TexasCHLforum.com

Hey everyone! So I'm working on my first ever batch of reloads, so I thought I'd take a photo of my first reloaded round.

It's 9mm, Winchester brass, Federal No. 100 primer, 7.5 grains of Blue Dot, topped off with a 124 grain XTP bullet. OAL is 1.125".



This reloading stuff is turning out to be very enjoyable.

God lookin bullet.
Congrats.

What was your source for this load? I'm trying to find out more about the intricacies of reloading. For example it seems a little long for an XTP and a little heavy on the powder according to my Hornady manual. Those two things may cancel each other out, however. So, just interested in where you got the load data.

Normal load for 9mm is 5 gr of gun powder. 7.5gr is bit too much, no?

I got the recipe from ghostrider from loads he's worked up. The length came from another XTP load I found online, as I didn't have an OAL from the info ghostrider gave me. His recipe was for 7.8 grains, and I started at 7.5.

I sorta wish i had chosen another powder at this point, as for some reason data for 124 grain bullets is nearly non-existent with Blue Dot. None of my manuals mention Blue Dot at at 124 grains. There's lots of data for 115 and 147 grain bullets all day long.

I did find that Alliant has a 124 grain Speer Gold Dot recipe that put OAL at 1.12", with 7.9 grains of powder. Because the XTP is a truncated cone and not an ellipse like the Gold Dots, I used the slightly more conservative OAL length on the link above, as it seems the XTP would be a little longer per weight because of its shape.

So, I went from the recipe I got and used a conservative length from what I was able to find online.

Does this sound reasonable?

Actually, the rule of thumb for beginners (like me) is to stick to an established recipe (like in load books) and build up slowly. My Hornady has a starting load of 4.8gr Blue Dot and a COL of 1.06" for the HP-XTP. Max load is 6.6gr. As far as I know, COL and OAL is the same thing.

06nop:

Concerning the Hornady manual, I've found several folks online who say their data for 124 grain XTP OAL is bunk, especially considering the 115 grain OAL is longer than that. I don't have a Hornady manual, so I can't know what it says for sure. The people whose posts I read ended up completely adjusting their OAL and found that their loads worked best somewhere around 1.11".

I don't have all of the links to the posts I read, but here's one of them from over on THR :

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=294368

This is the data I have:

Hornady v7: 4.8-6.6gr
Speer v11: 7.5-8.3gr
Speer v12: 7.1-7.9gr
Midway loadbook: 6.3-8.0gr

Alliant's web site: 7.9gr
http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/ ... ulletid=26" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I currently use this load:
124gr over 7.8gr blue dot

and have this chrono data out of a G17:
1187, 1162, 1225, 1139, 1116, 1161fps

This load also works fine out of a hipower with an 18.5lb spring and no obvious signs of pressure.

YMMV; use data at your own risk, etc...

Err shoot. This was ghostrider's load, not AustinRealtor. Oops. I'll correct it above.

I don't load 9mm, so I'm not all that familiar with the loads.
I also have a Lee data book and I check various online sites with data. Thhe Hornady is the only book I have that even mentions Blue Dot. It's obvious there are other resources to back up this recipe. Didn't want to put a scare in there, just making an observation.

Enjoy your new hobby!

>This was ghostrider's load, not AustinRealtor

another oops. had to edit my post now:

:-) I don't *think* AustinRealtor is a reloader.

He isn't. I bought some brass from him not long before we met up, so i mixed up the names.

Have you fired the reloads yet?