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Favorite powder for 9mm Major in open pistols


Chillywig

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I'm sure this has been beaten to death in various places but thought I do it again.

I am new to 9mm major and started with Silhouette because I had some on hand. I need to get more powder and thinking about trying something else. I know the Vihtavouri powders are supposed to be really good but are also more expensive and harder to find. Everyone talks about how dirty HS6 is. Any reason I should move away from Silhouette since I have a good load that seems to be working just fine.

9mm major MG 124hp 7.2gr Silhouette 1.140 OAL 172 PF

dot stays in the glass when shooting and does not seem ridiculously loud

Edited by Chillywig
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Silhouette is pretty good, I would put it on par with Autocomp or CFE Pistol; HS6 might be a little dirtier, but I think it performs better than those faster powders. From your charge weight I assume you're shooting 124s, I strongly suggest trying 115s before changing powders. In my opinion there's no better load for 9 major than 9.3gr of 3N38 under a 115gr Montana Gold JHP.

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Silhouette is pretty good, I would put it on par with Autocomp or CFE Pistol; HS6 might be a little dirtier, but I think it performs better than those faster powders. From your charge weight I assume you're shooting 124s, I strongly suggest trying 115s before changing powders. In my opinion there's no better load for 9 major than 9.3gr of 3N38 under a 115gr Montana Gold JHP.

you are correct

MG 124hp

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https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Burn%20Rates%20-%202015-2016.pdf

I have a hard time telling what's better looking at different burn rate lists when they are all so close.

Anyone have real data how one preforms over another?

Andrew, I have always operated under the assumption "burn rate" correlates the charge weight required to achieve a given velocity, i.e.: a larger charge of a slower powder results in the same velocity as a smaller charge of a faster powder. I don't know how Hodgdon calculates "burn rate" nor how closely my concept of burn rate correlates with theirs, but previous editions of their chart agreed with my real world data perfectly. Unfortunately their latest revision places HS6 on the faster side of the other popular 9 major powders which doesn't jive with my concept of burn rate nor my data.

In my mind I group 9 major powders as fast, medium and slow:

Fast (7ish grains for major with a 115):

CFE Pistol

Autocomp

Silhouette

Medium (8ish grains for major with a 115):

HS6

Longshot

Slow (9ish grains for major with a 115):

SP2

3N38

These are just powders I've tested, but don't include: 3N37, N350, AA#5, AA#7, True Blue, etc.

Edited by kneelingatlas
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https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Burn%20Rates%20-%202015-2016.pdf

I have a hard time telling what's better looking at different burn rate lists when they are all so close.

Anyone have real data how one preforms over another?

Andrew, I have always operated under the assumption "burn rate" correlates the charge weight required to achieve a given velocity, i.e.: a larger charge of a slower powder results in the same velocity as a smaller charge of a faster powder. I don't know how Hodgdon calculates "burn rate" nor how closely my concept of burn rate correlates with theirs, but previous editions of their chart agreed with my real world data perfectly. Unfortunately their latest revision places HS6 on the faster side of the other popular 9 major powders which doesn't jive with my concept of burn rate nor my data.

In my mind I group 9 major powders as fast, medium and slow:

Fast (7ish grains for major with a 115):

CFE Pistol

Autocomp

Silhouette

Medium (8ish grains for major with a 115):

HS6

Longshot

Slow (9ish grains for major with a 115):

SP2

3N38

These are just powders I've tested, but don't include: 3N37, N350, AA#5, AA#7, True Blue, etc.

I never knew what fast vs slow really meant but your explanation makes sense

I got my fist open gun about 10 years ago, a Trubor in 38 super - my first major load I developed for it used VVN350. After not being able to find the N350 anywhere it was suggested to look at a burn rate chart and use something close. I picked HS7 which worked fine and I really could not tell much if any difference - then they quit making the HS7. Around this same time I picked up a new Limited gun and just focused on shooting it and rarely got the open gun out.

I still have a half pounder of VV350 and some HS7, plus a friend gave me some of his WAC loads. Maybe I need to just do a side by side comparison and see how everything feels.

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Silhouette is pretty good, I would put it on par with Autocomp or CFE Pistol; HS6 might be a little dirtier, but I think it performs better than those faster powders. From your charge weight I assume you're shooting 124s, I strongly suggest trying 115s before changing powders. In my opinion there's no better load for 9 major than 9.3gr of 3N38 under a 115gr Montana Gold JHP.

Have you run that load in a czechmate?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Hs6 is only dirty if u r not running major the higher the charg the cleaner the burn it's all I use. 8.4 grains 124 rmr

In my experience, for the same pf HS6 is substantially dirtier than AutoComp. A bit softer shooting, but dirtier.

I have not used it for minor load, can't tell how dirty it is there.

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I went to the range today to compare my 7.2gr silhouette loads to my friends 7.1gr autocomp 9mm Major loads. Both using 124 MG HP @ 1.140

I did a quick chrono average. The Silhouette PF was 171 and Autocomp load was 180 out of my pistol. Then I stacked a mag with 2 rounds of mine and 2 rounds of his reloads and ran thru a few double tap drills. I could not tell the difference in felt recoil or see any noticeable difference in the tracking of the dot. The PIO was different but my from my POV that was the only noticeable difference.

I was quiet surprised needless to say. For now I think I will stick with the Silhouette as I am getting low on powder. Next time I need bullets I will give the lighter 115's a shot

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