I am getting the following results with my 9mm reloads. It's inconsistent, as the picture show normal bullet holes and the wide gaping one. Are these shots normal?

I'm loading
9mm 124gr RN from Xtreme Bullets
4.5gr Titegroup
1.125-1.140" C.O.L (depends on the case brand. Set to Winchester brass at 1.135 but different brands give me different lengths)
Crimp at 0.375 on all rounds

Everything feeds fine in my gun.

Interesting. 124 xtreme are my go to.

Are you belling the case enough? You might be scraping the plating off when you seat the bullet.

I can't remember the measurement with my crimp off the top of my head, but it's VERY light with plated rounds.

I'm pretty sure this is your issue. I figured that out the hard way myself.

I have nearly an identical load that works very well for me.

I would try crimping less, like .380-.382  I generally crimp as little as possible and with some projectile/brass combinations I can get by with none at all, it bends back just right when I seat the bullet.  

Keep in mind plated projectiles are soft lead with soft copper plating.  Instead of springing back into place for a tight seal with the brass they will be damaged/deformed by the crimp die so use as little as possible to get them to reliably chamber.  

All said and done though I feel like the plated bullets I've tried(xtreme) were less accurate than the jacketed or coated lead rounds I've used.

I have a lot better accuracy with coated bullets than plated.   .375" is too much crimp, especially for plated

also...4.5gr TG sounds like a lot.

over max at http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol  and the SIERRA book.

maybe try some of these...

http://www.bayoubullets.net/9mm-124-gr-rn-500-ct/

https://www.thebluebullets.com/product-p/sfr-125-9.htm

http://www.snscasting.com/new-9mm-125-grain-round-nose-red-coated-500ct/

I prefer coated bullets mostly just because they're a little cheaper
I rarely crimp my 9's

I'll have to pull some bullets and see. I'm using a Square Deal B and when Dillon shipped it back to me they swapped parts between the 38/357 set and the 9mm set I sent them. Odd how it's only a sometimes thing.

4.5gr might seem like a lot but the highest load I found for 124gr RN was 4.4gr with a C.O.L of 1.15. To make powder calculations easier (7000/4.5 = 15555.55555 5 is my favorite number so I'll let my OCD win here) I set the C.O.L to 1.135 to account for the extra pressure from 0.1gr of powder.

Here's a picture of a few hundred rounds going I shot. I really hope it's not a big issue. I loaded 1500 rounds already...

why are you crimping 9mm cases, ?? just get the taper back where it should be, it headspaces on the case mouth, if you are gouging the bullets then flare out the cases a bit more. as to why you have some bullets going sideways, I would say to much powder, plated bullets won't take much more than hard lead before they strip out going down the barrel.

Would heavy plated bullets be better?

Double tap

I don't even crimp 9mm at all for range ammo. Just barely flare the mouth and seat.

Using 115gr Berrys plated and 4.5gr Titegroup 1.13" col, which is max in my manual btw.

What distance are you shooting?  Off hand?

I'm not seeing anything in your pics that couldn't be attributed to the shooter IMO

If you don't crimp 9mm in an AR platform, you will have round setback.  The thinnest cases are Winchester.  They will definitely have issues with no crimp.

The only time I had keyholes was using the wrong powder with 147gr plated 9mm.  I have also had the plated hollow points keyhole.   

I agree, that does seem like a lot of TiteGroup. I load at 4.1 gr, with the Berry's 124 gr. plated RN with a COAL of 1.150.

This is probably not causing the keyholing, but thought I would mention it.

I use the Lee FCD on my 9mm rounds.

Definitely not a double tap. Slow shooting.  

I'm shooting standing at 25 feet. What things am I doing that could be wrong? I've put 10k rounds through this gun in 2-3 years, only about 2000 of those were not factory ammo (the last time I reloaded was 2 years ago on a single stage press). This is the first time I'm seeing the occassional "big" hole showing up. I too only barely flare the mouth. Half my rounds don't "sit" upright in the mouth but get straightened out with the bullet seating die. Occassionally I have to actually guide the bullet into the seating die. Again, seems to depend on the mfg of the brass as I'm noticing 0 issues with Winchester brass.

