What is the heaviest cast boolit you have used in 9mm luger?

[cz75shadow]

And the recipe please and thank-you. I prefer heavy and slow to light and fast...

[reloader28]

I read a post of a guy on another forum that shot the Lee 158gr FN. Said it shot good, but I dont know his load.

[azjohn]

I have shot Lyman #358156 with a charge of 3 grains of unique and 2.7 grains of bullseye. I had them seated so far out that they almost rubbed the front of the magazine. Accuracy wasn't too bad.

[Artful]

147 and 158 grain cast -using VV N320 or N340 powder - no heavier than 147 in plated or jacketed, but used a bunch of IMI 158 RN-FMJ in my day
- Navy SEAL's according to Al Paulson's book had special ammo that used the Sierra 170 grain FMJ that was squeezed down and then boat tailed before loading for their HushPuppy S&W Auto's - but pressure was so high it caused Slide cracks at the slide lock notch.

Current Military SubSonic loading for their Beretta M-9's but think they are using 158 or 147 ammo also.

[rintinglen]

159 LRN over 2.8 BE. Hit very high and a smidge to the left.

[runfiverun]

358477 sized to .358
2 grs of titegroup was in the ballpark of where i started.

[zuke]

A buddy of mine used to use 147 plated in his Sterling semi auto.

[Harter66]

I had an HP clone I shot a few 358-150 SWC @ 155gr and some 358-158 RNFP @162gr both over a MAXIMUM 2.9 Unique . At 25 yd they clumped into 2 -4" clusters centered about 8" and a foot both low and left. The 1st 2 158s out of the magazine caused the slide to lock open due to it reaching the return before the next cartridge hit the top of the magazine, THIS WAS TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING in my gun. I would suggest about 2.5-6 as an upper limit, those as I recall hit very low. That little FEG BHP-9 had a generous chamber allowing .360 as cast to chamber easily. 3.8 is my go to w/the 356 124 TC in Winchester brass, S&B brass w/the same load flattened primers as did FC/Speer/CCI and to a lesser degree Remington's too.

Personally I would opt for something around 140-145 as an upper limit w/that gun as the Winchester 147 HPs hit low and left as well. I don't know how a slower powder would work out w/just a 3.5 in bbl.

[Firebricker]

I've shot a lot of RCBS 147gr with Power Pistol with good results. FB

[Shooternz]

I shoot the SAECO 929 145 SWC in a Taurus PT99 shoots ok as good as other bullets I've used in it, it also shoots well in .38 special and .357's, Robert.

[moptop]

I've shot 158 grn RN sized to .358" in my BHP over 3.0grns of Bullseye. Very accurate load.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

147 and 158 grain bullets have shot well in the 9mm for many years now and with many different powders. I have used the 147's in my 952 with good accuracy. I do not however recommend that any of these higher weights be used/fired in any of the WWII (original) Lugers as they will not stand up to the increased beating/pounding. Various springs and/or pins simply will not handle it for very long and Luger parts are expensive to replace. LLS

[TXBRILL]

147 Cast with #5 no problems

[cz75shadow]

Thanks for the replies, I was thinking about a cast bullet that can work in both the 9mm and 38 special.

[40Super]

Mostly 140, 147 and some 158's.Most of my best accuracy loads, over AA#5,WSF, or SR7625.
Have to watch out for boolits getting swaged down by the tapered case in the 9 when seating the heavier slugs deeper. They work best if can be seated as long as possible(maybe even ream the 9mm throat a bit deeper if you really want to shoot only heavy's as long as they fit in the mag).

[reloader28]

Its not a heavy weight, but the Lee 125gr RF shoots great in 9mm and 38spl.
Its also good in the 380 if you load for them.

[Sburggsx]

Thanks for this topic. I have just cast some Lee 358-150-SWC that I want to try in 9mm. I plan on using Bullseye for powder and probably Small Rifle Primers as part of this experiment. Looking like 2.5-3.0 range for starting charge but I haven't decided on that yet....

