A Small Victory...I think

[bullpen7979]

Earlier today, I loaded up a few rounds to test various sizes and lube procedures.
I tried the pan lube procedure with javalina on a few boolits and loaded them as cast (from ww +1ish% tin) which from the 356-125-2R mold dropped at about .3595. The goal is to make the 9mm as affordable to shoot as possible.

(And, as a number of you predicted, all I'm really doing is spending money on new stuff like sizing dies, paraffin, vaseline, oil treatment, crayons for color.etc...)

I saddled up the bike and scooted over to the range about a half hour before sundown. First round were the pan lubed, as cast rounds, which performed pretty miserably...

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j335/ehommedieu/IMAG0370.jpg

I removed the barrel, and sure enough, a little bit of fouling, as expected. Dang it.

Of the batch that I pan lubed, I took and put about 15 thru the Lee .357 sizing die, and then tumble lubed them with some 45/45/10 formula I made (substituting the brand of paste wax for another I had on hand.) Allowed to dry for about 3 hours or so, then loaded with the same powder charge (3.4 grains Titegroup). So I now have effectively, two lube processes going.

I was amazed at the difference in performance that the sizing and second lube procedure gave.

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j335/ehommedieu/IMAG0369.jpg

Inspection of the barrel after the second phase of the test showed virtually no increase in fouling, leading me to think that I am on to something....

Both of these tests were fired from a distance of seven paces (roughly five yards)
I know that's not real far away, but given the issues (new reloader, and newer caster) I wanted to make sure I could account for all my shots leaving the barrel.

Perhaps it won't happen again. Perhaps I will do the exact same thing in the same way, and will net totally different results. But today, as I rode home at sunset, I got a small sense of accomplishment that I know many on this forum have enjoyed. Gotta say, it was pretty cool.

[HARRYMPOPE]

you will shoot more but save no money.Sure is nice when a change in a procedure can be seen.

HMP

[geargnasher]

Very cool. Glad you found something that worked! I'll bet you could get by with a .3575" boolit and only the pan lube if you could get the mould to cooperate (do a search here or on the LASC site for "beagling" to enlarge the mould easily).

You did a good job, trying one thing at a time until your GUN told you it was happy. That's what so many (including myself sometimes) often miss. There is no substitute for a basic fund of casting and reloading knowledge, tips, techniques, etc, but the most valuble tool is knowing when to use what techniques and not box yourself in by the long list of notions that your experience and the experience of others will write.

Now, try a slower powder and a bigger boolit (c'mon, it's only another 50 bucks!:twisted:

Gear

[MtGun44]

Good. I tend to agree with gear.

Bill

[bullpen7979]

Now, try a slower powder and a bigger boolit (c'mon, it's only another 50 bucks!:twisted:

Gear

Gear, I was thinking about the powder. Knowing that the 9mm cartridge and the Lee Pro Auto Disk are non-negotiable parts of the hard equipment, what might you be inclined to recommend?

[geargnasher]

What do you want to accomplish with your gun?

Gear

[bullpen7979]

Accuracy primarily. A powder that is less likely to contribute to leading the barrel. One that will allow some flexibility to work up a lighter, lower recoil load.... those are a few things that come to mind.

There is an extent to which I don't know what I don't know. These seem like reasonable goals, but there may be others that I hadn't thought of.

[geargnasher]

Accurate target, "plinking", practice-type loads that keep your chops up are lots of fun and a relatively easy goal to load for. There are lots of people swithing to cast for ISPC and IDPA competitions that have to make a minimum, chronographed (or "gonged") power factor in order to compete, the sanctioning bodies don't want low-recoil, target-velocity handloads giving anyone the edge in competition. Sometimes we're looking for a defense load. Sometimes we want all three or something else, and the requirements of the components and how they're assembled change greatly depending on what your loading levels and accuracy goals are, as well as what happens downrange as far as expansion, fragmentation, etc. with self-defense loads and such. You probably won't get top-end loads that shoot straight or don't lead with the same lead alloy or lube that worked with your target level loads. You most certainly won't get to the high-end of the velocity spectrum with Titegroup. That's why I was asking what you wanted to do.

Powder type itself has little to do with leading unless it's far enough out of balance with the boolit weight/hardness/lube that it's causing problems. As far as punching paper goes, only your gun will tell you for sure what it likes, so you might try a few different "reasonable" powders. Titegroup is a fine plinker powder in lots of calibers, but sometimes Clays (just plain Clays, not International or Universal) works better, sometimes Bullseye does, it all depends, and it's hard to form a reliable guideline for what works best when. Those are all really fast powders, I'd try something like Universal Clays or Unique next, just see what happens. Cast boolits generally enjoy slower-burning powders than do jacketed bullets, they like to be babied on the launch or they deform all over the place. It looks like your leading issue is related to boolit fit mostly, perhaps the tumble lube by itself isn't working with the undersized boolit, so getting the boolit to cast a bit larger (beagle the mould) and going back to a couple of light coats of tumble lube might work fine with the powder you're using now. It might also prove that you do need a better lube with Titegroup, or that tumble lube, bigger boolit, and Unique like each other for target duties. Only your gun knows for sure, so just 'spearment a little, same as you've been doing.

And I have to say, your comment "There is an extent to which I don't know what I don't know. These seem like reasonable goals, but there may be others that I hadn't thought of." is very true of almost all of us at some level, that's what's so great about this site, often I'll read something posted here and realize I never even thought of that before, and it opens a new door.

Gear