# Soft shooting 9mm load



## BigDaddySmith (Aug 1, 2015)

Hi all I was wondering if anyone has loaded up a 9mm load that is comparable to say 380. Reason I ask is my mother is 72 and she needs a lighter load that will function in a compact 9mm. She loves to shoot but her hands are not as young as they use to be.

I am thinking 100gr FMJ bullet with 2.6gr of Titegroup, or 90gr FMJ 2.7gr Titegroup.

If anyone has done this could you share what you used. I just want to get an idea where to start. Main thing is that it will operate and function normally, but with the lightest load possible.


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## Stengun (Jun 27, 2013)

Howdy BigDaddy,

That would be a good starting point. 

If those loads will cycle the pistol every time drop the powder charge .1 grains and see what happens. Keep doing this until the loads are too light to cycle then go up .2 grains. 

HTH

Oh, super light .380 power level 9mm loads?

Several years back one of the top IDPA shooters in the nation was at a local range for a district IDPA match. All the poppers were set so that Win white box 9mm 115gr FMJ would knock them down. 

The shooter's Glock 34 9mm with "factory ammo" would NOT knock down the poppers but a Bersa .380 w/ Win white box 95gr FMJ would knock them down. 

Yeah, they were very light loads. 

Paul.


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## win231 (Aug 5, 2015)

I wouldn't try that. It is dangerous to use a lighter load than the loading manual suggests with jacketed bullets. There is much more resistance with jacketed bullets than lead bullets & you could end up with a bullet stuck in the barrel. Some loading manual have a warning about this.

If your mother's pistol is a compact, remember that the recoil spring will be stiffer than a full-size pistol, so lighter loads may not cycle the slide.


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## Smitty79 (Oct 19, 2012)

If you are trying to knock down poppers, a heavy slow moving bullet will do it better than a faster lighter bullet for the same felt recoil. Also, to use a lighter recoiling load, consider a lighter recoil spring.


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## noylj (Dec 8, 2011)

Starting loads are not minimum loads, they are almost always no more than a 10-12% reduction from the max load. It doesn't take a lot of powder to get a bullet out of the barrel, but it will take testing and a change in recoil spring to make it reliable.
My only "concern" is that, to me, most of the recoil is the slide coming back and not the ammo, so a light 9x19 may not be that much lighter in the hand, for a grandmother or whoever.


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