Ultimate 9mm target pistol

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Yosemite Sam

Hunter
Joined
Mar 18, 2002
Messages
2,113
Location
Cape Cod, MA, USA
marlin1881":1wocqu1u said:
I mentioned in an earlier post, that I was going to try some Hodgdon Longshot powder, as it seemed to have the burning rate to allow for "full" load density, and at the high end of velocity scale. And obviously, it had to be accurate as well. And, did I mention "no leading"? Yes, I wanted it all.

I returned from a successful range trip today, and Longshot worked exactly as I suspected. I only tried 147gr cast RN bullets today, and at 15 yards, stuck those bullets right in there, side by side, often just making a larger hole.

To get that kind of performance, I did have to crank up the powder charge close to max as stated on the Hodgdon website. Lower powder charges just didn't hold the tight groups, and it didn't burn as clean as I was looking for. But, as I increased the powder charge, the loads started dialing in. With load development using some other powders, there seems to be just some random sweet-spot. With this powder, it pointed the direction I needed to go, and it got there right at the top range of the max load.

I've got some 124gr cast, and 124/147gr jacketed bullets to try next. I'll report back after the next trip to the range. www.hodgdon.com
Thanks for the info marlin1881. I'm still shooting up the remainder of my commercial loads, but am about to start loading for 9mm. I've got my dies, and 1K 124gr cast bullets, just need to get busy. Longshot, eh? Sounds good.

-- Sam
 

marlin1881

Single-Sixer
Joined
Apr 25, 2002
Messages
124
Location
Colorado Front Range
I haven't had a chance to try the 124gr loads yet, but I like the velocity and loading density of Longshot. I wouldn't recommend it for light loads, but medium to hi-velocity loads seem to work very well. As always, work up your loads carefully, but at least with the 147gr loads, everything came together quite nicely, especially the accuracy, at the top end of Hodgdon's max load range. Good luck.
 

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