I thought it was a lead boolit seating problem

[milsurpaddict]

Hey everyone

I just shot my second batch of cast boolit and trimmed downed 9mm cases for my 9 X 18 Makarov. I used a lee 95 grain makarov mold, 9 X 19 cases trimmed downed, full length dies and loaded with 3.3 grains of hp-83. However I am still getting excessive power residue all over the cases. I asked the man who loads at the range I shot at and he told me it was not a seating or crimping issue he told me it was not enough charge and to increase the charge. please provide me with your opinion and help

Thanks

[chris in va]

I thought the Mak case had different dimensions from 9mm, even if you try to resize. Is it a tapered case as well?

My Lyman manual doesn't list HP-38 at all, doesn't even show a cast boolit load. It has 231 though.

[runfiverun]

231 is hp-38.
the makarov is 364 versus the 355 9mm.
you probably do need to up the load [at least once] to swell up the cases to fit better.

[armexman]

From my experience; I use only nickel cases for 9MAK, makes it easier to find your's,
The first loading after trimming and sizing is a fire-forming load so you will see some unburned and sooted cases.
Try Bullseye and AA-2 for your Lee boolit. I shot these loads at 25 and 10 yards, very accurate.
When you shoot at a for pay range insist that they let you pick-up your brass; nothing like doing a ton of work and have some zealous range-master keep your babies from you.

[I'll Make Mine]

I thought the Mak case had different dimensions from 9mm, even if you try to resize. Is it a tapered case as well?

The 9x19 tapers slightly, a little over .010, while 9 mm Mak is essentially straight, but they have almost identical heads (9x19 is nominally .001 smaller ahead of the groove, .002 larger at the rim -- no pistol with enough tolerance to work in the real world will notice the difference). Converting 9x19 to 9 Mak should work fine -- trim, expand to accept the Makarov size bullet, and fire form. The conversion that won't work is 9x19 to .380; the .380 head is about .020 smaller than the 9x19 head.

[RobsTV]

Hey everyone

I just shot my second batch of cast boolit and trimmed downed 9mm cases for my 9 X 18 Makarov. I used a lee 95 grain makarov mold, 9 X 19 cases trimmed downed, full length dies and loaded with 3.3 grains of hp-83. ...

More powder will burn it all.
Best results here were with around 4.0gr w231/hp38 in a Polish P64 and 95gr Berry plated boolit at an OAL of .965. The cast lead should work better than the BP with same loads.

W231 3.75gr, 872 fps, pf=83, 161 ft/lbs, ES-20, SD-7
W231 4.15gr, 1027 fps, pf=97, 221 ft/lbs, ES-47, SD-12

BTW, what diameter are the boolits dropping out of the Lee mold at, and what are you using to size the lead?

Here, the Lee was dropping them at .368 to .370, which did not work in the slugged .365 barrel. Need a cheap .366 sizer like the Lee $15 units, but they do not make.

9x19 brass trimmed to 9x18 works great. The first shots after trimming will properly enlarge the entire case for future reloads. Have done many reloads on same nickle plated brass, and no signs of it needing replaced yet. As a courtesy, you will want to mark the trimmed brass so that others that find it 3 counties away won't mistake it for 9x19. I place a red X with sharpie on each case face. Still up to them to see why there is a red X.

I actually use a spare set of Lee 9x18 mak dies to reload 9mm luger (or course not used in above 9x18 guns), and simply replaced the expansion die plug with the deeper one from 38 S&W. Perfect 9x19's using cast sized to .358.

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

231 is hp-38.

It is, and in fact, I believe it is supposed to be cleaner burning than 231. Are you absolutely sure you are getting powder residue and not lube residue?

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

Try Bullseye and AA-2 for your Lee boolit. I shot these loads at 25 and 10 yards, very accurate.


+1 here, I have experimented extensively, and expensively, with powders in 9mm and bullseye works extremely well, Hp-38 works almost as well but is much more suited to larger volume cases, e.g. 38 spl, 45 acp, etc. With the relatively minuscule amount of space in a 9mm case the exceptionally fast burn of bullseye works very well.

[milsurpaddict]

all you guys are great. The information you provided was very helpful. To answer a few of the questions my lee mold is dropping the round almost consistently at 98 grains with a diameter of .3655. I do not size the boolit as it is perfect for a lead boolit. My load data I am using comes from the insert provided with my lee makarov die sets. I do not think the residue is lube. I am using lee liquid alox. I do mark my trimmed down 9mm cases and my range master allows me to pick up and retain all of my own brass.

[runfiverun]

if the streaks are just a black streak down one side of the case it is a low pressure load.
if they are accurate and work the gun perfectly,and theres no leading, it ain't no big deal.
you could up the load a couple of tenths at a time and see what happens [shrug] or not.

[Jal5]

I have had a lot of success using that same boolit tumble lubed with 45/45/10 in my 9x18 rounds in the CZ83 only I used Bullseye. Very accurate out of my gun! I just hate to trim down that many 9x19 brass since the CZ has the habit of throwing the cases into the next county.
Joe

[ipijohn]

More powder will burn it all.
Best results here were with around 4.0gr w231/hp38 in a Polish P64 and 95gr Berry plated boolit at an OAL of .965. The cast lead should work better than the BP with same loads.

W231 3.75gr, 872 fps, pf=83, 161 ft/lbs, ES-20, SD-7
W231 4.15gr, 1027 fps, pf=97, 221 ft/lbs, ES-47, SD-12

BTW, what diameter are the boolits dropping out of the Lee mold at, and what are you using to size the lead?

Here, the Lee was dropping them at .368 to .370, which did not work in the slugged .365 barrel. Need a cheap .366 sizer like the Lee $15 units, but they do not make.

9x19 brass trimmed to 9x18 works great. The first shots after trimming will properly enlarge the entire case for future reloads. Have done many reloads on same nickle plated brass, and no signs of it needing replaced yet. As a courtesy, you will want to mark the trimmed brass so that others that find it 3 counties away won't mistake it for 9x19. I place a red X with sharpie on each case face. Still up to them to see why there is a red X.

I actually use a spare set of Lee 9x18 mak dies to reload 9mm luger (or course not used in above 9x18 guns), and simply replaced the expansion die plug with the deeper one from 38 S&W. Perfect 9x19's using cast sized to .358.

I made my own using a drill press and a piece of 1/4 inch steel rod with a saw slot in it to retain wet dry sand paper. Started out with a Lee .358 and it took about 15 minutes to "sand it out" to .364 which is what my CZ-82's like. :D

[Wayne Smith]

"with full length dies"... are you using full 9mm dies to load 9mm Makarov?

[milsurpaddict]

Hey everyone. I want to update you all. I loaded 50 rounds with 3.4 grains (increase of .1 grains) of HP-38 and a lead bullet dropped from a lee makarov 95 grain mold. I still used the same trimmed down and belled 9mm Luger case with a tul ammo small pistol primer. The increase of .1 grains of powder did a remarkable job correcting the problem I mentioned in the beginning of this post. Thanks to everyone with all their information. Now I just need to fine tune the round to maximize accuracy.