9mm cast

[Boogsawaste]

Time to try and load some 9mm cast. Got some Missouri "small ball" coated. 124 grain round nose.

Looked into my manuals and not much there...Been using power pistol in 9mm a lot lately with plated and jacketed and would like to keep using it if possible. Anyone know which manuals have data for this combo? I think it was my Lyman 49 that had something for 120 grain and power pistol? Maybe the Lyman cast book?

 

[rwsmith]

SMALL BALL!!!!! YUK!!!!!!

I had a terrible time with small ball bullets unless they were loaded to 1.06" max. I prefer bullets with a little taper to nose to clear the lands of the rifling. I find that many compact 9mm have a VERY short lead and the bullets will engage the rifling but not quite chamber completely and be very difficult to extract. I'm in the process of trying to shoot all of those up and I won't order any more.

What made it harder for me to deal with this was trying to make one bullet that would work in a wide variety of 9mm which now even includes a carbine, a full size pistol and several compacts.

The bullets I tried were powder coated, and kind of a messy job with lumps and bumps in the coating that gave additional interference.

I like the Hy Tek coated bullets from Missouri and I expect that you will have less trouble with them than I did, just make sure of the recommended OAL. and don't try to exceed it.

 

[Batmo]

Lyman's cast bullet handbook gives a starting load of 5.0 grains of Power Pistol for both 120 grain RN and 124 grain CN and a max load of 5.6 for the 120's and 5.5 for the 124's.

I've have very good results with Power Pistol in both 9mm and 45acp. In the 9mm I'm using a 147 grain bullet and the 45acp is a 200 grain bullet. I'm in the process of testing a 160 grain coated bullet in a 9 mm revolver....so far I'm pleased with the groups but more testing is needed.

 

[fredj338]

Lyman is your best bet for lead bullets, then Speer. Just use starting jacketed data, work up, you are good to go.

 

[JBnTx]

The Lyman Cast Manual has all the data you'll need.

I tried the Missouri Bullet 124gr Small Ball Hi tek coated and was not impressed with the accuracy.

I switched to their 125gr SWC and I have found my perfect 9mm cast bullet.
That's all I shoot in my 9mm Colt 1911's and my Glocks.

.

 

[flyrobb]

This is second hand info that I saw on another forum the poster said he received directly from Alliant. 124/125 gr lead. PP 4.8-5.3

This is pretty close to Batmo's post #3 from the Lyman Cast manual.

 

[mikld]

I've used nekkid lead, PCed, Hi-Tek, and plated bullets. I gave up on any "formula" for load data and just used lead bullet data on the approx. 2,500 rounds I've reloaded. I've had better results that way than trying "mid-jacketed" levels and usually wound up with a med-level lead bullet load as most accurate. If I needed anything faster, I'd just go with jacketed bullets...

 

[Nevada Ed]

As a note;

I have used coated lead 9mm bullets from .356, .357 and .358" dia.

The .356 dia. worked the best in my pistol, while the large .358" dia. bullet would not chamber.

Safe loading.

 

[Boogsawaste]

Thanks for the info. I REALLY need to pick up that Lyman cast manual one day.

I also read on the MBC website about the 1.08" OAL but thanks for the reminder. I'll set them long and plunk them later today to see what works in my guns.

 

[max]

I have never had much luck with lead in the 9mm. I love it everyplace else, but stick to jacketed in the 9.

 

[flyrobb]

I have never had much luck with lead in the 9mm. I love it everyplace else, but stick to jacketed in the 9.

Are you referring to accuracy?

 

[DWalt]

I have used the MBC 124 grain RN lead bullet (not coated) with 4.7 grains of Green Dot for several years. Works excellently for me in my 9mms. Also works fine in my .38 Super, but I don't use Green Dot for it.

 

[Clovishound]

I fought with cast in 9mm for a while when I first started reloading. I finally ended up with a formula that gave me leading I could live with. A handful of passes with a brush after each range session, followed up by a tight patch over a jag. Easy enough cleaning. Never got to zero leading. Discovered plated and settled on that.

 

[mtgianni]

I have settled on AA2 for the 9mm as I bought some quantity in past years. PP should work, I use it in the 40's with great results just have no need right now to work up a load for the 9's.

 

[Batmo]

Using Power Pistol the 147 grain Missouri Bullet grouped better then the 124 grain in my XDM 5.25. I've had no leading problems...no failures to feed or eject and no miss fires after approximately 4500 rounds. I did some load testing and backed the recommended 4.1 grains starting load off to 3.8 grains. The 4.1 seemed just a little HOT...just under 1000 fps. All I needed was about 900 fps to make a solid minor power factor.
"Boogsawaste" it sounds like you're on the right track....OAL in 9 mm can change pressure rather quickly. Just because a particular bullets weight and shape shoots good in one gun doesn't mean it will shoot well in another. That's part of the fun and frustration of this game.

 

[gwpercle]

Thanks for the info. I REALLY need to pick up that Lyman cast manual one day.

I also read on the MBC website about the 1.08" OAL but thanks for the reminder. I'll set them long and plunk them later today to see what works in my guns.

If your going to load cast , and many do after trying it , The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook will be your good friend . Noting better for lead is out there.
Gary

 

[Nevada Ed]

With a 125gr Coated bullet that was .356 in dia. and .61" in length I tried Bullseye, Red Dot, Green Dot, CFE pistol and HS-6 in my C9 3.5" pistol.

With a OAL of just 1.06", I received the highest fps, at 1173 but this load also had a failure to feed.

A OAL of 1.12" slowed down to 945fps was a very accurate loading and could also reach 1105fps if needed.

I tried this 125gr RN coated bullet at the long, 1.16" OAL to see if there might be a accurate loading. I had to get up to 1008fps with CFE and 1019fps with Bullseye before I had two groups that I was happy with.
Best OAL in my short barrel was with the 1.12" seating.

 

[slickracer]

Dardas make a 126 grain SWC with a flat base that works beautifully at an OAL of 1.120" in my XDM 5.25 with either Clays, Red Dot or 231.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Here is a picture of my brass with two different size bullets.
Both worked and cycled but in this brand I will go with the .356 dia. from now on.

 

[Clovishound]

Those are some funky looking pills. Having said that, given a choice between pretty and accurate, I'll take accurate all day long.

 

[max]

Are you referring to accuracy?

Yes, I was referring to leading. I did not slug my bore or put a lot of work into it. I just decided to load lead in everything else. I can buy 9mm for around $10 a box, so I concentrate on loading for the higher priced stuff.

 

[rockquarry]

I haven't looked at my Lyman cast bullet book lately, but it should have plenty of good information. As for loading cast bullets in the 9mm, they work very well and are probably as accurate as any jacketed bullet, BUT...

I literally spent years experimenting. I tried many different moulds, alloys / hardness, bullet diameters, and powders. Get bullet fit right and everything else is pretty easy.

Chambers are different, but often, one load will shoot well in a variety of guns. Never found a 9mm that shot .356" or .357" bullets well, but I suspect a Glock or H&K might (based on very limited experience).

The best bullet I've found to date is cast from an obsolete Lyman .38 Special mould (#358212), a round nose design weighing about 150 grains, wheelweight alloy and sized at either .358"or .359" (don't have my notes handy).

If you're a "want it now" handloader like so many seem to be nowadays and choose to forego experimentation, you'll be doomed in working up a good, accurate, no leading 9mm load.

 

[max]

Anybody doing any reloading of coated bullets in 9?

 

[Boogsawaste]

Anybody doing any reloading of coated bullets in 9?

This is what I'm trying to do here. Skip the whole leading thing. I shoot plain cast in my revolvers but figured I'd try the small ball coated off the bat.

On another note, plunk test on my lc9 dropped a 1.125" no problem. This is where I started and have no idea how long I could go with it. My 5906 however wouldn't plunk until 1.103". I set my length at 1.09" (to allow for any imperfection/fluctuation when seating), and loaded a few with unique. It'll probably be a little while until I can try them. Hopefully I will remember my chronograph.

The dummy round cycled in both guns a bunch of times with no seat back at all although the coating was getting beat up after a while. I probably cycled it in each gun about 20 times. Lots of neck tension with a .356" bullet!

 

[STCM(SW)]

I only use plated in my reload 9mm HP & the wife's Shield.
Now for .45 ACP I mold and shoot them in several pistols.
But do use platted in 45 ACP of higher MV.
For target revolver loads, only my 38 148 gr & 44 204 gr WC loads.
No leading problems at low MV.

 

[rwsmith]

The powder companies.....

The powder companies let a little cast data onto their websites. It seems like the powder companies would know that many reloaders shoot cast bullet and that it would behoove them to put a few more types of bullets in. If not that, put them in their manuals. I'll pay for more data.

 

[DWalt]

In general, you should not experience a bore leading problem with normal lubed (not coated or gas checked) lead bullets as long as the MV is kept below around 1100 ft/sec. That MV may be different depending upon the lead hardness.

 

[deanodog]

Can you safely seat the 9mm small ball lead a little shorter on a loaded round that will engage rifling before seating?

 

[revolver_ph]

Use the fattest bullets that will still allow reliable chambering. In my ancient Sig 226 I use .359+" and Blue Dot yielding good accuracy and clean bore. The ancient 226s had huge chambers and bores. Rumor has it that was intentionally done during the Gov. trials to ensure chambering under very adverse conditions and variety of ammo.

My Beretta 92 prefers .358".