9mm loads for Blue Bullets

[techj]

FWIW - I use the Blues exclusively in 9 and when I got a CZ found that the bullet profile (RN) that worked so well in my other 9's wouldn't pass the plunk.  So, I went with their TC profile and can now load fairly long and they pass the test - and run well - in all of my 9's.  In both cases I use their 125gr.

[IDescribe]

I haven't bought Blues in a while.  I couldn't get the accuracy I wanted with them with my CZs, due to their being undersized and my CZs working better with bullets a little over-sized -- for lead and coated lead, .355 is weak in my CZs, .356 is good (potentially very good), and .357 is best.

But in my VP9 and Glock, the .355 Blues are lasers.  I can't say any bullets have done better, though a few have been equal.  I may try their 125 TC next time I buy, maybe the 135, as well.  I never had a problem with the quality of Blues -- just weren't great for my CZs.  

 

I will also say -- there is a fairly common idea that loading longer is somehow better, or that it makes the gun feed more reliably.   This is a myth.  There is without a doubt, with 100% certainty, an OAL below which you will start to have feeding problems, but that OAL is not the gun's OAL -- it's the bullets OAL in that gun.  The OAL below which you will have problems varies from bullet to bullet, and as long as you're above it, longer isn't better; it's just longer.  A cartridge that feeds 100% at OAL 1.160 is not more reliable than a cartridge that feeds 100% at 1.060. 

 

If a cartridge you've been loading won't chamber in a new pistol, assess the max OAL, load it shorter, and work the load back up.  Problem solved.   

[shakin_bakin]

I use their 147's and like them and run them in my guns. Canik TP9SFX, Sig P320, Shadow 2. Althought IDescribe didnt have good luck with them, my CZ shoots them really well. Maybe its just that much better of a gun than the others? Maybe I just got lucky with that batch of ammo.

[IDescribe]

It is not uncommon for CZs. Blues are undersized, often lead CZ barrels.  Some CZ shooters are satisfied with them.   Some aren't, but go up to the Blue Bullets .358 sized 125gr for caliber 38/357 to shoot in their 9mm, and the leading goes away and groups tighten. 

 

 

With my Shadowline, the distribution isn't even with 9mm Blues.  I'll get 7 or 8 out of ten group tightly, then 2 or 3 flyers to kill an otherwise good group.  They are just a hair too small to be consistent. 

 

With lead in general with my CZ, .355 or .3555 like Blues is too small.   Go up to .356 bullets, they're consistent.  Go up to. 357 and they remain consistent and the groups shrink a bit. 

Edited November 3, 2018 by IDescribe

[JohnS23]

Does anyone know at what brinell they are casted?

[jschweg]

Does anyone know at what brinell they are casted?

According to info on their website between 15-18.

https://www.thebluebullets.com/aboutus.asp

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[fbzero]

For the 135's, I load 3.5gr Sport Pistol @ 1.130 and have had good results.  Nice recoil impulse, accurate, low SD's, and low smoke.  

[floater]

3 hours ago, fbzero said:

For the 135's, I load 3.5gr Sport Pistol @ 1.130 and have had good results.  Nice recoil impulse, accurate, low SD's, and low smoke.  

Same load I ended up at, also like the 147 FP with 3.2 grains of Sport Pistol at 1.130" make 133 PF in a gen 5 glock 17.

 

[fbzero]

2 hours ago, floater said:

Same load I ended up at, also like the 147 FP with 3.2 grains of Sport Pistol at 1.130" make 133 PF in a gen 5 glock 17.

 

That's funny.  Myself and two other local USPSA shooters were discussing our reloads one day, and one of them was complaining about how smokey his loads were compared to mine(he was using Titegroup).  Myself and the other guy both suggested Sport Pistol next time he ran out and offered up our load data to get him started.  We had never discussed load data before, but as I said what mine was, he smiled and said that there must be something to it because that was the exact load he had settled on as well

My dad shoots the 147's and I like them too, but just prefer the impulse of the 135's for USPSA/3gun.

