Sudden Death Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Right now I am in the middle of building a 9 major for open on a STI platform and I was wondering what would be the best weight bullet for the gun there is about a half dozen bullet weights to choose from 115,121, 124,125,135,147 ...... I was kinda thinking of using the 135 in hopes of using a little less powder, and in hopes that recoil would be a little less but with some of the things I doing to this gun the powder and bullet weight may not play that big of a factor in a flater shot. And I think I have narrowed it down to what powder I will be using too HS-6. So what bullet weight are you guys using and why ? Thanks for any and all info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 115-125 grain bullets. More space for powder, more gas for the comp, flat and fast. I use 115's, they feel best and the dot does what I want to see. Skip the HS-6, it is nasty filthy dirty terrible stuff. Try Silhouette, N350, 3n-37 and 3n-38. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 115-125 grain bullets. More space for powder, more gas for the comp, flat and fast. I use 115's, they feel best and the dot does what I want to see. Skip the HS-6, it is nasty filthy dirty terrible stuff. Try Silhouette, N350, 3n-37 and 3n-38. 115s for me as well... also use Silouette. 3N37 can melt down a gun if you shoot a lot in a hurry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Outsider Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 I'm using 125gr Zero JSPs, with HS6. Yeah, it is dirty powder, but my gun is running great with it Even 8.1gr of HS6 it still leaves some room between the bullet and the powder (1.155" OAL). Not much but some... The round is stiff, but still controllable and pretty accurate to boot. If you already have some HS6, load'em up and give them a try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexor40cal Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 I'm with the Outsider, Zero 125 Gr JHP's over 8.1Gr HS6 @ 1.150" AOL works great, it is a dirty powder but cleaning is free, this is an extremely accruate load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexor40cal Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 115-125 grain bullets. More space for powder, more gas for the comp, flat and fast. I use 115's, they feel best and the dot does what I want to see. Skip the HS-6, it is nasty filthy dirty terrible stuff. Try Silhouette, N350, 3n-37 and 3n-38. 115s for me as well... also use Silouette. 3N37 can melt down a gun if you shoot a lot in a hurry. I have heard from a well renouned local gun builder that 3N37 will burn the rifling out of an open barrel over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 115-125 grain bullets. More space for powder, more gas for the comp, flat and fast. I use 115's, they feel best and the dot does what I want to see. Skip the HS-6, it is nasty filthy dirty terrible stuff. Try Silhouette, N350, 3n-37 and 3n-38. 115s for me as well... also use Silouette. 3N37 can melt down a gun if you shoot a lot in a hurry. I have heard from a well renouned local gun builder that 3N37 will burn the rifling out of an open barrel over time. So will every other gunpowder Actually it's not the rifling so much as the throat area that gets worn and causes a loss of accuracy. Some powders will do this a bit faster than others, but it's going to happen eventually with all of them. The trick with an Open gun and any powder, but especially 3N37 is to let the gun cool between strings. It doesn't make much difference in a match as the gun has plenty of time to cool, but during practice it's good to think about it. Some people have two guns and rotate, some keep a cooler with ice and some do both. No, I don't use 3N37, but I do have a couple of pounds to experiment with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Barrel burning doesn't really matter to me, I build my own. New comp and barrel costs me part of an afternoon and $300. $300 is chump change compared to what I spend to play this game. That said, 3N-37 puts heat in the gun at a rate that I have never seen before. If you aren't smart about using it in practice then you absolutely could WRECK a barrel in short order. Problem is that it is insanely accurate, as consistent as anything you will EVER find, and runs the comp as well as anything you can run in a 9mm. Use your head, the barrel will be fine. Get silly and pay what it costs to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Carter Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 121 gr. Montana Gold, 8.1gr HS-6, 1.160 oal, 170.2pf. I go for the 121gr. MG to get a little more gas over the 124/125's so the gun seems flater to me 115's were also good but made the gun a little more snappy for my taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWLAZS Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I use the 125 zero jhp over 3n37 just like my gun builder said. It shoots flat and accurate as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Outsider Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 121 gr. Montana Gold, 8.1gr HS-6, 1.160 oal, 170.2pf. I go for the 121gr. MG to get a little more gas over the 124/125's so the gun seems flater to me 115's were also good but made the gun a little more snappy for my taste. Theo, how long is your barrel? How many ports are on your comp? Any ports on your barrel? Sorry for all the questions, but I think I might give the MGs a try, since Zeros are getting hard to find. On my 125gr Zeros JSPs, 8.1gr HS6, 1.155OAL, I get 169PF out of my 5" Briley barrel that has 4 popple holes. I also have a 6 port Briley comp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Carter Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Outsider my gun is a STI Truber pretty much stock no barrel holes. The barrel is one piece S-1 comp and barrel might try a S-2 in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scirocco38s Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Barrel burning doesn't really matter to me, I build my own. New comp and barrel costs me part of an afternoon and $300. $300 is chump change compared to what I spend to play this game. That said, 3N-37 puts heat in the gun at a rate that I have never seen before. If you aren't smart about using it in practice then you absolutely could WRECK a barrel in short order. Problem is that it is insanely accurate, as consistent as anything you will EVER find, and runs the comp as well as anything you can run in a 9mm. Use your head, the barrel will be fine. Get silly and pay what it costs to fix it. H, I agree with you about 3n37 accuracy and heat. But I have shot alot of 3n37 in practice sessions that would last 3 hours and be 600+ rounds and got the gun plenty hot, It was a Trubor barrel and that barrel is still running and accurate after 80k thru it. I think that 3n37 and 3n38 are the 2 best powders I have used in an open gun. I have started expierementing with Loongshot to be an alternative if my sources of Viht dry up. I havent tried 3n37 or 3n38 in major 9 but a friend says he makes major with it real easy. I am using SP-2 right now but I only have about another 8lbs of it and then I will have to move on to something else as Longshot doesnt work in major 9 loaded at factory oal. I only shoot montana 121's so I have that to wory with althouugh I still have my data from when I shot 124"s. I havent shot 115's in 4years, when I switched away from 115's with n340. It was alittle harsh and tough on STI slides. Whichever bullet I have shot from my guns the best powder regardless of bullet weight has been 3n37/38. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Martin, I am running a KKM in my 9mm Open gun, and have beaten it severely. 5.5", no holes anywhere that KKM didn't put in it. It has lost about 60 fps from new, but still stacks bullets in the same hole so it stays in the gun. The comp is getting beat up too, when the comp is toast I will probably just pull them both out and put a new set in. Around 20K on this barrel and comp, but like I said they have been abused badly. Both have been insanely hot and cooled down with less than kind procedures, repeatedly.... ALL below is 9mm specific...... Silhouette feels and shoots like 3N-37. I have done blind tests myself and with a couple VERY experienced Open shooters, shooting the gun I cannot tell the difference and the others can't either. It is slightly dirtier, and slightly less consistent. SD will be 3-5 times higher, but 3-5 times an SD of 3 or 4 fps is still very good. Accuracy is there, comp works great, gun stays clean which is important for me because I don't clean mine until it won't run anymore as I just don't choose to have the time to clean it. 3n-37 and Silhouette have both been stable and without pressure problems well into the 190 power factor range with 115 grain bullets. Longshot works at 1.17" and longer but I have never tried shorter with it. It works but it is a funny powder. Start low and work up, as you approach power factor keep an eye on the SD, it really starts to open up as pressure increases. As the SD goes up average velocity will probably start dropping. It seems to me there is a narrow pressure band where Longshot really works well, above or below that and it sucks. It is also very dirty to shoot, probably about midway between 3n-37 and HS-6 for how fast the gun gunks up. The speed I have lost in my barrel has put me right on the edge of not being able to make major with Longshot. I have a couple pounds of 3n-37 left, and use it for 'big' matches. I am going to order in a case of Silhouette for this coming season, it is about the same price as Longshot. Believe it or not, I can get VV powders easier here than Ramshot, there are several stocking dealers that still have a pound or two of 3n-37 on the shelf but NONE that will even order the Silhouette for me. There is a local shooter that was shooting N340 with a 125, it was very quiet, very soft too. I thought he was shooting a steel load or a minor load. I would have bet a steak dinner it wasn't major but he tested it at 169....