9x19 or 9x21 in P9

[Gillster]

I picked up a P9 set up for open for my 13 year old son to shoot steel type matches with. He wants to try USPSA now as well. The gun is a blast to shoot but so far we have only used minor loads. The gun came with 2 top ends, one for 9x19 and one for 9x21 with a simple 3 port comp. My question is: If we decide to shoot major loads with this gun is there a good reason to choose one caliber over the other? I know the 9x19 brass is cheaper/easier to get. But what about load "friendlyness" especially for a young shooter. I have a box of 147gr bullets lying around, are they a good choice or do I need a lighter bullet to make major with. Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

[ErikW]

There will be precious little difference between 9x19 and 9x21 with Major loads. If only the 9x21 has a comp, that's the one to use. It's easier to make Major with a 147; get some HS6 and go to town.

[Skywalker]

The only technical difference between 9x19 and 9x21 is that, upon loading to the same O.A.L., with 9x21 you get 2mm more contact between brass and bullet. This might help while crimping.

Apart from that, I guess the cheap availability of 9x19 in the U.S.A. would drive you to use that caliber. Were you located in Italy, I'd have adviced the reverse.

[Gillster]

The 9x19 is comped as well. What is a good starting point with HS6?

Thanks Chris

[eerw]

Pretty much when shooting the P9 the only reason we shot 9x21 was 9x19 in that OAL was not permitted by USPSA..

the 9x21 will help the case have more hold on the bullet..but the 9x19 should be fine too..

somewhere in my load data..I have major loads in 9x21 using 147, 124 and 115 gr bullets..I'll look for it.

[shred]

Does he want to start shooting Major loads? A friend had his daughter shooting IPSC at minor PF when she was growing up to cut down on the wear-and-tear on growing bones. IIRC she was a bit younger, but I don't remember for sure.

[eerw]

good point..

that would be a beauty of gun for just shooting Walmart 9mm...

[ErikW]

If you have a comp, you're going to have to go waaaay light on the spring to get factory 9mm or equivalent to run.

[Gillster]

He's been shooting Winchester white box through it but they don't group very well in this gun. The gun shoots well with a couple of different loads which is one of the reasons I have the 147 grainers, just looking for a good combination. Also the gun is so much fun to play around with, I'd like to shoot it at a match or two for grins once in a while. Thanks everyone for their advice so far.

Chris

[eric nielsen]

Chris

The extra 2mm of case length is not needed to secure a bullet when you're at 1.125-1.135" overall length in a P9 gun. Only guys loading longer, shooting a 1911 will have any issues with a case gripping a bullet.

The most forgiving loads [doesn't blow up, no stuck cases, still make Major] for me were always with a 124 or 125gr bullet and Winchester540/HodgdonHS6 - they are "almost" the same powder. With a 124 bullet, start at about 7.7 grains. You should get to a good cushion over Major by about 8.3 grains

As Mr. Warren said, a comped gun will not run well with factory ammo. Load the ammo yourself. If you still have accuracy issues give a call to George at EGW - for P9s he's the best, also the most helpful gunsmith ever.

[Chuck D]

Way back when...I used 7.2g of WW540 with a 150 grian CP Elite Jacketed bullet and 8.2g with a 135g CP Elite Jacketed bullet in 9x21 cases. I used 9x19 cases for practice ammo and 9x21 cases for matches.

HS6 and WW540 are ALMOST identical. I'd start at 7.0 with the 147's and work up .02 at a time.

[Jody Waring]

I believe on Jeff Maass' website there is 147-150 gr loads for P9 listed there. I agree with Erik, HS6/540 is the powder that seems to work best. If the young fellow is starting out, minor would be fine I would think until he gets the hang of things. The heavier bullet definitely will make major more easily, but I would focus more on just getting him out to shoot. For loading 9mm, a 9mm+P load out of a manual should suffice for reliability. Its too bad the white box ammo didn't work out, it sure would have been convenient for a source of ammunition. Check out Wolff gunsprings and pick up a variety of weights, thru some experimentation, you should get things working reliably.

[MasterLefty]

With a three port comp (esp. the EGW 3port P9 comp), you should be able to select any spring weight that provide the best balance in the gun and for your son's grip style.

I ran P9's for 11 years and you don't have to worry about really light springs, or extreme lightening of the slide, until you move to 4-port or more compensators. I use to run one combination with an 18# spring. The problem with the higher number of chambers, is due to the cantileve design of the lockup system. 4-ports or more keeps the gun locked up too long and doesn't save enough energy to reliably cycle the heavy 5" slide of a P9.

You should be able to run a minor load in a 3-port easily on a 10# spring.

Kenny