Edited February 18, 2019 by fbzero

[funflyr]

4 hours ago, fbzero said:

That's funny.  Myself and two other local USPSA shooters were discussing our reloads one day, and one of them was complaining about how smokey his loads were compared to mine(he was using Titegroup).  Myself and the other guy both suggested Sport Pistol next time he ran out and offered up our load data to get him started.  We had never discussed load data before, but as I said what mine was, he smiled and said that there must be something to it because that was the exact load he had settled on as well

My dad shoots the 147's and I like them too, but just prefer the impulse of the 135's for USPSA/3gun.

Who manufactures sport pistol powder?

 

[hitman_usmc]

Alliant

[fbzero]

14 hours ago, funflyr said:

Who manufactures sport pistol powder?

 

As hitman_usmc said, Alliant.

http://www.alliantpowder.com/products/powder/sport-pistol.aspx

[funflyr]

11 hours ago, fbzero said:

As hitman_usmc said, Alliant.

http://www.alliantpowder.com/products/powder/sport-pistol.aspx

Thanks.  

[blueorison]

I like them with Titegroup; I've also used Alliant; I get acceptable groups at 25yds (sub 4inch) with Titegroup with the G34 and a little better with the P09.

[floater]

On 2/18/2019 at 12:15 PM, fbzero said:

That's funny.  Myself and two other local USPSA shooters were discussing our reloads one day, and one of them was complaining about how smokey his loads were compared to mine(he was using Titegroup).  Myself and the other guy both suggested Sport Pistol next time he ran out and offered up our load data to get him started.  We had never discussed load data before, but as I said what mine was, he smiled and said that there must be something to it because that was the exact load he had settled on as well

My dad shoots the 147's and I like them too, but just prefer the impulse of the 135's for USPSA/3gun.

Every gun is different, but it's funny how many end up liking the same combo.

[Rubric]

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to reloading and I just bought a couple of cases of 115gr from Blue Bullets to start with. Then, after reading several recent threads on here, it seems like most folks are using 124gr or higher. Is there less "love" for the 115gr than I thought there was? Or more specifically, why does it seem like most of you are using 124gr+?

 

Also, is there much difference between a Blue 115gr vs, say, Berry's plated 115gr?

[blueorison]

25 minutes ago, Rubric said:

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to reloading and I just bought a couple of cases of 115gr from Blue Bullets to start with. Then, after reading several recent threads on here, it seems like most folks are using 124gr or higher. Is there less "love" for the 115gr than I thought there was? Or more specifically, why does it seem like most of you are using 124gr+?

 

Also, is there much difference between a Blue 115gr vs, say, Berry's plated 115gr?

 

Blue Bullets work fine. The Blue will come off on your hands, etc. so just be cognizant and act accordingly.

 

Most use 124gr because many CZs and Euro guns like it/are optimized for that weight/more accurate with it. Another reason is because at the PF they are shooting at, they prefer snappy 124gr vs the pushy (think .45 recoil that is slow vs the snappy .40) 147gr. Then again many prefer the 147gr for the softer ".45" recoil.

 

115gr at minor PF vs 124gr, I'll take 124gr any day over it.

 

Blue vs Berry's plated - to get the same velocities, you might see a slight difference in powder charge - or not.

 

You also have to understand that it's not just bullet weight; the shape is also critical to how accurate each is out of your corresponding platform.

 

The best way is to try them all to find one that works for YOU; everyone is different! Just ask around for a few bullets to load up (ask your buddies for the other blue bullet offerings to try recoil char/accuracy at 25yds, etc.)

 

Hope that helps!

[BJB]

3 hours ago, Rubric said:

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to reloading and I just bought a couple of cases of 115gr from Blue Bullets to start with. Then, after reading several recent threads on here, it seems like most folks are using 124gr or higher. Is there less "love" for the 115gr than I thought there was? Or more specifically, why does it seem like most of you are using 124gr+?

 

Also, is there much difference between a Blue 115gr vs, say, Berry's plated 115gr?

If you plan to compete you'll likely move to a heavier bullet in time.  If you're not competing then shoot the 115 gr and enjoy.  They are perfectly fine.  If you're new to reloading then search on here about  reloading coated or plated bullets and realize that for taper crimp all you're doing is removing the bell, or you could induce other issues.

