N-105 for a 9mm Steel Load... Will it work?

[hp-tactical]

I'm having a Steel Challenge gun built in 9mm with a 6 inch slide and a 6 port tribrid barrel. Anybody have some info on a good load for this gun? I have a ton of N-105, is there a load that will work well with this powder?

Thanks,

hp

[G-ManBart]

I use N105 exclusively in 38SC Major with 115gr bullets, but well above Major. I suspect a steel load in 9mm might be a bit dirty since N105 is so slow...likely to get a lot of unburned granules etc. If you kept the pressure up it might work the ports reasonably well. VV's data shows 7gr with a 130gr FMJ at 1150fps. R,

[hp-tactical]

I use N105 exclusively in 38SC Major with 115gr bullets, but well above Major. I suspect a steel load in 9mm might be a bit dirty since N105 is so slow...likely to get a lot of unburned granules etc. If you kept the pressure up it might work the ports reasonably well. VV's data shows 7gr with a 130gr FMJ at 1150fps. R,

What if I'm shooting 115gr. FMJ's?

124gr. FMJ's for 9 Major?

[G-ManBart]

I use N105 exclusively in 38SC Major with 115gr bullets, but well above Major. I suspect a steel load in 9mm might be a bit dirty since N105 is so slow...likely to get a lot of unburned granules etc. If you kept the pressure up it might work the ports reasonably well. VV's data shows 7gr with a 130gr FMJ at 1150fps. R,

What if I'm shooting 115gr. FMJ's?

124gr. FMJ's for 9 Major?

Not having tried it, take this for what it's worth, but there's almost no chance that you'd have problems with a 115gr bullet and 7gr based off the VV data. It's worth a shot since you want to generate some gas volume to work the ports.

I've been told you basically can't get enough N105 in a 9mm case to make Major with bullets in the 124/125. It takes me 10.5gr with a 115 in an SC case, so that makes sense. Part of the problem is that N105 is a bit bulkier than some other slow powders like 3N38. The good thing is it's slow enough that you probably can't hurt anything without trying pretty hard! R,

[hp-tactical]

Your quite helpful my friend. Thank you for your knowledge. If you don't mind me asking one more thing, in shooting 9mm for steel loads and 9mm major for USPSA what all around powder would you recommend for both. Again shooting 115gr. for minor and 125gr. for major, and what would be a good starting point on the amount of grains?

Thanks...

[olp73]

I've been told you basically can't get enough N105 in a 9mm case to make Major with bullets in the 124/125. It takes me 10.5gr with a 115 in an SC case, so that makes sense. Part of the problem is that N105 is a bit bulkier than some other slow powders like 3N38. The good thing is it's slow enough that you probably can't hurt anything without trying pretty hard! R,

yes you can!! with a 4-5 port hybrid you might have problemes, but in general you will reach major before 8gr.

[G-ManBart]

I've been told you basically can't get enough N105 in a 9mm case to make Major with bullets in the 124/125. It takes me 10.5gr with a 115 in an SC case, so that makes sense. Part of the problem is that N105 is a bit bulkier than some other slow powders like 3N38. The good thing is it's slow enough that you probably can't hurt anything without trying pretty hard! R,

yes you can!! with a 4-5 port hybrid you might have problemes, but in general you will reach major before 8gr.

I've since learned that a good friend of mine here is using 9.4gr with a 115 to make Major, and he bumps that to 9.6 for big matches (171PF is what he averages). Neither gun has hybrid ports (both full size guns). I would be surprised if 8gr would be close in any gun if it's taking roughly 1.5gr more than that to make 170-171PF. R,

[olp73]

I've been told you basically can't get enough N105 in a 9mm case to make Major with bullets in the 124/125. It takes me 10.5gr with a 115 in an SC case, so that makes sense. Part of the problem is that N105 is a bit bulkier than some other slow powders like 3N38. The good thing is it's slow enough that you probably can't hurt anything without trying pretty hard! R,

yes you can!! with a 4-5 port hybrid you might have problemes, but in general you will reach major before 8gr.

