9mm Handloads with Berrys 115 rn

T

TXJohn

New member
Not new to reloading been loading for to many year years to mention. But have started loading 9mm with 115 gr Berry's RN bullets.

I have Unique, and HP-38 and was looking for a nice safe load to be shot out of a S&W MP9. I also have Blue Dot but have read things about it that concerns me on pressure. I am not a competitive shooter just want a good safe load that functions well and not get me into trouble, and need a simple OAL not to long or short since I know short OAL can get me into trouble in a hurry any one have a safe load that has work well in several 9's you may have had,any help would be appreciated.

I have several Manuals they are all over the place any help would be appreciated.

Thanks for any info.

John
 
T

TXJohn

New member
Thanks WESHOOT2 have loaded 1000's of rife loads but have not loaded 9mm yet did not want to do a kaboom lol, Thanks again!

John
 
P

phillyr121

New member
Using HP-38

I've been using HP-38 for some time now. It's the same as Winchester 321. My loads have been successful with 4.3 - 4.7. You'll have no problem with that.:cool:
 
N

Nick_C_S

New member
One of my general purpose rounds with the 115g RN bullet is 4.0g of W231 (W231 & HP38 are the same powder). It's a great shooting/practice round that is accurate and will cycle your gun with no trouble.
This load yields:

966 FPS through a Khar CW9 (3.7" bbl)
1046 FPS through a Baretta 92SF (5" bbl)

So as you can see, it's not a rocket-hot round. Just an excellent GP shooter.

Unique is a good choice too. And as WESHOOT2 said, it gives a little more forgiveness because it's slower; if you feel an extra level of safety margin is important.

As far as Blue Dot goes: pressure isn't the problem. It's just too slow for the bullet weight and application. Don't bother. With 9mm, I'd only use Blue Dot with 147 grainers.

As far as OAL goes: You need to perform a "plunk test" with your MP9 and that Berry's bullet, to find the correct OAL. It's not something you should adjust. Find it. Set it. And forget it.
 
T

TXJohn

New member
Thanks guys, not looking for oal close to max just a safe oal that will feed with no problems.

John :)
 
5

57K

Moderator
TXJohn, do a search for 9mm OAL, OCL, COAL, OACL etc. It is best to establish OACL with the bullet you're using from the pistol it's to be fired from. If you don't find something that helps, shoot me a PM. It's easy to do with cast and plated and really easy when you use jacketed bullets.

Of what you have, Unique is probably the best all-around choice but accurate loads can be easily done with HP38/W231. I've loaded thousands of 9mm rounds with Blue Dot. It is a Max. effort powder that works best when loaded warm with compressed charges. It's capable of performance beyond what your plated bullets are rated for.

I prefer spherical powders that are just slower than Unique. If you can find True Blue, it will do well in any cartridge you load it in and particularly 9mm and .40 S&W. It's very dense and fine grained so it meters at least 100% better than Unique while being more uniform ballistically. The other powder I'd recommend is the one I use in my defense handloads and that's Silhouette. It's treated to have low flash and is very well suited to 9mm, especially if you want to replicate factory loads. Plenty of good data for cast, plated and jacketed bullets at www.ramshot.com. Download the data while you're there and if you request it, they'll send you a printed version that offers good tips on reloading as well. ;)
 
T

TXJohn

New member
Thanks again for all of the info guys, I went with 5.2 of unique and a oal of 1.150 with the Berrys. I will post results as soon as I can get to the range to try.

John
 
R

Reloader2

New member
John

I am interested in your results. One been loading some 9mm with 4.0 grains of Titegroup and seating the Berry's bullets to 1.100".
I was loading a little hotter but found the Lee Auto disc measure would drop 4.0 grains consistently.
I'm new to semi-auto pistols and my first purchase was a Beretta M-9.
 
T

TimSr

New member
Don't be afraid to try Blue Dot. No pressure issues, in fact, its hard to get into trouble with or overload Blue Dot in 9mm because the case will be full or near full. My favorite 115gr load (both bast and JHP) is over 8.4 gr Blue Dot. Start at 8.0.
 
S

SWThomas

New member
I get confused about reading theads like this... If you've been reloading for many years, why not just go with the published min/max in reloading manuals and work up your own load?
 
T

TimSr

New member
I get confused about reading theads like this... If you've been reloading for many years, why not just go with the published min/max in reloading manuals and work up your own load?
Click to expand...


Best idea yet. If there is no load data for it, its probably not an exceptional load.
 
W

WESHOOT2

New member
actual

Blue Dot can respond erractically in extreme temperatures, hot and cold.



I only recommend Blue Dot in medium-bullet-weight high-performance 10mm.
 
9

9miller

New member
I've found 4.5gr of titegroup with the 115gr Berrys to be magic, just got back from the range maybe an hour ago with the load, shot great as always, I as well load to an OAL of 1.150 with these. Shooting out of a S&W sigma.
 
S

Strafer Gott

New member
Bluedot doesn't really turn on at low pressures. Like Nick said, if you can give it something to push like a heavy bullet, it really comes alive. With a light bullet like the 115 gr 9mm, you have to use more than 8 grains to get it to light efficiently. Even then you get a pretty awesome flash, not a very efficient powder in small cases.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top