The benefit of the Square Deal B is it gives the 9mm cartridge a wasp shape, where the middle is belled inwards. Very common. Prevents seatback.
What velocities are you getting with the 4.1gr? I'm trying to get NATO loads, that makes it 1150-1200 fps with the 124gr loads. I haven't chrono'd these yet, but shooting 5 rounds of IMI NATO followed by these rounds feels identical to me (and shot 2500 rounds of Winchester NATO before getting back to reloading).

Thats a hot load for sure.

Im pushing the 115gr Xtreme with 4.4gr and feel its max.

The highest I've read, and a friend uses this load, is 4.7gr with his 115gr bullets.

LOL double tap means accidentally posting the same reply twice.

And 4.5 t.g. is my go to is my load with coated 125s

I run that same load (124 grain FMJ or Plated)  with 3.8 grains of tight group, .376-.377 crimp, seated COAL at 1.150 and have no issues. Runs great in all my 9mm's.


I would pull a couple and see what the crimp looks like on the bullets, a slight ring around it should be fine, but to heavy of a crimp will really distort the way Plated bullets fly. Also see how they shoot in another 9mm's, not all barrels like certain plates bullets. I have a Glock that doesn't shoot them that great when others will. Also the 4.5 grain of Tite group is hot, I would drop that down. Hope this helps.

0.375" sounds pretty tight.  I try to maintain 0.377-0.379"

Too tight, too hot.


I would lighten the crimp and the powder charge.

..oh wait, that is what I do with those same bullets and powder...

It's keyholing how is that attributed to the shooter?

You better check your scale and your loading data
Hodgdon has 4.1 as max with a Berry's Plated bullet!
BULLET WEIGHT
124 GR. BERB HBRN TP
Starting Loads Maximum Loads
ManufacturerPowderBullet Diam.
C.O.L. Grs Vel. (ft/s) Pressure Grs.  Vel. (ft/s) Pressure
HodgdonTitegroup.356"1.150"3.695727,700 PSI4.11,05732,700 PSI



Find a factory round and use that to set your crimp die with.  And, do not be using a Lee Factory Carbide Crimp Die.  IT SWAGES THE BULLET! NOT GOOD!

I think 4.5 Titegroup is too much for a 124 gr bullet.
My preferred load for an Xtreme 115 gr plated is 4.3'Titegroup and they shoot fantastic.  
I tried this same exact load in 124 gr FMJ (Also Xtreme brand) and found my groups were all over the place in various guns.  I never did work it out but probably would have dropped back to 4.0 gr.

I'm sorry but I don't see a keyhole in the OP photo.

If you zoom in on the target there are 2 very distinct round holes between ring 6 and 7. The paper simply tore between the two.

Motor

I came here to post this. That's nothing but loose paper on the backing cardboard. Tighten your targets sheets and you will have nice round holes.

TBH, it seems your reloading process may be a bit out of control:

- Your COL should have nothing to do with case brand. The press pushes the bullet down to a relatively fixed distance from the toolhead depending on toolhead slop. As long as your subplate/shellplate rises to the same height every time (and doesn't wobble more than normal), the COL is fixed within a narrow range.

If your press is nominal and your bullets are shaped decently (ie consistent), varying lengths of brass should change only the amount of bullet in the case (bearing surface), not the COL nor the volume of space beneath the bullet. Varying brass wall thickness could change the pressure required to seat, but not the COL if the press is operated properly.

- You say in a later post that your bullets often need to be held or fed in order to go straight into the seating die. Flare the cases a little more. Varying case lengths MAY lead to varying amounts of flare . . . shorter giving less, longer more.

- Your COL variance is much greater than I would expect on a quality press (Dillon) using decent bullets (Xtreme).

- As others have said, your crimp may be deforming the bullets. However, I personally don't see any evidence of tumble/keyhole on your target.

