Which powders for 9mm?

General Firearms Reloading & Ammunition
1

There’s a gun show in town this weekend and I want to try to pick up some powder to save on hazmat shipping charges.

What I’ve seen mentioned a lot is Vihtavuori N320. Several charges and bullet weights mentioned for this one.

Another was Hogdon H38 but no specific recipes.

Finally I saw Ramshot Silhouette 5.4 under 124RN

I was leaning towards the N320 but if I can’t get it are the others just as good. Pretty much all I’ve ever loaded is Bullseye for 45’s so I’m pretty much starting from scratch on this.

The primers I have are CCI 500 and if there is a better suggestion on those I would like to know also.

Thanks

Tom

2

HP38 (same as Win 231) works great in 9mm.

Haven’t tried any of the others… haven’t needed to.

3

What Bullets do you plan on using?

4

For 115 Gr JHP my Nosler manual recommends 6.5GR SR4756 Which is also max load and compressed.

5

Also using HP38/231. Its very clean burning and you dont need alot of it in the 9mm.

6

To be honest, I don’t know.

It seems like a lot of people were using 115g jacketed.

I’m simply trying to end up with something affordable, accurate and easy shooting.

So far pretty much all I shoot is SWC or WC in 38spl or 45 so this is new territory for me. All I want to do is get one good load, set the press up and roll with it.

The intended gun is an M&P if that helps.

I’m open to any and all suggestions.

7

Its very clean burning and you dont need alot of it in the 9mm.
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That actually sounds good as my 45’s are really dirty and smokey.

8

VV N320 is a good 9mm powder, super clean and very consistent, however it is not cheap.

Alliant Power Pistol is another good powder, particularly for higher velocity loads. It is also half the price.

9

I use “Titegroup”,goes along ways,I use 3.5 grns for my 9mm loads ! It is decent powder for the $$.

10

In 40 years I always keep a lb of Unique handy. :wink:

But my preferred powders for 9mm are P B (Pistol bullet) and 700 X.

11

4.3 of 231 with a 124 fp Berry is very sweet out of my G34.
Accurate, mnageable recoil, fairly cheap to shoot.

12

You probably won’t find it but the Russian surplus powder often called SALUT and sometimes “Russian Unique” has worked well for me in 9mm. It is available at Pats Reloading online for example and if you find it locally it works well. Use Unique data for it and start conservatively and work up.

13

That’s my exact load too.

14

For handgun loads I always have good luck with CCI primers, I use alot of the CCI 500. Not as big a fan of Winchester WSP primers- always had them perform but I’ve noticed they deform easier when seating compared to CCI. Just my preference/experience.

15

Well it was slim pickins at the gun show today.

I managed to get 1lb of HP38.

Lots of people and lots of bulk ammo ( which I have never noticed before ) but the powders I wanted were not available.

I’ve also got 1lb of Titegroup that I’ve had for years so maybe I will just use that too. All I need now are bullets.

What are your thoughts on LRN as opposed to jacketed. Also I was leaning towards 115g but should I go for 124g for starters?

Thanks for the help. I keeping notes.

Tom

16

I too use Titegroup for practice and IDPA/USPSA matches. My favorite load is 4.2 grains of Titegroup with a 115 grain FMJ. It runs just over 1100 fps out of my G-19. I’ve been happy with the results; great groups and very uniform loads. Another nice thing about Titegroup is a pound will go a long, long way.

17

mark m

any chrono data on our load?

18

i like HS6 and unique.
unique is very efficient, 5.5 grains is all ya need. fairly low flash, and the reformulated stuff is pretty clean. it’s not a spherical powder, so it might act funny in some measures, but i find it works fine really. quite consistent. unique i think is also a bit less snappy than say power pistol. kind of subjective though…
power pistol is fun to shoot cause of super flash, but from a tactical perspective, not the best choice :smiley:

19

3.9 of Rex #2 behind a 135 Xtreme plated bullet. If you’re looking for something a little more brisk you can go to 4.1. Rex is cheap, usually 2.2 lbs for what you’d pay for a lb of most other powders. We use Federal small pistol primers but that’s more for the light triggers and firing pin springs of our unlimited Glocks. 3.9 will certainly make minor power factor and I have some numbers for the load but I’ll have to find them. We’ve been using this load for about 4 years in a comp gun and stock as well. It’s been a long time since I worried about numbers on the load. Only problem is finding somebody who has it, we buy a case at a time, makes shipping and hazmat sting a lot less. Graf’s or Powder Valley usually have it. Graf is the importer.

20

6.9 grains of VV 3N38 (a printed recipe) under a 147 grain gold dot. 1208 fps goodness that makes major safely.