Hornady or Speer?

[Cemetery-man]

Today I had the pleasure of entering JetGirls domain at Tomlinson's to pick up some powder and supplies to get started. I must say, she fixed me up good with a nice assortment of powder (W-231, Titegroup and Clays), CCI primers and a few other items I needed. I wish I could have stayed and visited but she was pretty busy and my wife was waiting in the car. Anyway, back to topic...

Beginner confusion but here goes... I fully expected to buy some Hornady 115 gr FMJ but in the Lee manual I noted the only powder of the 3 shown to use is the W-231. In the Loadbooks USA manual it lists W-231 as well as Clays. Also the Loadbooks USA shows that under Speer 115 gr TMJ I can use both W-231 and Titegroup. Since I wanted to save the Clays powder for my 45 ACP, It looks like Speer would be a better choice bullet for me to use with either the 231 or Titegroup.

My question is, How are Speer bullets? Say compared to Hornady.

 

[JStang314]

Speer makes a fine bullet in my opinion. But if you're just loading plinking/practice ammo you could save some money with a plated bullet like berrys or xtreme. If you're happy with the Speer price or want to stay jacketed the Speer bullets I'm sure will work great.

 

[dtkw]

What is your plan to use your reloads for? Plinking is fine, just don't use it for self defense. For self or home defense, I use factory loads. Reloading is good and Speer made some very nice reloading components and bullets. I still have a bunch of gold dot around for 9mm.

 

[Sniper 79]

Load data is nothing but a guide. You can use what ever bullet you want. Both Hornaday and Speer are great. For plinking I would use something else like X treme. They seemed to be the best price these days.

 

[trophyhunter]

Have a look at Precision Delta, if you buy 2K or more at a time you'll pay less for a quality jacketed bullet than most plated options and shipping is free.

 

[Davecz]

Personally I am a fan of hornady but Speer is also gtg

 

[Cemetery-man]

What is your plan to use your reloads for? Plinking is fine, just don't use it for self defense. For self or home defense, I use factory loads.

Yea, this will just be for range use. I want to use a good quality, jacketed bullet for my reloads. I think I'll start off with Hornady and then experiment from there with different bullets. I guess that's one of the things that got me interested in reloading is the pursuit of creating the "perfect" round for my purposes. Thanks for all the great info.

 

[tnek13]

Yea, this will just be for range use. I want to use a good quality, jacketed bullet for my reloads. I think I'll start off with Hornady and then experiment from there with different bullets. I guess that's one of the things that got me interested in reloading is the pursuit of creating the "perfect" round for my purposes. Thanks for all the great info.

Don't be overly concerned about Hornady / Speer they are both good bullet companies. You will find that your gun will tell you which bullet it prefers. Titegroup of the powders you have, would be my preference for the 115 gr bullets in a 9mm, my 9s prefer other powders with their pet loads.

There are many good reloading books that will lead you to your prefer bullet. Case prep is paramount, consistant powder volume / weight , limited run out, and with straight walled cases used in an auto a taper crimp just enough to reverse the bell caused when you opened up the mouth to allow you to load the bullet. READ as many as you can get your hands on the basics will be the same, but each will add to your knowledge.

One piece of equipment you need with a 9 is a good case gage. Drop each round in to make sure it is in specs. Some body will tell you you can use your barrel (out of the gun). You can but the gage is easier - it is better to make sure your ammo will run through the gun before you try to shoot it at the range.

Have fun.

 

[AngryRooster]

Yea, this will just be for range use. I want to use a good quality, jacketed bullet for my reloads. I think I'll start off with Hornady and then experiment from there with different bullets. I guess that's one of the things that got me interested in reloading is the pursuit of creating the "perfect" round for my purposes. Thanks for all the great info.

I've been loading up some 9mm recently. If you haven't tried the Xtreme Bullets you might want to check them out. I don't have any 115 from them but I do have some 124 flat point and some 147 HP. If you would like to try some out let me know and I'll send you a dozen or so of each. I'm very pleased with them and just ordered a box of 500 for the 45. 230 HP. They should be in this next week.

 

[Cemetery-man]

One piece of equipment you need with a 9 is a good case gage. Drop each round in to make sure it is in specs. Some body will tell you you can use your barrel (out of the gun). You can but the gage is easier - it is better to make sure your ammo will run through the gun before you try to shoot it at the range.

I just ordered a set of the Lyman case gauges. They must be a popular item and were pretty hard to find as everyone was out of stock. Then yesterday Midway USA got some in so I grabbed up a 9mm and .45.

Of course I guess if a person's desperate you could get them on eBay and pay $37 for one. Ouch.