Loaded up some 9mm 150 gr coated lead SWCs last night with different quantities of Titegroup. Took them to the range today with my chronograph and fired ten rounds of each of three loadings and averaged the velocities of each load. I settled on a "go to" load of 3.5 gr Titegroup using Winchester primers and a 150 gr (actually 149 gr) coated cast lead bullet from BayouBullets.com. Velocity averaged 995 FPS and accuracy very good. Pistol used was a Beretta M-92F. I would say that is pretty good firepower from a "wonder nine".
Interesting. Thanks for sharing that.
Careful with small charges of TiteGroup in the 9mm. That 3.5gr load is hard to visually check, even when double charged, and that powder is not at all tolerant of high charge weights.
Careful with small charges of TiteGroup in the 9mm. That 3.5gr load is hard to visually check, even when double charged, and that powder is not at all tolerant of high charge weights.
Good advice. A little bit of Titegroup goes a long ways. I load everything on a single stage Lee press using Lee dies. Powder is hand filled through the die and I check each load with an electronic scale before it goes in. I take a quick glance before I put the bullet in the cartridge case. Only then does it go into the loading block to await seating. I marvel at the idea of using a progressive loader, but as much as I have seen powder measures vary in what they dispense, some powders more so than others, the more I like the slower equipment for accuracy. Titegroup seems to measure really consistently and Universal is pretty good. I have had problems getting Unique to meter well.
I switched from Tightgroup to Alliant sport pistol as it has a better case fill, loading on a XL650 both meter very well and make great range ammo!
Titegroup seems to measure really consistently and Universal is pretty good. I have had problems getting Unique to meter well.
Universal can be treated as a better metering replacement for Unique. For a bulkier replacement of Titegroup, Clays is worth considering. I use 3.3gr of Clays under some of my 9mm loads, and that leaves the case about half full, unlike TiteGroup where I can't see the powder with the same weight charge while running it through my Dillon 550.
I have not tried Sport Pistol but have heard it's good.
Careful with small charges of TiteGroup in the 9mm. That 3.5gr load is hard to visually check, even when double charged, and that powder is not at all tolerant of high charge weights.
+1
I was a big fan of Titegroup for all sorts of pistol loads for over a decade until I got my progressive. The Powder-Cop could not tell the difference between single and a double. I went to Universal instead.
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https://imgur.com/a/4FKS6wFThis is a lot faster than you think. Hasbeen
Henry, you inspired me. I rummaged around in my storage and found bullet's I'd cast years ago from an RCBS 150 "Keith" mold. Lubed and sized 3 of them .356 and loaded with 3.2 gr TiteGroup, we'll see how they do.
P.S. Trickled the charges into scale and charged the cases immediately to avoid any chance of a double charge.
I also tried 3.3 gr Titegroup and 3.4 gr Titegroup, ten loads of each. The 3.3 gr loads averaged 934 FPS and the 3.4 loads averaged 968 FPS. And, as I posted earlier, my favorite that I settled on was 3.5 gr Titegroup which averaged 995 FPS.
I could not find any published data for these 150 gr (actually 149) 9mm coated cast SWCs, but Hodgdon data for a 147 gr Hornady XTP called for a max of 3.6 gr Titegroup, COL 1.1", 929 FPS, 27,500 CUP. I loaded mine to 1.13" COL and the bullet's actual weight is only 2 grains heavier than the XTP. I happened to have a 9mm XTP and weighed it to compare and it is actually right on 147 gr as advertised. So, since I was loading a coated lead bullet instead of a jacketed XTP and using 1 grain less powder, I felt safe with it. I got 66 FPS more than the max loaded XTP with my coated lead SWC load of .1 grain less powder. Works for me.