Lee358-105swc & N320 in 9mm pistol

[jirik]

I bought a 9mm pistol (Springfield arms P9) last week.

Barrel of the pistol measured .356, so .358 bullets lube sized to .357 should be ok.

Do you have loading recipes for Lee 358-105gr SWC bullets using Vihtavuori N320 powder? Looking for min-max limits.
I have N310 too, but I have read that it is too fast for 9mm.

 

[gwpercle]

I have a bit experience with the Lee 105 SWC ,9mm , in a friends Springfield. The Springfield has a rather tight chamber and little if any throat. When sized .357 , you must seat the bullet so the top edge of the bullet driving ban is even (or very close) to the mouth of the case. If any of the .357 sized part of the bullet is sticking out, that part will jam into the rifling ( no throat ) then the slide may not fully close and it's a bear to pull the slide back.
I load this bullet sized .357 in my Walther P-38 with no problems, but sizing the 105 SWC to .356 was a chore. (It doesn't seem like a lot but the .3585 sized to .356 was harder to force through the die than I liked ) . He bought a new 9mm .356 124 grain round nosed mould and I bought a new 120 grain truncated cone 9 mm .356 mould, they are much easier to size to .356 or 357. The .356 sized bullets work just fine in the Springfield. Sized to .357 the 120 gr. truncated cone is the P-38's favorite.
Believe it or not , the 9mm cast bullets (that claim to be .356) get sized , lightly, when run through the .357 sizer die...but it is so very easy to size and lube them, I use a Lyman 450 lube - sizer for this.
No experience at all with N320 or N310. Sorry.
I have been using Red Dot , 700X and Unique because that's what I could find. Got some pet loads worked up with those !
Gary

 

[HKSmith]

Check out the VihtaVuori website. They've got lots of 9 mm reloading data for N320 in bullet weights from 90-147 grains. They don't list your specific bullet, but the data for the Rainier 115 grain plated RN would be a good place to start. I've used 4.3 grains of N320 with this bullet (0.1 grain under max) with excellent results. They also list data for N310, but only with a 90 grain jacketed bullet.

 

[jirik]

Thanks for your replies.
I loaded some cartridges with 124gr LRN bullets,
Hornady #1005 9mm 124gr and
Lyman 358242 124gr (sized to .357)
Used Vihtavuori starting load: 3.8gr of N320.
I thought this load can´t be overcharge for lighter bullet, so made also 20 rounds with 105gr swc bullet. Crimped at the crimping groove because slide did close with a dummy round that long.

Fired all of them today. Nice round holes and no feeding issues etc. so rounds worked. Accuracy... Will make test rounds with different powder charges. 3.9gr to 4.4gr should be safe as it is the range for 115gr RN bullet.