147G load for 9mm [Archive]

Paul B

10-05-2012, 04:06 PM

Have a question. I have apx 500 lead bullets that are flat point and want any info you have for a 9mm. Shot a few the other day and used Tightgroup 3.2g with an oal of 1.142. group was all over. Looking for another powder that might go with these bullets, Bullet hardness is apx 16 (wheelweights or hardball).

The 9MM is not exactly known for being cast bullet friendly but can be made to shoot nice groups.
The first thing you need to do is slug your gun's bore to find the groove diameter. Then measure a few of those bullets. The 9MM is supposed to have a .356" groove diameter but I have three 9MMs and every one of them has a .357" to .3575" bore. I cast my own bullets and size them to .358" and they group very nicely and leave very little lead in the barrel.
That's another thing, how badly leaded is your barrel? No barrel will shoot decently if it's clogged up with a bunch of lead. If you do nothing else, at least measure the diameter of the bullets. If they're .358" they should shoot OK.
I don't have data for Titegroup but I suspect your load might be a hair too light, My go to powder for the 9MM is Unique. I know people complain that it's too dirty but it works and that's what counts. For a 147 gr. bullet start at 3.8 gr. for 852 FPS and the max is 4.3 gr. for 954 FPS. That's he jacketed bullet data from the Speer manual #14. Another powder I've been looking at is SR4756 and they show 4.2 gr. for 841 FPS as the starter and 4.6 gr. for 957 FPS as the max load. I have no problem using jacketed bullet data with my cast bullet loads in my handguns and I only shoot cast bullets in my handguns.
If your barrel is leaded, use a tight brush wrapped with a bit of Chore Boy scouring pad. That's Chore Boy and not the Chore Girl which has soap in it. That usually will get the lead out in short order.
Paul B.