"Ranch Dog 135 grain 9mm. mold"

[exile]

I feel that I am in need of a 9mm mold. I am considering the Ranch Dog 135 grain 9mm six cavity mold. Anyone have any first hand experience with that mold? Thanks.

exile

[Centaur 1]

I've never pushed a 9mm hard enough to need a gas check, but the 100 grain RD works great in my 9mm.

[zxcvbob]

I don't know anything about RD's bullet, but 135 grains is my favorite weight for 9mm cast bullets. Pay the extra $10 and get it flat based.

[exile]

Thanks guys.

exile

[Hardcast416taylor]

Just for my education, what powders and charges would a 9mm boolet weighing 135 grs. require, would AA-5 be a candidate or???Robert

[Ole]

Just for my education, what powders and charges would a 9mm boolet weighing 135 grs. require, would AA-5 be a candidate or???Robert

HP38/WW231 for mild loads (around 900-1000fps) and Blue dot for full power loads (1100+ fps)

[zxcvbob]

Just for my education, what powders and charges would a 9mm boolet weighing 135 grs. require, would AA-5 be a candidate or???Robert

I've been using 4.5 grains of Bullseye... but I know that's an overload and I'm trying to mend my wicked ways. (it sure shoots good though)

AA#5 should be great. WSF is another one. I don't have numbers yet.

[Shiloh]

I've been using 4.5 grains of Bullseye... but I know that's an overload and I'm trying to mend my wicked ways. (it sure shoots good though)

AA#5 should be great. WSF is another one. I don't have numbers yet.

AA#5 has been a go to powder for almost 20 years.
Bot jacketed bullets and cast.

Shiloh

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

PM sent to exile

[exile]

I have been shooting a 125 grain boolit with 4.5 grains of Unique for quite some time. Would Unique work with this boolit?

exile

[zxcvbob]

I have been shooting a 125 grain boolit with 4.5 grains of Unique for quite some time. Would Unique work with this boolit?

exile

Why not?

[yovinny]

I've been using that RD mold for a few months now in a couple of BHP's and a pair of CZ75's.
Excellent accuracy and zero leading when pushed pretty hard with 4.5gr Bullseye.
I'm tumbling LLA, sizing .357 and then dipping LLA, though I plan on trying to just tumble again for the second lubing and drop down to sizing .356 for less case bulge.
I did have to throat every pistol I've used it in, or they'd stick at the very start of the rifling.
Cheers, YV

[exile]

That throating the barrel and the sticking concerns me. I have some aftermarket barrels for my Glocks with fairly tight chambers. Do you feel that is due to sizing them .357 or due to a longer bullet bulging the case as you seat it? Maybe I am not asking the right questions? (From what I have read on the forum BHP's tend to have larger chambers to begin with than most 9mm's.)

Maybe I would be better off with the RD 100 grain mold.

exile

[yovinny]

That throating the barrel and the sticking concerns me. I have some aftermarket barrels for my Glocks with fairly tight chambers. Do you feel that is due to sizing them .357 or due to a longer bullet bulging the case as you seat it? Maybe I am not asking the right questions? (From what I have read on the forum BHP's tend to have larger chambers to begin with than most 9mm's.)

Maybe I would be better off with the RD 100 grain mold.

exile

"MY" light sticking is from slight contact into the throat, and not from the small case bulge.
I'm sure sizing it smaller than the .357 I'm using would eliminate it completely and I might try sizing to .356" when time allows.

Throating made the sticking much better, or much less, but they still stick very lightly when fully chambered by hand in a removed barrel.
The throater cuts .001 over nominal diameter, so for 9mm it cuts a .357" throat.
You CANT put a .357" boolet into a .357" throat without it sticking, it needs at minimum a few tengths clearance to freely drop out again.

I have the same 'issue' with my 45acp's, they slightly 'stick' and require a finger nail to pop them out.
Before they were throated, they required good thumb pressure to fully chamber and engrave into the rifling, so a screwdriver was needed to pop them back out.

After it's throated, for all practical purposes, it's really a NON-ISSUE and you wont notice a thing when cycling or shooting the firearm.
The only time it's noticeable is hand chambering a loaded round in the removed barrel.

Hope thats clear as mud ;)
Cheers, YV

[FergusonTO35]

Accurate #5 is my go to powder for boolits in both .38 Special and 9X19. You can get really good velocities with almost no leading. Unique is also a good choice for the 9 with boolits, too much air space and not enough pressure for it to work well in the .38. I have learned that you are best served with slow burning powders when loading boolits in the 9, fast burners are much more likely to lead and don't produce nearly as good accuracy.