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yet another 9mm reloading question

cygnus x-1

cygnus x-1

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SO I am getting ready to load 9mm. I have seen a lot of conflicting info. Here is what I am loading. I have 115 grain, FMJ, round nose. I am loading with either unique or 231. I am looking for a good O.A.L for the round, also for good middle of the road recipe with regards to powder drop. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Bob.
 
You may get a lot of responses here, but the best advice is to go to those powder manufacturer's websites. They both provide correct data for loading that round. Failing that, get a good reloading manual such as the one from Lee, or Lyman. Follow all of the rules.

Be safe!!
 
cygnus x-1 said:
I was on the sites and there is not any data that makes sense.
Click to expand...

What exactly do you not understand?

You are using one of the most common bullet/caliber combos and there are literally dozens of proven loads in various reloading books.

4.8 - 5.1 grains of W231 is a load that perfectly duplicates almost all 115 gr FMJ loads commercially available and is right out of Hodgdon's website.
 
You should NOT be reloading without at least a data book for reloads. And the book that you get for that data should be one that you can read in a way that you can understand.

And, if that part (how to get the OAL out of the book) isn't making any sense, you should not be reloading. There's a whole bunch of other stuff that you won't get, and you will get yourself hurt.

Just saying......
 
I use Lee dies and right on their chart (that is included) they have about 15 different loads for 9mm with 115 gr fmj (this is what I use exclusively for target practice). I use 5.0 gr of Bullseye and a 1.155 Oal (YMMV), I have also used 5.8 gr of Unique with the same OAL.
 
Jose said:
What exactly do you not understand?

You are using one of the most common bullet/caliber combos and there are literally dozens of proven loads in various reloading books.

4.8 - 5.1 grains of W231 is a load that perfectly duplicates almost all 115 gr FMJ loads commercially available and is right out of Hodgdon's website.
Click to expand...

That is my recipe for 9MM right now.
 
To those of you that answered the question and actually helped, I appreciate it. For the rest of you who seem to think I am some kind of idiot that reloads without books or searching out data, well you know what you can do. And for the person that responded that Hogdons's site had the data, look again. All I see is data for LRN And HP. No jacketed RN. I thought that maybe people here would actually use there reading skills and then post helpful material. Guess only a select few do that. The rest evidently are far superior in their knowledge of reloading that they can't be bothered with a question like this from a pee-on like me. I will go to the mountain and study harder so that I may attain reloading Nirvana as well.
 
And for clarification, the reloading manuals I have are, speer which is on the hot side of loads, Lyman, and Hogdons. I find it odd that there is so much difference on certain rounds. Just wanted to exhaust all avenues so that I would not get hurt.
 
5.9 or 6.0 gr. Unique pushing a 115-gr FMJ has been pretty much a standard factory-equivalent-or-just-a-hair-below load for many years. There's no magic with 9mm: most 9mm pistols are not target guns and there isn't much point in extended experimentation amongst powders, charges, or OAL for accuracy. Nor, without changing springs and things, can you expect to come up with a reduced "plinking" load that cycles the pistol consistently and reliably.
 
cygnus x-1 said:
And for the person that responded that Hogdons's site had the data, look again. All I see is data for LRN And HP. No jacketed RN. I thought that maybe people here would actually use there reading skills and then post helpful material. Guess
Click to expand...
The f-ing bore in your pistol is not gonna know the difference between a jacketed HP and a jacketed round nose bullet of the same weight.

Reloading DOES require some thought and some common sense. It seems you have neither since you want to be spoon fed the f-ing answers.
 
Jose said:
The f-ing bore in your pistol is not gonna know the difference between a jacketed HP and a jacketed round nose bullet of the same weight.
Click to expand...

The specified OAL is .045" shorter for a hollow point than it is for an FMJ. That's kind of a big deal.

I'd argue that if he loaded FMJs to the specified HP length, the bore would know the difference as soon as he pulled the trigger.
 
I don't know you from a hole in the wall.

I can only reply to what you have posted, worded however you have posted it.

From what you posted, and the way that you posted it, those of us who know a thing or two or three or four came to conclusions ONLY BASED on your content.

So, it is what it is. Sorry if I have offended you in any way.

I see lots of totally N00b reloaders come through the turnstiles, asking similar questions, and I know that they have no clue.

