135 grain projectile options for best accuracy

[Obvious]

Hello folks, I’ve recently gone down the rabbit hole of “what ifs” after discovering I really like how 135 grain 9mm feels to shoot. Very soft when loaded with win 231. I originally started with rmr bullets, which were jacketed. I’m now shooting up the xtreme 135 grains which are plated. 
 

From my understanding, typically a hollow point is able to stabilize the best and gives the best accuracy, followed by a jacketed bullet, and then plated bullets usually perform the worst. Where in this lineup would coated lead projectiles fall? 
 

Is anyone aware of a jacketed hollow point in 135 grain that isn’t crazy expensive? Or a jacketed 135gr projectile that’s under 10cpr? It seems like there aren’t very many options for this particular bullet weight but I figured I’d ask here to see if anyone’s more familiar. 

[Farmer]

@Obvious I haven’t checked prices for a while but I’ll tell you what I tried. I have a stock XDM and tried the Berrys RN, RMR RN, RMR Match Winner, and Blue RN all in 135 gn. The 2 that gave the best accuracy were the Berry’s RN and the RMR Match Winners (FN). I finally got the RMR RN to shoot well but had to seat them a fair amount deeper than the Berry’s which wasn’t a big deal but was frustrating to try and get figured out. The Blue’s were ok but not great as the others were easy to obtain great accuracy. 

[Joe4d]

4 hours ago, Farmer said:

@Obvious I haven’t checked prices for a while but I’ll tell you what I tried. I have a stock XDM and tried the Berrys RN, RMR RN, RMR Match Winner, and Blue RN all in 135 gn. The 2 that gave the best accuracy were the Berry’s RN and the RMR Match Winners (FN). I finally got the RMR RN to shoot well but had to seat them a fair amount deeper than the Berry’s which wasn’t a big deal but was frustrating to try and get figured out. The Blue’s were ok but not great as the others were easy to obtain great accuracy. 

I am thinking the blues failed you because they are coated cast bullets sized at .355 when every other plated and coated cast bullet is .356.  I see they do offer .356 now and would go that route.
I see Blue giving away bullets and sponsoring matches I shoot. So I will look at them first for next bullet order. 

[Farmer]

3 hours ago, Joe4d said:

I am thinking the blues failed you because they are coated cast bullets sized at .355 when every other plated and coated cast bullet is .356.  I see they do offer .356 now and would go that route.
I see Blue giving away bullets and sponsoring matches I shoot. So I will look at them first for next bullet order. 

They were .356 and they did shoot better than the .355’s that I had gotten previously, not horrible just not as good as the others. I need to work on them some more this winter. 

[MattyG47]

brass monkey bullets in 137 is a very nice and well priced bullet. I tried summit city's 135 and cant get it to pass case gauge or plunk test, which has never happened before.

[Joe4d]

3 hours ago, Farmer said:

They were .356 and they did shoot better than the .355’s that I had gotten previously, not horrible just not as good as the others. I need to work on them some more this winter. 

humm, I probably need to do the same with my 627, see whats what with an actual rest. I just kinda assume I cant shoot anymore,, but maybe its the gun or ammo not helping.  

 

[Obvious]

12 hours ago, Farmer said:

@Obvious I haven’t checked prices for a while but I’ll tell you what I tried. I have a stock XDM and tried the Berrys RN, RMR RN, RMR Match Winner, and Blue RN all in 135 gn. The 2 that gave the best accuracy were the Berry’s RN and the RMR Match Winners (FN). I finally got the RMR RN to shoot well but had to seat them a fair amount deeper than the Berry’s which wasn’t a big deal but was frustrating to try and get figured out. The Blue’s were ok but not great as the others were easy to obtain great accuracy. 

Appreciate this insight. I wish someone made a 135gr JHP but I don’t see any options available. I’ll probably use the RMR match winners going forward. I did notice better accuracy with my xtremes seated deeper. 1.110” vs 1.125”. I may order a small bag of the blues to compare to the others. 

[Farmer]

That’s what I had to do with the RMR RN. I even contacted Jake and he said the MW is the same as the RN just run through the die to form the flat nose. I normally start at .015” from the lands but with them I had to go to .040” to tighten them up. 

[fbzero]

I've never really found a 135gr JHP FMJ, but the RMR Match Winners do perform pretty well for me.  Back when the savings was more, I had good luck with the Blue Bullets 135gr TC's sized at .356.  Never did have much luck with any RN 135gr that I tried though, for whatever reason.

