HANDLOAD - Best Defensive Bullet for P11, feeding issues

[ohell]

Hello, thought i would welcome myself to first posting
Thanks for hosting this board and those that support it.

Late to party... retired my last P12 and picked up a P11. Awesome, if i was not so cheap i would have moved over sooner.

Anyone here actually handloading defensive rounds for the P11? I use Hornady XTP 124gn with a COL of 1.073 in all nines i own. This will not even feed on the P11's steep ramp. Looking for substitue for researching hollow points again. Thinking of trying a Speer GD since shape might play well with the ramp.

Anyone??... what is working and your COL if you don't mind posting. Usually stick with zero, hornady and speer but open to anything known to feed well. About 800 rounds of FMJ RN though this without issue, could polish ramp a little more but don't think it will help.

please no box rounds feedback. THANKS!!

[ohell]

I will update this post from time to time. Have some other 124gn and 147gn bullets to test. I am using a recent P11, with ATW serial number - stock out of the box.

Starting with Nosler 115gn #44848 hollow point because it appeared to have best feeding profile. Nosler's web site has a powder chart, but COL or OAL of 1.00" to 1.165" - nice huh. Midway used a Remington case with 1.055" COL.
Bullet seating - i was on the edge of the rifling at 1.063" COL. Working with the Midway data for this round - 1.055" OAL. A few primer / powder free assemblies cycle fine in the P-11 and every other pistol i had out. The P11 seems to have the least freebore of anything i own.

Trying a sample run with HS6 and Unique.

[magman454]

I never loaded any 9mm. I was always able to find paper punchers cheaper than I could make them when I had my P-11, and paying a bit more for the relatively smaller quantity of defensive stuff was not a problem. The way ammo prices have gone up over the last few years, things may have changed as far as the cost savings of rolling your own versus buying ready made. Of course you could just enjoy the time at the loading bench and any possible savings would be a secondary concern.

Good luck with your endeavor.

[pigeon48]

I reload all my 9s for the P95, LC9, and PF9, and they all feed the 124 gr with the best results. I particularly like the Remington Golden Saber design for its penetration and expansion. But I experiment with different weights of this bullet. I presently am trying the 102 gr bullet with different powders and COL. I know this bullet is designed for the .380, but appears to work well in the PF9. I got the COL down to 1.030/1.035 and velocity around 1200 fps as the best load with great penetration and expansion. The only downside is that I lose some of the ejected cases as they are thrown over 25 ft away from the PF9. The P95 has normal ejection and the LC9 kicks the casing out a little farther. I have also tried some 90 and 95 grain bullets in all the guns and these are screamers, but are not Golden Sabers. I use a chronograph and homemade ballistic gel for serious testing.

[951turbo]

Hello, I haven't loaded anything for the 9 yet as I am waiting on die set and shell plate. I shoot USPSA / IPSC and shoot a .38 Super Comp in open. Plan to play with some 124 Montana Gold JHP that I have in bulk. I honestly think they will be crap for expansion, but will do a little testing to see. The velocity will be down by 400-500 fps from the SC, but who knows it may surprise me. I will report back with performance on feeding and expansion performance. Speer GD would my next choice as an easily secured bullet. I like those in my 40s and 45s.

Steep ramp: Clean up and polish for sure. Might open the mag lips a smidgeon so the top round stands up at a little more of an angle, but go slow as you can easily go too far and cause other problems. I plan on starting with a 1.100" COL and go from there. FWIW, my sample of Federal Personal Defense JHPs measure 1.100" and a lot of Eldorado Starfire JHPs measure 1.046". I have had no failures with either in my P11 (as out of box) so far. It handled PMC FMC without a hitch, too.

Good luck!

[jwash3rd]

I don't reload but I use Speer GDHP 124 Short Barrel. They always feed fine although the recoil is a bit stout.

[ohell]

We shoot about 2,500 rounds a month of 9mm in the winter. Using Hornady 124gn FMJ-RN i load at about 14.5 cents per round. Locally i can find Monarch brass for 24.2 cents a round or PMC / Magtech for 26.4 cents per round out the door; internet purchases for 22.5 to 25 cents per round delivered. So i usually save 4-5 bucks a box. 9mm is a lot of work for 4 bucks, but we are set up and i feel a lot better shooting a load from my bench then i would shooting WWB or any bulk. Better savings come from loading any other caliber. Reasons other then savings are why we do it.

The Nosler 115gn HP ran fine for 30 test rounds. I will warn you i believe the Nosler loading data for Unique on their web site is way off or using long OAL so start at least 4.5gn of Unique if using my OAL above. I will post some more on this when i finalize and get a few more rounds through it. I wanted to load with Hodgdon, but had Unique in powder measure so used it.

I made some Hornady 147gn XTP-BT primerless samples at 1.110 OAL and these cycle fine by hand. Will update later when i have time to work up a few test rounds.

Also have a Remington 124gn HP's to try. I believe these will feed well just looking at profile.

Thanks for contributing to post. I appreciate your input a lot!!!

[ohell]

I presently am trying the 102 gr bullet with different powders and COL. I know this bullet is designed for the .380, but appears to work well in the PF9.

Very interested in this. I thought about going to .380 pile first because of the velocity increase. What is recoil like?? My goals are toward control for safety and placement of multiple accurate target punches faster then they are for buying the fastest velocity, best expanding marketing featured zombie round. My personal opinion is pistols are made for punching holes and no amount of hydro shocking will be a considerable factor out of 99% of handguns.

Clint Smith - "I've never seen a block of ballistic gel i couldn't run from"

[Clark]

I think the most power I can get from a P11 is 11 gr Power Pistol, 158 gr XTP, 1.169", resized ammo after loading, barrel throated for larger and longer bullet.
If I fire 3 rounds of this, my hand can hurt for 3 hours.

But what I really do, so it won't kick so hard, it just commercial +P+ ammo.

[ohell]

haha, i think i would rather hold a lit m80 firecracker in my hand then squeeze off a 9mm round with 11gn of any powder. A s&w 500 mag might be a better choice.

I've had success with several bullets. Used N320, HS6 and HP-38 and somewhat settled on HP-38 using midway load charts as a guide. Will try to update this thread when i have some time.