9mm Major powder choices?

[muncie21]

Going to R&D some 9mm major (for open division) loads this winter.  Looking for some feedback/suggestions on my plan.

 

I have some 124gr coated bullets, so I'm wanting to start load development with these before trying lighter bullets.

From the reading I've done, there seems to be several powders in favor for 9mm Major loads, using 124/125'ish bullets.

1) HS6

2) WAC

3) Shooters World, Major pistol

 

Looking for feedback on these powders, as this group has a substantial amount of reloading experience with 9 major for Open division in USPSA

[SWprotected]

I have used powders 1 and 2, but have yet to test number 3. In my guns WAC which is a faster powder for open only needs about 6.9gr. to make major with a 124jhp. For me 7.2gr. WAC or 8.2gr. HS6 were good loads with 124 jhp at 1.160". These seem to be pretty common among most 9 major shooters. Start lower and work up slowly with coated bullets I think you will need less powder to get the desired results.

[jcc7x7]

I've found that which ever powder I use that 172-175 pf works my comps (Bedell custom) the best and gives me a flat shooting gun.

[Banacek]

Going to R&D some 9mm major (for open division) loads this winter.  Looking for some feedback/suggestions on my plan.
 
I have some 124gr coated bullets, so I'm wanting to start load development with these before trying lighter bullets.
From the reading I've done, there seems to be several powders in favor for 9mm Major loads, using 124/125'ish bullets.
1) HS6
2) WAC
3) Shooters World, Major pistol
 
Looking for feedback on these powders, as this group has a substantial amount of reloading experience with 9 major for Open division in USPSA

Add Hodgdon Longshot to your list of powders.

9mm Major
124 gr JHP Montana Gold Bullet
7.9 grs Longshot
1380 fps
STI DVC GUN

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[chevrofreak]

Silhouette is awesome. 

[orangeman711]

6.9grs. of Winchester Autocomp under a 124gr. MGJHP gives me 172PF in a STI Trubor. Shoots flat and clean. Good luck.

[36873687]

Silhouette aa7 cfe. Aa7 is the s#!t

[Hi-Power Jack]

There has been a detailed and lengthy discussion on this topic just a few weeks

ago, here at BE.   

 

If you can locate this discussion, you'll be way ahead of the game.

 

I wouldn't use coated bullets - stick with bullets completely covered in copper

jacket (base, too) or your comp will become clogged up after 5,000 rounds, or so.

 

3n38 and Lovex are two other powders that have been described and discussed.

 

You cannot go wrong with the first two you mentioned, but 3n38 will "Make Major"

with loads published by the manufacturer (within industry standards).  The powders

that you listed (and I've used both) are far over industry standards in terms of

pressure produced at Major levels.

 

Good luck with it     

[muncie21]

Thanks for the feedback Jack. 

I've been doing a lot of reading/research on this topic.  Seems there's quite the variety of opinions on what's good/bad, etc.  I.e. lots of folks love WAC, however one well respected gent (KA) has quite the opposite opinion.  I'm going to pick up a couple of the recommended powders and see what works.  And yes, I'll be using a chrono!

[zzt]

None of the powders you listed are 'bad'.  I have used all three you mention, plus Silhouette.  Between WAC and Silhouette, I prefer Silhouette.  I have some HS-6 left, but I doubt I'll ever use it.  Right now my fav is Lovex 37.1/Shooters World Major.  It measures like water, shoots clean and SOFT.  You use a lot of it so the comp has plenty of gas to work with.

 

People who use the faster powders generally do so because of case capacity.  You don't use as much of them, so you are not spilling any when the case moves from the powder drop station.  That is a real concern with the slower powders.  It is also the reason most Open shooters stick with the 124 gr bullet.  The included picture shows on person's load for 115 gr bullets.  10.2 gr of Major fills the case slightly less than 9.4 gr 3N38.

[kneelingatlas]

ZZT pretty much said it all, I have only one thing to add: if you find yourself not wanting to deal with such a full case, try a heavier bullet over a faster powder.

[kujo929]

I used coated bullets all last year. I found 125 to be more accurate than 115 but both are quite abit off the accuracy of a jhp.

My guess is that pushing them with the speed required for a 115 is a little much for the coated.

I used silhouette and it ran great but my press hated it. The powder is so fine it gets in everything

So I’m using HS6 now.


