Hunter Supply 115 Grain Cast 9mm

This thread probably would have been more valuable if I’d asked before I bought them. Has anyone used these? They seem like they’ll be fine for range practice. I’m planning to use W231 for powder.

 

What is your question? Years ago I bought some of their bullets through Midway I thnk it was for my 327 Fed Mag, They worked fine Company has been around for a long time

I see they now have "slick coat" not sure if that is the same as Polymer coated.

https://hunters-supply.com/356-9mm-115-p-2999.html

 

Just wondering if there were any common or frequent issues with them. I added them to an order from Midway to get free shipping and the order only went up $2.

 

They are bullets. Midway has sold them for years, Look at the reviews

https://www.midwayusa.com/bullets/br?cid=19785&Brand=Hunters Supply

 

Pricey little boogers. Don't know much about them tho. Has OP looked at Missouri or T & B bullets?

 

They should work great. 231 is my favorite powder for 9mm target loads.

 

Did you check out RMR bullets before buying these?
They offer 115 grain FMJ for $0.10/each and free shipping. FAR superior bullet and a LOT less hassle than cast... not to mention, safer to handle. Below are their current 9mm offerings.

https://www.rmrbullets.com/product-category/bullets/pistol/9mm-355/

 

I have used RMR for 223 but not for pistol bullets yet.

I’ll load up a few HS bullets and see how they do. I don’t have enough to do a full load development test so I’ll probably do a few at the minimum and a few at the middle of the range. My pistols shoot cast bullets as well or better than jacketed in most cases and certainly for the price.

 

I like the Hunters Supply hard cast for 357. Never had a problem with leading loading to 1400+ fps

 

Looking at the Hodgden site I’ll probably push these 1100 or less so I should be fine.

 

I've shot a lot of Hunters in .41... they are just like every other commercial hard cast bullet. The lube is quite hard and breaks up under rough handling... like, being shipped by Midway in their terrible packaging and beat to death by the delivery process...

 

I used them years ago, they worked as advertised but no better than anyone else's. The local store I used sold them but they were more inexpensive then their competitors then.
There was nothing I recall about them that was remarkable that would justify a higher price now.

 

So there’s nothing wrong with them. For the effective price I couldn’t pass them up. I’ll use them with a minimum load and see if they’ll cycle all my 9s.

 

Their "Slick Coat" bullets sure are pricey. At $154/1000 + shipping, I rather shoot RMR jacketed bullets.

But OP is shooting regular lubed 115 gr lead bullets on clearance from MidwayUSA at $79.52/1000 if bought in 250 round packs with free shipping - https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2046282252?pid=853354

I think you will be fine testing some at start-to-mid range load data.

I do want to point out that picture that shows on MidwayUSA is below "stepped" RN with more pointed nose that of 125 gr RN which I typically load at 1.125" OAL.



But when you click on the 115 gr RN, it shows a different bullet with shorter, more rounder nose without "step" that you will end up loading to shorter OAL meaning deeper bullet seating depth.



BTW, here's Hodgdon load data showing short 1.100" OAL/COL - https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center

• 9mm 115 gr LRN W231/HP-38 COL 1.100" Start 4.3 gr (1,079 fps) - Max 4.8 gr (1,135 fps)

With 9mm 115 gr bullets (.355" sized plated/jacketed and .356" sized plated/lead/coated) and W231/HP-38, 4.5 gr will start to reliably cycle the slides of my Glocks and 4.6-4.8 gr will produce greater accuracy.

But if your working OAL ends up being shorter than 1.100" due to shorter/rounder nose profile of HS bullet, you may want to reduce start charge down to 4.1 gr and test 4.3 and 4.5 gr to see which charge will reliably cycle the slide then test for accuracy trend.

 

Yeah, that price is nuts. OP can do better at T & B or Missouri bullets. Way better.

 

I’ll answer your question instead of telling you what you should’ve bought. I understand how you got them. Add something to the order and shipping goes away. Sounds like you got 2 bucks in 250 bullets.

RMR, Missouri, nor anyone else is going to sell you 250 bullets shipped to your door for 2 bucks.

I’ve loaded and shot about 5000 in revolvers and have had no issues with leading. Accuracy, while it wasn’t stellar it was more than acceptable. I used data out of the Lyman’s cast manual for a bullet the same weight and shape. Started low and worked up. Found the best accuracy at 3/4 up the weight range.

 

That's how I buy everything from Midway, I would rather decide later I didn't need it after all and give it away on "Pay it Forward" and make someone happy then to pay shipping.
This way I have something to show for all my money spent.
I've only given two things away that I bought like this, so I'm way ahead of the game.

 

I have 100 cases ready. I plan to try the minimum charge and middle charge to see how much I need to get them to cycle. I’ve had good accuracy with cast bullets so far. They’re at least as accurate as FMJ bullets out of my 9s. I run some heavy XTPs and some light Lehigh bullets that have them beat, but at 3x to 4x the price I can’t justify it. Those Lehigh sure are nice though.

 

I have used that brand bullets from Midway a few times, have some now in several calibers. I got them the same way you did, clearance and free shipping deals. Thrown in the cart on the way out! They are decent bullets no issues, hard cast. Doubt you will see any more issues than with other makers and it also depends on your gun.
If they work and you like the style just remember to not buy them in bulk from Midway unless there is a sale. You will end up paying double what some other bullet makers offer for the same application. But you did good at $2 this order.

 

I bought some of their 115 grain pentagon hollow points for my 9's and have had a heluva hard time with them.My Sig M17 will shoot them somewhat accurately,like around 6 inch groups at 25 yards.My Springfield SA-35 throws them all over the place,some go through the target sideways,and there's no way to say it groups.Maybe someone can help me a little?I usually shoot jacketed bullets,but the price of the HS bullets was too good to pass up.

 

I made a load that turned my semiautomatic pistol into a pump action and you’ve made one that turns them into shotguns.

The only thing I can think is check your barrel for leading. I got the same result from my 30-30. I couldn’t keep three shots on a 25 yard target 8” across.

I took it home to clean it and all the patches for about 2 hours looked like they were covered in black glitter.

Maybe measure the bullets and see what diameter they are. From what I’ve see cast bullets are 0.001” bigger than jacketed for the same caliber. That’s probably not a hard rule though.

 

Also are your guns polygonal rifled?

 

These bullets and prices will demonstrate the great deals that Rocky Mountain Reloading provides every day of the week.

I hope that Jake does not see these prices.

 

No,none of the three are.Two Sigs and a Springfield.

 

So a PSA is in order.

MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE WEIGHT OF YOUR BULLETS.

I thought these were 115 grain, but based on the pictures above I found I actually have the 125 grain versions. Minimum loads and all would have been ok but my 4.5 grain planned load for 115 grain bullets would have been 0.1 over max for 125 grain bullets. I caught it after remembering the step down on the 125s in the pictures above. So thanks to Live Life for those.

Now for the shooting. I put up a quarter size silhouette at 25 yards and aimed for the center X. Since this was mostly a function test, why not swing for the fences?

The minimum load per Hodgden is 3.9 for a LCN bullet so that’s where I started even though these are LRN. 9 shots of this load and 10 shots of 4.1 grains W231 later and all fed fine and locked the slide back. I also loaded a 4.3 grain charge before catching my mistake so I fired that one as well. No issues but I couldn’t find the brass to check. 18 of 20 were on the silhouette. This was off hand with one hand, both left and right hands. No idea which load did better but they’re both accurate enough for my intended purpose with this bullet.