Soft Shooting 9mm Powder Choices?

[NWcityguy2]

Yes, Green Dot won't meter as well as Bullseye/Titegroup/W231/HP-38/WSF but if you are not shooting matches, that won't matter as well.

It's got nothing to do with shooting matches, I shot one just yesterday in fact. It's because if you are trying to meter reduced loads of Green Dot through a thrower, you're going to get squibs. The other viable alternative is scoopers, which you will see a large powder increase going from size to size. Or you could just use the powders you mentioned in the very same sentence, and encounter none of those problems.

Sure Green Dot works, and at 5.2 grains, which is max load and the smallest charge my powder thrower would meter without squibs, it is good powder for factory power ammo. After shooting 10k+ rounds of 9mm and 45acp with it I'd buy it again at the online price over being gouged by local prices on a more suitable powder. But the question being asked isn't if Green Dot will work. The same could be said for Herco, which no experienced reloader ever bought for the purpose of making reduced power 9mm.

 

[LiveLife]

Sure Green Dot works, and at 5.2 grains, which is max load and the smallest charge my powder thrower would meter without squibs, it is good powder for factory power ammo. After shooting 10k+ rounds of 9mm and 45acp with it I'd buy it again at the online price over being gouged by local prices on a more suitable powder. But the question being asked isn't if Green Dot will work. The same could be said for Herco, which no experienced reloader ever bought for the purpose of making reduced power 9mm.

Sorry for the confusion but I did not post to mean to use Herco for light 9mm loads. Besides, whenever I conduct my powder work up, I always try to go low enough to see the powder charge range where the slide will start to reliably cycle. For my Herco 9mm load development, that charge was 5.2 gr for 115 gr FMJ and HBRN plated bullets. 5.8 and 6.1 gr charges shot more accurate and I settled at 6.1 gr. For 124 gr lead and HBRN plated bullets, 5.2 gr cycled the slide and 5.8/6.1 gr shot more accurate - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=745656

I understand and agree that there are better powders for producing soft shooting 9mm loads but when more desirable powders are not obtainable, powders like Green Dot can work to produce lighter target loads. What I found when I conducted my load development with Green Dot was that it required about .3 gr more than my typical W231/HP-38 loads. Of course, YMMV depending on the pistol/barrel/spring/OAL used etc.

As to Herco, 2004 Alliant load data listed 6.3 gr as max charge for 115 gr FMJ bullet at 1.120" OAL and 6.2 gr max for 125 gr lead bullet at 1.150" OAL. However, I was using longer 1.155" - 1.160" OAL which produced light and mild loads with Herco which is known to have to be loaded near the top.

BTW, here's my Herco range test results:

115 gr Winchester FMJ:
5.8 gr @ 1.150" - 1.30" with light recoil (lighter than reference load)
6.1 gr @ 1.160" - 1.30" with mild recoil

115 gr Berry's plated HBRN:
5.2 gr @ 1.155" - 1.40" with very light recoil (failed to cycle the slide)
5.8 gr @ 1.155" - 1.50" with light recoil
6.1 gr @ 1.155" - 1.04" KKM and 1.20" LW (mild recoil)

124 gr Berry's plated HBRN:
5.2 gr @ 1.155" - 1.75" very light recoil (barely cycled the slide)
5.8 gr @ 1.155" - 1.43" light recoil
6.1 gr @ 1.155" - 1.75" mild recoil

124 gr Z-Cast lead RN (stepped):
5.2 gr @ 1.160" - 1.12" KKM and 1.50" LW (light recoil)
5.8 gr @ 1.160" - 1.50" with mild recoil

 

[cheep]

5.5grn #5 @ 1.1" with a 124grn plated round nose. Thousands and thousands of rounds out of a variety of 9mm pistols.

 

[Mad Chemist]

My wife has tiny hands (ring size=3.25), carpal tunnel, and is very recoil sensitive. Her hand actually fits around the grip of my SW Shield so I took on a project to develop the lightest loads I could find that would cycle the pistol.

Some of the senior members here steered me in the right direction. Primarily heavy bullets combined with very fast powders.

The loads below are "bunny farts" that I worked up for my S&W Shield. They all cycle reliably. The 124 gr loads are very light. The 147 grain nitro 100 load resembles a .32acp load more than a 9x19mm:

124gr Xtreme PRN

3.2gr Nitro 100(new formula) 1.142COAL
3.2gr Ramshot Competition 1.142COAL
These were very soft. The loads were tested at a 50ft indoor range. The Nitro 100 load was most accurate and shot just below POA at 50ft.

147gr Xtreme PRN
2.6 gr Nitro 100 (new formula) 1.142" COAL
This is the lightest recoiling, accurate 9x19 round that I have ever fired. POA=POI at 50ft. Extremely soft recoil. This one is a winner and has earned a permanent entry in my load data log book.

2.8gr Ramshot Competition 1.142"COAL
Light recoil like the nitro load but not as consistent for accuracy. Still a good reduced recoil load but does not produce "match" accuracy.

Nitro 100nf meters extremely well though my auto disc with the charge bar.
Ramshot competition metered OK through the charge bar and metered excellently through the disc.


I did test min loads of Bullseye in 9x19mm. The felt recoil from Bullseye was considerably greater and the charge weights required for reliable cycling were greater. Although a lot of folks think of Bullseye as a "fast" powder, there are quite a few faster ones that are more suited to low recoil load development.

Please remember that many of the fastest powders will provide low charge weights and minimal case fill. It is easy to double charge many of these powders. It is imperative that you take precautions to prevent double charges since many of these combos can double charge without overflowing the case.

 

[mboylan]

TiteGroup is spikey and burns way hot. Alternatives that burn cooler and are better behaved include VV N320, Solo 1000, Aliant E3 and Ramshot Competition.

 

[jmorris]

but OP is shooting 124 gr plated bullet.

I took his post as that being what he had already came up with and wanted other suggestions.

I've been reloading xtreme 9mm 124 grain flatpoints with tightgroup with good success.

Wondering what other powders might be a good match for a soft shooting 9mm load to do al little experimenting.

I just figured I would save him a few years and posted the softest feeling (again making PF) load I have made after more than a decade of loading 9mm minor.

I use 231 to this day, in everything from 44 mag plinkers to 9mm, just found other powders that work better for me in the "games".

 

[LiveLife]

FYI, for those looking for soft shooting 9mm loads.

In this comparison thread, I used 147 gr lead bullet with 3.5 gr W231/HP-38 as my reference load with a recoil rating of (5) and compared other powders - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=748940

W231/HP-38 3.5 gr - 1.14" with mild recoil (5)

Promo 3.1-3.3 gr - 1.44" with light recoil (4)
Promo 3.3-3.5 gr - 1.10" with mild recoil (6)

Bullseye 2.7 gr - 1.46" with very light recoil (3)
Bullseye 2.9 gr - 1.30" with light recoil (4)
Bullseye 3.2 gr - 1.18" with light recoil (4)

Titegroup 3.1 gr - 1.64" with mild recoil (5)
Titegroup 3.3 gr - 1.26" with mild recoil (6)
Titegroup 3.5 gr - 1.04" with moderate recoil (7)

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

I shoot 124 gr. Berrys flat points in 9mm.....4.2 gr. of Unique makes a nice, softer shooting and accurate round in my Beretta Px4 subcompact and Glock 26.

VooDoo

 

[Artofgolf]

I agree with 1SOW & Otto - VV N320 is a wonderful powder -powders might be a good match for a soft shooting 9mm load to do a little experimenting.