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Help Picking a 9mm Production Load


JP221

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I have reloaded rifle ammo for 6 years and am ready to take the plunge and start reloading 9mm. I shoot production class and have already decided on purchasing a Dillon 650. I completely understand how awful the market is right now but I would like to know what powders and bullet weight I should be looking for. I am thinking I will load at 130pf to give me a little margin of error to ensure I make minor.

I only shoot factory 115s right now and would like to swich to either 124 or 147gr bullets. I have been told both the 124 and 147s are softer shooting than the 115s but is there much of a felt difference between those two? I was able to find 124gr bullets online but everyone seems to be out of 147s. I am shooting a CZ SP-01.

Also will the same powders work for 124 and 147gr bullets? I would like to have something clean buring and as soft shooting as possible. What powders are proven for 130 power factor ammo?

Sorry for so many questions and thanks in advance for any help!

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Generally I'm fond of Titegroup, N320, and Power Pistol for 9mm with a 147 grain lead or plated bullet. Lead + fast burning powders make for a ton of smoke and crud, though. You can also look at coated bullets. Xtreme has been super available, in general able to meet demand pretty damned quickly from what I can tell. You can experiment with 124s/125s vs. 147 if you want, but I'm very happy with 147s. I remember a pretty stark difference when I switched from 124s, but honestly I haven't tested them side by side during the time I've actually known what I was doing rather than just trying to punch a bullseye at 15y with my 92FS.

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If you're going to buy Montana Golds, do not even consider less than a case at a time. Their pricing for 500 or 1k is 20c/each, cases run you to 9-9.x each.

Xtreme (plated, supposed to be quite thick vs typical plated) runs sales now and then, good for 5-10% off, vs their lower/same price regardless of quantity of ~8-10c/each. Their 124gr HP runs ~9.6c each, but with discount it's 8.X each...so not bad.

Berrys and Raniers (both plated) are running 9.x c/each at the moment, not worth it vs MG IMO.

You can pick up some 'seconds' at RMR now and then, which I believe are the same as Xtremes, that can get down into 7-8c each, or normally 9-10c each, depending on bullet.

Pretty much right now, I buy a case of MG, and buy Xtreme or RMRs when on sale/seconds now and then as 'emergency' to have on hand.

Been considering trying a coated bullet sometime in the future, but only if the math really makes sense.

Powders already mentioned...I just got 12# of Silhouette and some 7625 to ensure I've got enough to keep shooting 'for a bit.'

For a progressive press, WSF, W231/HP38, 7625, 4756, HS6, WST, titegroup...and various VVs if you can find them. Probably a few others I'm missing...but any of those should work..

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Take a look at Bayou Bullets (or other hard coated lead bullet). Cheap and work great, accurate and clean. Bayou seems to have a nice selection and an ample supply. I get mine within a few days of ordering them. I like 147 gr and do find the felt recoil to be a little less that the 124/125gr bullets. Plus you use less powder for the heavier bullets. And yes, you can use the same powders for both 124/125 and 147. Heavy bullet and fast powder make for less recoil, generally speaking. Most of the good competitors I know use 147gr projectiles.

As for powder, I use whatever I can find. Can't be picky in times like these. I have developed quite a cookbook with all the different powders I have. I have developed some loads for :

IMR PB -My personal favorite, soft recoil, clean, meters well

700X

Bullseye

AutoComp

Silhouette

WST

AA#7

I have a few other powders and I guess I will eventually develop loads with those or trade them for other powders that I already have loads for.

I think you will notice a significant difference between your hand loads and factory. I shudder at the thought of ever having to use factory ammo again.

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Clays is my fav as well. Just make sure it meters well in your powder measure.

I use Hornady LNL and it meters well.

124gr bullets will work very well in your gun.

I shoot Shadow and my load is:

OAL - 1.12" of Berry's 124gr RN

charge - 3.6gr of Clays

PF - 129

Edited by CeeZer
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shot out of a cz75b and a glock 34.

147gr round nose extreme. win spp. mixed brass. 3.2 titegroup. 1.140 oal. .377 crimp (shot maybe 10k of this load)

125gr lead round nose The Blue Bullets. fed spp. mixed brass. 3.6 titegroup. 1.130 oal. .376 crimp (shot 1k of this) not as smokey as lead to believe.

both of these loads i have shot and had chronoed, always right around 130pf.