[cz75shadow]

So I decided on the Lyman 4 cavity 38/357 Caliber - #358156 155 grain with a gas check. Banking on the slightly rounded nose to be better for both speed loaders in revolver for IDPA and good feeding in the auto's. Both of my 9mm pistols have a generous throat and like to be loaded long so OAL should not be an issue. Sized to 357 fit the chambers as well. Be interesting to see if I can find a load that works with all of my 35ish calibers. 9mm, 38 spl, 357, and 35 rem. I'm sure this has been attempted before, but half the fun is in experimentation.

[cz75shadow]

Thanks for this topic. I have just cast some Lee 358-150-SWC that I want to try in 9mm. I plan on using Bullseye for powder and probably Small Rifle Primers as part of this experiment. Looking like 2.5-3.0 range for starting charge but I haven't decided on that yet....


Bullseye is a good powder in the 9mm, not sure why you would use rifle primers though, could cause a pressure spike in such a small case. Regular small pistol should be just fine.

[Sburggsx]

Bullseye is a good powder in the 9mm, not sure why you would use rifle primers though, could cause a pressure spike in such a small case. Regular small pistol should be just fine.

The primer choice was two fold: a) because everywhere is sold out of small pistol primers and the tula small rifle I bought were CHEAP and b) I'm curious about lowering the charge further because of the primers. Like another .1-.3 gr.

[gutpile]

I have used 158gr cast started @ 3.7 gr and max was 4.5 of unique shot pretty good But todays unique is a bit faster
so i would do some checking, Or Start low and work up watching for pressure......Samson ammo used to have 158 grain FMJ in 9mm that was blue tipped shot some in Uzi and in some CZ75 clones stuff was AWESOME on pins

[Wilson]

I have used small rifle primers for 9mm 125 grain LEE boolits. No problems that I could tell.

[Hal]

Good thread... I have bulk jacketed bullets from MidSouth from years ago.... I did not buy them for a 9MM but to use in a 357 single shot. Didn't like the idea of a small DIA bullet going down a .358 bore. They are labeled 9MM, .355 DIA,165 GR, Boat tail, Hollow point.... Ain't found loading data for them in a 9 MM yet.

[cz75shadow]

Ok first batch cast, sized to .356 .357 and .358 using win 231, should have some range data this weekend weather permitting..

[bangerjim]

I know lots of guys on here say they use 38's sized down to 9's. But I have never had any luck with any of the SWC versions. The front rim hangs up in my S&W and will not chamber at all. By the time I seat the boolit far enough down, there is hardly any room left for the powder! And it has always scared me about the very tiny powder space in a 9. Decreasing the space can make the pressures go thru the roof (figuratively AND literally!) Guess that is why I like 38SP/357MAG, and 45LC's......lots of space to play with.

I stick to the very limited J's and cast ogives made for the 9. And there are very few molds out there! The 38 has tons of molds. I have 6 of them and wish I could get them to chamber in a 9.

bangerjim

[cz75shadow]

I tried 12 different loads in my CZ Shadow, pretty much ran flawlessly withe the exception of one ftfeed with a .358 sized boolit. So the mold is the lyman 155g gas check bullet. I did 3 different sizes .356, .357, .358, accuracy was pretty crappy from 2.0 to 2.5 grains of 231, 2.7 grains was pretty good albeit a little low, 3.0 grains shot as well as I can expect to shoot off hand outdoors distance was 10 yards. No pressure signs at all, hopefully next time out I can chrony the loads, range was quite crowded this weekend..

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p48/gpracerca/P8260270.jpg (http://s125.photobucket.com/user/gpracerca/media/P8260270.jpg.html)

This load seems to have potential.

[historicfirearms]

I tried some of the Lee 158 RF through mu Uzi and M92. They worked ok, but seated deep enough to chamber reliably the bases were getting swaged down by the thick tapered Luger brass. My favorite boolit for 9mm is the 135 ranch dog.