 

2 hours ago, blueorison said:

 

Blue Bullets work fine. The Blue will come off on your hands, etc. so just be cognizant and act accordingly.

Blue Bullets changed their process around late summer.  They wash the bullets now and not much blue comes off on your fingers.  Before this blue would come off on your fingers but I would simply wash my hands and the problem was solved.

[Rubric]

Thanks guys,

 

As BJB suggested, I'll stick with the 115gr for now and if I ever get back into USPSA I'll switch it up. A few years back, my wife and I had just started into the competition world when the local club broke up. Not sure why, but I won't waste time complaining about it. There are a lot of things you can do on your own.

 

Also, I have noticed that I don't have smurf fingers near as bad with this last batch from Blue Bullets. I wonder if the washing process takes away any of the actual coating? Either way, it is nice to not have blue all over your stuff.

 

Thanks again

 

 

[BiggMike]

On 5/29/2018 at 11:18 PM, olstyn said:

Blue Bullets 125 gr TC @ 1.125" over 4.0 grains of N320 with a CCI 500 primer in Federal brass made 130 PF for me.  I'm finding that I get a slightly higher case gauge reject rate than I'd like at that OAL, but that nearly every reject passes if I shorten it up a bit, so I'm thinking of dropping it down to 1.120" in order to get a little bit more margin for error there, but otherwise I'm happy with the load.  My understanding is that Titegroup and N320 usually have very similar charge weights, so given that your gun's barrel is a bit longer than mine (I'm loading for a Walther P99AS, which is a 4" gun), you're probably looking at 3.8 or 3.9 grains of TG to make 130 or so PF with the 125 grain bullets.  Obviously start below that and work up, but I bet that's where you'll end up.

Blue Bullet 125 gr round nose @1.130 over 4.2 grains of N320. I use this load for PCC, Production and IDPA.

[olstyn]

13 hours ago, BiggMike said:

Blue Bullet 125 gr round nose @1.130 over 4.2 grains of N320. I use this load for PCC, Production and IDPA.

 

A friend recently told me that he was very dissatisfied with N320 in his PCC.  Apparently it proved to be very dirty for him when used in a PCC.  I don't have a PCC, so no personal experience there, although my baseline guess is that PCCs with 16" barrels would be better served by slower-burning powders.  I often wonder what 100-grain bullets at 1300 FPS would feel like out of a PCC, presuming such a thing is possible/safe.

[BiggMike]

3 hours ago, olstyn said:

 

A friend recently told me that he was very dissatisfied with N320 in his PCC.  Apparently it proved to be very dirty for him when used in a PCC.  I don't have a PCC, so no personal experience there, although my baseline guess is that PCCs with 16" barrels would be better served by slower-burning powders.  I often wonder what 100-grain bullets at 1300 FPS would feel like out of a PCC, presuming such a thing is possible/safe.

Most powders are dirty at lower velocities. I also use HS-6, which I have for Open, and it is also very dirty. I can tell you that N320 is not that dirty compared to other powders. HS-6 is a very slow burning powder and it is very accurate plus you get the added benefit of the gas working the comp. All of this depends on the PCC you decide to go with.

 

[olstyn]

2 hours ago, BiggMike said:

Most powders are dirty at lower velocities. I also use HS-6, which I have for Open, and it is also very dirty. I can tell you that N320 is not that dirty compared to other powders. HS-6 is a very slow burning powder and it is very accurate plus you get the added benefit of the gas working the comp. All of this depends on the PCC you decide to go with.

 

Indeed.

When/if I get a PCC (have had the wantsies for one for a while, but haven't found the budget yet), my first thought is to use the barely touched pound of CFE Pistol I have with it.  I tried it and N320 out at the same time, liked the way N320's recoil impulse felt in pistols better, and went all-in on N320 at the time, so the CFE-P, which has only been used to load about 40 rounds of 9mm, has been sitting there on the bench ever since.

[war_material]

3.0gr Titegroup 1.135 OAL Glock 34 gen 4 makes about 134PF for me 

[blueorison]

3 minutes ago, war_material said:

3.0gr Titegroup 1.135 OAL Glock 34 gen 4 makes about 134PF for me 

With what grainage of bullet weight?