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115gr versus 147gr - 9mm 1911


RickT

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I've loaded more than 80K soft 9mm 1911 rounds, most 3.6 or 3.7gr N320 behind 115gr coated.  This is a very soft load.  I did at one time try N320 behind 147gr bullets.  The 115gr load is "softer", but I'm looking for something that might have less muzzle rise for my wife since she has some left hand damage.  Can anyone with more experience comment?  My thinking is that the sharper, albeit light, recoil of the 147gr might not produce as much rise.

I'm going to borrow a high speed camera so I can see what's going on with my wife's muzzle control and it's easy enough to crank out a few hundred 147gr rounds with 3.0 or 3.1gr N320.  

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Heavier bullet does not always mean lighter recoil but it will give a different type of recoil. You can use less powder to get the same power factor with a heavy bullet. The way it works is: the powder burns and builds up chamber pressure until the bullet starts to move. With a light bullet we need a higher powder charge to get the bullet moving at the speed we want, the bullet spends less time in the chamber and this, in most cases, will cause the muzzle rise. The heavy bullet will spend more time in the chamber, causing the recoil to be felt more straight back and lessen muzzle rise. All this happens in fractions of a second, between the primer explotion and the bullet starting to move.

I think your on the right track. If your wife is not concerned about power factor you should have no problem making a round that will be easier to control.

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