Cast 9mm shooting high & right

[Ram]

Hi all,
I recently put together my 1st batch of 9mm reloads with Lee 124gr 2-Ogive RN tumble lube lead bullets, cast with the lee 6 cavity mould. Bullets look nice & shiny, are well filled out & have a bhn around 14(lead seller's #). The only thing is most of the bullets have a small hole in the center of the base where the sprue was cut. I'm trying to improve my casting technique, but I don't feel like this should be the culprit of my problem.

I'm loading with 4.2 gr of win231(tried 3.9 as well), and tumble lubing with Lee Alox, letting dry overnight before loading. Boolits are sized to .356'', loaded to 1.125'' with tula spp primers. Velocity is 1000 fps. At 7 yards, this load is shooting 1'' high & 1'' right, at 18 yds, it's 3'' high & 3'' right. I can accommodate for windage, but my sights have no elevation change, and the whole reason I got into casting/reloading was to practice more with my defense guns so changing my sights isn't really ideal. I also tried shooting as-cast loads, tumble lubed with Alox. Each load was shot out of a clean glock 19 gen 4 w/ a lone wolf barrel. None of these loads leaded the barrel excessively. I've loaded Missouri bullet 125 gr smallball rds in this gun to similar velocities, which has shot perfectly. Jacketed bullets also fire fine from this barrel. Anyone have any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong/what can be done to bring the bullets down?(apart from reducing the load)

Thanks,
--Varun

[Shiloh]

So they group??

I'm surprized that sized at .356 you aren't tumbling. Reducing the load at the range you are shooting probably won't get you all you need in adjustment, and may fail to cycle the pistol. I finally put on an adjustable sight for the Glock.

http://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/sights/rear-sights/sight-rear-adjustable-prod22960.aspx

Shiloh

[nhrifle]

Time for powder experimentation. A good combination with one projectile does not guarantee similar results with another, despite how similar they might be. My 9mm doesn't like Red Dot, but my buddy's pistol loves it. After some trial and error, I found that my pistol loves WST and I had to carefully work up a load using it because there is no published data. I would suggest you try Bullseye and Unique, two of the classic powders that have worked well for years with cast boolits. The idea here is to tune the load to the pistol.

[Boolseye]

I have two suggestions for Lee TL 9mm boolits.
1: Don't size them
2: use a .38/.357 expander spud on the cases to prevent case swaging. I suspect they will hook up with the rifling better and give you improved accuracy.
It certainly worked with the 124 grain TL TC version. They went from tumbling after 10 rounds to being dead-nuts accurate.

-BE

[Down South]

I have two suggestions for Lee TL 9mm boolits.
1: Don't size them
2: use a .38/.357 expander spud on the cases to prevent case swaging. I suspect they will hook up with the rifling better and give you improved accuracy.
It certainly worked with the 124 grain TL TC version. They went from tumbling after 10 rounds to being dead-nuts accurate.

-BE
Good advice. When I was working with 9mm loads I discovered the cases were sizing my boolits after pulling dummy rounds and measuring them. I went to a 38 expander which is a few thousands of an inch larger than the 9mm expander and my leading and accuracy problems went away. I size at .358". That works for my pistol but it might not for yours. You need to size one that large and do the plunk test.
Powder choice is another factor that can make a difference. The 9mm is not the best caliber to start out casting for as it can be problematic.

[Ram]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'm going to try the 38 expander die first. If that still doesn't work I'll start experimenting with various powders.

[Shiloh]

I failed to mention that I had one of the members here make me an oversize 9mm expander on the Dillon powder funnel. The flyers disappeared.

Shiloh

[Down South]

I failed to mention that I had one of the members here make me an oversize 9mm expander on the Dillon powder funnel. The flyers disappeared.

Shiloh
Hey Shiloh, could you elaborate a bit? I'm using a 38/357 powder funnel on my 550 and I had to make a special shim to make it work "right height".
If you have time and feel like it, could you PM me the details like who and what finished diameter funnel?

Thanks, Sam

[MtGun44]

.356 is not often the best size for boolits in 9mm. Recommend .357 or .358.

BUT it is a fundamental truth that different loads shoot to different POI for the same
POA. This is why there are adjustable sights.

This might help.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?121737-Setting-up-for-boolits-in-a-new-9mm

Bill

[Boolseye]

BUT it is a fundamental truth that different loads shoot to different POI for the same
POA. This is why there are adjustable sights.

I have found that the 105 gr. SWC, in 9mm, hits very low compared with heavier bullets. Due to lower recoil? I just aim a little high with that boolit (fixed sights)

[MtGun44]

Yes, exactly. In pistols, gun is moving while boolit is in bore. Different wts go to
different places, typically heavy go higher, lighter go lower.

Left / right comes in, too but IME, less predictable.

Bill

[Catshooter]

Are you a lefty? If not, never mind.

If so, then you might be tightening your grip as you pull the trigger and that will shift the group high and right for a lefty, low and left for a righty.

Welcome to the forum.


Cat

[Shiloh]

.356 is not often the best size for boolits in 9mm. Recommend .357 or .358.

BUT it is a fundamental truth that different loads shoot to different POI for the same
POA. This is why there are adjustable sights.

This might help.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?121737-Setting-up-for-boolits-in-a-new-9mm

Bill

A simple inexpensive fix that will save a huge hassle. Solved the problem, and put the shots in the black with a simple twist of a small screwdriver.

Shiloh

[Mlcompound]

I have used 358 in several different 9mm guns with good results. Although, I haven't been shooting for bullseye accuracy. I mostly shoot at speed for center mass.