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Old 12-31-2016, 04:05 AM
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rwsmith rwsmith is offline
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Default FINAL DATA POST 217: How do you make a 9mm bullet act more like a .45

This may be more ballistics/performance than actual reloading, but I've been doing some thinking.

A few .45 ACP facts:

Even .45s that don't expand are effective because of their size.

A .45 bullet weighing 230 grains is effective at 830 ft/sec.

Therefore:

The heaviest 9mm bullet that can be fired at 830 fps or higher, and was designed to expand at this velocity to about .45 in. dia. would most closely resemble performance in a .45 with a non expanding bullet. I believe that a 165 gr. bullet or maybe slightly heavier would be able to do this.


I think that this would also apply to .40 S&W in a 180 grain or slightly heavier, again, if it were designed to expand at mid-800 fps velocity.

In conclusion I think that a bullet similar to a Speer 135 grain short barrel bullet similar to that in the .38 special version but weighing 165 gr for 9mm or 180 gr. for .40 S&W would most closely emulate the .45 ACPs effectiveness.

I've been loading 125 gr. 9mm bullet in the belief that that is a 'good compromise' in velocity and weight. After thinking this up, I'm wondering if a heavy bullet designed to expand at low velocity could be a more effective round, which would also apply to the .40 S&W.

IF this is true, it gives a lie (in the PRACTICAL world) to the "Less mass, high velocity" theory in favor of the "High mass, less velocity with a bullet designed for the job" theory.

At present, a commercially available bullet that would lean in this direction would be something like a 158 grain Speer Gold Dot, which is short of what I'm looking for, along with being designed for about 950 ft/sec in order to expand. If somebody cares to test this, it would at least tell us that this is the right direction. I also think that a heavy cast HPSWC would be a good test. I'm going to look around on the net to see what testing has been done.

Arguments? Questions? Comments? Conjecture? Am I full of mud????

UPDATE: I just watched a Youtube video of gelatin tests of a 9mm 147 gr Speer GD. 14" of penetration with expansion of about .59" (Wow). This idea just may pan out.
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Last edited by rwsmith; 02-20-2018 at 08:10 PM. Reason: update
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