Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

9 MAJOR bullet choice


Sarge

Recommended Posts

It seems bullets in the 124 range are pretty common but I have seen some like the 121's. A few have mentioned 115's.

I'll be starting load development this spring for my new Open gun so I thought I'd take a poll of what everybody is running.

Please keep in mind I am talking about 9 MAJOR.

Thanks for the help!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am on my second case of Montana Gold 124 CMJ's. I was using 124's with my gun in 9x23 and when I had it re-barreled in 9mm I kept using those bullets because I had them. I thought about changing to 115's but the 124's worked so good I decided to stay with them.

Neal in AZ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A standard length 9 Major without poople holes will shoot well with 115, 121, or 124/5 CMJ/JHP. The standard length barrel puts you in the driver's seat. You can develop loads in all configurations and see what your gun and you shoot the best.

For me, I develop my loads and then head to the range with the chrono. I am looking for several things, make major first and then optimize the movement of the dot and you can also do drills on the timer. The timer knows all. Then I shoot local matches with the load. My hits and time give me a lot of feedback.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I shoot 124gr Montana Gold CMJs. I'm going to order 1,000 115s and see how they shoot. The idea with the 115 is that you need more powder to make major, which makes more gas to work the comp. We'll see.

Edited by Pro2AInPA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A standard length 9 Major without poople holes will shoot well with 115, 121, or 124/5 CMJ/JHP. The standard length barrel puts you in the driver's seat. You can develop loads in all configurations and see what your gun and you shoot the best.

Sarge, for your sake I hope your gun doesn't have "poople" holes. :ph34r: (I don't even want to know what that looks like) :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A standard length 9 Major without poople holes will shoot well with 115, 121, or 124/5 CMJ/JHP. The standard length barrel puts you in the driver's seat. You can develop loads in all configurations and see what your gun and you shoot the best.

Sarge, for your sake I hope your gun doesn't have "poople" holes. :ph34r: (I don't even want to know what that looks like) :lol:

Funny----that would be "popple" holes named after Adam Popplewell. So I can't type. Sue me! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was running the 121 in my IMM 38sc and loved the way they feel. I just developed a load with them for my new 9major IMM (no holes in barrel 3 top 2 side port comp) and love it.

Edited by RoryW
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm shooting Zero 115 JHP at the moment. Found the 115's shoot very well in my gun and very flat. I developed my load for the MG 115 JHP but ran into a buy on 6000 Zeros. Both are excellent bullets and I have no complaints with either.

With the 115's the dot stays on cardboard at 25 yards and that works for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems like 124/5's are pulling ahead pretty substantially. My plan is to order 1k each of the different weights and spend a good part of the summer working up some loads. I already have three powders on my list so this might be quite a quest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems like 124/5's are pulling ahead pretty substantially. My plan is to order 1k each of the different weights and spend a good part of the summer working up some loads. I already have three powders on my list so this might be quite a quest.

You can certainly do that... but you could also do it differently - select a couple of popular loads, try them, pick one and then practice, practice, practice with it. Net result will likely be better. In just the last year I had tried many different loads. They all felt different, none was ideal, and none made me a better shooter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems like 124/5's are pulling ahead pretty substantially. My plan is to order 1k each of the different weights and spend a good part of the summer working up some loads. I already have three powders on my list so this might be quite a quest.

You can certainly do that... but you could also do it differently - select a couple of popular loads, try them, pick one and then practice, practice, practice with it. Net result will likely be better. In just the last year I had tried many different loads. They all felt different, none was ideal, and none made me a better shooter.

I know there is merit to what you say. I shoot with a guy who admittedly chased the perfect load in his 9mm for too long and too hard. But he still was able to find loads that were better than others. I might as well do a little chasing myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know there is merit to what you say. I shoot with a guy who admittedly chased the perfect load in his 9mm for too long and too hard. But he still was able to find loads that were better than others. I might as well do a little chasing myself.

Yes, a little chasing goes long way, there is definitely value to some experimentation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I might as well do a little chasing myself.

Depends on whether you want to get better, or have a "better" load. ;)

For anybody new (or newer) to Open, it's not too likely that they're going to really see much difference that means anything unless it's a terrible combination. When I got back into Open (after years), I asked Dan Bedell what load to try (he was within a tenth of a grain), and shot probably 10K of that load before slightly tweaking it from 125 to 121gr bullets. The first load made PF, was predictable, and was reasonably flat...that, and learning the timing of it, is really all that matters. A "better" load wouldn't have made one point difference in my match results. Since then, I've gotten a lot better, and have found that technique can make as much, or more, difference in how the dot tracks as the load can....and it takes hundreds of rounds, on the timer, before it's really clear whether a change actually helps. R,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...