. So short to the point that the casing came up over where the bullets started to curve in. It looked terrible and would catch on the edge of the casing. I never attempted to shoot it because it was so bad. I've been loading them at 1.253 with w231 at 5.3g and they seem to be quite accurate and feed well. So whats the deal with the OAL? Is it fine or not?

BTW, how do you quote someone? i dont see a button for it????

 

[TX expat]

I thought Glocks and lead bullets didn't play well together?

FWIW, I load 124 gr. Berry's RN with 4 gr. of W231 and it shoots great out of my wife's Ruger SR9c.

 

[mbruce]

I thought Glocks and lead bullets didn't play well together?

FWIW, I load 124 gr. Berry's RN with 4 gr. of W231 and it shoots great out of my wife's Ruger SR9c.

depends on who you ask -- it's not so much as the lead as it is the Glock Polygonal Rifling...the rifling builds up more pressure. you can prove that with a chronograph... When I buy a Glock i just go ahead and order a Lonewolf barrel.

with that said -- there are a lot of people who will chime in on how they shoot 1000s of lead rounds out of their Glock factory barrel....I have never shot 1...

 

[mbruce]

BTW, how do you quote someone? i dont see a button for it????

The icon to the right of the Edit button is for quoting...then you select show quote to the bottom left of your text box... you can get fancy with multiple quotes and adding/deleting/changing up quotes with the advanced button.

Do you have a specific reason for hoping 4.5-4.6? I hope for the lightest that is accurate enough -- I don't like recoil! and 4.5 is more powder...heh

And I'm not sure about the spring tension difference between a Glock vs M&P. 4.3 should cycle but ya never know...do a few rounds at 4.3 before going to 4.5.... see what ya think...hopefully you like it.

About the .45acp
My gun won't cycle below 5gr of 231. Majority of people I "reload with" use 5.0gr of 231 with a 230gr bullet.... My seating is around 1.263... not too far from yours.
And remember the 1.2 is bare min.... no reason to go there -- stick with long!

When in doubt about a bell, crimp, OAL... post a pic with the details. Walkalong likes pics!

 

[45taurus]

all that shows up for me is a quick reply button. Maybe i'm too much of a newbie to have the option to "quote" yet...

Ya i guess i'll just find out when i get everything put together.

Thats weird that your .45 wont cycle anything under 5.0g. My pt145 cycled, 4.3g very well, i just kept going up until it felt like i was shooting factory rounds. at 5.1 it felt the exact same, but i like the "push" of the 5.3, and it seems to shoot the best for me...

 

[Old krow]

Thats weird that your .45 wont cycle anything under 5.0g

I don't use the same powder, but mine isn't too far off. Mine is a 1911 and I hear that the reason for this is that the springs are a little stronger than they need to be. I think that mine are 18# and 23#.

Don't quote me on this, and maybe someone with more Glock experience than I have will come buy and polish this up, but I believe that the Gen 4 Glocks had some issues initially with the springs and some type of ammo ejecting. I think I remember reading that it was due to using the .40 SW spring in the 9mms. I don't know if that applies to all models or just the G19, or what was done about it.

I'd start at the lower end and work my way up until I found something comfortable and accurate. I don't load much for my 9mm, but as I remember there isn't that big of a spread.

 

[mbruce]

I have a converted G22 gen4. So far all i've shot out of it is WWB...which is on the mid-high end of powder... it's performed flawlessly but again WWB isn't light.

I'm working up some loads right now to see what my gun will function...i'm hoping 4.3 will cycle it.

if it doesn't cycle lower charges then i'll swap out the spring for a lighter one...

 

[Hangingrock]

For the 9mm-Luger and the 45ACP of late I’ve used W231 almost exclusively. In the past I also used Unique and W231 for both of the previously mentioned cartridges.

Out of curiosity I ordered two 1# containers of W-AutoComp. It appears to be clean burning and meters with consistency from the powder measure on my progressive press.

As for lead bullets in OEM Glock barrels I’d recommend reading the 2nd edition of The Glock in Competition a Shooters How to Guide. Read chapter 1-4. KKM barrels with conventional rifling are excellent alternatives to the Glock OEM barrels.

 

[ssyoumans]

I thought Glocks and lead bullets didn't play well together?

I've read of a lot of cases of Glock Kabooms using lead over the years. That said, I use to shoot them out of my G23 and G19, but never shot more than 150 rounds before cleaning the lead out. I had bought 1,000 bullets in each caliber before i heard about the problems with leaf and Glocks I don't buy anymore lead for those guns, but if I was going to be determined to shoot lead I would pick up an aftermarket barrel, cheap insurance for $125.
I found them to be accurate enough out of the Glocks. I use to use Ga Arms 124gr LRN, MBC 124gr LRN, and GA Arms 168gr LTC for the 40. I had good results with Bullseye and Unique in 9mm and WST in the 40.

 

[mbruce]

Glock Kabooms are about unsupported chambers, max loads, and 20x fired brass.....or caked up lead deposits at the chamber that stops the case from being fully supported.

Aftermarket barrels have more support for the rounds and as bds mentioned in a post -- there are other brands that will bulge brass when shot at a max load. It's been mentioned that gen3 and gen4 have more support than previous generations.

I use Lonewolf barrels -- I know EFK, Storm Lake, KKM are popular as well.

pay attention to lead buildup and adjust your reloads for minimal leading and you'll be ok

 

[Hangingrock]

maybe lead has something to do with it -- but I have not heard lead mentioned as a culprit.

Read the:2nd edition of The Glock in Competition a Shooters How to Guide. chapter 1-4 (The Exploding Glock, Fact or Fiction) by Mark Passamaneck, P.E. TY40422

Lead has something to do with it in Glock OEM barrels.