RMR 124gr FMJ Flat Nose bullets

[cadet3]

After casting and shooting coated lead bullets the last few years I decided to step back into FMJ land when I took a look at Jake's FMJ's that he's producing in-house. I normally shoot 147gr bullets in my 9mm's, but I will deviate from my norm to try these new bullets along with BE-86. Based on the threads here it looks like this should be a great combination.

I decided to take the time to get a few measurements before I started loading. Based on these numbers I'm quite impressed with the consistency of these bullets. I pulled a random sample of 10 bullets from the box and took a few measurements. The bullets were weighed with an RCBS Range Master 750 that was allowed to warm up and tested with check weights prior to use. When measuring bullet length I used Mitutoyo digital calipers and diameter was taken using a stand mounted micrometer. Definitely not the most precise tools but it's what I have in the loading room and good enough to get some baseline numbers.









Here are my numbers...and it looks like we have a winner. The only thing that raised an eyebrow was the bullet diameter averaging out to .3554 instead of .3555. .0001 inches of difference could certainly be my made in China micrometer or operator error..who knows.




I will continue to update this thread as I develop loads.

 

[eo1bart]

I've found that 5.0 to 5.4 is a good place to start with the BE-86 and 124gr jacketed bullets

 

[Doublehelix]

I've found that 5.0 to 5.4 is a good place to start with the BE-86 and 124gr jacketed bullets

My gun found that to be too hot for the 124gr. JHPs. I have not tried BE-86 with a standard jacketed bullet. I was seating to 1.125", and even at 5.0gr. it was running a bit hot for my tastes. I liked the 4.8 for shootability, and 4.9 for Power Factor (came in right about 128-130 or so). For some reason however, my gun did not like the 4.9 gr. loads. Go figure.

 

[eo1bart]

With Hornady 124FMJ Bullets & BE-86 I get the following out of a Beretta 92:

5.0 gr - 1070 fps
5.4 gr - 1140 fps
OAL= 1.15


With Hornady 124gr XTP; (JHP)

4.8gr - 1090 fps
5.0 gr - 1100 fps
5.2gr - 1135 fps
OAL= 1.062

 

[cadet3]

With Hornady 124FMJ Bullets & BE-86 I get the following out of a Beretta 92:

5.0 gr - 1070 fps
5.4 gr - 1140 fps
OAL= 1.15


With Hornady 124gr XTP; (JHP)

4.8gr - 1090 fps
5.0 gr - 1100 fps
5.2gr - 1135 fps
OAL= 1.062

I will probably start at 4.8 and work up to 5.6gr in .2gr increments and see what that gives me.

 

[cadet3]

Will be testing loads with a Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0. OAL is shorter than what I'm typically used to. Seems I have to load these at 1.07-1.08 to keep the bullet from engaging the rifling.

 

[longdayjake]

We've had some small amount of pressure testing done. Seated at 1.06" or longer, you stay within regular 9mm pressures up to 5.7 grains of BE86. However, if you go 1.09 or longer you can easily go to 5.9 grains of BE86 and be within regular 9mm pressures. Some people have been loading them shorter but I don't recommend going shorter than 1.06" because it will bump you up into +P pressures pretty quick. Interestingly enough, we tried CFE Pistol, Accurate #7, and hp38/win231 as well but we got to pressure way before velocities maxed out. The BE86 got to 1250 fps from a 4.5" pressure test barrel right at 40,000 psi. That's typically where a round gets designated +p. All the other powders were 46,000 to 48,000 psi before they reached 1250 fps.

 

[fxvr5]

We've had some small amount of pressure testing done. Seated at 1.06" or longer, you stay within regular 9mm pressures up to 5.7 grains of BE86. However, if you go 1.09 or longer you can easily go to 5.9 grains of BE86 and be within regular 9mm pressures. Some people have been loading them shorter but I don't recommend going shorter than 1.06" because it will bump you up into +P pressures pretty quick. Interestingly enough, we tried CFE Pistol, Accurate #7, and hp38/win231 as well but we got to pressure way before velocities maxed out. The BE86 got to 1250 fps from a 4.5" pressure test barrel right at 40,000 psi. That's typically where a round gets designated +p. All the other powders were 46,000 to 48,000 psi before they reached 1250 fps.

Can you post your data in a table, or put the load data in a table, with pressures, at your RMR website? That would be awesome for us handloaders.

 

[longdayjake]

Can you post your data in a table, or put the load data in a table, with pressures, at your RMR website? That would be awesome for us handloaders.

At the moment that is not a possibility. Technically I am not supposed to even post what I did here.

 

[fxvr5]

At the moment that is not a possibility. Technically I am not supposed to even post what I did here.

Will we see it in the future?

 

[longdayjake]

Hopefully. Well, definitely. But I can't give a good idea of when.

 

[cadet3]

We've had some small amount of pressure testing done. Seated at 1.06" or longer, you stay within regular 9mm pressures up to 5.7 grains of BE86. However, if you go 1.09 or longer you can easily go to 5.9 grains of BE86 and be within regular 9mm pressures. Some people have been loading them shorter but I don't recommend going shorter than 1.06" because it will bump you up into +P pressures pretty quick. Interestingly enough, we tried CFE Pistol, Accurate #7, and hp38/win231 as well but we got to pressure way before velocities maxed out. The BE86 got to 1250 fps from a 4.5" pressure test barrel right at 40,000 psi. That's typically where a round gets designated +p. All the other powders were 46,000 to 48,000 psi before they reached 1250 fps.

