on November 28, 2009 8:23 AM
Tried out my new 9mm practice load.
Bullet: Precision Delta 9mm 115 grain FMJ
Powder: 6.8 grains HS6
Primer: Winchester Small Pistol
Brass: Mixed
COL: 1.140"
The goal was to get something that runs a little closer to my self-defense load: Speer 9mm +P 124 grain Gold Dot.
I mostly use the Hornady 7th Edition reloading manual, but I didn't like the load they had for 9mm/115gr/HS6. So I began digging and found a much hotter load in Speer #11 (the powder charge was so much higher that I thought it might be a misprint).
I ended up arriving at a number just under Hodgdon's max load of 7.0 grains as a starting point.
Anyway, on to the data analysis ...
My load (feet per second)
Speer 9mm +P 124 grain Gold Dot
S&B 9mm 115 grain FMJ
The interesting thing to me is how much snappier the Gold Dots feel despite only being 60 fps faster on average. I guess that extra 9 grains of bullet and faster powder really makes a difference.
I didn't recover much brass due to shooting in the weeds, but it looks fine. I'm going to keep working up until I can get closer to that 1200 average.
Update
Since I wrote this, I have worked up to 7.1 grains of HS6, and it feels about right. I have not had a chance to chrono it yet, but I think it will be somewhere just shy of the 1200 fps average. This is a load over Hodgdon's listed maximum of 7.0 grains with a 115 grain Gold Dot hollow-point bullet, but their load is still 5,600 CUP under the SAAMI max of 35,000 CUP, so I feel comfortable with that.
7.1 grains is a great load for 9mm, and it burns so much cleaner than Hornady's loads. It seems like HS6 is a really dirty powder until you get the pressure where it needs to be. I wanted the recoil to be a fairly close approximation of a carry load, but it's still not too bad. It's firm, but not snappy.
Bullet: Precision Delta 9mm 115 grain FMJ
Powder: 6.8 grains HS6
Primer: Winchester Small Pistol
Brass: Mixed
COL: 1.140"
The goal was to get something that runs a little closer to my self-defense load: Speer 9mm +P 124 grain Gold Dot.
I mostly use the Hornady 7th Edition reloading manual, but I didn't like the load they had for 9mm/115gr/HS6. So I began digging and found a much hotter load in Speer #11 (the powder charge was so much higher that I thought it might be a misprint).
I ended up arriving at a number just under Hodgdon's max load of 7.0 grains as a starting point.
Anyway, on to the data analysis ...
My load (feet per second)
| Avg | 1141.142857 |
| Std Dev | 40.03583051 |
Speer 9mm +P 124 grain Gold Dot
| Avg | 1203.2 | |
| Std Dev |
|
S&B 9mm 115 grain FMJ
| Avg | 1130 | |
| Std Dev |
|
The interesting thing to me is how much snappier the Gold Dots feel despite only being 60 fps faster on average. I guess that extra 9 grains of bullet and faster powder really makes a difference.
I didn't recover much brass due to shooting in the weeds, but it looks fine. I'm going to keep working up until I can get closer to that 1200 average.
Update
Since I wrote this, I have worked up to 7.1 grains of HS6, and it feels about right. I have not had a chance to chrono it yet, but I think it will be somewhere just shy of the 1200 fps average. This is a load over Hodgdon's listed maximum of 7.0 grains with a 115 grain Gold Dot hollow-point bullet, but their load is still 5,600 CUP under the SAAMI max of 35,000 CUP, so I feel comfortable with that.
7.1 grains is a great load for 9mm, and it burns so much cleaner than Hornady's loads. It seems like HS6 is a really dirty powder until you get the pressure where it needs to be. I wanted the recoil to be a fairly close approximation of a carry load, but it's still not too bad. It's firm, but not snappy.
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