Need help on a 9mm luger load

[gvrj]

Hello all,
Been lurking for a while now. Reading and learning a lot. I really enjoy this site. I want to say hello and also dive into the water here!
I have a question for all you guru's out there. I have cast some 9mm Luger bullets from a Lee 90402 mold. I have to seat the bullet to an over all length of 1.09" to get them to feed into my EAA Witness match. I am very cautious with this because the OAL seems to be very short. I have HS-6, Unique, Bullseye,hp-38 & 231 powders. My question is does anyone have a load for this bullet or a starting place to begin my endeavor? I would like to use the HS-6 as I have an 8lb jug of it. Thanks in advance for yall's help.
Here is a link to Lee's site showing the bullet if that helps.
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/cata.../bullmol2.html

George

 

[LiveLife]

Welcome to THR gvrj.

Link's not working. What's the grain weight of the bullet?

If you are seating the bullet that short, I would back off the powder charge below the starting load data.

 

[Floppy_D]

First and foremost, welcome to THR!

Your link is bad, but it appears to be a 124g TC based on a Google search. If you hit the Hodgdon site and feed in your request for HS-6, for a 125g LCN you get 5.9g for 1023fps@24,400 CUP and 6.6g for 1124fps@ 30,700 CUP. This is assuming a COAL of 1.125". Were it me, I'd start with the 5.9 and work up.

Do you have a reloading manual? The websites give out some good data, but a good manual tends to be much more thorough.

 

[gvrj]

It is actually a weight of 127gr after i cast it. My problem is I have to make the bullet an over all length of 1.09(so it will chamber in my pistol) which is short. Therefore I am afraid to load with data from hodgdons because all of the data says to have the oal at least 1.110 or so.
here is the link again.
http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1277007271.4867=/html/catalog/bullmol2.html

thanks.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

The data above is good for HS-6 and HS-6 is an accurate powder when loading lead bullets. Make sure the alloy you're using is hard enough not to lead the barrel when pushed to the higher pressures that exist in the 9mm.

Like said above, start out on the lighter end of the charge range because your OAL is less than Hodgdon uses. In a small case like the 9mm small differences can raise the pressures quickly. If that bullet won't feed well at longer lengths you might want to change molds.

Welcome to the form...

 

[bullseye308]

It is the TL356-124-TC(6 cav) and I use the same one in a 2 cavity mold. Mine are loaded over 4.0 gr Bullseye loaded to 1.08" I think I just settled on 4.0, I'll know very soon. I cast mine from wheel weights. Sizing is the most important part. If not sized right, it aint gonna work.

 

[zxcvbob]

5.5 or 5.6 should be about right. (you're giving up a lot of velocity by loading them so short) HTH:

Cartridge          : 9 mm Luger (SAAMI)
Bullet             : .356, 124, LEE 356-124-TC
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 1.090 inch or 27.69 mm
Barrel Length      : 3.9 inch or 100.0 mm
Powder             : Hodgdon HS-6

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 2.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms

-20.0   75     4.64    906     231   20589   3499     79.9    0.542
-18.0   77     4.76    928     243   21922   3625     81.1    0.526
-16.0   79     4.87    950     254   23329   3751     82.3    0.511
-14.0   81     4.99    972     266   24816   3875     83.4    0.497
-12.0   83     5.10    994     279   26385   3998     84.6    0.483
-10.0   85     5.22   1016     291   28043   4121     85.6    0.470
-08.0   87     5.34   1038     304   29795   4242     86.7    0.457  ! Near Maximum !
-06.0   89     5.45   1061     317   31647   4360     87.7    0.445  ! Near Maximum !
-04.0   91     5.57   1083     331   33605   4478     88.6    0.433  ! Near Maximum !
-02.0   92     5.68   1105     344   35677   4593     89.6    0.422  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+00.0   94     5.80   1127     358   37870   4705     90.5    0.411  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.0   96     5.92   1149     373   40192   4815     91.3    0.400  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0   98     6.03   1172     387   42654   4922     92.1    0.390  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+06.0  100     6.15   1194     402   45266   5027     92.9    0.381  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+08.0  102     6.26   1216     417   48039   5128     93.6    0.371  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+10.0  104     6.38   1238     432   50985   5225     94.3    0.362  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba     94     5.80   1186     397   44622   4869     96.1    0.383  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba     94     5.80   1055     314   31394   4385     82.4    0.446  ! Near Maximum !

 

[ArchAngelCD]

The chart "zxcvbob" posted verifies what I said. The pressures jump quickly with small changes in powder weight especially when working with such a small powder space.

 

[gvrj]

Guys I sure appreciate the help!

zxcvbob where did you get that data from? Is that a computer program? That sure is sweet.

Again thanks a lot for y'alls help. It sure put my mind at ease.

George

 

[gvrj]

Bullseye308, I will also try your load of 4 grains of bullseye at 1.08. I am sizing them to .356 using lead recovered from an indoor shooting range. Thanks!

 

[zxcvbob]

It's from a software package called "QuickLOAD". I started with 5.8 grains as a guess and then generated that table based on your bullet and OAL.

Bullseye powder is gonna work better for you, and it's cheaper to load.

 

[bullseye308]

using 4.0gr, you will get 1750 rounds per pound. I get it in 4# jugs cause they never have 8# jugs when I buy powder. I size mine .356 also, but am looking to try .357 soon as I believe my gun will be happier.

 

[gvrj]

Again thanks guys for your help.
Happy Fathers Day!

Georg