I've since learned that a good friend of mine here is using 9.4gr with a 115 to make Major, and he bumps that to 9.6 for big matches (171PF is what he averages). Neither gun has hybrid ports (both full size guns). I would be surprised if 8gr would be close in any gun if it's taking roughly 1.5gr more than that to make 170-171PF. R,

You are talking 38 super right?

I am talking 9mm Para loaded to standard length! loading long you might need a little over 8gr....and IPSC major open is 160pf.

Edited July 2, 2010 by olp73

[G-ManBart]

I've been told you basically can't get enough N105 in a 9mm case to make Major with bullets in the 124/125. It takes me 10.5gr with a 115 in an SC case, so that makes sense. Part of the problem is that N105 is a bit bulkier than some other slow powders like 3N38. The good thing is it's slow enough that you probably can't hurt anything without trying pretty hard! R,

yes you can!! with a 4-5 port hybrid you might have problemes, but in general you will reach major before 8gr.

I've since learned that a good friend of mine here is using 9.4gr with a 115 to make Major, and he bumps that to 9.6 for big matches (171PF is what he averages). Neither gun has hybrid ports (both full size guns). I would be surprised if 8gr would be close in any gun if it's taking roughly 1.5gr more than that to make 170-171PF. R,

You are talking 38 super right?

I am talking 9mm Para loaded to standard length! loading long you might need a little over 8gr....and IPSC major open is 160pf.

No, I've been talking about 9 Major numbers at a bit longer than factory oal. We need 165PF for Major, which means realistically 170+ and that's going to take a lot more than 8gr....like 9+ in most any 9 Major combination. That's why I referenced the 9.4 and 9.6gr load above...that's 9 Major with a 115. With a 121 or 125, that would be a bit lower, but still around 9gr give or take. R,

[CocoBolo]

I just shoot my normal major load at steel matches, primarly because the hits are better. However I can say that expierementing with slow powders at around 125 pf did not produce good shooting loads. With slow powders I found the best loads just came out by leaving the powder charge the same and using a 95gr bullet instead of the 125gr. This gave the gun pretty much the same feel and it ran real nice.

Second best was using a fast powder behind a light weight bullet. In 9 4.8 gr of WST worked well.

In timed drills using mouse fart loads versus major loads my time varied only .2 seconds, with the mouse fart load, however the hits were not as good and in Steel the hit is everything.

Always check you dot zero when you switch loads it amazing how far it will move.

[G-ManBart]

In timed drills using mouse fart loads versus major loads my time varied only .2 seconds, with the mouse fart load, however the hits were not as good and in Steel the hit is everything.

If you didn't run a couple of hundred of the lighter loads before putting things on the timer, you got a false result.

If you get better hits with heavier loads, something ain't right...but the hit is everything in any match.

Edited July 4, 2010 by G-ManBart

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: I use HS-6 for 9mm and my steel loads. I am also using 95 grain bullets. Don't tell "CocoBolo" though It shoots very accuratly and soft. Feels like you are cheating Thanks, Eric

[CocoBolo]

Hello: I use HS-6 for 9mm and my steel loads. I am also using 95 grain bullets. Don't tell "CocoBolo" though It shoots very accuratly and soft. Feels like you are cheating Thanks, Eric

Caught yah, well the minor loads didn't do it for me, but maybe that's cause I'm not that fast, if I get a 3 second run I'm happy most are in the real low 4's. I shot up 700 of those minors out of the last batch and have 300 in a bag I might shoot someday for practice. It could be that old gun of mine, it just shoots hot major real soft and flat and all the minor loads seem a little flippy. But in steel you shoot and move and let the gun settle in the transition, so flip shouldn't be a factor, I did notice when I was RO that a lot of shooters shoot and let it settle then move, seems like the slow way to me. I tried a 22 cal upper on my open gun and it wasn't as fast as my major load, go figure. Yeah, I know it was the trigger.

Those 95gr with lots of powder feel almost like the real thing and they do shoot well.