Black Bullets International 147gr 9mm In 5" Barrel w/ VV N320?

[jabarihunt]

I'm working on a 147gr 9mm load that meets 125 PF for both USPSA Limited and IDPA ESP divisions (trying to kill two birds with one stone).  My USPSA gun is a STI DVC Limited and my IDPA gun is a Smith & Wesson M2.0, both with 5" barrels.  I'm using the following components:

 

    - Black Bullets International 147gr Flat Point
    - VihtaVouri N320
    - Sellier & Bellot Small Pistol Primers
    - Mixed Brass

 

I've started with 3.4, 3.5, and 3.6 grains at 1.115 COL (testing them at the range tomorrow).  I don't have a chrono handy, but load calculators tell me 3.4 should be ~863 fps (which is cutting it close) and 3.5 should be ~886 fps (which should be just right with a little breathing room).  If both guns run well at 3.5 I'll run with that, but I'm very interested to see if anyone else is using the same BBI bullets with N320, and what their load data is.

Edited April 28, 2021 by jabarihunt
Fixed typo

[mpmo]

3.0gr. of N320 makes 130PF in my Shadow 2 with that bullet.  In fact 3.0 N320 pretty much makes 130pf with any coated 147gr bullet I have.  3.3gr for plated.

 

 

[jabarihunt]

2 minutes ago, mpmo said:

3.0gr. of N320 makes 130PF in my Shadow 2 with that bullet.  In fact 3.0 N320 pretty much makes 130pf with any coated 147gr bullet I have.  3.3gr for plated.

 

 

 

Interesting... What is your COL?  Also, why did you chrono at?

[mpmo]

I don't know OAL off hand.  It would be short since it's a CZ.  I chronoed from 10 ft.  You also mentioned that you are looking for 125.  I would consider doing something closer to 130pf if you plan to go to any matches that chrono.  This will help insure that your rounds pass their chrono and you aren't bumped out of competing for score.  Different chronos are calibrated differently and the conditions when you chrono might be drastically different from the day, time and location that you chronoed from.

 

[jabarihunt]

1 minute ago, mpmo said:

I don't know OAL off hand.  It would be short since it's a CZ.  I chronoed from 10 ft.  You also mentioned that you are looking for 125.  I would consider doing something closer to 130pf if you plan to go to any matches that chrono.  This will help insure that your rounds pass their chrono and you aren't bumped out of competing for score.  Different chronos are calibrated differently and the conditions when you chrono might be drastically different from the day, time and location that you chronoed from.

 

 

Yep!  I should have specified that in my original post.  125 PF + a 5 PF buffer.  I'm going to order another chronograph, mine was damaged when I moved.  I wouldn't mind using less powder per round for sure!

[12glocks]

My loads seem to go slower than everyone else's and I live at higher elevation in the mountains.  Using Precision Delta 147 FMJ over 3.4 gr of VV N320 I get between 860-910 in various Glock 34s and STIs.  I am using Federal SPP and a Lee FCD.  Don't be afraid to shorten the COL some to make your load run in all your guns.  I noted very little if any velocity change shortening my loads.  I know what the load manuals say.  You need a chronograph in your life  

[Kilrb]

I loaded 147 FMJ  1.125 OAL with Sport Pistol at 3.3 Grains and made 141 PF, coated from my experience usually take less I am going to 3.0  Grains next on FMJ

Edited April 28, 2021 by Kilrb

[mpmo]

1 hour ago, Kilrb said:

I loaded 147 FMJ  1.125 OAL with Sport Pistol at 3.3 Grains and made 141 PF, coated from my experience usually take less I am going to 3.0  Grains next 

 

Yep.  For me coated is consistently 0.3gr less powder than plated for the same PF.

 

[Michael303]

In my G34 (5" barrel) I was running the 147g BBI FP with 3.1g of N320, 1.14 coal, and mixed brass.  It worked great and makes PF consistently. 

 

The 3.1g load had trouble cycling my G19 with a small comp so I went up to 3.3g so I could run one load in all my Glocks reliably.

[jabarihunt]

First, thanks for the responses!!!

So...all three loads ran great as far as cycling my STI DVC Limited.  Again, my chrono doesn't arrive until Tuesday and I have an IDPA match this weekend.  It's a local match, so I'll load 3.4 gr and call it a day for now on that front.  Besides, according to most here I'm well over 130 PF.  I have a MUCH bigger issue though.

 

I had a TON of misfires due to the Sellier & Bellot primers.  They had pretty significant hits on them though, I'm surprised they didn't fire!  They are labeled small pistol primers, but these things are crazy hard.  I tested 30 of them the other day in a completely different load (115gr Hornady RN with 4.4gr N320) but in a different gun (my trusty Ruger P95), they ran flawlessly.  I started thinking my STI was the issue, maybe too light of a hammer spring.  I ran three different brands of factory ammo and it ran great though.

 

I didn't get a chance to run them through the M&P 2.0.  It's striker fired, so I'm not expecting the best results.  I'll load up a few more tonight and test them in the AM.  Antone else have experience with Sellier & Bellot primers?

[Aric]

Have you tried the pencil test in your STI?  

[Furrly]

any spring modifications to your STI or is it stock??

[jabarihunt]

6 hours ago, Aric said:

Have you tried the pencil test in your STI?  

 

Yes.  The pencil came out every time, but not as vigorously as another 1911 I tested with.  I may adjust my trigger and see if I receive better results.

 

1 hour ago, Furrly said:

any spring modifications to your STI or is it stock??

 

Nope, everything is stock.  I may install a lighter firing pin spring.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello, for your STI get a Dawson extended firing pin and a ISMI firing pin spring. For now just check your firing pin tunnel to see how dirty it is. Thanks, Eric

[jabarihunt]

UPDATE:

 

A couple of updates actually.  First, the Sellier & Bellot primers are all good!  It was a small string on unfortunate events that was causing the issue.  I started on-press priming about a month ago (on a Lyman All-American 8 Turret Press) with zero issues.  The last time I swapped the press on my Ultramount, I also removed my Lyman 9mm shell holder.  When I put it back on, I used a Hornady 9mm shell holder.  Long story short, the opening on the Lyman shell holders are slightly larger and allow primers to be seated deeper when using their presses.  The primers were ever so slightly high.  Every gun I ran them through fired every shot EXCEPT my STI.  IMO - this is a design flaw in Lyman's on-press priming system, but I'm still going to install an extended firing pin.  At any rate, I said forget it and went back to using my Lee Auto-Prime tool.  Since then I've gone back to having zero primer issues across all firearms.

 

Second, I was finally able to chrono my loads.  As you can see from the photos below, My STI DVC Limited preferred 3.3 gr of N320 (right) wile my CZ P-10F preferred 3.2 gr in order to make 130 PF (left).  3.1 gr was under 125 PF for my STI and just barely made it for the CZ. That said, I'm going to load both at 3.3 gr they seemed to like that load accuracy wise.  I wasn't shooting for groups at all, but I included a photo of the target (15 yards).

 

NOTE: The chrono didn't pick up one of the shots on both of these strings: