9mm hardcast?

You likely don't need "hardcast". A softer bullet that fits will often shoot more accurately and won't lead the bore and will penetrate just fine for those who need a lot of penetration for whatever reason. I'm speaking of conventionally sized and lubed bullets. I've read that bullet hardness isn't as critical with coated bullets but I've had no experience with coated.

I seldom shoot 9mm anymore but did extensive cast bullet work with the cartridge in several pistols for many years, just to see if cast bullets were practical and accurate in the 9mm. I prefer heavy bullets. I tried around a dozen cast bullet designs and about that many powders. My long time favorite bullet for the 9mm has been the Lyman #358212, an obsolete .38 Special round nose that weighs about 150 grains cast of wheelweight alloy. I size to either .358" or .359" (I'd have to look at my notes to be sure). I use Bullseye powder, but HS-6 is a close second. These loads are accurate and shoot to point-of-aim at 25 yards. Functioning is perfect in my three 9mm pistols, all of which I've had more than thirty years: Beretta 92F, Sig P226, and a Walther P4.

I much prefer the .45 ACP over the 9mm, but the 9mm is certainly a good cast bullet cartridge for 9mm enthusiasts.
Thank you for the input. There are no doubt cartridges that are better suited for non expanding cast bullets. But this is a special project with a very specific application.
 
A test drive of a CZ was an early influence in my PCC considerations. Fine little piece of hardware.
For me, however, 9mm was an odd addition. I didn't really seek this out, rather it snuck into the collection with a Walther p-38 and kinda spread like cancer.
experimentation with subsonic 30-06 opened my eyes to the need for things like 22 hornet, 25-20 and 32-20. Looking for modern counterparts, all roads lead to 9mm or 357.
An "AR-9" build offers you to modular legos for men approach of the AR 15 platform to where you can prety much cook up any configuration you deem suitable.
Having both the Colt SMG pattern system and the Glock double stack system, I can tell you both will run exquisitely with a little tuning. I favor the glock compatible of the two due to its wide range of mag options. A Glock 26's 10 round mag or the 15 round G19 make for sensible mags for a small game rifle ... from there, we can escalate to a 60 round drum if you want to feel Italian.
they are some of my go to guns for training new shooters
I love the AR platform for the same reasons, infinitely configurable, and very affordable. My 12" 6.5 grendel was my favorite deer gun before i got bored with shooting whitetail at 50yds or less 95% of the time. So i started using handguns which brought back some of the challenge and made it exciting again.
 
The push through sizing die would resize the coated bullet but the coating at the front of the driving band was thick enough that it required the bullet be seated deeper into the case. This would cause the case to bulge excessively and restrict powder capacity, likely increasing pressure way too much. It really depends on your chamber dimensions and even the internal dimensions of the brand of brass. There's a very fine line and what works for me might not work for you without some tweaking. The loaded rounds must be able to pass the "plunk" test without sticking in the chamber leade.
Right on, that makes sense.
The gun I'm working with at the moment is an m&p 2.0 with a very short and tight leade. I used to have a gen 1 m&p 40 that would accept any seating depth that wasn't too long to fit in the magazine. That gun also shot like crap too lol
 
I use hard cast (Silver-Cast) bullets in several calibers. I know enough about metallurgy that alloy is beyond my ability to manage. I get no leading at carbine velocity.

The problem I have with 9mm is shaving the lead, leading to chambering issues. The 9mm case is slightly tapered, so I may be over-sizing it under-flaring. I always crimp in a fourth die after seating without crimping.

I’m sure there is a solution, but 9mm is so cheap that reloading isn’t a priority.
 
I use hard cast (Silver-Cast) bullets in several calibers. I know enough about metallurgy that alloy is beyond my ability to manage. I get no leading at carbine velocity.

The problem I have with 9mm is shaving the lead, leading to chambering issues. The 9mm case is slightly tapered, so I may be over-sizing it under-flaring. I always crimp in a fourth die after seating without crimping.

I’m sure there is a solution, but 9mm is so cheap that reloading isn’t a priority.
Yeah if you're just talking about range ammo there's not a huge savings to be had by handloading once you add in the value of your time as well. But when it comes to specialty ammo there's a lot of things that you might not be able to buy off the shelf, regardless of cost.
 
