What is your preferred grain for 9mm range ammo?

TahoeDust

TahoeDust

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I am working on accumulating a surplus of range ammo. I have fired 115gr and 147gr range ammo out of my FS 9mm and I prefer the 147gr. The ejection direction seemed more uniformed. With the 115gr I took a couple of casings off the bill of my hat. In the last few days I have ordered 500rds of 147gr from freedommunitions and 2 boxes of 127gr Geco from palmetto. I have not shot any 127gr range stuff yet so I'm interested to see how that goes.

What grain do you prefer to shoot at the range and why?
 
I shoot 115gr and have no ejection problems. But in all fairness, I load my own so I can control what happens more than buying ammo by the bullet weight and not knowing the powder charge that is in them. (a lot cheaper too).
 
Bkreutz said:
I shoot 115gr and have no ejection problems. But in all fairness, I load my own so I can control what happens more than buying ammo by the bullet weight and not knowing the powder charge that is in them. (a lot cheaper too).
Click to expand...

I plan on going that route later this year. For right now I com slave to the suppliers.
 
115 for the range. Nary a problem.

Sometimes I use 124, but 115 typically is cheap(er) and relatively easy to get. Relatively.
 
When I first started shooting competitively with 9mm, I asked the guys at the Performance Center what bullet to shoot and they told me the S&W team (at that time) shot the Montana Gold 124gr. bullet. That has been my mainstay ever since. The 121 Hornady HAP (Hornady Action Pistol) shoots really well and my cast 122gr lead conical bullets shoot well. I spoke to the guy who ran the PC and developed the 40S&W, Paul Liebenberg, and he told me the 125gr bullet is perfect for the twist of the barrels they use. That's what I shoot.
The two most accurate loads, that work in all my S&W guns, my AR-15 9mm Rock River, my Calico....all!!!!
1. 124gr Mt. Gold HP over 5.0gr. VV N330, Fed SP primer, R-P brass.
2. 124gr Mt. Gold HP over 4.4gr 231, Fed SP Primer, R-P brass.
 
With the 115gr I took a couple of casings off the bill of my hat.
Click to expand...

There's a lot more than bullet weight involved here. Some of the econo loads are so light on powder the brass barely makes it out of the gun, and they don't even make minor power (125) for competition.
What the poor ejection is telling you is that the loads are too light (need more powder) for your recoil spring. When properly matched, the empties land 3 to 6 feet away.

If you have a slow twist barrel, you may see some bullet stability issues with light 147gr loads, otherwise shoot whatever you like.
 
Last edited:
If I'm buying factory range ammo, I get whatever's cheapest. Just for fun plinkin'.

I reload 124s because that's what I carry.
 
When I was buying ammo, I also generally got whatever was available at a good price, but preferred 124gr. Just seemed to be more accurate for me. Now I only reload with 124gr bullets.
 
124 gr forever! I shoot it in FMJ at the range and I have it in Gold Dot short barrel when I pack a 9mm.
 
115g for range and corbon dpx 115 +p for SD.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
So do you guys tend to go with 115 for plinking because of price/availability? What if they were the same price and you had the choice? I ordered from freedommunitions and 115, 127, and 147 are within $2 of each other per 500rds and all three were in stock.
 
I know the recommendation is shoot with what you carry. I carry 124 +p and for home defense 135 +p. So my range ammo should be and I think is close enough at 115 gr. Plus it fits the budget and I can find it!
 
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