The 9mm XTP Project
Part 1- Defining the Goal

A friend requested that I reload some 9mm ammo for him.
It was supposed to SIMULATE his choice of home defense ammo. The logic being that one should practice defensive shooting skills with equipment equal to, or very similar to what is actually used. Ideally the ammo would have the same shape, size, recoil, and point of impact as the original factory ammo.
In this case it is the Hornady 124 grain XTP Hollow Point. (A truncated cone-shape.)

The factory spec for that ammo is 1110 fps from a 4" test barrel.
My sample measurements taken from supplied ammo was as follows:
LOA=1.060” with a standard deviation of 0.006”
Case mouth diameter= 0.374”
Bullet wt= 123.8 gr. not sealed with asphalt
Powder= 5.5 gr. of unknown flake-style propellant. (very uniform flakes)

Chronograph test from my SW compact 9mm-3.5 in stock bbl.
1065, 1046, 1046, 1037, 1032 fps
Av= 1045
Sd=12
It was expected that my local test speeds would be lower than factory spec because my gun has a shorter bbl and is a stock item. The longer 4” test bbl will shoot faster and since it is probably cut to tighter tolerance, it will shoot even faster than a typical 4’ gun bbl.
EG. A 5’ colt 45 acp bbl will shoot slower than a 5” match grade colt 45 acp bbl.

So now that I have defined the goal, let’s see if we can come up with something that approximates the original factory load. (124 gr JHP-TC at 1045fps from my pistol)

To be continued....

I chrono'd some 9mm xtp using hp38/231 Can't remember if it was 115 or 124? 

So when we gonna shoot em

So when we gonna shoot em

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Kinda busy this week. How about Sunday before I go work? Maybe around noon?

The 9mm XTP Project- Part 2
The Bullet Heads

A few months ago I was fortunate to have been able to order 1000 Hornady XTP bullets.
Unfortunately that means I could not burn those up for testing since my friend wanted 1000 loaded rounds. So I had to find something similar for testing.

Montana Gold- nose too short ..Similar to the AF design TC bullet. (none available anyway)
Speer Gold Dot- wrong shape-more like a truncated RN (not available)
Winchester and Rem.—wrong shape and not available
Hornady HAP (action pistol) –bingo! Found 1500 of these at a reasonable price. They are virtually identical to the XTP heads except they do not have serrations at the tip.
Precision Delta- Virtually identical to the XTP head except the serrations are not as deep. I have used them before with fair results.
 
Sadly, as of today, 4/2/13, I could not find any heads like these anywhere. I’m sure things will improve in a few months.

So for testing purposes, I settled on the precision delta heads and the HAP heads since they look similar to the XTP heads at much lower cost.

To be continued…

I asked a question to Oldfart regarding reloading 9mm via PM.  I should have posted this publicly and thanks to Oldfart for pointing that out 
So here is the question and great answer from Oldfart....Thanks Dave!!!!

Hey Oldfart,

I seen your post with the 9mm XTP and had a question on reloading 9mm.  I ran cases down a Lee 9mm Luger carbide die to FL size them.  The case came out fine with no visible bulges.  I then seated some 124gr JHP bullets into them.  They seated fine but notice that it slightly bulges with the contour of the bullet.  Is this normal?  It seems that the bullet is bigger than the neck of the case.  I measured the bullets and they are all roughly .355.  This happen to you before?

The bulge is nothing to worry about. It just means that the sizer is squeezing the case down a little "aggressively".
The bulging effect means you don't have to worry much about bullet setback.
That is when the bullet hits the feed ramp and gets pushed further into the case than it ought too.
You should still taper crimp the ammo. Typical would be 0.374 at the mouth. Some people use the LEE factory crimp die, but I have never used one and don't know anything about it. My Dillon press came with a sizer that did the same thing. The ammo had that "hourglass" effect. The ammo works great but I did not care for the appearance. So I switched to an old RCBS sizer die

Rbadua, mahalo for posting this msg. I was wondering the same thing after loading a few rounds today. I had the same hour glass shape that oldfart had referred to. Aloha

The 9mm XTP Project
Part 3- Propellant (powder)

So I got some bullet heads in search of somewhere to go now.
I looked up load data in my books and online and also dug through my past chronograph test results. The only powder I saw that came close to 5.5 grains for a 124 gr. bullet was Ramshot True Blue. Unfortunately, I do not have that powder. So I decided to use what I had available.

Looking at all the stuff I had sitting on my shelf and comparing all the data I had, I decided to try 4 different powders. AA7, Unique, Bullseye and HP38 (ww231).

