Brazos 9mm

First topic message reminder :

I was thinking about giving Brazos 9mm a try. Anyone have any experiences to share?

Lightfoot wrote:

Orion wrote:I'm using Brazos 115gr round nose hi-tek bullets as well. Does anyone have any new load info on these?

I tried and tried.  I couldn't get them to group.  The heavier bullets did do better, but in the end, jacketed bullets are the best.  115's barely hold the paper.  147's hold the 7 ring.  Hope you find something that works, but it might be a 45!  lol

I don’t think I’m going to purchase these same bullets again. Are brazos SWC 45 180gr bullets any good? I have a pending order with this and might cancel. I spent a month with these 115 gold bullets and have yielded poor results so far. I spent 5 minutes with some jacketed bullets and instantly achieved positive results.

Yes, the Brazos 180 gr 45 lswcs' are good bullets.  I use the flat base model.  I was using zero Jhps' at the long line, but now I use the Brazos 180s for everything.

Load them with WST powder and spend more time shooting and less time cleaning your gun.

Orion wrote:

Lightfoot wrote:

Orion wrote:I'm using Brazos 115gr round nose hi-tek bullets as well. Does anyone have any new load info on these?

I tried and tried.  I couldn't get them to group.  The heavier bullets did do better, but in the end, jacketed bullets are the best.  115's barely hold the paper.  147's hold the 7 ring.  Hope you find something that works, but it might be a 45!  lol

I don’t think I’m going to purchase these same bullets again. Are brazos SWC 45 180gr bullets any good? I have a pending order with this and might cancel. I spent a month with these 115 gold bullets and have yielded poor results so far. I spent 5 minutes with some jacketed bullets and instantly achieved positive results.

Timed fire practice…they shoot just fine.

rburk wrote:Yes, the Brazos 180 gr 45 lswcs' are good bullets.  I use the flat base model.  I was using zero Jhps' at the long line, but now I use the Brazos 180s for everything.

Load them with WST powder and spend more time shooting and less time cleaning your gun.

Thanks for the insight, could you share some loads with brazos and WST?

With the 180s, I use 3.8 gr of WST for indoor practice and 25Y, and 4.0 gr at 50Y.  I use WLP primers, and have also use Fed 155 (mag) primers.

Seat to 0.92" measured at the bullet shoulder, and I crimp at about 0.466".

Using these ten Brazos 115 RN, I had an unusual hit @ 8 o'clock in the ten ring. Its perfectly circular, doesnt look like the other hole punches. Any thoughts as to how this happened?

rreid wrote:I have some of the 115 round nose. The only thing I can tell you for sure is don't crimp them tight. The first batch I loaded with a. 374" crimp and they went everywhere. Next batch I went .377" they went into a group.

I can testify to this, 374 is way too tight for brazos 115 RN

Orion wrote:Using these ten Brazos 115 RN, I had an unusual hit @ 8 o'clock in the ten ring. Its perfectly circular, doesnt look like the other hole punches. Any thoughts as to how this happened?

Seeing if anyone had any thoughts as to why one of ten round nose bullets looked like this perfect circle in the ten ring, eight o clock.

The round turned around and backed in.

Orion wrote:Using these ten Brazos 115 RN, I had an unusual hit @ 8 o'clock in the ten ring. Its perfectly circular, doesnt look like the other hole punches. Any thoughts as to how this happened?

I only see nine holes and the one in the 10 ring looks like a 45 swc hole. Could someone have cross fired on your target?

FWIW, I have had good success with every Brazos bullet I have tried. My experience is only with their HiTech coated bullets.

.45 I have used the 180 FB and BB and the 200 BB bullets. Using BE, VV N310 & WST in the 3.8 - 4.1 gr range were all good. Some on any given day, or different gun a little better, but all good in the   2" +/- at 50 yd. Typically they shoot a knot, with one or two out of the knot.  I just load them, I do not weigh each bullet. I think if I weighed the bullets, those flyers may go away. Excellent bullets at good value. I have similar results with Bayou Bullets and Zero LHPSWC.

.355, .356, .357 125 & 150 gr bullets in 9mm , .38 Super or .38 spl are not as easy to get to shoot. (see below) 

In .38 spl the 125 gr RN in either .355 .356 or.357 shoot very well. I use 4.4 - 4.6gr WST and they shoot within 2.5" at 50 yds

In .38 Super the 125 RN using 4.0 - 4.2gr VV N320 will yield 2.5" at 50 yds.

In 9mm, things are different. I don't know why.  Sometimes, I get incredible results, the next time WTF happened, with all else being the same. I questioned the bullets from bag to bag, then would try the same bullets in .38 spl or .38 Super and they shoot. I have had some 9mm 50 yd groups in the 1 1/2 inch range, but unable to back it up again. I have tried the 125 RN, 125 TC and the 150 SWC. Similar results, some darn good others like a shotgun.  Powders? I have used W231, WST, WSF, VV N320 & N330. I got the best results using 125 RN or TC using 3.4 - 3.7gr WST. My recall the OAL was just short of 1.100".  Once again, 9mm has been very challenging for me. Some days the same load would shoot under 2" and the next test would yield 4-5" @ 50yds.

All above were done in high quality guns ( Accuracy X, NVGW , Shue ) which with ZERO/Nosler/Hornady jacketed bullets will consistently shoot under 1.5 - 2" @ 50yds.

Allgoodhits wrote:  150gr SWC Hitek in front of 3.7gr WSF crimped to .375. This shot consistently in the 2.5" or less range, prone. Another good load was 2.8gr WST with that same combo, although the WSF load was better. No signs of pressure with any of these, 

Martin,

Was this at 1.1 OAL as well?

I have a bag of Brazos 150 LSWC's and a pile of small primers, so I figured I would play with a Beretta for a while...

Thanks!

DA/SA wrote:

Allgoodhits wrote:  150gr SWC Hitek in front of 3.7gr WSF crimped to .375. This shot consistently in the 2.5" or less range, prone. Another good load was 2.8gr WST with that same combo, although the WSF load was better. No signs of pressure with any of these, 

Martin,

Was this at 1.1 OAL as well?

I have a bag of Brazos 150 LSWC's and a pile of small primers, so I figured I would play with a Beretta for a while...

Thanks!

The Brazos 125 RN and the 150 SWC have a shelf where the .355 , 356, .357 portion of the bullet starts to form the ogive. I loaded both where the brass neck was just shy of the shelf. IOW, the shelf was exposed beyond the neck. The amount varied a tad depending which gun I was going to use due to chamber variations. I don't have any of the 150 SWC currently, so I can not tell you what the OAL was, but I am pretty certain they were loaded the same manner. I want to make sure that the crimp, or removal of flare or bell came into contact with the bullet. If the bullet is seated too deep, then the neck has nothing to come into contact with, likely reducing grip on the bullet, and increasing a possible feeding issue. I loaded .38 spl the same way.  Helpful?

So basically, just like the .45 LSWC where the shoulder is just beyond the case mouth.

Thanks!