[ksy1]

@Obvious I think you are overthinking the utility of hollow points in practical shooting games. HPs are regarded for having better accuracy because of the manufacturing process without the exposed lead base. Hollowpoints tend to have more concentric bases, weight shifted to the rear, and more consistent bullet weight overall. For purposes of practical shooting, I wouldn't consider this as a real factor that would make a difference. My RMR 135s FMJ RNs have all been 135 +/- .2gr, which is really quite good if you consider bullets like Nosler Custom Comps and Sierra Match Kings guarantee a weight tolerance of +/- .1gr. You'll see Open division shooters using HPs because the solid bases will produce less smoke and prevent lead buildup in the compensator. If you aren't shooting open, it really doesn't matter other than having a hair more smoke.

 

If you like the RMR 135gr FMJ RNs or match winners, I'd just stick with those and wouldn't think too much about using HPs or plated. Use "thehighroad5" for 5% off and that should get you under $.10/bullet.

[Obvious]

1 hour ago, ksy1 said:

@Obvious I think you are overthinking the utility of hollow points in practical shooting games. HPs are regarded for having better accuracy because of the manufacturing process without the exposed lead base. Hollowpoints tend to have more concentric bases, weight shifted to the rear, and more consistent bullet weight overall. For purposes of practical shooting, I wouldn't consider this as a real factor that would make a difference. My RMR 135s FMJ RNs have all been 135 +/- .2gr, which is really quite good if you consider bullets like Nosler Custom Comps and Sierra Match Kings guarantee a weight tolerance of +/- .1gr. You'll see Open division shooters using HPs because the solid bases will produce less smoke and prevent lead buildup in the compensator. If you aren't shooting open, it really doesn't matter other than having a hair more smoke.

 

If you like the RMR 135gr FMJ RNs or match winners, I'd just stick with those and wouldn't think too much about using HPs or plated. Use "thehighroad5" for 5% off and that should get you under $.10/bullet.

While you’re not wrong, this was realistically a hypothetical. Around 10cpr is about the max I can justify spending for projectiles. I’d suspect any decent quality JHP would be a good bit more than that. I would prefer to shoot hollow points to give myself the best shot at consistent accuracy but don’t think I could afford to shoot as much as I do now if I only used JHP. I plan on sampling a few more 135gr bullets to see if I find one I like much more than the others. It seems that a 135gr JHP just isn’t made though. 

[Gunner66]

Unless you are shooting bullseye and accuracy is the that big of a difference maker, go with what works best for your gun and skill as the shooter.  Then go fast and put two shots in the A zone.  Seen really good shooters using factory loads they bought on the way to a match. 

[Obvious]

1 minute ago, Gunner66 said:

Unless you are shooting bullseye and accuracy is the that big of a difference maker, go with what works best for your gun and skill as the shooter.  Then go fast and put two shots in the A zone.  Seen really good shooters using factory loads they bought on the way to a match. 

Probably the gut check I needed. Sometimes the tism latches onto something harder than it should. I think I’ll try the rmr match winners and the xtreme plated hollow points, then just buy a couple thousand of whichever feels and performs the best. 

[ksy1]

17 hours ago, Obvious said:

While you’re not wrong, this was realistically a hypothetical. Around 10cpr is about the max I can justify spending for projectiles. I’d suspect any decent quality JHP would be a good bit more than that. I would prefer to shoot hollow points to give myself the best shot at consistent accuracy but don’t think I could afford to shoot as much as I do now if I only used JHP. I plan on sampling a few more 135gr bullets to see if I find one I like much more than the others. It seems that a 135gr JHP just isn’t made though. 

 

The level of accuracy and difference in precision between FMJs and JHPs you are looking for is really not relevant for the purposes of practical shooting. If you aren't shooting games like the NRA or CMP handgun national matches, you won't see a difference in accuracy whatsoever. I would just find 135gr FMJ or plated bullets your gun can group well and run them.

[MHicks]

I shoot 9mm 135gr lead Hitech coated bullets from various manufacturers.  Primarily for USPSA. I haven't really done careful, extensive accuracy testing. I have tried various bullet weights but have stuck with the 135gr. 

[Aar0n_K]

On 9/30/2024 at 10:12 AM, MattyG47 said:

brass monkey bullets in 137 is a very nice and well priced bullet. I tried summit city's 135 and cant get it to pass case gauge or plunk test, which has never happened before.

+1 for Brass Monkey Bullets. 

I placed an order with Summit City for the first time last month just to try them out and was disappointed by the inconsistent weight and length between bullets. 

[toby1304]

I’ve been reloading and shooting Falcon Bullets 135’s and love them. 

[Tunachaser]

Bear Creek 135 (137 actual weight) work well in my CZ's