In a nutshell, here are the results:

AA7- I have used this with good results, but I was running low so I decided not to pursue it.

Unique- Interesting stuff. Works great for +P loads but I could not get the speed down low enough.

Bullseye- I actually found a load using BE that felt good and got really close to the desired speed.

HP38- This is the same powder as Winchester 231 marketed by Hogdon. I did get a load that came very close to the right speed.

Attached is a chart showing some past and current test results. Charge weights are redacted for liability reasons.
 I would be glad to PM the charge weight if you ask for it.

J=standard dev
K=case
L=primer
M=power factor

The 9mm XTP Project
Part 4- Bringing it Together

Refering to the chart in Part-3, I found 2 loads that seem to fit the purpose.
One with BE powder and the other with HP38 powder.
The desired velocity was 1045 FPS.
BE load gave me 1055 fps (1% faster)
HP38 load gave me 1065 fps (2% faster)
In actual practice you will never notice a 1% or 2% difference so I was happy.

So now the question became, “Which one shoots more accurately?”
Attached are 2 photos of targets. Each target has 10 shots but fired in 2 5-shot strings.
It would have been nice if I could shoot groups without reloading, but you all know the rules at KHSC. Which one looks better to you?

Nice load test I have had good luck with w231 also. Just got me some hornady 230gr XTP in 45 acp got it loaded with w231 trying to get around 950fps which is what hornadys load data is for their +p loads. Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to chrono it..

Nice load test I have had good luck with w231 also. Just got me some hornady 230gr XTP in 45 acp got it loaded with w231 trying to get around 950fps which is what hornadys load data is for their +p loads. Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to chrono it..

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About 20 years ago I tested 230 JHP/JFP/FMJ loads trying different powders including 231.
There is no way to get an honest 950 fps from a standard 5" 1911 barrel. The powder is too fast.
A near-max charge of 5.9 gr 231 through a 5.5" Bar-sto match bbl, could only muster about 840.
You might have a chance with a looonngg glock poly bbl but I doubt it.

You can safely achieve 950fps with a slower burning powder like Unique. I actually exceeded 950.
But be wary. The heavy recoil can cause malfunctions.

Which one looks better to you?

They are very similar, but the HP38 group looks better to me.

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About 20 years ago I tested 230 JHP/JFP/FMJ loads trying different powders including 231.
There is no way to get an honest 950 fps from a standard 5" 1911 barrel. The powder is too fast.
A near-max charge of 5.9 gr 231 through a 5.5" Bar-sto match bbl, could only muster about 840.
You might have a chance with a looonngg glock poly bbl but I doubt it.

You can safely achieve 950fps with a slower burning powder like Unique. I actually exceeded 950.
But be wary. The heavy recoil can cause malfunctions.

Yah I know I would rather have used wsf but ran out and I can't find any and I got w231 I'm probably only gonna get around 830-850 which is around ball spec. Right now I loaded up to 5.5gr gonna see what the Vel. Is and if there are any pressure signs first before I push it any hotter

Yah I know I would rather have used wsf but ran out and I can't find any and I got w231 I'm probably only gonna get around 830-850 which is around ball spec. Right now I loaded up to 5.5gr gonna see what the Vel. Is and if there are any pressure signs first before I push it any hotter

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I clocked 782fps with 230 gr.FMJ 5.5gr-231
That was from a 5" 1911.

To get to mil ball speeds you would need to go up to about 5.8-5.9 of 231

They are very similar, but the HP38 group looks better to me.

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I reshot a test yesterday with the HP38 load. This time I just fired one 5-shot string.
I used 124 gr HAP heads instead of PD heads. Nice result attached

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I reshot a test yesterday with the HP38 load. This time I just fired one 5-shot string.
I used 124 gr HAP heads instead of PD heads. Nice result attached

Very nice group! 

Looks like the HAP bullets are more consistent than the PD bullets.

Thanks for the posts. 

Very nice group! 

Looks like the HAP bullets are more consistent than the PD bullets.

Thanks for the posts. 

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No doubt that the HAP is a much more refined bullet. You can tell just by the appearance.
On the other hand the PD bullets cost way less. Too bad everything is back ordered by months right now.

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I clocked 782fps with 230 gr.FMJ 5.5gr-231
That was from a 5" 1911.

To get to mil ball speeds you would need to go up to about 5.8-5.9 of 231

Yup your pretty on spot with the 5.5. I loaded up to 5.7 before I went to the range today and got an average of 833fps with that load.

oldfart - are you using a vice or sled to shoot?

oldfart - are you using a vice or sled to shoot?

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No. Sitting and resting my hands on the rolled up carpet things at kokohead.
why?