That's good information to have. I settled on 1.08 OAL and that works well in my barrel. I was unsure about the pressure signs but so far 5.3gr of BE-86 seems like a good load but I want put it over a chrono to see where velocity is at out of a 4.25" barrel.

 

[cadet3]

Haven't had much time for testing. I tried 5.3gr of BE-86 at 1.08 OAL to start with and was surprised at the velocity. Accuracy and ejection was very good. I don't see any need to increase the powder charge at this point.

 

[LiveLife]

Thanks for the update on the RMR 124 gr FMJ FN and BE-86. Coincidentally, 5.2 gr of BE-86 has also produced very accurate load for me with RMR 124 gr Hardcore Match RN - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ick-plated-bullets.761471/page-5#post-9655361

I recently got some RMR 124 gr FMJ FN bullets and look forward to testing them.

 

[vaalpens]

I have already worked up some loads in 357sig, but decided to try a few loads with the RMR 124gr FMJFN bullets in 9mm also. Following are the chrono data from the testing. For some reason my grouping was not that great, but I'm not sure if it is due to the gun, the Blazer cases I used, the COL I used, or something else. I will work up some more loads, but so far it seems the FMJ FN bullets are more accurate for me in 357sig than 9mm. Olease note that the groupings were all high left, but that was due to the scope not completly zeroed:

9mm, SIG SP2022, 3.9"
Case: Blazer
COL: 1.065"
RMR, 124gr, FMJFN, BE86, 5.4gr, CCI500
Average: 1090
ES: 25
SD: 10
Force: 327
PF: 135
Velocities: 1077, 1085, 1089, 1098, 1102
Grouping @ 15yards: 1.49"


9mm, SIG SP2022, 3.9"
Case: Blazer
COL: 1.065"
RMR, 124gr, FMJFN, BE86, 5.5gr, CCI500
Average: 1092
ES: 11
SD: 4
Force: 328
PF: 135
Velocities: 1087, 1091, 1091, 1093, 1098
Grouping @ 15yards: .92"

9mm, SIG SP2022, 3.9"
Case: Blazer
COL: 1.065"
RMR, 124gr, FMJFN, BE86, 5.6gr, CCI500
Average: 1109
ES: 12
SD: 4.6
Force: 339
PF: 137
Velocities: 1111, 1107, 1109, 1105, 1117
Grouping @ 15yards: 1.62"

9mm, SIG SP2022, 3.9"
Case: Blazer
COL: 1.065"
RMR, 124gr, FMJFN, BE86, 5.7gr, CCI500
Average: 1109
ES: 10
SD: 4.9
Force: 339
PF: 137
Velocities: 1108, 1105, 1115, 1106, 1115
Grouping @ 15yards: 1.23"

9mm, SIG SP2022, 3.9"
Case: Blazer
COL: 1.065"
RMR, 124gr, FMJFN, HP38, 4.2gr, CCI500
Average: 1005
ES: 13
SD: 6
Force: 278
PF: 124
Velocities: 1014, 1001, 1001, 1010, 1002
Grouping @ 15yards: 1.69"

9mm, SIG SP2022, 3.9"
Case: Blazer
COL: 1.065"
RMR, 124gr, FMJFN, HP38, 4.3gr, CCI500
Average: 1017
ES: 28
SD: 11.4
Force: 285
PF: 126
Velocities: 1023, 1029, 1024, 1011, 1001
Grouping @ 15yards: 1.63"

9mm, SIG SP2022, 3.9"
Case: Blazer
COL: 1.065"
RMR, 124gr, FMJFN, HP38, 4.4gr, CCI500
Average: 1039
ES: 26
SD: 10.5
Force: 297
PF: 128
Velocities: 1031, 1037, 1056, 1041, 1030
Grouping @ 15yards: 1.95"

9mm, SIG SP2022, 3.9"
Case: Blazer
COL: 1.065"
RMR, 124gr, FMJFN, HP38, 4.5gr, CCI500
Average: 1057
ES: 16
SD: 6.8
Force: 308
PF: 131
Velocities: 1054, 1067, 1052, 1051, 1061
Grouping @ 15yards: 1.48"

 

[LiveLife]

SD numbers of 4-6? Looking good!

Thanks for the range report.

 

[vaalpens]

SD numbers of 4-6? Looking good!

Thanks for the range report.

The SD numbers look good, but the actual velocities for BE-86 looks weird to me. It seems that the 5.4gr and 5.5gr loads are about the same, and the 5.6gr and 5.7gr loads the same. These are all individually weighed on a beam scale, so either I made a mistake or these loads are acting weird.

 

[santacruzdave]

In working up some loads with BE-86 and RMR MP-HP I noticed velocity for 4.8 gr loads were very close to my 5.0 gr loads. All thru a 5" barrel. I very carefully weighed each charge on a RCBS 502. Gotta do some more development to find the right load for minor PF with a cushion.