Need help with 9mm Win 231 Load

[Sledgehammer]

Hi All,

I have loaded some 9mm Luger rounds for a shooting buddy of mine and we went out to the range today so he could test them out.

Out of about 130 rounds, he had 2 stove pipes and 2 failures to feed (no failures to fire).

The gun is a Walther P99. He has shot about 600 rounds of factory 115gr ammo through this gun with no issues.

The rounds I put together for him had the following specs:

Bullet: Montana Gold, 115gr, FMJ
Cases: various, once fired brass
Powder: Win 231, 4.3 grains
Primers: CCI Small Pistol
OAL: 1.14X (I matched a 9mm factory 115gr Federal round)
Crimp: .377 (also matched to the Federal factory round)

Now, here is my question...

My Lee manual says 4.3 is the min charge and 4.8 is the max. I went with 4.3 based on some things I read on various forums. Could the 4.3 grain charge be too light the cycle the gun correctly and thus be causing the stove pipe and extraction issues?

The charge is all I can think of given that my cartdige dimensions are consistent with a factory round that functions in his gun with no issues. Prior to shooting these rounds we took 10 cartridges and dropped them in the barrel to verify they were seating properly and also loaded them up and manually racked the slide and all 10 extraced with no issues.

Let me know what you all think.

Thanks in advance for you help.

Jason

 

[Tim the Enchanter]

1.14" OAL is under the listed 1.169" maximum, and you mentioned they drop in the chamber manual cycling works just fine, so the problem must be with the powder load.

4.3 gr of W231 should reliably cycle the gun (cycles my 9mm), unless it is heavily sprung for +P loads. If your P99 is stovepiping and not returning to battery, try working up a hotter load, in 0.1gr increments from the published minimum of several sources.
I've loaded 115gr FMJ and plated to 1.10" OAL, over 4.4gr of 231, and this worked with no issues.

 

[iblong]

You might be a little light for how the gun is sprung,I shot several different loads with the same bullet and powder Sunday in my M&P aol was between . 135 and .145 but my lowest powder charge was 4.5 and had no failures at all.
Crimp was .376
Bob.

 

[Comanche180]

9mm with W231

I've loaded 124 gr as low as 3.5 grains of powder and had no function problems with my CZ75B. Right now I'm having good results with W231 and 115 grain bullets in both LRN and FMJ with the powder ranging from 4.3 to 4.8 grains.

I don't know about the failures to feed, but the stove pipe issue could be due to limp wristing. Have you tried these rounds in a different pistol?

Did the failures occur late in the shoot? maybe the gun got dirty.

 

[freakshow10mm]

Hodgdon 2009 lists 4.7gr as a starting load with 5.1gr being max. If you are looking for a plinker, load 3 rounds each at .1gr increment and see how they do. When they reliably cycle the action leave it. My H&K P7 likes 4.9gr. OAL in the manual is 1.125".

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

not familiar with the Walther or 231 but my and nephew's built for +P S&W autos had trouble with light loaded LRN over Red Dot.
stepping up the powder charge resolved the issue.

 

[Sledgehammer]

Thanks to all for the feedback. I am going to increase the Win 231 load and will report back with what we find.

 

[rfwobbly]

A lot of the 9mm come sprung for +P loads, typically about 18 to 20# recoil spring. You can try a hotter load (your load is minimal), or you can reduce the recoil spring for target shooting to around 12 to 14# with a simple-to-install kit from Wolff Spring.

My reduced spring CZ cycles well with 4.3gr of W231.

 

[flipajig]

Loading the 9mm is verry tight with W231 or HP38 so when you increase your powder charge do it in 1/10 grn increments...

 

[BUGUDY]

I have a CZ P07, and I run 4.0 grs 231 with a 1.10 col. Accurate and runs well.

 

[IMtheNRA]

4.3 grains of 231 seems to be on the light side. Here is a link to the Winchester / Hodgdon site:
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

 

[stang46gt]

I load

a MG 115 FMJ RN under 4.6 of W231 with a OAL of 1.140. I functions very well and accurate. 4.3 W231 did not function my Sig P226.

 

[showmebob]

I load 4.6gr 231 at 1.135 col for M&P. Works fine