9mm reloading - powder selection?

[dfwbiofuels]

Happy New Year!!

Being relatively new to reloading and competitive shooting, I've been interested in creating a pet load for my Gen3 Glock 17.

Goals: medium felt recoil, combat accurate, consistent powder metering, cleaner burning.

Other than a 3.5lb connector, the gun is stock.

Here's my current load details:

Mixed 9mm brass.

CCI small pistol primer

3.4gr of IMR 700-x. Hodgden reloading data suggests 2.9 to 3.4gr.

124gr round nose hard cast lead. BHN value of 21.

COL of 1.115

Why did I choose the above components?

CAST BOOLITS: For starters, I cast the bullets myself using a 6-cav Lee mould. I lightly tumble lube after casting, size down to .356 and lightly lube again. The finished boolits weigh 122gr on average. I have seen no evidence of leading in my barrel. On Thursday, I participated in a pistol shooting clinic and put 370 rounds through the G17 and cleaned that night. I saw ZERO lead in the barrel and zero on the patches. Barrel interior looks good as new.

POWDER: I chose the 700x because its what I have laying around from loading 45ACP.

Process: When I was experimenting with this load, I first tried 3.2gr of powder. The felt recoil was surprisingly soft so I dialed it up to 3.4 go get a little closer to factory load felt recoil. And I don't want my shooting buddies making fun of me for shooting a "sissy-recoil" load. 3.4gr of this powder is at the top of the recommended range. It's still a bit softer than the factory white box Winchesters so I'm happy with that. I also played around a little with the COL. I started at 1.135 and it chambered in the barrel just fine. BUT the rounds got a little jammed up in the magazine so I pushed the COL down to 1.115-1.120 and the issue hasn't resurfaced. The smoke from these loads was more than I would like. And after 370 rounds of this load, my gun was dirty.

What powder is working well behind a 124gr lead bullet for the desired results?

[The_Vigilante]

Solo 1000, VV N320, and WST for the most popular powders for 9mm on this Forum

[Hi-Power Jack]

I first tried 3.2gr of powder. The felt recoil was soft so I dialed it up to 3.4 go get a little closer to factory load felt recoil. And I don't want my shooting buddies making fun of me for shooting a "sissy-recoil" load.

DFW, I'd spend $70 & get a chrony - use velocity/PF

as your guide.

good luck

Jack

[dfwbiofuels]

I first tried 3.2gr of powder. The felt recoil was soft so I dialed it up to 3.4 go get a little closer to factory load felt recoil. And I don't want my shooting buddies making fun of me for shooting a "sissy-recoil" load.

DFW, I'd spend $70 & get a chrony - use velocity/PF

as your guide.

good luck

Jack

I've got access to a chrony. What am I using velocity as a guide for? Velocity doesn't necessarily correlate to "felt recoil" or less smoke or better metering. I'm not competing in matches where I must make PF.

[MoNsTeR]

No sense in pursuing "low smoke" or "clean burning" with cast lead bullets. Just not gonna happen.

[noylj]

Unless the OP is shooting action pistol, there is no NEED for a chrono.

If the desire is performance and clean burning, N340 might be perfect.

Other non-action-pistol powders would be HS6, Silhouette, and True Blue.

All meter smoothly and can get all the safe performance one can get from a 9x19.

If AP-minor, then Solo 1000 and AA2 have been well-behaved for me.

If AP-major, then I just turn around and walk away.

[doubleshot00]

I use 3.4-3.5 gr. Titegroup behind my MBC 125g LRN.