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hostetter Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Zero 125gr JHP's and HS-6 powder, very accuracte load............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I am running 115's and can make it with HS6 and Longshot pretty easily. I am running a 5" gun with no bbl holes in it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scirocco38s Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Martin, I am running a KKM in my 9mm Open gun, and have beaten it severely. 5.5", no holes anywhere that KKM didn't put in it. It has lost about 60 fps from new, but still stacks bullets in the same hole so it stays in the gun. The comp is getting beat up too, when the comp is toast I will probably just pull them both out and put a new set in. Around 20K on this barrel and comp, but like I said they have been abused badly. Both have been insanely hot and cooled down with less than kind procedures, repeatedly.... ALL below is 9mm specific...... Silhouette feels and shoots like 3N-37. I have done blind tests myself and with a couple VERY experienced Open shooters, shooting the gun I cannot tell the difference and the others can't either. It is slightly dirtier, and slightly less consistent. SD will be 3-5 times higher, but 3-5 times an SD of 3 or 4 fps is still very good. Accuracy is there, comp works great, gun stays clean which is important for me because I don't clean mine until it won't run anymore as I just don't choose to have the time to clean it. 3n-37 and Silhouette have both been stable and without pressure problems well into the 190 power factor range with 115 grain bullets. Longshot works at 1.17" and longer but I have never tried shorter with it. It works but it is a funny powder. Start low and work up, as you approach power factor keep an eye on the SD, it really starts to open up as pressure increases. As the SD goes up average velocity will probably start dropping. It seems to me there is a narrow pressure band where Longshot really works well, above or below that and it sucks. It is also very dirty to shoot, probably about midway between 3n-37 and HS-6 for how fast the gun gunks up. The speed I have lost in my barrel has put me right on the edge of not being able to make major with Longshot. I have a couple pounds of 3n-37 left, and use it for 'big' matches. I am going to order in a case of Silhouette for this coming season, it is about the same price as Longshot. Believe it or not, I can get VV powders easier here than Ramshot, there are several stocking dealers that still have a pound or two of 3n-37 on the shelf but NONE that will even order the Silhouette for me. There is a local shooter that was shooting N340 with a 125, it was very quiet, very soft too. I thought he was shooting a steel load or a minor load. I would have bet a steak dinner it wasn't major but he tested it at 169....... I had no problem making major with no holes in the barrel, but that isnt the feel i like with the gun so I had my guy put 3 holes in the barrel and then it wouldnt make major with Longshot. I am still ok with 3n37/38 and SP-2 is killer, good dot movement and clean. I wish we could get someone to import Vectan powder again. I will try Sihloette and see how it works for me. If I have to clean the gun a little extra, then so be it. I only shoot the Montana bullets, Its all I have shot since 2002, and they are available all the time and they are accurate. I moved to the 121 last year but I will shoot the 124 with no problems either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 124 MG JHP over VV N350. I tried the 3N38 & 3N37. I did not like them as well as the N350. Barrel is a 5" Barsto w/ Millennium Custom Comp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxshooter Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Jim Anglin built full size 9MM open gun no barrel holes. 7.8 gr True Blue 125 gr Zero JHP Win SRP 1.157 OAL 170 PF Very accurate and clean load in my gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctgun Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 G17 w/KKM barrel & comp 7.6gr Sillohette 124 gr MG JHP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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