231 in 9mm luger

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by robbt

hi peter , how many grains is low on the scale ??

Best to find out what weight bullet he's pushing before using his loads...

[Peter S]

I'm using 4.7 gr of WW231 pushing a 115gr round nose or hollow point bullet.

[rhuff]

Originally Posted by Peter S

I'm using 4.7 gr of WW231 pushing a 115gr round nose or hollow point bullet.

Your load is 0.2gr off of a Max load for 115gr FMJ bullet according to the newest Lyman(49th) and Speer(14th) reloading manuals. I wouldn't consider this as a light/soft load, but that is just me.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by rhuff

Your load is 0.2gr off of a Max load for 115gr FMJ bullet according to the newest Lyman(49th) and Speer(14th) reloading manuals. I wouldn't consider this as a light/soft load, but that is just me.

Hornady's Fourth Edition Vol 1 lists 5.5gr of W231 as max; 4.5gr is lowest for the 115gr FMJ-RN.

[sheepherder]

And just to show that you can't trust just one source, here's a scan of a booklet from eBay...

[Peter S]

When I first started reloading, this is what Winchester had for 9mm loading data.

[Peter S]

from the Hodgdon website for a jacketed bullet.

[rhuff]

Originally Posted by Peter S

from the Hodgdon website for a jacketed bullet.

Peter,

I also have this source, but this loading is for the Speer Gold Dot HP, and that loading is designed to allow that bullet adequate velocity to work/expand. I don't mean to argue, but if I were going to develop a load using 115gr FMJ bullets for a 100 year old Luger, I feel sure that I would start a bit lower than 4.7gr of 231 powder and work up the load. Granted, I am old school, and feel that safety is paramount. I have no way of knowing how experienced of a handloader the OP actually is, so I try to error on the safe side. Perhaps I am wrong......have been many times.

[Peter S]

I see what you're saying. If you look at the load data from the WW booklet, all it gives is 5.1 gr for a 115 gr full metal case bullet (see previous reply) so I didn't consider the 4.7 gr hot.