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9mm Major with "heavier" bullets?


vgdvc

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Hello open shooters. so I'm I'm looking for advice and experiences of those that have tried heavier bullet weights (130gr-147ish) for 9 major open. I probably shoot a heavier bullet (135gr and CFE) than most in my 38 Super which is set up with 4 popple holes and Brazos modified tru bor comp. This is after experimenting with many other combinations. I will be acquiring a nine major pistol  with no popple holes hopefully sooner rather than later. Does anyone have a similar story to tell using 9 major with heavier bullets? Thanks

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Waste of time.  Not enough powder to work the comp.  Fine for minor.


Agreed. I went all the way down to 115’s as too pack in as much powder as possible so as to create as much as gas as possible.

I have no scientific evidence that’s how it works but that’s my story band I’m sticking too it.


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I picked up a 100 pack of Everglades 147gr bullets with my last order.  I haven't done anything with them yet but am going to be loading them soon.  Figure I'll experiment to see if I can find a load for them.  I'm currently shooting 124gr Everglades and am happy with them but wonder with the lower velocity if the 147s will be easier on the gun.

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Vihtavuori lists a 9x21 load with a 147 and N105 that makes major.  I picked up some 147 Everglades and played around with them a bit.

Full size open gun, KKM barrel, 3 .156 popples, Bedell comp.  Mixed brass, WSP primers, 1.175 OAL.

Around 150 PF it was super soft and the comp was starting to work a bit.  Went out to 171 pf---wasn't impressed.  Gun felt a bit

sluggish, dot track was no better than my normal 115 load. 

It's probably easier on the gun being a standard pressure load? 

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On 2/16/2020 at 4:26 AM, vgdvc said:

Hello open shooters. so I'm I'm looking for advice and experiences of those that have tried heavier bullet weights (130gr-147ish) for 9 major open. I probably shoot a heavier bullet (135gr and CFE) than most in my 38 Super which is set up with 4 popple holes and Brazos modified tru bor comp. This is after experimenting with many other combinations. I will be acquiring a nine major pistol  with no popple holes hopefully sooner rather than later. Does anyone have a similar story to tell using 9 major with heavier bullets? Thanks

 

In the past eight years shooting Open major, I've tried a variety of guns, comps, powders and bullets and here's what I shoot: 10.5gr of Shooters' World Major Pistol under a 115gr MG CMJ @ 1.160".

 

I think the powder is more important than the bullet weight or number of holes in the barrel, World Major, SP2, and N105 (38 super) are the best powders I've tried and if I couldn't make Major due to too short a barrel or too many holes, I'd use a heavier bullet before I used a faster powder.

 

If you've never loaded 11gr of N105 under a 115 and shot it out of your 38, you don't know what you're missing 😉

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5 hours ago, kneelingatlas said:

 

In the past eight years shooting Open major, I've tried a variety of guns, comps, powders and bullets and here's what I shoot: 10.5gr of Shooters' World Major Pistol under a 115gr MG CMJ @ 1.160".

 

I think the powder is more important than the bullet weight or number of holes in the barrel, World Major, SP2, and N105 (38 super) are the best powders I've tried and if I couldn't make Major due to too short a barrel or too many holes, I'd use a heavier bullet before I used a faster powder.

 

If you've never loaded 11gr of N105 under a 115 and shot it out of your 38, you don't know what you're missing 😉

Yeah I hear you. Then again after enough rounds with that recipe and 4 popple holes I probably won't be able to hear you LOL. For my style I just felt things were more trackable and consistent with a 135 grain bullet making 172ish pf with a little bit faster burning powder. I certainly am not the most experienced open shooter but when I had it in the hands of other m & gms they all commented how effortlessly and smoothly everything tracked across a plate rack. I did put a lot of time into working with the combination of mainspring, recoil spring and firing pin stop profile.

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147's with 3N38 shoot so soft you would swear they are minor. You can also make major with 147 and 3N38 without exceeding SAAMI specs for 9mm. That is the only major load I am aware of that can do that.

 

The downside is the slide does feel "slightly" more sluggish when compared to the 121's I normally shoot. If I spent the time to get used to 147's or hadn't shot the 121's before, I would probably be happy with the 147's. Open is really about learning and managing the cadence of the gun so you don't want to be changing loads all the time either.

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VV's 9x21 loads at 1.161" OAL make major with 115s and 124s also.  I load 9mm major to 1.161 and run 115s at 169PF.  You don't really go over SAAMI pressure (+P) unless you load short or use powders faster than 3N38, SWMP or AA7.

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13 hours ago, zzt said:

VV's 9x21 loads at 1.161" OAL make major with 115s and 124s also.  I load 9mm major to 1.161 and run 115s at 169PF.  You don't really go over SAAMI pressure (+P) unless you load short or use powders faster than 3N38, SWMP or AA7.

 

This is what I'm talking about!

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Hello: I have loaded, 147, 135,130, 125, 124, 121 and 115's over the years. My go to is 115's with HS-6 with my comp at 171-173PF and a 5.5" barrel. It shoots very flat and cycles very quick. I don't like the heavier bullets since they give me more dot rise and I find them harder on my arm and elbow. KC was using 147's in his Glock open pistols. Thanks, Eric

IMG_3336.jpg

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2 hours ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

But, that spills a lot of powder on the reloader, doesn't it ?

 

No.  Major Pistol powder is very fine and dense.  For some reason it doesn't jump around like say VV powders do.  Very little of the 10.2gr I drop ends up on the shell plate.  10.2gr of MP fills the case up to the same level as the 6.8gr 3N38 I use for minor Open loads for SCSA.  Almost none of that spills out either.

 

Now if I was trying to make major with a full case of N350 or 3N38, I'd have powder all over the place, even if I moved up to 124s.  That's why I'm using up the 12 lbs. of 3N38 I have for Open minor Steel Challenge loads.

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12 hours ago, zzt said:

 

No.  Major Pistol powder is very fine and dense.  For some reason it doesn't jump around like say VV powders do.  ...

 

Does it still measure accurately?

What you say makes me think that it would be a bit sticky. My experience with Vihtavuori is that charges are very precise from a Dillon machine. (I have not yet loaded anything where spilling can become an issue).

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