9mm velocity

Still new to the world of bullseye and the EIC matches for pistol.Running a Beretta with a KKM barrel. My current load is 115 Zero, Fed GM primer, 6-6.2 (I keep bouncing between the 2) of Power Pistol seated to 1.13, basically a variation of the load that I've seen posted just about everywhere. I actually took this load out and 1 other and chronoed them for the first time today. 20 shots of each, temp was 35F.

6.2 Power Pistol with the Zero 115 average was 1275
6.4 Power Pistol with the Zero 115 average was 1304

These seem unusually high for 9mm right? No weirdness on the brass or cratered primers. I know that velocity does not always equal accuracy, and honestly the accuracy is decent at 25, 50 yards is a joke although that may just be me. I've been running that 6/6.2 load and always went off the assumption it was going about 1150 based the posting I saw about it. Checked Alliants website and load manuals and the load was within safe ranges. 

What is the velocity range everybody is shooting for with their 9MM loads? I just worry about dropping the velocity too much and not having enough oomph to get out to 50 accurately. Or am I dead wrong about velocity and its got plenty of steam to get out to 50 accurately even if its only going 1100fps?

Cryo;

My handloads are 115gr Sierra Tournament Master over 4.8gr of VV-N340 which is about 1130 fps.
Also shoot the Atlanta Arms AMU load also but do not know the velocity.

Small world, I replied to your post on TFL

Are you shooting the M9 for centerfire in the 2700 match or just EIC matches ?

Clarence

I also shoot air rifle. We often shoot at 800fps and 55 yards. Only problems with low velocity are windage and bullet drop. For pellets, going faster than 1000fps often results in lower accuracy! 45acp does not go more than about 800fps.

At 5.9 Power Pistol (what a fixed charge device happens to throw), I'm getting 1150 fps from a 4.4 inch barrel and OAL 1.12-1.14".  QuickLOAD says I should get that (IOW, the database agrees within 10 fps for my gun/load) with that charge, 6.2 should run 1200 fps almost exactly, and the extra half-inch of your barrel predicts to go 1230 fps. 

Pressure with that high-performance powder models to a hair less than 28,000 PSI peizo. 

Up to 6.4 gr Power Pistol shows an expected speed of 1269 fps and pressure not very close to max at a bit over 30,000 PSI.

This is with fired case water capacity (which correlates to the firing/combustion chamber size with useful predictability) of 13.3 gr of water.

YMMV and all that.

If it gives the accuracy you want and its recoil doesn't make you flinch, indications are it should be a safe load. YMMV and all that.  Although Alliant's 11th reloading guide puts the max charge as 6.7 gr with the Gold Dot bullet, your speed being more than their 1212 fps might be cause for concern. You don't get primer flattening from excess pressure IME from 9mm level pressures--that takes above 40,000 psi, or a really generous headspace that lets the primer back out while the case is stuck to the chamber wall before the casehead slams back and squishes the protruding and pressurized primer.

Seems like everybody is going with slower loads compared to what I am running. I could swear I saw somewhere that the Atlanta Arms load was lower too. Put that together with the slower .45 loads and I am starting to think there is something to the lower velocity loads for accuracy. Perhaps I will load up some lower velocity and hit the range again and see how things go.

Have not shot anything other than SAFS at Camp Perry as far as pistol goes, still working on getting a decent .22 as well as figuring out what to do as far as .45 goes. I plan to, just need to get everything in line.

The Atlanta Arms loads the AMU shoots run at 1100fps. 

-Dave

I shoot a lot of 9mm. My most accurate load is 6.4 gr Power Pistol behind a 115gr XTP. I have tried reduced loads. They are not as accurate and it is also hard to get reliable performance out of the pistol. I have shifted recently to the 115gr HAP bullet. Same performance but costs less. I have never seen signs of over pressure at the 6.4 load. That is just my results with my 952 your results may be different. (but I don't think they will)

Len

That velocity you posted was close to what I got when I was shooting my Kidd Beretta with BarSto barrel. With 6.2 grains of Power pistol, I recorded 1263 and 1246 fps. This was using new Starline brass and Hornady 115 gr. FMJ bullets. On the same day, I recorded a velocity of 1238 with Atlanta Arms 9mm, out of the same gun.

What recoil spring are you guys all running? Stock or something else?

Cryo, the recoil spring has to be done in harmony with the mainspring.  You can increase the mainspring weight to cause more resistance and use a lighter recoil spring to maintain function.  So there isn't a "standard" answer to the question.

Dropped the mainspring down to a 13 and changed out the trigger spring to a Wilson Combat reduced power trigger units to get my trigger pull weight down and smooth it out a bit. I left the stock recoil spring in there but shot placement seemed really erratic. Knowing I had that kind of issue on another pistol due to hot loads that was fixed by a heavier spring, I upped the recoil spring weight on the Beretta to a 16. It seemed to help a bit but...

I just need the weekend to come so I can try out some lower powered loads and see where things end up. The fact that I get decent groups at 25 is telling me something is working right.