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95 Grain .355 in 9MM for competition

Home › Forums › General Reloading Discussion › 95 Grain .355 in 9MM for competition

  • This topic has 7 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 2 years ago by SC.
Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • April 2, 2023 at 8:03 am #485166
    mattbrewer13
    Participant

    Hello guys I am looking for information y’all might have.

    My wife has a bad shoulder and want to compete with me not just in rimfire but also centerfire.

    we compete in a local club matches like bowling pin, steel challenge, pistol steel plate, etc etc.

    some like steel challenge merely needs to hit the target while pistol steel plate is a knockdown event and bowling pin is a knockdown event.

    The pistols she is interested in shooting would be my P320 Legion and my P226 Legion.

    I would like to know about the accuracy of using this short of a bullet in a 9mm barrel. it looks like Sig mainly uses a 1:10 twist rate in 9mm so I think stability should be fine with that fast of a twist rate.

    If you have experience with this load please save me some headache with this. By the math, if I can get 95 grains to accurately fly at 1350 fps this should give me a power factor of 128 and enough energy to knock down most of the steel we shoot at. If I can get it running accurately at 1000 then the power factor would be a mere score of 95 and well with in her abilities to shoot with out experiencing to much pain and could be a really good steel challenge load.

    I can easily tune the spring in the 320 legion and 226 legion so I should be able to get at least one of these to run this load reliably, preferably the 226 as it is the lighter of the 2.

    ANY and all help would be appreciated to help me expedite this idea or discount it and move to a 115 load.

    April 2, 2023 at 12:41 pm #485192
    SC
    Participant

    I would lean toward a heavier bullet with a light powder charge, say 147 grain with Titegroup, WST, Clays, etc.

    There are a couple of female competitors that run a similar load.

    April 2, 2023 at 1:47 pm #485201
    mattbrewer13
    Participant

    I currently build my 9mm rounds with 147 MW with 3.8 grains of unique set at 1.15 oal. this renders a load that is light to me but power factors out just under 125.

    I have heard of others using faster burning powder but this seemed a little snappier than the slower burn of unique.

    She was not a fan of the recoil impulse the second time but the first time she said it was tolerable.

    if I go any lower I will need to switch to a 12# spring which is ok as well.

    So whats the story with using a faster powder? I would think that the slower powder changes the recoil from a snap to a push.

    April 2, 2023 at 3:11 pm #485215
    SC
    Participant

    I am not sure of the science behind it so I copied this from tigershark ballistics

    “An established fact is that at a given PF a heavier bullet going relatively slowly will produce less recoil (and muzzle rise) than a light bullet going faster. This is because the lighter bullet requires more powder and more powder produces more gas which adds to the weight of matter ejected from the barrel (bullet + gas) which means more recoil. Additionally, the lighter bullet will spend less time in the barrel which means a faster recoil impulse and thus a bit more muzzle rise. There are other factors at play such as weight of the firearm, grip as well as OAL and crimp with both having an impact on velocity and consequently recoil/PF. ”

    April 2, 2023 at 3:35 pm #485227
    mattbrewer13
    Participant

    While I understand that PF being the same that the heavier bullet would “feel” less in the hand, my question is the powder you recommended being way faster than the current choice.

    I plan on testing this out again as I do not have notes to refer to but I distinctly remember that loads with titegroup were snappier than the loads with unique and AA5.

    Going to recreate this load up and see what I find.

    April 2, 2023 at 4:12 pm #485238
    SC
    Participant

    What was your Titegroup load?

    I’m only running 3.1 grains of Clay Dot behind a 135 polycoated and it is definitely softer than my target load of 5.0 WSF behind a 124HP.

    Be careful with the faster powders that you don’t double charge 🙂

    April 2, 2023 at 5:23 pm #485243
    mattbrewer13
    Participant

    Again, I will have to revisit that as I do not or cannot find my notes about that particular load data. i will have to redo that test and see.

    Just from reading your loads that you listed, are they similar PF? I am thinking the 124 with wsf is going to be hotter and therefore higher PF.

    April 2, 2023 at 6:12 pm #485251
    SC
    Participant

    I don’t recall the exact numbers but I know that the 124/WSF load made 125+ PF

    The 135/CD load I use in a 3-gun match where power factor is not considered. It just needs to be able to knock down some steel targets.

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