Just bought a 9mm Shield(bnib) and need to break it in. I,ve been shooting cast bullets in my handguns for years....45acp,38 spec etc. I have 125 gr RN bullets @ 20BHN and Unique powder available. I've check several manuals and am looking for a load that has enough poop to cycle the gun reliably but less than max velocity to avoid leading issues. I am considering starting at 4.5 grs Unique. I'm interested in hearing from folks shooting a similar load. Don't have a chrono so if you have chrono'ed similar loads or have ballistic software that could compute velocity of a 4.5gr Unique/125 gr 9mm load i'd like to hear about it. FWIW i realize there might be better suited powders i'm trying to get this done with what i have.....Mike

I've used 4 grains of unique in a ruger sr9c with a 105gn wadcutter and it cycled fine. I'd load maybe ten at the charge and see if it runs. That's good hard lead....may want to slug your bore if you haven't just to be sure about fit. My ruger slugged at .3565. I run ..357 lead in it.

5gr under a 125gr lrn @ 1.130" gives 1095fps in my g17. If your bullets are the right dia, vel is not an issue as to leading.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

A lot of manuals start out with 4.5 grs of Unique, but.........

the OAL are all over the place depending on the manual and bullet makers.

1.065" OAL could be a minimum and 1.12" should work in most pistols, with that RN bullet.

Many years ago when I had my Radom I used an x-Lite load of 4.0 grs of Unique at 1.08" that worked the action but it only had fair groups.
At that time, I too, did not have use of a chrony, so no fps data.

Depends on your spring on what your starting load will be.....
then you can add more powder to see if accuracy gets better.
My pistol did not like hot lead.

I recently discovered these 115gr bullets. 9mm / .380 - Eggleston Munitions, LLC

Been loading them over 4.5gr of unique which seems to cycle the actions just fine, shows about 950fps on paper, and will make a steel plate go ding. Loading them the same cost of 22 ammo is also a bonus.

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"Tastes just like chicken"

You're probably already aware of the feature since you've been shooting cast for years, but you can play with the BHN of the bullets to insure proper sealing with light OR heavy loads.

I think that Missouri Bullet Co. is one of the few companies that gives you choices of Brinell hardness.

For people who aren't aware of how lead hardness can affect how well your load will seal and lessen leading, here's a quick explanation:
Missouri Bullet Company