Bottom Gun
Member
What I find most intriguing about reloading is that after having done it for 42 years, I’m still learning.
For the past several years I have been experimenting with various 9MM loads using well over a dozen different jacketed bullet styles and weights and four different powders in eight or nine different pistols. I was mildly surprised not only by the results but also the consistency of these results.
In my testing, the best accuracy in all 9MM pistols was achieved by using cone shaped bullets such as Hornady XTP and HAP.
I used Sierra 115 & 124 gr Power Jacket, Speer 115 & 124 gr Gold Dot, Zero 115 and 124 gr JHP, Hornady 90, 115, 124 & 147 gr XTP, Hornady 115 gr HAP, RMR 124 gr in-house JHP and Montana Gold 124 gr JHP. I also tried some plated bullets: Rainier 115 gr HP, Berry 124 and 147 gr HP, Berry Hybrid 124 and 147 gr HP, Berry 115 gr RN and Extreme 115 gr HP. I may have used other bullets which I‘ve forgotten. In addition, I tested a number of different factory loads, none of which amounted to much.
The powders used for my loads were Bullseye, Unique, Winchester 231 and Power Pistol. Loads ranged from moderate to HOT.
Pistols used were various Sigs (P226, P229, P239), CZ75B, S&W M&P9 and Kimber .
With the exception of the 90 gr, I discovered the most consistently accurate bullets in all pistols with all powders were the cone shaped bullets: Hornady XTP, Hornady HAP and Montana Gold. The new RMR in-house flat point FMJ also looks very promising but I haven’t had a chance to test it yet.
To be fair, some of the other bullets such as the Sierras, the RMR in-house JHP and the Berry Hybrids gave me excellent accuracy with some loads in several different pistols but none shot any better than the cone shaped bullets and none were as consistently accurate with all loads in all pistols.
I mentioned these test results to my neighbor who did some testing as well and agreed with my accuracy assessment of the cone shaped bullets. He used a CZ75B and a Browning Hi-Power.
I had similar results with my accuracy tests of the .357 Sig round but with fewer powders and fewer pistols. In my terminal performance testing, the XTP and Gold Dot bullets penetrated equally well and retained most of their weight. The Gold Dots produced the prettiest mushrooms but were not as accurate as the XTPs. All other bullets tested in the .357 Sig either fragmented or shed jackets. Medium was water filled jugs and plastic bags and wet newsprint.
So, I feel I have the 9MM and the .357 Sig loads figured out well enough for my usage. I hope these results might save someone a bit of legwork.
Next up I’ll be testing some of the all copper Lehigh Defense bullets in 9MM, .357 Sig, .38 special and .357 magnum. I have some test loads put together but have been waiting for the national forest to reopen to shooting. Hopefully it will reopen soon ow that our monsoon season has started.
I did discover one problem in loading the Lehigh bullets though. It seems the .38 caliber 140 gr Xtreme Penetrator can be loaded in both .38 spl and .357 mag but the 100 gr Xtreme Defense can only be loaded in .38 special due to the position of the crimp ring. The ring needs to move forward because the present location of the ring positions your bullet too far forward in the .357 mag and the bullet nose protrudes past the cylinder face preventing the cylinder from rotating. I contacted Lehigh tech support regarding this issue and the tech confirmed this. He doesn’t know if Lehigh will be changing the position of the crimp ring or designing a different bullet in the 100 gr range for .357 mag. Maybe they just won’t do anything.
I also hit a snag loading the Lehigh 125 gr Xtreme Defense in the .357 Sig case. The copper bullets are longer than regular jacketed projectiles. Due to the bullet length, I was not able to compress my load of AA#9 powder (my favorite for this cartridge) enough to seat the bullet properly so I had to use faster powders, Power Pistol and Bullseye. I’m not expecting much from the Power Pistol loads since I’ve had accuracy issues with it in other calibers but the Bullseye loads should work OK.
So, those are my findings to date. I hope someone finds this info to be useful. I’ll be happy to share my thoughts on the Lehigh Defense bullets later if I ever have a chance to shoot again.
