Reloading for the R9

[steve1147]

I've owned my R9 for about 4 years now and LOVE it's conceal-ability and performance....AS LONG as I fire only factory loaded Silver Tips or white box Winchester seems to fire well also, both in 115 grain.
With any other ammo I've had numerous light strike misfires, partially ejected casings, etc., which originally worried me about it's dependability in a life or death situation.
All this is fine, I've learned from Karl that this high-performance machine requires certain fuel. I can live with that.
MY QUESTION IS: I've recently started reloading pistol ammo for my 357, 40, 45acp and 9mm.
What if any is the prime reloading recipe for a 9mm fireable and dependable in the R9?
I just finished reloading my first batch of 9's, 5.1 gn of Universal powder, 115 gn fmj, standard CCI primer. Had two jammed casings and two light-strike misfires in the first 12 rounds. ALMOST as bad as when I first got her and tried shooting Remington ammo!!!!
Thanks in advance for any help or info.
Steve W.

[tracker]

Steve,
I don't reload but admire those of you who do; there are some on this forum who are avid re-loaders but i have never heard re-loads and the R9 mentioned together on this forum. Not to say that it can't be done but it seems that you answered your own question in your well thought out statement.

[Reinz]

I am a reloader, on/off for 40 years, steady on for last 15--., but have not reloaded nines in a few years.

Considering the gun;compact, springs;short,tight,highly compressed.
Taking my first swing would make think of using a more "snappy" powder like TightGroup or Bullseye.

That way the pressures would "ramp up" quicker.

Just a wild guess, but you have to start somewhere.

I"m sure there are many conflicting opinions to prove me wrong, but if I had the time, that is where I would start.

Good Luck

Reinz

[yankee2500]

This was covered a little while back, here is the info.

 Re: Anyone reloading for the R9?
« Reply #1 on: Aug 7th, 2009, 8:29pm »  Quote  Modify  

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Welcome to the Rohrbaugh Forum, hk_mtbr;
I've been reloading for my R9s for the past few months with good results.  100% reliable feeding & extracting, 100% reliable ignition.
 
I've been using primarily Winchester and Remington brass; CCI 500 primers; Berry's 115 grain bullets; starting loads of Unique, Universal Clays, Power Pistol, HS-6.  I like the Hogdon HS-6 the best because it generates very little flash.  (Power Pistol is a good powder, but the worst from a muzzle flash standpoint.)
 
From a lot of reading on the 9mm cartridge, I wanted to be very careful to not compress the charge.  So I measured O.A.L of a  115 gr Winchester White Box round, disassembled the round & measured bullet length.  Then I adjusted O.A.L. of the rounds I was assembling by the difference between the Berry's and Winchester bullet lengths.
The adjusted O.A.L. of my handloads fell within the range recommended in several of my reloading manuals.  100% function at the range was proof of the pudding.
 
Steve

John

[Reinz]

Oh yeah, one other thing, since it appears that a few members seem to have problems with light primer strikes, I would use Federal Match Small Pistol Primers.

Federals, because overall consensus is that they are the "softest" (debatable, I know") primer.

Match -  because they just go through more qc inspections, but cost a little more.

The next "softest" are considered to be Winchester

CCI's are considered the hardest.

Yes, many people consider this all BS, many swear by it.

I shoot competitively, I only use Federal Match even though they are the most expensive.  

I have had one bad primer cost me a championship (not Fed).


REINZ

[steve1147]

OK, I tried the first round with Hodgden/Clays/Universal at 4.6 grains under a 115 gn fmj. Didn't work well at all (see above). Loaded another 50 rounds to save for other guns.
Gonna try the same bullet with 4.7 gns of WST, suppossedly a faster burning powder, see if that helps. I'll reload/shoot two or three clips and report on the findings.
Thanks, Steve W.

[steve1147]

PSS, Also, on the light strike issue, I've realized over the years I CANNOT shoot any Remington in my R9, and I've read the CCI primers are even harder, so I'm not surprised the CCI's show me FTF's once in a while. Problem is they're all I can get for reloading right now, and I'm happy to get them! I have to drive 40 miles to buy the store's self-imposed limit of 200/customer/day.
If I can only come up with a good powder recipe, hopefully in the future I can buy Federal or Winchester primers and have a good/dependable load for target practice at a cheaper price than the Silver Tips the gun seems to demand.
Thanks! Steve W.

[tracker]

It seems like we have a situation where, relatively speaking, the WWB is more available than the primers. I just recently saw some WWB .45 showing up on shelves for the first time in awhile.

[Richard S]

Steve:

I'm not a reloader, so allow me simply to welcome you to the Forum.

[kjtrains]

I'm in that catagory as well, but would like to welcome you to the forum.  Much information is available here, so come back often.

[steve1147]

Thanks Everyone! 4-5 years ago when I bought my R9 I was lost. My previous c/c gun was a S&W hammerless 357 revolver. It would and still will fire anything I put in it, BUT it was too awkward and heavy for what I wanted. I had my R9 shipped back to the factory twice, thinking a $1200 handgun should shoot corn cobs if I could get them in the clip. HOW WRONG.
Met a guy today who shoots long guns, and has the same issues, he paid over $2,000 for a high-end AR-15 style rife, and has to choose ammo very carefully.
My favorite everyday target gun is my Ruger stainless GP-100 in 357 (by far), followed by my Glock model 30 in 45acp.
Thanks for the warm welcome here, I do appreciate it.
I'll post again tomorrow after I load a few rounds with the WST and see how they do.
Thanks, Steve W.

[Reinz]

I think the WST will work better, especially if you can run it at least in the 1000 fps range.

Good Luck


Reinz

[steve1147]

Ok guys, check these pics out:

http://www.geocities.com/chatrats/rohrbaugh_1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/chatrats/rohrbaugh_2.jpg

I don't think this has anything to do with my reloading efforts, but after firing my last round of trials, this is what the spent cartridges looked like. NOT pretty.
I've ALWAYS had problems with reliability, but today I loaded 50 with 4.8 gns of WST, CCI 500 primer, and a 115 gn fmj.
Out of the 50, not a single failure to eject case, good accuracy and feel,  BUT numerous light strikes, one each each clip at least, but I blamed that on the CCI primers. BUT towards the end I once had to pull the trigger 7 times to fire the round in the chamber. You'll see the evidence of this in the pics posted above.
Thanks for your input, don't know what to do next!
Steve W.

[IOM]

Not sure if this will correct your light primer strike problem, but I'd look at this post -
http://www.rohrbaughforum.com/YaBB.cgi?board=R9S;action=display;num=1237069457;start=17#17

I had this same problem when I first got my R9s.  Got it home after the first outing, and even though I had no failures of any kind I did have some light primer stikes.  My grip screws were loose and the trigger return spring was not fully seated where it should be.  Here's another post to help you see what I'm referring to.  
http://www.rohrbaughforum.com/YaBB.cgi?board=Cleaning;action=display;num=1239329782

Not sure if this is your problem, but something to rule out.

David

[slashsplat]

Given the intended purpose of the R9 as a defensive weapon, I chose to use factory ammo at all times.  If I were to be scrutinized on its use as a weapon, the LAST thing I would want to say is that I made my own [deadly] ammo...