Bullet weight for sp01

[Parsons]

I am about to order my dillon press and all reloading components for 9mm. I have read the thread about the 124 myth and google searched as much as i could find. I will be shooting production as of now so power factor doesn't really play a huge role at this point. I am looking at either ordering 124/5 grain or 135 grain bullets. Is there really going to be a big difference either way? Have read about 124 grain being snappier and 147 being slow and sluggish. I thought maybe going 135 would be a good middle ground for my first go around and seeing if I would like a snappier recoil or a slower one. Any opinions or comparisons are appreciated.

[Hi-Power Jack]

Good compromise - not bad idea to try 124's and 147's at some point in time, though.

But, I've thought about going to 135's - BUT, I love the 147's too much.

I think it depends on how good you are - how fast, how powerful your

grip is (IMHO) - I've been told that grip doesn't mean anything, but I

respectfully disagree.

If you're a decent shooter you will probably like the 147's - if you're a

super shooter, you may prefer the 124's.

So, yes, 135 is a Great Compromise.

[Chris_C]

I run a BBI 125gr in mine. Automatic Accuracy sells loaded ammo with both the BBI 135 and 147gr bullets - you could order up the smallest of each that they sell and try them.

[z40acp]

I use both 124/125s{ bearcreek and MG } and 135 { bearcreek } bullets. All shoot well out of my SP01 Shadow. Because your new to reloading, pay attention to the overall length. CZs need shorter OAL loads than most others. I do a OAL drop test with each bullet design I use. All RN bullets will not have the same max OAL.

Edited December 28, 2013 by z40acp

[Parsons]

Thanks for the responses guys. I will go with the 135 in bulk and see if i can order some 124 and 147 to try and see if I want to go either way on the next bulk buy. I also had read o having to load shorter OAL which i will do the drop test. I have loaded some before just never had my own press or a ton of experience.

[Chris_C]

The drop test for me comes later as a double check. I first take a once fired case, Dremel out the primer area, and with my hand barely seat a bullet in the case mouth. I then take the barrel out of the gun and gently put the round in the chamber, pushing with my thumb until the case mouth is against the end of the chamber. Then gently pull the round out and measure OAL. I repeat this a number of times to make sure I'm getting consistent results. I use the opened up area of the primer pocket to push the bullet back out between measurements (with a little nail or something like that). I subtract about 0.01 off the measured numbers and load a few to this number. Then drop test those as a double check.

[Feralshooter]

I use Frontier CMJ round nose 124 and 135. I'm still testing both to see if there is a noticeable difference in feel. I find it difficult to tell the difference after the beep.

While I found I can seat both of these as far out as 1.140", both showed a marked improvement in accuracy with a shorter OAL.

I load the 124's to 1.070", and the 135's to 1.090".

The 135's are 0.030" longer than the 124's so the above OALs allow slightly more room in the case for the 124's to accept the additional 0.2 grains of powder required to get the lighter pills up to PF.

Hope this helps.

[Parsons]

Great info here. I appreciate all the help and will hopefully have some clue what to do now when reloading for my CZ.

Chris never thought of doing what you mentioned. I will do that when I get mine in so I can see what the longest OAL i can load is. Seems easier doing it that way than loading longer and longer until it doesn't fit.

[Chris_C]

Right. Longer is not always better (not always more accurate) but what I mentioned shows you how long you can go.

[44tonner]

I shoot a SP01 using a 160g Bayou bullet at 1.155 OAL. I'm making IDPA powder factor 130,000. I've shot 7K-10K rounds with no issues. They shoot like 22s. Soft recoil and very accurate. I also use them in a 75 Shadow, Compact & Rami. Did a BUG match last August with the RAMI and the 160's, down 7 points in 9 stages. Both the RAMI & 160's are very accurate. They work for me.

[CeeZer]

I'd also recommend you to start with 124gr plated bullets. They will be cleaner and easier to work with (compared to lead) and will offer wider powder selection than 115gr or 147gr bullets.

They are cheaper than 147gr bullets and softer shooting than 115gr ones as you can load for subsonic velocities.

Shorter OAL is due to shorter throat on CZ barrels and some bullet profiles make bullets hit barrel rifling sooner.

[mgardner]

I shoot an older CZ 75B that is tricked out a bit and a SP-01 Shadow that is all custom. The loads for the SP-01 won't run in the 75B because they are too long (they come to full diameter quickly and hit the rifling). I use 121 grain CMJ plated bullets in the SP-01 and 125 grain two diameter lead in the 75B. While RO'ing, I've seen the heavier bullets in lighter loads go through the metric targets sideways. I believe they need to be pushed faster so they stabilize with the twist rate in the CZ barrel.

[kneelingatlas]

While RO'ing, I've seen the heavier bullets in lighter loads go through the metric targets sideways. I believe they need to be pushed faster so they stabilize with the twist rate in the CZ barrel.

I too have had tumbling 147s come out of my CZ 75 platform pistols and assumed 850fps was just too slow for a 147 to be accurate, but a friend pointed out that my 158gr .38 special loads shoot one hole groups out of my revolvers doing only 755fps???

I hadn't considered the twist rate until reading your comment so I looked it up: the CZ has a twist rate of 1:9.7 and my revolvers are 1:18.7 so am I following your logic correctly that the tighter twist needs more velocity to stabilize a given bullet? That sounds counter intuitive to me.

A seasoned reloader told me the tumbling bullets were a result of my powder selection (Clays) and that there was no reason I could not achieve an accurate load with 147s or even 160s. What do you think?

[Czhase]

I have had 125s tumble in my SP 01, I backed the crimping die out a little and haven't seen it since, but only have a couple thousand rounds through it since I made the change.

[kneelingatlas]

Which powder were you using Chase?

[Czhase]

4.3 gr WSF

[kneelingatlas]

4.3 gr WSF

That blows my "if the powder is too fast bullets will tumble" theory...

[mgardner]

I think that bullet design may have something to do with it too, 38's tend to be stubby. I've never had any problem with bullets tumbling but I load them towards the hot end of the data. I shot some 121 grain CMJ plated bullets tonight at about 1100fps with 6.3 grains of HS-6. Tuesday night I used some 125 grain lead Crown Bullets at 1030fps loaded with 4.4 grains of WSF. I've not had any tumble in the 40 years I've loaded any bullet. The ones I see tumble are usually designs with little bearing surface and long noses. I see 38 colt's tumble too (the revolver guys love this little cartridge especially for steel) and it usually is due to too little speed from what I'm told.

[BeerBaron]

Tumbling I've seen is often down to oal (experiment with different oals) or crimp. Try lighter crimp. A light load of fast burning powder does seem to cause it sometimes too. I put that down to poor case fill. It just needs some experimentation.