Help with recoil of a 9mm almost major load

[mach1soldier]

I have been steadily increasing my loads PF in order to be competitive in bowling pin shoots. The gun is pretty rough to shoot though. My accuracy seems to have degraded with a lot more flinching on my part (even with 15 minutes of dry fire daily and 3x shooting a week).

Custom 1911 with Kart barrel and 11lb recoil spring.

Load is Zero 147 JHP with 6.4 grains n105 at 1.155 length. Makes 155 PF.

Should I try working up a load with WAC or should I try a stiffer recoil spring? Brass is flying pretty far currently.

My other option is slow down to around 140 PF again.

Thoughts?

[superdude]

WAC will produce less recoil force than N105 if they produce the same velocity. The reason is that WAC will require less charge weight. Just make sure you're still in a safe pressure range. Whether it will reduce recoil enough is something you'll have to try.

A stiffer recoil might change your perception of the 'felt' recoil, but it won't change the actual recoil force imparted to the gun. You'd have to try it to see if it makes any difference to you.

[Hi-Power Jack]

I'd try a faster powder, working up slowly with a chrono.

Both N105 and WAC are fairly slow powders, which is great if you have a compensator on your gun,

but more brutal if you don't.

The faster the powder, the less perceived recoil is the current theory.

Something like WW231 would be a good start.

[Steve RA]

Get a .45, they work better on bowling pins than a 9mm.

[thompsoncustom]

I would change to a heavier bullet like the lyman 358429 mold, it's a 168gr SWC that some of my 9mm's love. With such a heavy bullet knocking down pins should be easy and at 950fps your at about 160PF. The real advantage of running a heavy build will come from using less powder. Never tired to load major with this bullet but I'm guessing you'd need to ream the chamber as it's pretty long. 2.8gr's of aa#2 will make minor so I'm sure it wouldn't take a whole lot of powder for major.

[superdude]

The faster the powder, the less perceived recoil is the current theory.

A better guide is how much charge weight is required for the same velocity, and this is supported by empirical data. http://38super.net/Pages/Recoil.html

The problem with using a burn rate chart is that no one can agree on where powders rank. Thus, burn rate does a poor job of predicting recoil. Charge weight predicts recoil much more accurately.

[njl]

Get a .45, they work better on bowling pins than a 9mm.

Best advice yet.

You can even load .45 minor with 185gr or 200gr bullets, and be more effective against the pins with quite a bit less felt recoil than your 9mm hotrod load. I don't recommend 230gr .45 minor for pins due to issues with minimum safe velocity.

[mach1soldier]

I would love to buy a .45 but I only buy from one man and he has a two year back log. Since it would only be used for once a month shoots, I need to try and make the 9mm work as best as possible. I'll get a .40 or .45 if my local range keeps doing the competition.

I did try some 3n38 powder instead of n105. I didn't get a chance to chronograph, but it is much easier on the wrists.

Additionally, I worked up from an 11lb recoil spring to a 14lb and that seems to be the ticket. It shoots much flatter now.

[2011BLDR]

N340 4.3gr +147gr Molly gives me a 157PF in my 6” 9MM I use for 3Gun, steel & practice, vary soft but still cycles fast.