need some advise reloading 9mm luger

[robbt]

hello, new to the forum, i need some advise reloading 9mm for my early 1939 luger , i plan on using lead 130gr bullets and 231 winchester powders , any suggestions would be appreciated
I have reloaded .45 auto and .38 special for bulls eye shooting for many years , please post, robbt

[velodog455~]

I reload 9mm for all my shooter-grade Lugers and many other old 9mm's. Winchester 231 is an excellent powder, and it is my first choice. However, I would like to know a bit more about why you want to use 130 grain lead bullets. A lot of 130 grain bullets are actually .357" (sometimes even .358"), but what you want is .355" bullets. I find that even .356" bullets sometimes cause thicker cases to bulge to the point that the reloaded cartridge will not fully enter the chamber. A cartridge gauge is a really good accessory. Another option is to remove the upper half of the pistol and see if your reloads drop freely in and out of your Luger barrel. Remove the firing pin before doing this though. Luger uppers can fire without being mounted on the frame.

Additionally, most cautious people that reload for Lugers (myself included) use reduced powder charges to put less stress on the pistol. If you use a 20% powder reduction you will find no serious accuracy issues and the point of impact will remain very close; it will just be easier on the gun. Parts do break on Lugers; that's a fact and using softer loads will lessen the chances of breakage. Paper targets and steel plates at 25 yards can not tell the difference with reduced loads.

Another piece of of information is that 115 grain bullets are the easiest on the frame and upper toggle area. They are often less expensive as well.

So... MY suggestion would be to use 4.0-4.3 grains of WW231 with a .355" diameter 115 lead or plated bullet (I like plated). It's your pistol though and you can do as you want with it. FWIW, I've been using this particular load for over 40 years now and it works well for me in many old 9mm pistols. As they say, Your Mileage May Vary.
-Bob

[Kiwi]

Note
that if you use a heavier than 115gr bullet with that powder load you will have MUCH more pressure. Heavier bullet needs lighter powder because of pressure.

Velodog suggested 20% less, if the gun cycles with that consider reducing even more. Use the minimum powder that will cycle the gun

Plated or jacketed minimizes leading, a good thing.
I do find that lead is the most accurate, but also the most cleaning work.

[rhuff]

I agree with Bob about using a 115gr .355in bullet with a "softer" powder charge. I have reloaded since 1972 and rarely use a max. powder chg for target shooting, especially on old weapons.

[robbt]

hi guys , i have a lot of free cast lead 130 gr rn bullets , i loaded and fired a batch, only I did not wright done how many grains i used

[mrerick]

I also would recommend jacketed 115gn bullets as a first choice, and 124gn jacketed bullets as a second choice.

Winchester 231 / Hogdgon HP-38 (same powder) is a good choice for pistol cartridge power and speed. Load to the middle of standard velocity loads.

The Luger is a balanced action, so if you encounter cycling problems make small adjustments to your powder load within the standard velocity range.

Do not risk your Luger with unknown bullets and cartridge formulae that may create high pressure.

Note that undercharging a cartridge can also create overpressure because of the engagement of the bullet ogive with the leade into the rifling.