Anyone else shoot .358 in 9x19?

[walnutred]

I admit I've never loaded 9x19 before. Frankly I never liked the caliber and factory ammo was just too cheep. Recently I picked up a KelTec p11 for a CCW pistol and decided to reload. A friend loaned me his Lyman .358242, 121gn RN Lyman 4 gang mold and his .355 sizing die. The test batch I made resulted in a little leading.

I noticed that in my newer Lyman cast bullet manual they were using .358 bullets in 9x19 so I sized some up that sized die. Good accuracy and no leading.

I'm loading 3.5 of Bullseye, which is not a hot load. It shoots to point of aim and will make a good practice load. Just curious if anyone else has tried oversize bullets in 9x19.

For the record the lube was White Label BAC and the lead from scrap wheel weights.

 

[walnutred]

I admit I've never loaded 9x19 before. Frankly I never liked the caliber and factory ammo was just too cheep. Recently I picked up a KelTec p11 for a CCW pistol and decided to reload. A friend loaned me his Lyman .358242, 121gn RN Lyman 4 gang mold and his .355 sizing die. The test batch I made resulted in a little leading.

I noticed that in my newer Lyman cast bullet manual they were using .358 bullets in 9x19 so I sized some up that sized die. Good accuracy and no leading.

I'm loading 3.5 of Bullseye, which is not a hot load. It shoots to point of aim and will make a good practice load. Just curious if anyone else has tried oversize bullets in 9x19.

For the record the lube was White Label BAC and the lead from scrap wheel weights.

 

[Spotteddog]

I've never loaded it Red, but I'm about to start so I'll be watching the answers you get too! That sounds like a dandy cheap load, and with a powder I already run.

 

[john traveler]

It was pretty common practice to use oversized cast lead bullets for war surplus European pistols. Manufacturing standards during WWII may not have been as precise as during peacetime, and it was pretty common to find 9x19 pistols with a 0.355 to 0.357 groove diameter. For the upper end of this range, the standard .355"-.356" may or may not give acceptable accuracy.

The only problem I've encountered is the occasional tight 9mm chamber, and the extra 0.002" case mouth diameter with the oversized bullets may cause difficult chambering.

The 9x19 is already a high pressure number, and the load combination you use should create no problems.

 

[walnutred]

In thinking about it I may not actually be shooting .358 bullets. In loading the flaring die puts a slight flare on the case mouth, The seating die is set so that the case mouth is in the center of the front driving band. The taper crimp die was set up by placing a factory FMJ cartridge in the press and adjusting the die body to it.

While I am not getting any lead shaving in the loading process there seems a very good chance that the bullet is being swagged down some either in the seating step or the crimping step.

The loaded projectile may actually be slightly tapered in the case, I just never though about it in that way before.

 

[john traveler]

Some factory loads actually taper crimp into the jacketed bullet as a means of stopping the bullet from pushing deeper into the case during feeding impacts. One bullet that has this feature is the Speer 125 grain RN softpoint. there are others, I am sure.

 

[Skip Sackett]

I have all but given up on casting and loading for the 9mm because of leading problems.

I have an H&G #7 mold. It is a round nose truncated cone bullet. They come out of my mold right at 125gr with straight wheel weights. I have tried them harder and bigger, smaller and softer, softer and bigger, all to no avail. I have pushed them faster, I have slowed them down, again, all to no avail.

I have a video with me shooting some over an HP-38 load. It looks like I am shooting black powder, there is so much smoke! The lead left behind was horrific.

I guess I am going to have to try your load of Bullseye with some of these bullets next. I still want to get a 9mm cast load to work, that's for sure.

Right now my answer to the loading problem with cast and the 9mm is to run plated bullets. I get no leading!

Here is the video, don't laugh:

 

[walnutred]

Smithcrazy, what lube are you using? Like I said I'm using BAC but remember my loadings are only in the warm 38 Special range. Probably around 900-950 FPS. I was looking for an inexpensive practice load for my CCW pistol. My only requirements were: Shoots to point of aim, less recoil than factory loads (loaded pistol weighs aprox. 19 oz), functions reliably, used powder I all ready use for something else.

However I was shooting outdoors on a windy day, so have no idea how much smoke this load generates.

 

[Skip Sackett]

what lube are you using?

For these loads I am using a home-brew. It is a 50/50 mix of Beeswax and White Label Lube's Liquid Xlox. I got the recipe from Lars as a suggestion. I melted the Beeswax and heated up the Xlox and mixed by volume. In other calibers I get no leading using it and driving my cast bullets to 1800fps. So, the leading isn't because of the lube, the smoke is, but not the leading.

I need to say too, the bullets in the video were sized to .355" and that contributed to the large amount of smoke. Also, those round were a conglomeration of powder types and weight. There may have even been some Unique in there, can't remember now.

At any rate, the shoot was a hoot! The cloud was hilarious too!

p.s. CPP, done anything with that yet?

 

[walnutred]

No, I haven't done anything with the CCP yet. Too many other projects.