9mm 125 gr lead rn

[Pathfinder1]

Thanks whistlepig.Which leads me to my latest thinking...is there any consensus on what's the cleanest and best powder for shooting lead. I'm shooting in such increased quanities now, .45 and 9mm, that I'm basically going to be shooting all lead probably from here on out (more affordable), and I'd like to hear any opinions about which powder works best for it. I'm ready to switch from W231 from my plated bullets shooting days. Feedback welcome

[NicVerAZ]

Start with 4.6 of W231 / HP 38 (to name one popular and accessible brand) and bracket up and down with increments of .2gr, start with 4.4, 4.6 and 4.8, a batch of 20 each.

Chrony, hand rest, shoot-n-c's or NRA targets. Measure speed, accuracy of groups of 10 at 10 yards (7 if no rest), and you'll know what works best.

Then shoot each batch as you would in a match and see how you like the recoil.

If you are fine with 4.8, go up to 5.0 just to see. Lead needs more power. Since it is RN, OAL has to be in the 1.160s.

Try different powders: n320, bullseye, power pistol (just to name one a slower burning powder that I personally like).

Have fun.

Edit: I fixed my charge numbers. I have one batch with 5.0 of HP 38, 125 Maesters LRN ready for testing

Edited April 26, 2012 by NicVerAZ

[Pathfinder1]

Thanx. Well noted

[love2shoot]

If you plan to shoot lots of lead, have you considered casting your own? Its not tough, not very expensive to get into, and you can get a mould for just about any useful bullet weight and profile. When I was casting 9mm for a Ruger of mine I used only wheel weights which were obtained by the bucket full for free from the local auto shops. Took a couple hours to produce a few hundred.

[MARKAVELI]

If you plan to shoot lots of lead, have you considered casting your own? Its not tough, not very expensive to get into, and you can get a mould for just about any useful bullet weight and profile. When I was casting 9mm for a Ruger of mine I used only wheel weights which were obtained by the bucket full for free from the local auto shops. Took a couple hours to produce a few hundred.

+ 1, I am getting into casting my own lead now, waiting on my molds to come in. just like reloading I find it cheaper for MYSELF and is fun to do as well as addicting.

[practical_man]

Thanks whistlepig.Which leads me to my latest thinking...is there any consensus on what's the cleanest and best powder for shooting lead. I'm shooting in such increased quanities now, .45 and 9mm, that I'm basically going to be shooting all lead probably from here on out (more affordable), and I'd like to hear any opinions about which powder works best for it. I'm ready to switch from W231 from my plated bullets shooting days. Feedback welcome

I like 4.0 of Hodgdon HP-38 with the 125 grain Missouri Bullet. It is just fine at 25 yards. Have to carefully select bullets for accurate 50 yard shooting.

In my opinion HP-38/231 is a good powder for 9mm; probably because i use it in 38 spl as well. Have tried and had good success with Hodgdon Universal in 9mm, 44 special, and 28 gauge. Also like HS6 for 9mm faster loads. Have hard good things about power pistol, just haven't tried it because I try to minimize powders ( I load for Varget for most rifle cartridges, Clays for 45 acp and 12 gauge, Universal and HP-38 as noted above). Titegroup is good for 45 ACP, haven't tried it in 9mm yet.

Have NOT had good luck with Bullseye in 9mm.

-john

[practical_man]

If you plan to shoot lots of lead, have you considered casting your own? Its not tough, not very expensive to get into, and you can get a mould for just about any useful bullet weight and profile. When I was casting 9mm for a Ruger of mine I used only wheel weights which were obtained by the bucket full for free from the local auto shops. Took a couple hours to produce a few hundred.

+ 1, I am getting into casting my own lead now, waiting on my molds to come in. just like reloading I find it cheaper for MYSELF and is fun to do as well as addicting.

the Lee 125grain RN bullet has worked well for me in both 9mm and 38 SPL.

[Bshooter]

I once cast my own bullets and the 125gr Lee mold was my favorite. I now shoot so much that melting the lead, casting, lubing and loading takes so long I have decided that buy my bullets from SNS Casting is much more economical. If you have the time, casting your own is very rewarding.

[love2shoot]

Titegroup works well in the 9mm, and I was using it with the Lee 125gr mold with good results. Also had decent results with Unique, and depending on the bullet, Power Pistol. I have had some good results with True Blue using Berry 124gr RN DS, but it seemed much more touchy to very small variances in charge weight than the others. FWIW, I use Titegroup with Berry 124gr RN DS, mixed brass and CCI primers at a 130-131PF for my production load shooting an XDM 5.25 and it works great. +1 on Titegroup for 45ACP, I use it with a 230gr Laser Cast RN (haven't got around to deciding which mold I want yet), or a 185gr Hornady XTP and get excellent results with both from my Kimber Eclipse2 Pro.

[usmc90]

Are you using the new "coated" bullets from SnS casting or just the plain lead ones ?

[usmc90]

I bought some of the new coated ones from them as well. .. 125grn lrn

[KustomHolsters]

I used 3.6gr of titegroup at 1.135 with a 125gr LRN. In my manual this was the starting load but this load shot very well. Some will tell you that lead/coated with titegroup is very smoky, but in my experience it was not smoky at all.