Couple questions with 9mm Major load

[baa]

Howdy,

I just got my shiny new 9mm major build by Derek at Millenium Custom. It is a 5" gun with Derek's comp. My buddy gave me a couple hundred rounds of his load (he has an almost identical gun from MCG) and the load worked great. The load is 124g Montana gold JHP on top of 8.3g of HS-6 @ 1.160 OAL. I shot 200 rounds through the new gun and the load ran flawlessly and I could see the dot track well, meaning the load seemed "flat" to my in-exprienced to shooting Open eyes. While there may well be a "better" load for my pistol, my time right now would be better spend using a load which appears reliable and which will allow me to start learning how to run an open blaster.

So, I am going to start out with that load but had a couple questions-

1. I need to buy primers... Small Magnum or Small Rifle? Pricing right now seems to be the same for both types.. is there any real advantage to either? Or, since I am sitting on a ton of Small Pistol (I have been shooting limited for years) should I use them up first and worry about a new primer type when I run out?

2. Crimp? I have searched and read a lot of dicussions on 9mm here on the boards before posting. These posts validate that a HS-6 load is a solid option to get started with Open. That said, I have not seen a lot of discussion on crimping these rounds. I have always used a relatively light crimp with my .40 limited loads and 9mm minor loads. Enough crimp so the bullets do not back in to the casing, but not enough to really cause the brass to do much more than straighten out. This has worked great for years in the above calibers. Thought on crimp for 9mm Major?

Thanks for the advice!

[BrianATL]

Same crimp as you described you have been doing. Small rifle primers or small pistol primers and you are good to go

Edited March 22, 2012 by BrianATL

[kalaur]

2. Crimp? I have searched and read a lot of dicussions on 9mm here on the boards before posting. These posts validate that a HS-6 load is a solid option to get started with Open. That said, I have not seen a lot of discussion on crimping these rounds. I have always used a relatively light crimp with my .40 limited loads and 9mm minor loads. Enough crimp so the bullets do not back in to the casing, but not enough to really cause the brass to do much more than straighten out. This has worked great for years in the above calibers. Thought on crimp for 9mm Major?

Don't rely on taper crimp to prevent bullet setback. On auto pistol cartridges, crimp is only ment to remove flare from loading, *NOT* to hold the bullet in the case. If you're having bullet setback issues, you need to look into an undersizing die, or expand less (read: *expand* less, not flare less).