- According to QL, at your target COL your powder charge is pretty much max pressure . . . max +P pressure that is. At COL=1.135", QL says 4.5gr of Titegroup under a Rainier 124gr PRN (no Xtreme bullet file) will produce slightly over the 38k psi +P max and a velocity of 1118fps from a 4" barrel. At 1.125" pressure rises to 40.3kpsi with little increase in MV. For reference, standard 9mm Luger max SAAMI pressure is only 35kpsi. Hope your pistol is +P :) And hope your scale and powder measure are better than +/-0.1gr each :)

- Xtreme makes this comment: "Any velocities over 1200 FPS we recommend either our Heavy Plate Concave Base or Hollow Point products for superior accuracy. We recommend keeping velocities to less than 1500 FPS (Feet Per Second) and using only a light taper crimp". If your barrel is longer than 4", you may be exceeding the recommended 1200fps velocity . . . at times, depending on your COLs. But velocity is not likely to be a problem. But the pressure probably is a problem, and maybe the crimp.

ETA: The Lee FCD die does not swage an Xtreme, Berrys, or Rainier 115gr bullet. I see no reason why it would swage an Xtreme 124gr bullet of the same diameter.

I load those with T.G.
4.0 grains, 1.155" OAL, Avg. 1038 fps for 10 shots, 4.5" barrel.
I have no reason or desire to add more powder than that.

Nvm

Bottom of target. it was one shot as I shoot-check-shoot for my first 10 rounds.

Firing out of an HK P30L. That's a quality pistol that loves shooting Winchester 9mm 124gr NATO. Scale only does 0.1gr increments (RCBS 5000)

I'll shoot the last 700 of these that I have and load for 4.0 grains in the future, though I hate how slow those are. Really wanted to get to 1150-1200fps

you should be able to get "1150-1200" with a medium burn rate powder like POWER PISTOL, UNIQUE, etc, without exceeding max loads

titegroup is the last powder you'd want for max velocity


overly tight crimps, excessively hot loads of fast powder is a recipe for a kaboom

.

Where is it keyholing?

I mostly just see low-left hits which isn't uncommon for right handed shooters

Still haven't been able to pull the bullets apart. better get on that, down to my last 400 of that bach






Compared to Winchester 9mm 124gr NATO rounds

The paper looks loose, try clean cardboard.

I've experienced this key-holing problem many times over the years with 9mm's, way more so than with any other caliber. Each time the fix for me has been to find the proper size for each individual pistol barrel I've had problems with. I shoot mostly 124/125 SWC sized at .356, but my Beretta M9 favors bullets sized at .357, and I have an old Hi-Power that doesn't get a proper seal until I put .358 sized bullets in it. I realize your shooting plated bullets, but you may want to slug your barrel to see if it's bore is slightly oversized.

But how would that account for factory ammo never keyholing?

The reloads are 0.356, same as factory

There are no key holes in your target.

Look at the circle the bullet tip creates. The shot you think key holed has 75% of that circle.

The paper simply tore. Take your finger and fold the paper back into the target. Do this with all the holes then take another photo.

There is no way to get 3/4 nose impact with a side ways bullet.

Motor

Brought the charge down to 4.0gr. Not as fun but no longer seeing the sideways looking holes at all. Couldn't lessen the crimp. I had 2 complete turns on my Dillon SDB crimp station die and it has not changed one smidge. I' know I'm off by 0.03" too tight, gotta see if Dillon put in the wrong crimp die when I sent the setup for a tuneup.

147's keyholed badly at 15 yds.  Loads the M&P 9MM seemed to "like" just aren't fast enough (??) in the CZ P07.  I had a lot of them, we're working through them (making lots of targets that look like this) and I've since found a load with a different powder that seems to do well.

But, the idea is keyholed bullets making funny bullet holes in paper, so here it is.

Now that's what keyholing looks like. !!!!!

Motor

except for being inaccurate, bullets that keyhole would seem more effective than a hollow point for defense purposes

That depends a lot on velocity. A side ways bullet has very little sectional density and would lack the penetration ability of one going nose first.

A 147gr 9mm shot from a 4" or less pistol barrel would almost certainly be sub-sonic.

Motor

Does anyone have a picture of the Dillon Square Deal B 9mm Crimp die? I don't know if Dillon mixed up the 38/357 and 9mm crimp dies like the did the powder dies. Google image search has yielded little results

It may be the bullets, not how you are loading them. I have a box of Xtreme bullets that would group the whole USPSA target at 20 yards with any pistol they were shot from. I don't use Xtreme because other plated bullet brands grouped just fine loading them exactly the same way.