This is going to be long, so bear with me if you will as I explain my story. I'm fairly new to reading, just got into it about 2 years ago and with the component shortages during this time I haven't loaded or shot nearly as much as I'd like.
I started with 9mm, 115 fmj, and cfe pistol powder. The starting loads functioned perfectly in my sig p938 with satisfactory accuracy, so I stopped there. I moved on to perfecting a load for my 308 which led me to get a chronograph.
Now I'm back to playing with the 9mm after I managed to get 1000 124gr berry's hybrid hollow points and some more small pistol primers. However now that I have chronographed my 9mm loads, I'm struggling to decide on what load is appropriate.
I put some factory loads over my chronograph to see how my guns compare to the box velocities. My p938 (3" barrel) shoots factory ammo rated at 1150fps at about 1000fps. That gives me a point of reference for working up my loads. My longer barrel guns give more velocity as expected, but I'm focusing on a load for the sig.
With the 124's the starting loads function perfectly in my gun just like the 115's did. However I get very smokey cases, which per my understanding means they are not expanding the case to seal in the chamber, meaning I can go up in powder load. The starting loads also only give me an average velocity of 870fps, much lower than factory loads.
I started stepping up in powder charge 0.2gr at a time and really digging in to the load data in all my references. Are factory loads usually max loadings? My loading manuals list very few loads that achieve those factory velocities even at max load! I'm now up to 5.4gr of cfe pistol under those 124's, only .1gr under max load. That's about as far as I feel comfortable pushing it with my limited reloading experience. I'm still getting smokey cases and my velocity is still less than factory loads out of my gun. No overpressure signs, but I don't think those are reliable in light pistol loads like 9mm anyway.
Everything I've loaded has been more consistent and more accurate than factory loads with nothing standing out as particularly better than the rest. Given all of this, I'm now lost as to deciding on a load. What are your recommendations? Should I try to load higher to match factory load velocity in my gun? Should I go back to start loads since they function fine in my gun and just be happy with the powder savings? Somewhere in between?
I started with 9mm, 115 fmj, and cfe pistol powder. The starting loads functioned perfectly in my sig p938 with satisfactory accuracy, so I stopped there. I moved on to perfecting a load for my 308 which led me to get a chronograph.
Now I'm back to playing with the 9mm after I managed to get 1000 124gr berry's hybrid hollow points and some more small pistol primers. However now that I have chronographed my 9mm loads, I'm struggling to decide on what load is appropriate.
I put some factory loads over my chronograph to see how my guns compare to the box velocities. My p938 (3" barrel) shoots factory ammo rated at 1150fps at about 1000fps. That gives me a point of reference for working up my loads. My longer barrel guns give more velocity as expected, but I'm focusing on a load for the sig.
With the 124's the starting loads function perfectly in my gun just like the 115's did. However I get very smokey cases, which per my understanding means they are not expanding the case to seal in the chamber, meaning I can go up in powder load. The starting loads also only give me an average velocity of 870fps, much lower than factory loads.
I started stepping up in powder charge 0.2gr at a time and really digging in to the load data in all my references. Are factory loads usually max loadings? My loading manuals list very few loads that achieve those factory velocities even at max load! I'm now up to 5.4gr of cfe pistol under those 124's, only .1gr under max load. That's about as far as I feel comfortable pushing it with my limited reloading experience. I'm still getting smokey cases and my velocity is still less than factory loads out of my gun. No overpressure signs, but I don't think those are reliable in light pistol loads like 9mm anyway.
Everything I've loaded has been more consistent and more accurate than factory loads with nothing standing out as particularly better than the rest. Given all of this, I'm now lost as to deciding on a load. What are your recommendations? Should I try to load higher to match factory load velocity in my gun? Should I go back to start loads since they function fine in my gun and just be happy with the powder savings? Somewhere in between?