mach1soldier Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Hey guys, I'm shooting a custom 1911 with a kart barrel, tight chamber and have some experience reloading. There is no comp or ports since it isn't allowed at my matches. I'm trying to create a 9mm major load or close to it, for shooting bowling pins. I have 147 gn precision delta FMJ and could buy Hollowpoints if you think it would work better. Ideal would be a higher power but not crazy recoiling load. Current powder options include: Titegroup Autocomp Win 231. Obviously 3n38 or 3n37 would be ideal but not going to happen from what I can find. So any ideas where to start and what powder to use? Please no buy a .45 comments since I'm trying to do the best I can on a budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racinready300ex Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Wont pushing a 9 faster into major range run make it punch through the pin and not knock it off the table? Probably just be a waste of energy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_pinto Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I would work up a good 900fps load with the 147's with any of the powders you have listed. There is a plethora of information on this site for WAC, TG and 231 loads for a 147 at 130PF. You wont really want to push 147's close to major PF with those powders, IMHO. If you were down in the 124 or 115 grain load, that might be a different story. If you have access to 124's that are jacketed or plated, 4.8gr of WAC at 1.160 makes a great round.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain037 Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 We tried 9mm for pins years ago and found that fmj's passed right through knocking the pin down but not off the table. Get the heaviest jhp you can find and work it up. If you have a supported barrel, you can get close to or at 9mm major velocities. That should knock it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I have 147 gn precision delta FMJ and could buy Hollowpoints if you think it would work better. They will. a higher power but not crazy recoiling load. I'd imagine anything over 150pf is going to start getting pretty nasty. Current powder options include: Titegroup Autocomp Win 231. I would not push fast powders and heavy bullets that hard (pressures will climb rapidly ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1soldier Posted August 16, 2014 Author Share Posted August 16, 2014 I am going to order some 147 GN hollowpoints as soon as I find some...Stupid backorders... I loaded up 4 rounds of each sample group to see how my gun reacts. It's 147 PD flat point bullets so hopefully velocity, recoil and pressure signs somewhat mimic HP bullets that I will get. Going to see how they act on pins. 3.8 at 1.155 4.0 at 1.160 4.2 at 1.162 4.3 at 1.162 I don't have a chronograph but really just looking at pressure signs and how the pins move. Tomorrow I'm going to see if the local Gunstore has a chrono so I can test a variety of loads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 I've been down this path (used to shoot pins regularly...tried it with 9mm, .40, and finally .45). JHP will work better than FMJ...but you're so much better off with a .45, it's really not worth all the effort to work up a heavy duty 9mm load. Shooting pins is all about momentum (and transfer of that momentum). A light (not quite major) .45 load will push the pins better than a stout 9mm load, and the recoil will be easier to handle. OTOH, use slow .45 loads on pins at your own risk. I think minimum recommended safe velocity is 750fps. I caught my own 230gr JHP between the eyes a couple years ago after hitting a pin with it. It was a light load, probably a bit slower than 750. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1soldier Posted August 16, 2014 Author Share Posted August 16, 2014 As much as I would love to just buy a .45 and work up a load for it, it's not in the cards this year. I watched a guy shoot a .40 with 200 grain bullets and it was quite impressive. Maybe 3 out of 40 pins didn't go off the table. I tried all my loads tonight. Shot good with no pressure signs. Hoping to find a chrono tomorrow and then step it up slightly. Then test versus some of the other loads I have been using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Which powder did you decide to use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1soldier Posted August 16, 2014 Author Share Posted August 16, 2014 Using Winchester autocomp. I have played with titegroup in the past and have gone well beyond the book listing for max but it still wasn't that impressive. So hopefully the autocomp yields better results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveInHawaii Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I have the same barrel and the best bullet I have found so far is the Speer product 4006 147 TMJ. They have in stock at Powder Valley. The shape does well in the short chamber of my Kart Barrel. I tried Montana Gold and Precision Delta too and I prefer the Speer. The flat point shape seems to fit in the chamber better than the round nose bullets. At the upper end of the Titegroup loads it would go over 900 fps. I've settled on a lower charge of 3.2 to 3.3 grains. Accuracy was good at 25 yards...this was shot with iron sights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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