Think about it.... if you have any level of reloading experience past basic, the questions that you asked, and the way that you asked it might have been different.

This isn't English Composition class, and my job isn't based on how to get you (or anyone else) to properly ask a question (specific enough to get a good specific answer). But, people should re-read their posts before pressing the POST button, from the standpoint of those who will be reading it. It should be clear, concise, and not confusing.

Again, my apologies for mis-reading what you were asking, and mis-reading your level of reloading expertise.

cygnus x-1 said:
To those of you that answered the question and actually helped, I appreciate it. For the rest of you who seem to think I am some kind of idiot that reloads without books or searching out data, well you know what you can do. And for the person that responded that Hogdons's site had the data, look again. All I see is data for LRN And HP. No jacketed RN. I thought that maybe people here would actually use there reading skills and then post helpful material. Guess only a select few do that. The rest evidently are far superior in their knowledge of reloading that they can't be bothered with a question like this from a pee-on like me. I will go to the mountain and study harder so that I may attain reloading Nirvana as well.
Click to expand...

And, I agree with E/C on this one! HP's of the same weight as FMJ's are longer, and the load data can be and usually is different.

If you can't find specific load data for a specific bullet, then drop 10% off of the starting load for something that's pretty darn close in weight and length (for the bullet), and work up the load from there.

EddieCoyle said:
The specified OAL is .045" shorter for a hollow point than it is for an FMJ. That's kind of a big deal.

I'd argue that if he loaded FMJs to the specified HP length, the bore would know the difference as soon as he pulled the trigger.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
EddieCoyle said:
The specified OAL is .045" shorter for a hollow point than it is for an FMJ. That's kind of a big deal.

I'd argue that if he loaded FMJs to the specified HP length, the bore would know the difference as soon as he pulled the trigger.
Click to expand...

Additionally, the feed ramp or even the mag might know the wrong OAL before the round ever gets to the bore.
 
Ok, it seems I was a bit over the top here. My apologies as well. Jose, your a D.B. Eddie, your the man. Duke, I appreciate all the input I get here. As I am a younger reloader, I am trying to gleen as much info as possible with realworld experience from people who know their stuff like you guys. As with anything, there is a lot of people who shouldn't be doing the things they are doing becuase they have no clue. I, do have a clue though it may not seem like it. I have been a mechanic for 16 years and am very inuisitive about how things work and when I see something that doesn't jive, I question it. I have been reloading, .45, .40, .380,.223 now without any issues. This was something I wanted concrete facts about so that I or anyone else would not get hurt. Thank you all for the help. Oh and Jose, your still a D.B. even though you served this great nation.
 
cygnus x-1 said:
SO I am getting ready to load 9mm. I have seen a lot of conflicting info. Here is what I am loading. I have 115 grain, FMJ, round nose. I am loading with either unique or 231. I am looking for a good O.A.L for the round, also for good middle of the road recipe with regards to powder drop. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Bob.
Click to expand...

Here is what i did to calculate oal for bullet brands of the same weight not listed in the reloading tables. The first thing i did was get a box of bullets that are listed in the table for the powder i wanted to use. I then mesured the length of said bullet say its .515 long. the min overall length for this cartridge is 1.115 long after loading a few test loads i found that 1.125 seems to feed reliably in all my guns. great now i have a baseline.
this load creates a powder cavity from the base of the bullet to the bottom of the case that produces a known pressure with said powder. now say i pick another bullet of the same style but from another company. the length of that bullet is.500 i simply seat this bullet -.015 deeper to create an oal of 1.110 it is under the min length but the powder cavity is the same size as the above load and should produce similar pressure with the same powder charge. please note the above lengths are fro example only. i am to lazy to go down to my shop and review my notes for real data.
 
EddieCoyle said:
The specified OAL is .045" shorter for a hollow point than it is for an FMJ. That's kind of a big deal.

I'd argue that if he loaded FMJs to the specified HP length, the bore would know the difference as soon as he pulled the trigger.
Click to expand...
Use the OAL of the RN bullet. The profile is close enough to be the same for all practical purposes.

Reloading requires thought and deduction. Going by rote from the book will limit your choices.

I haven't blown up any firearms in tens of thousands of reloaded rifle, shotgun, and pistol cartridges so I must be doing something right.
 

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