124 gr. 9 mm; HAP vs PD.....

[gaijin]

I was intrigued by a recent thread in another forum in which one of the members related his superb accuracy using the 124 gr. HAP bullet from Hornady. One inch, 5 shot, 25 yd. groups are darned good for a 9 mm pistol.
I had/have no reason to doubt his claims as he is obviously a seasoned, upper level Bullseye competitor.
Additionally my experience with Hornady has been well above average regarding their bullets accuracy.
My background is "Action Pistol" competitions; USPSA, Steel Challenge and NRA Action Pistol.
While USPSA doesn't require 1" @ 25 yd. accuracy to be in the running, it certainly doesn't hurt.
NRA Action Pistol is a different story; all the accuracy you can get is a good thing.
I have been shooting PD (Precision Delta) 124 gr. JHP's for Steel Challenge/Action Pistol and general range duties. They have been entirely adequate for these purposes.
I acquired a couple thousand HAP bullets to see how they'd fare in my pistols.
This morning I had a chance to try them against the PD bullets in my most accurate 9 mm; a custom 1911 with Baer slide/frame, Kart barrel and EGW/Wilson "parts".
The load was the same excepting bullets; 3.9 gr. TiteGroup, CCI 500 primers, Win. cases, 1.140" COAL (I lengthened the leade in this barrel to shoot longer OAL cartridges). This load produces a 130 PF in the 1911 previously mentioned.
The PD load shot 1 3/16" 5 shot groups @ 25 yds. benchrested.
The HAP load produced 15/16" 5 shots groups as above.
Both loads shot to the same POI- no sight change necessary.
While 1/4" difference @ 25 yds. is not earth shaking, nor the few groups I shot statistically significant; the added confidence of that extra 1/4" is important in my mind.
I will be using this HAP load on any future precision matches and/or 50 yd. shooting.