For the past several years I have been experimenting with various 9MM loads using well over a dozen different jacketed bullet styles and weights and four different powders in eight or nine different pistols. I was mildly surprised not only by the results but also the consistency of these results.
In my testing, the best accuracy in all 9MM pistols was achieved by using cone shaped bullets such as Hornady XTP and HAP.
I used Sierra 115 & 124 gr Power Jacket, Speer 115 & 124 gr Gold Dot, Zero 115 and 124 gr JHP, Hornady 90, 115, 124 & 147 gr XTP, Hornady 115 gr HAP, RMR 124 gr in-house JHP and Montana Gold 124 gr JHP. I also tried some plated bullets: Rainier 115 gr HP, Berry 124 and 147 gr HP, Berry Hybrid 124 and 147 gr HP, Berry 115 gr RN and Extreme 115 gr HP. I may have used other bullets which I‘ve forgotten. In addition, I tested a number of different factory loads, none of which amounted to much.
The powders used for my loads were Bullseye, Unique, Winchester 231 and Power Pistol. Loads ranged from moderate to HOT.
Pistols used were various Sigs (P226, P229, P239), CZ75B, S&W M&P9 and Kimber .
With the exception of the 90 gr, I discovered the most consistently accurate bullets in all pistols with all powders were the cone shaped bullets: Hornady XTP, Hornady HAP and Montana Gold. The new RMR in-house flat point FMJ also looks very promising but I haven’t had a chance to test it yet.
To be fair, some of the other bullets such as the Sierras, the RMR in-house JHP and the Berry Hybrids gave me excellent accuracy with some loads in several different pistols but none shot any better than the cone shaped bullets and none were as consistently accurate with all loads in all pistols.
I mentioned these test results to my neighbor who did some testing as well and agreed with my accuracy assessment of the cone shaped bullets. He used a CZ75B and a Browning Hi-Power.
I had similar results with my accuracy tests of the .357 Sig round but with fewer powders and fewer pistols. In my terminal performance testing, the XTP and Gold Dot bullets penetrated equally well and retained most of their weight. The Gold Dots produced the prettiest mushrooms but were not as accurate as the XTPs. All other bullets tested in the .357 Sig either fragmented or shed jackets. Medium was water filled jugs and plastic bags and wet newsprint.
So, I feel I have the 9MM and the .357 Sig loads figured out well enough for my usage. I hope these results might save someone a bit of legwork.
Next up I’ll be testing some of the all copper Lehigh Defense bullets in 9MM, .357 Sig, .38 special and .357 magnum. I have some test loads put together but have been waiting for the national forest to reopen to shooting. Hopefully it will reopen soon ow that our monsoon season has started.
I did discover one problem in loading the Lehigh bullets though. It seems the .38 caliber 140 gr Xtreme Penetrator can be loaded in both .38 spl and .357 mag but the 100 gr Xtreme Defense can only be loaded in .38 special due to the position of the crimp ring. The ring needs to move forward because the present location of the ring positions your bullet too far forward in the .357 mag and the bullet nose protrudes past the cylinder face preventing the cylinder from rotating. I contacted Lehigh tech support regarding this issue and the tech confirmed this. He doesn’t know if Lehigh will be changing the position of the crimp ring or designing a different bullet in the 100 gr range for .357 mag. Maybe they just won’t do anything.
I also hit a snag loading the Lehigh 125 gr Xtreme Defense in the .357 Sig case. The copper bullets are longer than regular jacketed projectiles. Due to the bullet length, I was not able to compress my load of AA#9 powder (my favorite for this cartridge) enough to seat the bullet properly so I had to use faster powders, Power Pistol and Bullseye. I’m not expecting much from the Power Pistol loads since I’ve had accuracy issues with it in other calibers but the Bullseye loads should work OK.
So, those are my findings to date. I hope someone finds this info to be useful. I’ll be happy to share my thoughts on the Lehigh Defense bullets later if I ever have a chance to shoot again.