Edited by rowdyb
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Thanks so much for all the replies!

I normally only shoot indoor during the winter, I will mainly be shooting outside. I had noticed that most of the top competitors shoot 147s so I figured there was probably a reason for that. I am planning on buying bullets a few hundred at a time until I decide on one and then I will buy a few cases when I can find them.

I will probably buy a few hundred 124s and 147s to see the difference in recoil even though I will probably end up shooting 147s. I looked at Rainier LeadSafe 124 Grain Plated Round Nose because I found them for $108 per 1000. The other one I was looking at was X-Treme 147gr RN since they are available and cheap. Since those are both plated will they still smoke alot? Montana Bullets look nice but are quite a bit more pricey.

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For the people using are using the Clays powder, it's just the Hodgdon Clays and not the Universal Clays correct? I'm shooting titegroup with my 9mm right now and I'm looking to try other powders but I want to make sure it's the correct one.

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If you get MG by the case they are, 124 JHP $0.0981 ea. & 147 CMJ $0.1216 ea. The 124JHP's tend to produce better groups then round nose. A lot of shooters practice with 124gn & shoot matches with 147gn bullets.

Berry's and Extreme, don't know that I'm good enough to justify the added cost of MG, I'll get there one day though :)

You can get a MG 124 grain jacketed HP for $.0981 versus a Berrys 124 grain plated round nose for $.09435

I will take jacketed over plated any day.

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If you get MG by the case they are, 124 JHP $0.0981 ea. & 147 CMJ $0.1216 ea. The 124JHP's tend to produce better groups then round nose. A lot of shooters practice with 124gn & shoot matches with 147gn bullets.

+1 on MG 124 JHP being ever so slightly more accurate than the MG 147s in my CZ. But the difference is negligible for our purposes (maybe 1/8" or 3/16" larger groups at 25' if I recall) so I shoot the 147s over Tite Group for the much more favorable recoil.

If you try the 124 JHPs you'll find the bullet profile carries the straight shoulder pretty far forward and has to be loaded fairly short to chamber in the CZs. It's been a while, but I think it might have even been shorter than most manuals suggest. Anyway, my pet load for that bullet ended up being at a COAL of 1.090".

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If you get MG by the case they are, 124 JHP $0.0981 ea. & 147 CMJ $0.1216 ea. The 124JHP's tend to produce better groups then round nose. A lot of shooters practice with 124gn & shoot matches with 147gn bullets.

+1 on MG 124 JHP being ever so slightly more accurate than the MG 147s in my CZ. But the difference is negligible for our purposes (maybe 1/8" or 3/16" larger groups at 25' if I recall) so I shoot the 147s over Tite Group for the much more favorable recoil.

If you try the 124 JHPs you'll find the bullet profile carries the straight shoulder pretty far forward and has to be loaded fairly short to chamber in the CZs. It's been a while, but I think it might have even been shorter than most manuals suggest. Anyway, my pet load for that bullet ended up being at a COAL of 1.090".

I loaded the MG 124gr JHPs to 1.085" for my Glock, although in that case it could have loaded longer, but in my PPQ, had to drop it down even further, to 1.065"...defintely do the plunk test for your gun for each projectile you're going to load up, was really surprised I had to go shorter.

Completely agree on MG price (case) vs Berrys or Raniers - no real benefit for the few cents difference, if any.

I've got a case+ of MGs at the moment, but have been considering some Bayou, SNS or blue bullets, which I believe all use the same coating, but this would drop my projectile cost from ~9.8ceach for MG cases down to/very close to 7c each.

Anyone done the comparison there with MGs vs those?

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Bayou Bullets + Titegroup has always been a great recipe since I started shooting production. I shot 135s up until a few weeks ago in my G34 and I am now using 147s in my Stock II and I am very impressed. You cannot go wrong with Bayou Bullets in my opinion and Donnie provides excellent customer service.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Anyone have a favorite load using unique with a 147gr? Unique is the only powder I have on hand and I have some 147gr Extreme on their way.

I have some lead 147s with a long taper which I can load to 1.135" in my CZs:

3.5gr of Unique made 123 pf out of a 4.5" CZ

3.8gr of Unique made 132 pf out of a 5.1" CZ

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