first 9mm plated test

[Nevada Ed]

Took the chrony and bullets over to the son-in-laws house and we talked where to shoot and Guage's dad, Todd said he knew of a place near by.
Only 4 miles out but the back roads were wet and still snow covered and was chewed up from other traffic, making for some slipping and sliding.
Todd brought a table and some tarps but the area was a mess so we went for just chrony work instead of walking back and forth in the mud for targets..... which would make mama happy.

115gr plated were not too bad and the loads posted:
Bullseye .... 1037
Red Dot .... 1073
w 231 ........1111
Green Dot .. 1079
Unique ....... 1212 (medium load.. surprised at fps )
SR4756 ...... 1103 .......... trying for a 1050 average on all loads.

124gr all loads at 4.5grs
Bullseye........ 1114
Red Dot........ 1145
w 231 .......... 1075
Green .......... 1097

At least I have some data to work on now. All cases ejected and
no malfunctions. Will try a little longer oal on the next test.

Later.

 

[rwsmith]

Thanks...

Thanks for the report. I've avoided plated bullets like the plague, but after rethinking, I will probably go that way. I was mistaken, ok?

 

[novalty]

Appreciate the data Nevada Ed, but I gotsta know where these those tapered bullets I've heard so much about?

 

[S&W HE]

Thanks for the information Nevada Ed.

I don't often shoot a 9mm but a good friend of mine does so I loaded 100 115 gr Xtreme Plated RN bullets with 4.4 grains of Red Dot and WSP primers in R-P cases. The results were impressive... a ragged hole at 15 yards using my friends little XD. (I'd forgotten how little a 9mm kicks and was quite surprised at the group it shot.)

 

[Nevada Ed]

What tapered bullets ?

I did not hear about those.........

 

[OKFC05]

Will try a little longer oal on the next test.

What OAL did you use on this batch? Not listed.

Would have been interested in accuracy, but mud, sure....We got a batch of freezing rain and rain, and I haven't been to the range in a week. Going into withdrawal..

 

[blujax01]

.. I was mistaken, ok?

That has happened to me once...or twice.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I used the oal from the Nosler site...............

I think they are a "Fit all" length and not ment for accuracy.
I noticed lots of todays ammo is at the "Short" end of the settings.

I think the X-long oal are now just a "Custom" setting by reloaders...............looking for accuracy out of "Their pistols".

 

[Nevada Ed]

12/28/13.....
Noticed something from my old 1983 and this year loading data.............. (no 147gr )

Of all the bullets loaded from the 95gr to the 125gr Speer
weather a HP or a FMJ.............

Did any of you seat a bullet deeper than .22" below the case rim ?
Since there is always lots of OAL for bullets , I just wondered if this might be the "Holy Grail" for the maximum depth of bullets vs powders?

However if the 147 seats deeper, then all bets are off and I will have to rethink things over and get back to the drawing boards !!

 

[SuperMan]

...not sure why all the reservations about plated bullets... Have been using them since they came out and accuracy has been excellent to say the least.

Have not loaded any in 9mm but have loaded well over 50K in .38 Super... Velocity with 100 grain Berry's was in the 1400 fps and 124s in the 1200s.

Marine Corps Qualification Course that runs out to 25 yards with 124 Berry's...





100 grain Berry's at 10 yards...





100 grain Berrys at 15 yards...












As to seating depth...just never worried about it... In a semi-auto looking for feeding reliability first. Once the seating depth is found then vary the powder charge to get the velocity wanted...

Reloading manuals are a guide not a Bible...

Bob

 

[Fla_Sun]

"Reloading manuals are a guide not a Bible..."

Well said Superman. plated bullets can be conquered now days using your brain and maybe some help with certain software.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Think you guys are right!

I noticed something weird............
2005 Alliant edition has a "Minimum OAL" of a 124gr FMJ at.......1.15"

The Hodgdon internet has a Sierra 124 FMJ with a OAL at..........1.09"

1. What's with that ??

2. Most company ammo now comes with the FMJ at 1.12" as a fit all ammo for generally all pistols.

I have read that 115gr "Ball Ammo" can be at 1.169". Does this maximum length for this short bullet give it enough seating depth for good enough support?

I am sort of confused...............

 

[125JHP]

I generally put the bullet in the case about .25" (give or take .05") and let the nose fall where it may. As long as it feeds reliably I don't worry about it as there are a wide range of nose designs that will vary the OAL

 

[Bkreutz]

Think you guys are right!

I noticed something weird............
2005 Alliant edition has a "Minimum OAL" of a 124gr FMJ at.......1.15"

The Hodgdon internet has a Sierra 124 FMJ with a OAL at..........1.09"

1. What's with that ??

2. Most company ammo now comes with the FMJ at 1.12" as a fit all ammo for generally all pistols.

I have read that 115gr "Ball Ammo" can be at 1.169". Does this maximum length for this short bullet give it enough seating depth for good enough support?

I am sort of confused...............

The minimum OAL is determined by the powder. Loading deeper (shorter) than minimums can create an excess pressure problem. That's why it's important to find a recipe that lists your specific bullet and powder rather than using just the weight of the bullet as the only criteria for reloading data.

 

[webfarmer]

...not sure why all the reservations about plated bullets... Have been using them since they came out and accuracy has been excellent to say the least.

Bob

I agree with Bob. Been using RMR plated .45 ACP (230 grain RN) and 9MM (115 Grain RN) bullets and enjoy excellent accuracy with reduced shooting costs to boot. Got into IDPA practice shooting and the plated bullets - RMR anyway - have excelled at jackets velocities. Good luck!

 

[tlay]

A 115 gr. lead bullet will be a different length than a 115 gr. plated bullet. I have found as much as 30 thousands difference in length of 115 gr. bullets. If you were to put them all to the same OAL then you could have some over pressure problems. Go by the min. OAL that the recipe calls for for the best match of your bullet. You can go longer in length but you will usually loose f.p.s.

 

[fla_gun]

A 115 gr. lead bullet will be a different length than a 115 gr. plated bullet. I have found as much as 30 thousands difference in length of 115 gr. bullets. If you were to put them all to the same OAL then you could have some over pressure problems. Go by the min. OAL that the recipe calls for for the best match of your bullet. You can go longer in length but you will usually loose f.p.s.

Quickload will give you the measurements of a certain manufacturers bullet. Compare and adjust as needed. Or you can just guess.

 

[blujax01]

Quickload software is $152.99 and not available for Mac.

Hornady, Speer, Sierra and other manuals give dimensions of their bullets and I can compare and adjust as needed from that data without guessing.

No doubt Quickload may be cool but I'll get along fine without it, thanks.

 

[fla_gun]

Quickload software is $152.99 and not available for Mac.

Hornady, Speer, Sierra and other manuals give dimensions of their bullets and I can compare and adjust as needed from that data without guessing.

No doubt Quickload may be cool but I'll get along fine without it, thanks.

Lets see, I just checked only 2 of my latest manuals (Hornady 9th and and aging Speer 14th). I got BCC, sectional density and ballistic coefficient but not one had the bullet length. I don't think I even need to look at the others. Please enlighten me sir?

 

[blujax01]

You know, you 're right. I thought I could deduce the bullet length by the diagrams in the upper corner of the pages but that's only for the dimensions of the cases.

I suppose I'll have to keep assuming that a plated HP 124gr. is "close enough" to a jacketed HP 124gr. length-wise to work up my loads from about the same starting point.

Mea Culpa