My Southern Gun Company 9mm Lever Release....

[HH1]

As some members may know, I bought myself a SGC 9mm lever release rifle in February. I would just like to share the news that I passed a milestone this afternoon after having now put 1,017 rounds through the gun. During the time that I have owned the gun has run pretty much flawlessly. It has jammed a couple of times, but that is more due to the fact that I fitted a "brass-catcher" and the odd empty case bounced back into the action. I might try a free standing net brass catcher instead.

Of those 1,017 rounds 750 have been a mixture of Fiocchi, Geco, Magtech, PPU and S&B factory 9mm and 312 rounds have been my home loaded 9mm. Mostly 115gr FMJ but by far the most accurate has been the copper coated lead L.O.S. bullets......


Oh and despite the various nay-sayers..... my Rifle has not blown-up

[joe]

As some members may know, I bought myself a SGC 9mm lever release rifle in February. I would just like to share the news that I passed a milestone this afternoon after having now put 1,017 rounds through the gun. During the time that I have owned the gun has run pretty much flawlessly. It has jammed a couple of times, but that is more due to the fact that I fitted a "brass-catcher" and the odd empty case bounced back into the action. I might try a free standing net brass catcher instead.

Of those 1,017 rounds 750 have been a mixture of Fiocchi, Geco, Magtech, PPU and S&B factory 9mm and 312 rounds have been my home loaded 9mm. Mostly 115gr FMJ but by far the most accurate has been the copper coated lead L.O.S. bullets......


Oh and despite the various nay-sayers..... my Rifle has not blown-up

Sweet, I will getting one in a few months. Quality 9mm ARs are just as good as the HK94 from what I have read

[bradaz11]

As some members may know, I bought myself a SGC 9mm lever release rifle in February. I would just like to share the news that I passed a milestone this afternoon after having now put 1,017 rounds through the gun. During the time that I have owned the gun has run pretty much flawlessly. It has jammed a couple of times, but that is more due to the fact that I fitted a "brass-catcher" and the odd empty case bounced back into the action. I might try a free standing net brass catcher instead.

Of those 1,017 rounds 750 have been a mixture of Fiocchi, Geco, Magtech, PPU and S&B factory 9mm and 312 rounds have been my home loaded 9mm. Mostly 115gr FMJ but by far the most accurate has been the copper coated lead L.O.S. bullets......


Oh and despite the various nay-sayers..... my Rifle has not blown-up

Which weight and shape of LOS bullet?

[ovenpaa]

HH1 and others, what is your cleaning regime for the barrel and operating parts, does it benefit from a complete strip every couple of hundred rounds or can you leave it as it is with routine lubrication and a yearly blow out.

[bradaz11]

For me. It depended on the ammo. First batch of s&b i could do 250 rounds before it got sticky and needed cleaning. Which was a quick disassemble. Wipe of bolt. Hamer parts. Inside receiver and barrel face. Then good to go for another 250.
Next batch barely made 50. I haven't really tried running the bolt wet with lube for more than 100 rounds

[pir]

HH1 and others, what is your cleaning regime for the barrel and operating parts, does it benefit from a complete strip every couple of hundred rounds or can you leave it as it is with routine lubrication and a yearly blow out.

It's a blow back action, it gets messy and gunked up like a 10/22 gets messy except more powder and more places for it to go. I keep an eye on the action, how dirty it looks and how smooth the movement is. As soon as it seems like it's getting gunked up I strip, clean and lube it. If I do a full evening of turning targets and fire a couple of hundred rounds it will feel like it needs cleaning. I try not to over lube it in the same way I don't over lube 10/22s, the oil holds onto the carbon and unburnt powder that gets blown back into the action. I'll clean the barrel at the same time. I use copper plated 123gr bullets to try and avoid leading it and the muzzle brake up too badly.

Don't forget to clean gunk out of the mags, too, it blows down through them as well.

If the bolt can't move freely and smoothly then it won't operate well. Pull the bolt back and feel how it is moving, if you feel grittiness then it's past cleaning time. It's a contrast to my 5.56 straight pull AR, the action on that gets dirty very slowly since almost nothing is blown back into it.

[HH1]

Which weight and shape of LOS bullet?

I am using these:

9mm 123g.

http://www.blackrifle.co.uk/Copper-Plat ... rn-123.htm

I searched quite hard to find loading data for these and in the end I had to use previous experience with other handgun calibers and something of an "educated guess"....

I decided upon exactly 4.0 grains of Hodgdon HP-38 and it worked fantastic so I will stick with that. Another member of our club with a SGC 9mm has started using the same load and is also getting good results.

[HH1]

HH1 and others, what is your cleaning regime for the barrel and operating parts, does it benefit from a complete strip every couple of hundred rounds or can you leave it as it is with routine lubrication and a yearly blow out.

All my guns are cleaned after every use regardless if they have shot 5 or 100+ rounds.

With the SGC 9mm I separate the upper and lower receiver, remove the bolt and charging handle. Clean the barrel with a bronze brush.
Then the bolt and charging handle, then carefully clean the action etc. Lube with gun oil and the occasional grease and reassemble.

I was using up a 100 rounds of Magtech ammo on Saturday and I noticed that this is particularly dirty ammunition.

I have the standard 17rnd Glock mag that came with the rifle as well as a couple of the Glock 33rnd mags..... but these are not easy to strip for cleaning. For that reason I bought a bunch of the 17rnd Magpul "Pmags" that I can highly recommend as they are robust, work flawlessly and can be stripped by simply pushing the tip of a 9mm round into the base of the mag. Simplicity itself.

[joe]

Do you think it will run 500 rounds of fmj in one session without problems
Also is the buffer heavier then a 5.56mm buffer ?

[pir]

9mm 123g.
http://www.blackrifle.co.uk/Copper-Plat ... rn-123.htm

I searched quite hard to find loading data for these and in the end I had to use previous experience with other handgun calibers and something of an "educated guess"....

I decided upon exactly 4.0 grains of Hodgdon HP-38 and it worked fantastic so I will stick with that. Another member of our club with a SGC 9mm has started using the same load and is also getting good results.

They do seem to be the bullet of choice. The lighter 115gr shoot well too but require more powder.

The closest data I found for HP-38 and copper plated was via Hodgdon's website which has a listing for 124gr. Since you decrease bullet weight and increase powder amount you don't start from the minimum listed. 4.1-4.2gr of HP-38 apparently does very nicely in some of the rifles around here but anyone doing their own loading should do group testing to see exactly what shoots best in their rifle, one or two tenths of a grain can make a difference, I tend to work towards the middle of a set of good groups so if I get a slight overthrow it doesn't make any practical difference.

Since using reloads voids the warranty I obviously haven't done so.