The Firearms Forum banner

More experimentation needed.

1K views 21 replies 10 participants last post by  SteveM 
#1 ·
... And there's certainly nothing wrong with that!

I hit the range before work tonight with my first reloads.

115gr Berry's 9mm round nose
5.7, 5.9, and 6.1 grains of AA#7 (10 each)
Federal Small Pistol primers

The two smaller loads didn't cycle the gun at all (Glock 26). The higher one gave me some stovepipes.

The range safety officer at this particular range is an experienced reloader. He suggested I try the 6.1 load in my other 9mm (didn't have it with me) before changing anything up, then work on tightening the crimp slightly before going higher with the charge.

I'm definitely excited to keep learning and growing in this new hobby. It was really cool shooting my first hand loads.
Next month I hit the job range again where I'll pick up a bunch of new brass to work with.

I'm definitely going to stick with 9mm only until I have the basics down pat.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
It is a great feeling of accomplishment sending your own loads down range. The RSO made a good point. Sometimes what doesn't work in one firearm works well in another. The experimenting is half the fun.
Gotta ask. Did you do like some first timers do? Turn your head, cup and cringe as you squeezed the trigger?
 
  • Like
Reactions: ejkoechling
#5 ·
I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to get started with reloading. Time will tell. Then, I'll pick a caliber and reload it to get comfortable and the loads I want before moving to the other calibers.
 
#6 ·
Accurate's data for that bullet shows from 7-8.2 grains. You're very light.......that would account for the stovepipes.
 
#7 ·
Both my hornady and Sierra manuals start at 7 grains AA7 with 115 fmjs. Sounds like you may want to bump up your load a bit.

The range master is likely correct that the 6.1 rounds may fire just fine in your other guns, but do you really want the hassle of keeping two separate 9mm stashes? For my thinking it would be best to find a good load that works in all your 9's.
 
#9 ·
look at the load data provided by your powder manufacturer. I couldn't find a recipe I wanted for a 7/8's oz shotgun load, so I called Hogdon. The guy in the lab there gave me the info I needed to get 1350 FPS and keep the pressure around 10,000. Call the powder people, they have the info you need
 
#15 ·
My first loads for my Glock 27 used starting loads listed in the Hornady manual and all of them fed and cycled the action reliably and produced velocities about 60 FPS under their listed velocities from a 4" barrel.. They also have performed well in another .40 S&W handgun. This was using 180gr Berry's plated bullets and 700x powder, just don't use load data that exceeds 1250 FPS.

The advantage of Lee is that they often list powders not found in my Hornady or Lyman manuals. These days you shoot the powder that you have, not the one of your choosing. Because of this pistol powder situation I decided to try a starting load of SR-4756 from the Lee manual in my .357 Magnum. The expected velocity was around 1000 FPS so I braced myself then squeezed the trigger. The resulting bunny fart that squeaked out set me to laughing out loud alone in the woods. A glance at the chrono showed just over 600 FPS. I am grateful for having a broad range of load data to work with, but Lee load data has left something to be desired in my experience.

When I get home tonight I'll try to remember to look up what Hornady suggests as a starting load for your choice of components.
 
#18 ·
Hornady 9th edition starting load for a 115gr 9mm using AA#7 is 7.0gr (1000FPS) with a max of 8.6gr (1200FPS). Velocities are with a 4" barrel so no way you are going to hit 1250FPS with your G26. My Nosler and Lyman manuals list very similar loadings as well.

I don't know where Lee got their plated bullet data, but it just doesn't add up. A starting charge of 5.7gr of AA#7 under a 115gr plated bullet provides 1027FPS but to get a jacketed bullet to 994FPS requires 6.4gr? That doesn't pass the sniff test. Notice that Lee doesn't give any indication of barrel length that was used, making the velocity data unreliable.

A slight amendment to my previous post. Actual velocity of my 180gr Berry's reloads in my G27 with 3.42" barrel was just about 100FPS under Hornady numbers (generated with a 4" barrel) using SR-4756.
 
#19 ·
Airborne glad to see you getting into a totally different hobby, it's fun and adictive isn't it? Once you get it down pat try casting your own projectiles. You want to talk about a feeling of acomplishment! Everytime I get into a casting session I think how proud our forefathers would be of me. :)
 
#20 ·
If we ever move to a bigger house, my plan is to build or find one that already has some sort of outbuilding for my hobbies. A barn, big shed, detached garage, whatever. At that point, casting will definitely be on the list of things taking up some of the room!

As it stands now, my setup is in a corner of my attic which required a little work to make it useable. I can't even call it my "cave". It's more like a hovel. :D
 
#21 ·
I loaded up 39 more rounds this morning using 7.0 and 7.2 gr of AA#7 respectively. I referenced the data from the AA website.

The odd number came from seating one primer upside down! Do any of you try to knock those out or just toss them? I tossed it.

I'm going to shoot these on tuesday unless something comes up. This time I'm going to bring both of my 9mm's.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top