Reloading 9mm Sig 226

[David Proud]

Needs some info, if someone can help...

Just setting up my 9mm Dillon press (550B) and need some technical specs so I can load minor power factor with 124gn projectiles and N320 powder.

What is the optimum setting depth (OA)?
How many grains of N320?
How much crimp?

Thanks-  David

[mike]

Hi David.

The last time I loaded 9mm with 124 gr I used the following load:

4.2 gr N320, cartridge overall length 1.165"

This gave me a power factor of 129 in my Sphinx.

As for seating depth, 1.165" is the minimum recommended seating depth, it should reliably in all guns while not exceeding maximum pressure.
In general you'd want to go as long as possible, this decreases the 'kick' of the recoil. For most guns, the accuracy improves for longer rounds, as the gap between the bullet of the chambered round and the start of the rifling decreases. Start at the minimum seating depth and work the length up until they don't fit in your mag or you get cycling problems with your gun.

As for crimp, I'd recommend somewhere between as little as possible and none at all. If you are using copper coated projectile you should be able to use only a small amount of case mouth flare, and subsequently only need very little crimp to bend the case mouth back. Again,  to find the optimum for your gun, start with a moderate amount of crimp and then reduce it until you start to get chambering problems.

Hope this helps
  Michael

[Kiwibanger]

Hi David. Mike is right, load as long as will feed reliably and chamber reliably, generally this will give you the most accuracy. And minimal crimp. You want taper crimp, not roll crimp.
A good load with 124/125 cnbb coated lead bullets (Nick Wells or WestCast) is 3.9 Vectan A1, for around 129pf. 3.9 N320 is also good, at 132pf, and 3.6 700X at 132pf. Sometimes lower velocity won't stabilise the 9mm bullets enough, so you need to play around a bit with velocities.

[David Proud]

Thanks Mike & Julian

Understanding that I'm no Julian or Sean - I'm sure if I can't shoot better than the ammo/pistol anyway.

However, would it pay to make some sample loads to see what combination shoots best?

cheers & thanks again; David

[mike]

Hi David.

It sure would. You paid good money for your reloading gear, so you might as well use it to get the most out of your shooting. No matter how good you shoot, it's always gonna be more fun if you minimize the number of malfunctions you get. Using ammo that is optimal for you and your gun can help a lot with this.

I generally do sample loads whenever I change components of my loads.

Start with values out of a loading manual (Vihta Vuori has theirs here: http://www.lapua.com/fileadmin/user_upload/esitteet/VihtavuoriReloadingGuideEdition8.pdf) and then work up in small increments (0.2 gr for 9mm). Do batches of 20 to 50 shots, and then try them on a quiet day on the range. Do everything you'd do in normal use (single shot / slow double tap / fast double tap / multiple fast double taps) with every batch and discard the batches that give you malfunctions.

If you can get your hands on a chronograph reserve some rounds and run them through it. One good measure of how well a batch works is the standard deviation you get from a group of shots. To be able to compare the standard deviations of different batches make sure you chronograph the same number of shots from each batch, the more the better, 10 is a good number. Fire some shots before you start chronographing, as the gun being cold has an influence on the velocity. To calculate the standard deviation (if the chronograph you are using does not do it) you can use http://invsee.asu.edu/srinivas/stdev.html.

If you are playing with bullet length / crimp or anything else that influences the outer shape of the ammo it's not a bad idea to first do a couple of blanks with the new settings and barrel drop / load / cycle them in your gun to see if they work at all.

Cheers
  Michael

[David Proud]

Thanks Mike, excellent info & sites.

Should be able to start loading tomorrow.

Sure do appreciate the help.

Regards - David