Been a long day

DougE

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Ok ...... I got my shipment from Kempf's this morning which consisted of lee deluxe die sets in 9mm and 40 s&w and 1000 158gn. LRNFP 38/357 bullets.I planned on getting started loading up some 38's but I got thwarted quickly. It seems that the seating die I got with my used rcbs 38/357 die set does not apply a crimp so I need to get a crimping die to use that set. So on to other things ...... I picked up a pack of 100 Zero 124 gr. FMJ 9mm from my local shop and figured I'd go on load some of them up. Well that didn't exactly work out either since the load data I have on hand does not include unique for a 124gn. FMJ ( I have unique on hand from loading for shotgun and figured on using it up before going to other powders ). The data I have shows a 9mm 115gr. FMJ with a starting load of 5.1 gn. with unique. After much study and searching I came up with this starting point for the 124gn. FMJ:

zero 9mm 124gr. FMJ
4.7gr. Unique
OAL 1.145"
Rem. 1 1/2 (sp)primer ( it was either remington primers or nothing ....).

This sound like a reasonable starting load ?
 
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Ok ...... I got my shipment from Kempf's this morning which consisted of lee deluxe die sets in 9mm and 40 s&w and 1000 158gn. LRNFP 38/357 bullets.I planned on getting started loading up some 38's but I got thwarted quickly. It seems that the seating die I got with my used rcbs 38/357 die set does not apply a crimp so I need to get a crimping die to use that set. So on to other things ...... I picked up a pack of 100 Zero 124 gr. FMJ 9mm from my local shop and figured I'd go on load some of them up. Well that didn't exactly work out either since the load data I have on hand does not include unique for a 124gn. FMJ ( I have unique on hand from loading for shotgun and figured on using it up before going to other powders ). The data I have shows a 9mm 115gr. FMJ with a starting load of 5.1 gn. with unique. After much study and searching I came up with this starting point for the 124gn. FMJ:

zero 9mm 124gr. FMJ
4.7gr. Unique
OAL 1.145"
Rem. 1 1/2 (sp)primer ( it was either remington primers or nothing ....).

This sound like a reasonable starting load ?
 
Actually your 9MM load sounds a bit light for Unique powder. My Speer manual shows a starting load of 5.2 grains. I would recommend that you check out the Alliant website for reloading data. I don't recommend more that 5.8 grains and the new Alliant data seems to support this. At least try 5 grains to start with as I'm sure you will find that to be a good starting point Good luck with your new hobby. Bruce
BTW Your OAL seems a bit long as well. Speer list 1.135" for the FMJ. If you can get them into the magazine then it's ok. Most of my loads run 1.120".
http://www.alliantpowder.com/r...&bulletid=26&bdid=33
 
Originally posted by Bruce Lee M:
Actually your 9MM load sounds a bit light for Unique powder. My Speer manual shows a starting load of 5.2 grains. I would recommend that you check out the Alliant website for reloading data. I don't recommend more that 5.8 grains and the new Alliant data seems to support this. At least try 5 grains to start with as I'm sure you will find that to be a good starting point Good luck with your new hobby. Bruce

Thanks Bruce ....... alliant was one of the first places I looked and they did not show any data for the bullets I'm loading ..... all I find there is data for gdhp's and I'm not in a position to extrapolate data between different bullet types at this point. The data I have with my die set does show the same type bullet I'm loading in 115gr. using 5.1gr. of unique as a starting load so I looked around some and found the particular load in my original post for a 124gr. bullet of the same type.
 
That data is certainly in the safe area for the 9MM. FWIW in the Speer manual loads for all three types of bullets is exactly the same but OAL will vary. Maybe it is time to invest in a new reload manual and the more the better. The loads listed for 115 GD-HP, TMJ and JHP with Unique start at 5.6 grains and end at 6.3. My personal experience from tests show 6.2 to be in the hot zone so I stop at 6 grains with the 115gr FMJ and Unique. After that I switch to a slower powder. Bruce
 
All I have so far is the lyman 49th, the available online info from the powder mfgs. and the data that came with my die sets .......... I have the 2nd lee modern reloading manual on the way too. I do find conflicting data by consulting various sources though ........ one does not necessarily agree with the other.
 
The lyman 49th shows 4.5 to 5.0 of unique under a 125gr JHP in 9mm at an OAL of 1.075 ....... I'm not sure how this translates to loading a FMJ of about the same weight which is why I haven't loading anything yet.
 
The 9MM case is small and you will notice the OAL of 1.075" is much shorter than the Speer 1.135" for a FMJ. A bullet seated deeper will produce higher pressures with a given charge of powder. Set the bullet so it will function in your magazine but always stay within recommended OAL for a given weight of powder. This is critical for small capacity cases. You have decided to proceed with caution and research your load data. That is the best way to start reloading. Most reload data is not contradictory it is simply different data based on the components used and the guns tested at that time. That is why most of us will check several sources before loading anything. Bruce
 
The data I cited in that last post was for a sierra JHP # 8125 from the lyman 49th ........... caution is of the utmost importance to me .......... I'd kinda like to keep the parts I have left that still work properly lol
 
zero 9mm 124gr. FMJ
4.7gr. Unique
OAL 1.145"
Rem. 1 1/2 (sp)primer ( it was either remington primers or nothing ....).

I loaded up a handful of these today and will try them out tomorrow and see how they do. Shouldn't be any danger of double charging 9mm cases with unique since a 4.7gr. charge fills the cases around 3/4 of the way.
 
Originally posted by DougE:
zero 9mm 124gr. FMJ
4.7gr. Unique
OAL 1.145"
Rem. 1 1/2 (sp)primer ( it was either remington primers or nothing ....).

I loaded up a handful of these today and will try them out tomorrow and see how they do. Shouldn't be any danger of double charging 9mm cases with unique since a 4.7gr. charge fills the cases around 3/4 of the way.

This load worked out pretty good. The pistol ( walther PPS ) cycled fine with light recoil and there were obviously no signs of high pressure with this load. I didn't load enough of them to make any judgements as far as the accuracy of the load so I'll load up more of them and see what they do as far as accuracy. Most definitely a positive experience for my first attempt at reloading handgun cartridges.
 
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