Quick 9mm bullet question for you all.

[Peter M. Eick]

I have been reloading and troubleshooting the following 9mm problem. What is the correct bullet diameter for 9mm parabellum?

I have just opened 2 new 1000 rnd boxes of berrys 124 grn JHP's. I purhased the bullets about 7 months ago and am just now reloading them.

Now I am not going to buy any more berrys because they just don't seem to shoot that well in my gun, so I am just trying to use them up. So I started to load a few and test them in my dillon case gauge. They wont go in. Factory ammo will, ammo made with remington 115 jhp's will go in, berrys will not.

So I get out my micrometer and start measuring bullets. Factory 9mm's have a bullet of .3552 to .3554. Remington 115 jhps, .3555 to .3556 (nice and consistent). My berrys go from .3557 to .3571 (generally around .3561).

I think I have a bunch of bad bullets! Any comments or thoughts?


Final test, I loaded up about a 100 and tried them in my P7 and 210-6. They all chamber manually and everything locks up ok. So, given the range of the loads, I went for a light starting load and loaded up another 500 to try them out.

 

[Mal H]

Same bullet, same box and you're getting that wide a variation in diameter? That's terrible quality control. You might want to call them and see if they will send replacements. Laser-Cast did that for me once. It's cheaper for them to send replacements than to pay for either of you to pay for shipping the defective ones back.

I'd say anywhere in the .3555 to .3565 range is ok for lead or plated bullets. .357X is no longer a 9mm. Some reloaders may want that diameter for a specific reason, larger than normal bore, etc. But, I think you would have to order them special instead of receiving them as a normal 9mm bullet.

One additional thing - are you sure they are that large? Is there lube or seams on the bullets that might be affecting the measurement?

 

[bompa]

If you are having a problem with a bullet you should get in touch
with the maker and see what they have to say..I had a problem with Reinier about some hollow points and they treated me great..I have used Barrys 124 gr RN double strike and had great
results.. Very accurate but then I have found just about all 124's
work great in my guns with a mild loading of AA-5..
So I would call the maker or send an e-mail and explain your problem and I would bet you get some satifaction ...

 

[Chainsaw]

Pete, Berrys 9mm are .356 in dia. I confirmed that with them in an email. This is what they sent back when I asked about load data. I indicated I now use Hornady.
My Email,

Greetings,
I am going to be ordering some 110 grain 30 Carbine bullets soon from your
company. I would also like to try some 115 grain FMJ's .(355 dia.) for my
four 9mm firearms. I currently load Hornady 115 fmj's with 5 grains of
Accurate #2 Improved powder. I would like this to work for all four 9's
like
my current load does. Do you have any thoughts on this? Thanks
................

There Reply


Hi Mike,

First of all, our 9mm are .356 dia.

Your current loads are for jacketed bullets. Ours are Plated bullets.
Plated bullets behave more like lead than jacketed bullets, we therefore
suggest that you use data for lead. The shell on our bullets makes them
somewhat harder than lead, so people normally settle on a low-end jacketed
recipe.

My Reply

Thanks for the reply. I patterned my loading off the performance in
velocity
that I chronograped off Sellier&Bellot factroy ammo. I am running 1175fps
out of a 4" S&W model 5904 and 1068fps out of a Kel-Tec P-11.

Why do you use the .356 dia?

Will I notice any difference in shooting plated bullets instead of the
jacketed Hornady? Thanks


There Reply

Those velocities are probably going to be fine. You probably won't notice
any difference.

We generally size things just a bit bigger so they won't slip down inside
cases that are a bit oversized due to having been fired already (mostly
Rem. nickel-plated brass).


Hope this answers your question or try www.berrysmfg.com