During the 60s I loaded a 155 gr. SWC using the loads in the Lyman #43 manual - IIRC I used Unique but forget the charge. I did not bother sizing them down but they were commercial bullets and .357 not .358.

If I was going to do that over I would have to work up the load as Unique has changed slightly.

I recntly stuck a 158 SWC in my 9mm and used TiteGroup but most of my modern 9mms have too short a throat in the chamber so I just load 147 .355 Flat points.

I figure it is the meplat that does the damage anyway so I don't mind a truncated round nose. I would not might having the extra weight of a 160 or even a 180 gr. bullet.

Better still a 260 gr. from a .45 :)

Just Ramblin'

Riposte
 
During the 60s I loaded a 155 gr. SWC using the loads in the Lyman #43 manual - IIRC I used Unique but forget the charge. I did not bother sizing them down but they were commercial bullets and .357 not .358.

If I was going to do that over I would have to work up the load as Unique has changed slightly.

I recntly stuck a 158 SWC in my 9mm and used TiteGroup but most of my modern 9mms have too short a throat in the chamber so I just load 147 .355 Flat points.

I figure it is the meplat that does the damage anyway so I don't mind a truncated round nose. I would not might having the extra weight of a 160 or even a 180 gr. bullet.

Better still a 260 gr. from a .45 :)

Just Ramblin'

Riposte
😄 right on. I agree that when working with non expanding bullets, bigger is usually better lol.
But this is just an oddball pet project........just because i can kind of thing.
 
As far as the meplat goes I think the Lee SWC is about as wide as you can get, at least for something that can be used in a 9mm. I am amazed that this bullet feeds so well in my Glocks.
Yeah the Lee swc had the largest meplat of any design i could find that was easily obtainable and affordable.
 
I have shot right through both sides of a steel 55 gallon drum (empty) with the 121 grain Lyman 356402 hard cast bullet and these were not even full power loads. That is plenty of penetration for any flesh and blood target.

I might add I recently watched an interview with a Big Game guide who killed a grizzly bear with a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol using only factory ammo with 125 grain bullets.

Remember also that hot loads with overweight bullets are very hard on a semi-auto pistol. I have seen some pistols crack their frames and in the case of the German Luger crack the breach block.

Lyman 356402 bullet:

1752594043157.png
 
Last time I reloaded 9mm it was with 124/125 gr Hard cast LRN with 4.0 gr of bullseye and ww small pistol 5000 rounds. Had some hs-7 leftover and used 6.3 gr to load some old military brass about a 1000. Having shot that all up. Resorted to shooting factory til I get the ambition to reload. I have been thinking of trying to make some 147 gr., its all my son shoots. Any hints on loads with ww primers and that bullet woud be appreciated. I have a varity of powders available.
 
I have shot right through both sides of a steel 55 gallon drum (empty) with the 121 grain Lyman 356402 hard cast bullet and these were not even full power loads. That is plenty of penetration for any flesh and blood target.

I might add I recently watched an interview with a Big Game guide who killed a grizzly bear with a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol using only factory ammo with 125 grain bullets.

Remember also that hot loads with overweight bullets are very hard on a semi-auto pistol. I have seen some pistols crack their frames and in the case of the German Luger crack the breach block.

Lyman 356402 bullet:

S&S CASTING HAS THE BULLETS
WINCHESTER WSF POWDER 3.7 TO 4.1 GR
Not familiar with S&S. I'll have to check them out.
 
I cast my 9MM bullets using 19 pounds of COWW and 1 pound of foundry type simply because I came across a large quantity of the latter at a very good price. (free) Normally I use a 125 grain TC style bullet but for grins and such I wanted to try some of the LEE 356-147-TC bullets.
I wanted to examine some fired bullets to see if there was anything unusual going on and just because I wanted some samples of fired bullets from my P-226 to compare to my 125 gr. bullets.
I had a 15-gallon grease drum that I ran 18" of water into, assuming that would surely stop the bullets. (it does on TV, right?) I covered the top of the drum with a feed sack, didn't want to get drenched, climbed up on the corral fence and fired 5 shots directly down into the drum from, perhaps 4 feet above the water. When I went to dump the water, I discovered 5 holes in the bottom of the drum. Those bullets had not only penetrated the 18" of water but, another 4-6" of dirt under the drum. Needless to say, my bullets were not what I wanted because the dirt had scuffed them too badly to compare to the 125s.
My SIG just didn't like that heavy bullet so after a couple hundred or so I parked the mold on the shelf with the other 50 or so molds I seldom use, tossed the 147s into the pot and turned them into 125s.
I have tried the SWC style bullets in my autoloaders with mixed results as far as reliability goes. To me that is NOT acceptable, ergo the TC style bullet.
 
I haven't cast bullets in a while but I have a Lyman 133 gr SWC mold that has a nice meplat - I still have some bullets I cast from that mold.

They aren't exactly "heavy" but they are accurate. I have also shot that bullet in an 8" .357 to 1750 fps.

Cheers

Riposte
 
I cast my 9MM bullets using 19 pounds of COWW and 1 pound of foundry type simply because I came across a large quantity of the latter at a very good price. (free) Normally I use a 125 grain TC style bullet but for grins and such I wanted to try some of the LEE 356-147-TC bullets.
I wanted to examine some fired bullets to see if there was anything unusual going on and just because I wanted some samples of fired bullets from my P-226 to compare to my 125 gr. bullets.
I had a 15-gallon grease drum that I ran 18" of water into, assuming that would surely stop the bullets. (it does on TV, right?) I covered the top of the drum with a feed sack, didn't want to get drenched, climbed up on the corral fence and fired 5 shots directly down into the drum from, perhaps 4 feet above the water. When I went to dump the water, I discovered 5 holes in the bottom of the drum. Those bullets had not only penetrated the 18" of water but, another 4-6" of dirt under the drum. Needless to say, my bullets were not what I wanted because the dirt had scuffed them too badly to compare to the 125s.
My SIG just didn't like that heavy bullet so after a couple hundred or so I parked the mold on the shelf with the other 50 or so molds I seldom use, tossed the 147s into the pot and turned them into 125s.
I have tried the SWC style bullets in my autoloaders with mixed results as far as reliability goes. To me that is NOT acceptable, ergo the TC style bullet.
Good to know. Thank you.
 
I have shot right through both sides of a steel 55 gallon drum (empty) with the 121 grain Lyman 356402 hard cast bullet and these were not even full power loads. That is plenty of penetration for any flesh and blood target.

I might add I recently watched an interview with a Big Game guide who killed a grizzly bear with a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol using only factory ammo with 125 grain bullets.

Remember also that hot loads with overweight bullets are very hard on a semi-auto pistol. I have seen some pistols crack their frames and in the case of the German Luger crack the breach block.

Lyman 356402 bullet:

View attachment 776197
Lyman was selling that mold in 1929
 
I've loaded and shot the 150gr Keith style SWC's. Like the RCBS-150-KT. They work fine, but I have a Springfield 1911 with a ramped barrel that feeds everything and will accommodate any length that will fit in the magazine.

But I've come to prefer the Lee-147-TC. With 4.0gr of CFE pistol and sized to .357 it shoots the lights out. I've found the larger you can size them the better they shoot but .358 starts to get problematic with chambering in some guns/brass so I've settled on .357. I sort my brass by foreign/domestic.
 
Lyman was selling that mold in 1929
I have shot right through both sides of a steel 55 gallon drum (empty) with the 121 grain Lyman 356402 hard cast bullet and these were not even full power loads. That is plenty of penetration for any flesh and blood target.

I might add I recently watched an interview with a Big Game guide who killed a grizzly bear with a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol using only factory ammo with 125 grain bullets.

Remember also that hot loads with overweight bullets are very hard on a semi-auto pistol. I have seen some pistols crack their frames and in the case of the German Luger crack the breach block.

Lyman 356402 bullet:

View attachment 776197
I may be very wrong as I've seldom shot at hard surfaces, but a 55 gallon drum is made of pretty thin steel. I figured most handgun bullets (except the real puny ones like .25s and .32s) would easily penetrate both sides. Perhaps I'm wrong. Have others tried this? I'm curious. I'm not looking to argue as I have no fact basis to do so.
 
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