Hey Everyone,

Thanks for the great resource!

Back in the late 80's/early 90's I bought 1k rounds of Hirtenbeger 9mm 100gr FL loaded to +P+ pressures. I forgot all about it until I found 500 rounds a few weeks ago. It shot to Point of Aim with a pistol I no longer own. I now have a Glock 17 and a Sig P228 and the ammo shoots 6" to 8" high at 25 yds in both pistols. And of course the recoil is quite fierce. The brass appears to be of high quality and is reloadable. So I was thinking of taking the rounds apart and reloading the 100gr bullet to the recommended minimum using Hodgen Tightgroup powder. I was even considering going slightly lower than the recommended minimum. Besides the obvious things like not feeding/functioning properly and possibly the bullet getting stuck in the barrel, my question is, is there any thing I should look for or avoid when loading at the lowest recommended load or slightly below it? Or should I not go below the recommended minimum?

Any suggestions or advice is much appreciated!

Minimum should be ok, even lower...  I wouldn't go so low as to not have the ammo cycle the slide.  If it will cycle the slide, the projectile shouldn't squib.

I'd just reduce slowly, one round at a time, to ensure the projectile has left the barrel.

Also be aware not to double charge.

What Heavies said. 

Just like starting 10% below max loads, its not a bad idea to start 10% above minimum loads. If your current gun's spring is happily spitting out max loads it could easily be too stiff for minimum loads to cycle.

If you want to shoot light loads regularly then you might also consider getting a lighter spring for the gun.

I would not recommend loading below what is shown in the manuals.  Typically when I load I just split the difference and load down the middle.  I don't hug either the upper or lower end.  That way if I make a mistake with too much or too little powder it's less likely to have a really bad consequence.

Thanks again everyone for your help and suggestions!!! 

As a follow up to this subject I went to the range today to try function firing the rounds. I loaded 10 rounds at the lowest recommended. Then I loaded 10 at 0.4grs less and 10 at 0.7grs less. In other words 4.7grs, 4.3grs and 4.0grs of TightGroup. I loaded 5 rounds into each pistol. The Sig functioned fine with all rounds. But it printed wide to the left and in a large group. The Glock also printed wide to the left with the lowest pressure rounds and moved closer to center and grouped tighter with the higher pressure rounds. It also had a failure to feed twice with the lowest pressure rounds.

It is obvious that even at the recommended minimum load and at the +P+ pressures my Sig does not like the lighter bullets. My Glock was more tolerant of the lighter bullets at the recommended minimum pressures. I think I'll play around a little more with these light bullets and my Glock to see if I can find a happy medium. I'd hate to have to take these apart and not be able to use the bullets. I certainly can't use them at the current loading.

So now I know I can download these rounds and use them for close up target work with my Glock. Hopefully at the next HDF Fun Shoot!!!

BTW, I then finished the morning using my cheap military ball 124gr ammo and printed some decent groups with both pistols.