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[superdude]

50 minutes ago, zzt said:

None of the powders you listed are 'bad'.  I have used all three you mention, plus Silhouette.  Between WAC and Silhouette, I prefer Silhouette.  I have some HS-6 left, but I doubt I'll ever use it.  Right now my fav is Lovex 37.1/Shooters World Major.  It measures like water, shoots clean and SOFT.  You use a lot of it so the comp has plenty of gas to work with.

 

People who use the faster powders generally do so because of case capacity.  You don't use as much of them, so you are not spilling any when the case moves from the powder drop station.  That is a real concern with the slower powders.  It is also the reason most Open shooters stick with the 124 gr bullet.  The included picture shows on person's load for 115 gr bullets.  10.2 gr of Major fills the case slightly less than 9.4 gr 3N38.

 

This photo is from: https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2018/1/9/how-to-use-9-major-in-a-short-barrel/

[BiggMike]

HS-6 for the win. I tried CFE-Pistol and it was okay but I always come back to HS-6.

[B_RAD]

Am I the only one that doesn't see much difference in between different powder/bullet combos?  

 

I've tried several different powders and 115 and 124 bullets. 

 

I don't see much difference between them. 

[echotango]

In have tried hs6 a couple times and keep going back to WAC. Flatter, less dot noise and much tighter groups during bill drill. 

Will try aa7. 

 

Edited November 22, 2018 by echotango

[MikeBurgess]

Am I the only one that doesn't see much difference in between different powder/bullet combos?  
 
I've tried several different powders and 115 and 124 bullets. 
 
I don't see much difference between them. 

No your not alone. I can tell different loads are different but I cant say what is "better" just different

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[B_RAD]

19 minutes ago, MikeBurgess said:

No your not alone. I can tell different loads are different but I cant say what is "better" just different

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Yes. 

Edited November 22, 2018 by B_RAD

[tyman1876]

I’ve made up loads for 5 different powders and had the chance to test 3 of them so far. I’ll have all my info by the end of the weekend and will post it here. The powders I’m messing with now are:

HS6
WAC
Silo
AA#7
Lovex

[nelson1each]

Used only AA#7 so far...works great so haven’t found a reason to change it. 124 gr with 9.6gr of powder makes 174 and the comp is happy. I did start with lead and it was too much hassle to clean the comp so I switched to jacketed...much easier to maintain.

[muncie21]

5 hours ago, nelson1each said:

 I did start with lead and it was too much hassle to clean the comp so I switched to jacketed...much easier to maintain.

Lead or lead coated?

[rishii]

14 hours ago, B_RAD said:

Am I the only one that doesn't see much difference in between different powder/bullet combos?  

 

I've tried several different powders and 115 and 124 bullets. 

 

I don't see much difference between them. 

Powders, no

bullet weight, yes

in slow fire

i once shot a production match and was running out of ammo, I brought what ever ammo I had, bullet weights from 115 to147

loaded some mags with 115s others with 147, and others with 124, had a few mags with all 3 loaded and I didn’t notice the difference once the buzzer went off, watched my sights, pulled the trigger

[B_RAD]

34 minutes ago, rishii said:

Powders, no

bullet weight, yes

in slow fire

i once shot a production match and was running out of ammo, I brought what ever ammo I had, bullet weights from 115 to147

loaded some mags with 115s others with 147, and others with 124, had a few mags with all 3 loaded and I didn’t notice the difference once the buzzer went off, watched my sights, pulled the trigger

Yes. On the clock, I can't tell any difference!

[muncie21]

I took advantage of the primers that were on sale at Grafs and picked up a pound each of:

• 3N38
• Shooters World Major Pistol
• WAC
• Accurate #7

I'm looking forward to loading up some test rounds and trying out this 9 Major stuff!

[BallisticianX]

When I used to shoot 9 major (I prefer 38 SC these days) I tried a few powders early on and the two I liked the most were HS6 and Sil. Then WAC is a distant 3rd. I saw less pressure sign with HS-6 at PF vs. WAC & Sil. Also my comp worked more efficiently and felt flatter with HS-6 followed by Sil then WAC. WAC felt violently sharp with more rise than the other two. I settled on HS6. I admittedly never played with any of the Shooters World or Vecton to compare them. I will say that in 9 major the slower the powder you can comfortably fit in the case the better. Lessens the potential for higher chamber pressures to batter the gun and case failure. Not to mention it will run that comp better in most cases.