.356" 125 JHP vs .355" 125 gr JHP?

[DW357]

Anyone test 124/5 gr JHP .356" bullets and 124/5 gr JHP .355" bullets in 9mm? My understanding is that .356" is for 38 super but I noticed Hornady makes those HAP bullets that are .356" 125 gr for 9mm.

I got 1k Zero 125 gr .355" bullets and I've been reading about them on other forums now that I've got into IDPA. I noticed a few IDPA/USPSA shooters (on other forums) said they use .356" 125 gr JHP's in their 9mm guns with slightly better accuracy than the .355" bullets. But they do mention that it's worthwhile to slug the bore of the gun that you'll be shooting these from which makes sense. I would imagine there must be a slight increase in pressure with the large diameter bullet?

I loaded some of the Zero 125 gr .355" JHP bullets with 4 gr of Titegroup at ~1.105" for my CZ75b and they shot very well. Just curious if others have experimented with the different diameter bullets in 9mm. Obviously the easy answer would be to test both and see how they shoot but you can only buy these by the 1k so I'd hate to buy that many and have poor results.

 

[tysdad115]

I shot 1K of the Hornady 125 gr HAP with no problems. More accurate than I am and only had one failure. Yesterday during a match I had a double feed, not necessarily the bullets fault but it cost me. They really do shoot good but I can't justify the price difference for those over the 124gr xtremes.

 

[DW357]

I shot 1K of the Hornady 125 gr HAP with no problems. More accurate than I am and only had one failure. Yesterday during a match I had a double feed, not necessarily the bullets fault but it cost me. They really do shoot good but I can't justify the price difference for those over the 124gr xtremes.

Yeah the HAPs are pricy. I can get the Zero 125 gr .356" JHP's for just under 11 cents delivered. Xtremes are running just over 9 cents delivered. Not that much difference in price but it's jacketed vs plated. Might have to buy some and split them with someone.

 

[tysdad115]

I'll split with you , let me know. I'm due for a north bound run for supplies anyways.

 

[DW357]

I'll split with you , let me know. I'm due for a north bound run for supplies anyways.

I should mention that you need to buy at least 2k to get that price under 11 cents a bullet. If you buy them by the 1k then it goes up a little over 11 cents. How many were you thinking of getting?

 

[DW357]

I'll need to sell off some things to help pay for these Zero bullets though lol. I just sold my S&W pro series 1911 9mm and I'm trying to sell my Rem 1100. Ordered one hell of a 1911 last week and I'll be picking it up on Tuesday hopefully.

 

[tysdad115]

I should mention that you need to buy at least 2k to get that price under 11 cents a bullet. If you buy them by the 1k then it goes up a little over 11 cents. How many were you thinking of getting?

I'll get at least 2K

 

[DW357]

I'll get at least 2K

Okay cool. I'll call them for availability later this morning.

 

[DW357]

Have you chronoed your 125 gr HAP loads? I think you said you were using 4.2 gr of Titegroup? I ask because the Hodgdon website lists a max charge of 3.2 gr of Titegroup at 930 fps from a 4" barrel. Just need to break 1000 fps to make power factor.

I'll just have to work up the load with the Zero .356 bullets and Titegroup to see how they're running.

 

[tysdad115]

No I haven't run them through a chrono. I was running them at 4.2 of TG , I'll have to check my notes when I get home for an OAL. At 4.2 the brass showed no signs of over pressure, looked real good. I've only shot club matches so power factor hasn't been a huge issue for me yet. I made up and shot 300 124 gr xtremes with 4.1 TG at 1.143 yesterday. Very good ,accurate and no failures. I'm shooting a G34 so barell length is 5.25"

 

[DW357]

No I haven't run them through a chrono. I was running them at 4.2 of TG , I'll have to check my notes when I get home for an OAL. At 4.2 the brass showed no signs of over pressure, looked real good. I've only shot club matches so power factor hasn't been a huge issue for me yet. I made up and shot 300 124 gr xtremes with 4.1 TG at 1.143 yesterday. Very good ,accurate and no failures. I'm shooting a G34 so barell length is 5.25"

Oh aright cool. Good to hear that there were no signs of overpressure. Yeah I don't know why I really care about power factor so much since the club matches don't chrono the loads lol.

Yeah the 124 X-tremes shot well for me this past weekend also. I tried the HP and the HPCB 124s and they both shot well. Thanks for the info!

 

[noylj]

I find that 0.355", 0.356", and 0.357" all shoot fine in 9x19, with the 0.357" being slightly superior. Likewise, I shoot up to 0.358" lead in 9x19. Like all load work-up, you start at the starting load...
I find the Zero 121gn 38 Super RN-JHP and the Zero 125gn 0.357" RN-JHP are about the very best in my 9x19s. Only "problem" with the Zero 0.357" bullets is the exposed lead on the nose (hasn't caused any feeding problems, but I am sure many couldn't stand the appearance to even try them).
I haven't tested the Zero 124gn 38 Super JHP yet. The MG 124gn 0.355" conical JHPs are also quite good. Haven't tested any of the more expensive jacketed bullets.
Has previously written on other inquiries like this, up to about 1980 or so, 0.355" bullets were unobtainium and 0.356" bullets tended to only be 130gn for .38 Super, so any 9x19 reloads back than were almost all 0.357" jacketed or cast bullets.

 

[DW357]

I made up some loads using 3.9 gr N320 with a .356" 125 gr JHP and some .355" 125 gr JHP using 3.9 and 4 gr of N320 @1.105". Then I managed to quickly run out to the range last night and I honestly couldn't tell a difference in accuracy at 40 feet. Probably should have tried a longer distance.

What I did notice is that the .356 bullets ran slightly slower (988 fps) than the .355 bullets (1015 fps) using the same charge (3.9 gr N320). Then again I wasn't weighing every charge so it could have just been a possible variation between 3.9-4 gr. I weighed every 5-10 charges.

I also shot some of my older reloads using 4 gr of titegroup with a Xtreme 115 gr RN and they shot almost as good as the Zero 125 JHPs. But I still think I'm going to stay with the Zero jacketed bullets as they don't vary in weight compared to the plated Xtreme bullets and the Zero's only cost about $13 more per 1000 than the plated Xtreme 125 HP's.

 

[NavelOfficer]

I reload plenty of 9mm, but I don't own anything in this caliber. Not that anything I say here is profound or novel, I do find the Hornady 147gr XTP-HP unique in being one of the only boat-tailed bullets I've loaded in a handgun caliber. I suppose you could say it's just a slightly over-beveled-base bullet.
My neighbor has also run some of my NEI 162 grain LTC bullets in his nine w/o issue (I see X-Treme offers a plated bullet that weighs in at 165 grains, too).
http://www.xtremebullets.com/9mm-165-RN-p/xc9mm-165rn-b0500.htm


Lee 356 120TC, presumably a Hornady 147gr FMJ-BT, NEI 162gr (my alloy)