New to Casting - 9mm Sizing

[jwber]

I'm starting to shoot a lot more (USPSA) and general plinking. I've been giving serious thoughts to start casting and this is where I'm getting hung up.

Sizing/Slugging the Boolits - I will be shooting this mainly out of a XD 9mm and some will go through a Kahr CM9 (though that will be the minority by far). I don't have any casting equipment as of yet, will a lead sinker do the trick?

I've read some 9mm's are all over the chart in regards to sizing...so I don't want to order the wrong molds/sizing dies as no place local really sells any casting equipment so it's coming from Midway.

Willing to take the time to get this right however I don't want to be wasting money on wrong equipment and shipping.

Will the

Thanks

[mdi]

Yep, egg, or slip sinkers work well for barrel slugging. I don't have a chart handy with sizes of sinkers, but you can eye-ball the sinkers at the store and get some that are big enough...

I get a lot of my casting, and reloading equipment from Fraf & Sons and Midsouth, usually better shipping costs than Midway.

[cainttype]

If you find an egg sinker just a little to small just pinch it length-wise in a vise to fatten it up... Hammer tapping is fine as long as chubby fingers stay out of harm's way.

[jwber]

Thanks for the tips, I'll probably try this out Saturday. Going to be doing some reloading for a Sunday match and will take care of this at the same time.

[MtGun44]

.357 or .358 will most likely provide best results.

Make a dummy round with .358 and if it chambers properly, once you get the LOA and taper
crimp set properly by using your dismounted barrel as a gauge, start there and take the short cut to
success.

Strongly recommend Lee conventional lube 356 120 TC sized to .358 and lubed with NRA 50-50 as
your starting point.

This may help:

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

Bill

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

"Strongly recommend Lee conventional lube 356 120 TC sized to .358 and lubed with NRA 50-50 as
your starting point."

Excellent recommendation. I have this mold in 6-cavity, and it works great in all 9mm's tried, even Glocks. I size to .358 also. I do use BAC lube, but NRA 50-50 works good too.

[jwber]

I would need a lubersizer for that mold right? Trying to avoid sinking that kind of money into casting right off the bat.

[ku4hx]

I would need a lubersizer for that mold right? Trying to avoid sinking that kind of money into casting right off the bat.

I tumble lube mine and in fact have loaded many as-cast. Mine drop a hair under .358" with my alloy and are round. When I was competing I sized them all ... always. And checked every round for proper chambering. I size now days with a Lee sizing die and a single stage RCBS press. I also have a Lyman 450 but for volume I use the Lee push through setup.

I've always lubed 500-700 boolits at time in a heavy duty gallon freezer bag. Just roll them around on a folded towel. After they dry a light dusting of Motor Mica applied in the same fashion takes care of the tackiness.

[Shiloh]

.358 is the magic sizing diameter for me.

Shiloh

[SlowSmokeN]

You will find out exactly what you need once you slug your barrel. My Taurus 1911 9mm had to have a .358 for it not to lead. Those same rounds would not shoot out of my Xd 9mm, it needed .356. Every gun is a little different.

[fcvan]

When I started loading for 9mm I didn't have a sizer. I pan lubed and used a Lee push through sizer. Not knowing, I had a .356 push through die and things went south with my S&W 459. Then I started shooting as cast. I had read about setting the seat/crimp die so that it did not resize the boolit too small so I set it up to leave the boolit as large as I could while still being able to pass the plunk test. When I did buy a Lyman 450 I used a .358 die for my 9mm.

You should be able to pan lube and shoot as cast or buy a push through sizing die. I recommend the .358 as a couple years ago I tried a .357 die and the guns I tried that load in (Glock factory barrel, lone wolf conversion barrel, Marlin Camp Carbine) and accuracy was horrible. .358 has worked in every 9mm I've owned or had access to.

My go-to boolit was the Lee 356-125 2R but now have been using the 356-120 TC. Mine weighs 125 when cast from range scrap. For the past several months I've been powder coating the 120 TC. The cartridge smokes less than a lubed boolit and the barrel is clean after 1 pass of a dry patch. I PC and then size without lube. The Harbor Freight PC gun was on sale (39 bucks) and their flat black powder is 5 bucks a pound. They look cool and shoot great!

[Dannix]

Those same rounds would not shoot out of my Xd 9mm, it needed .356.
Out of curiosity, did they not chamber, or were they simply inaccurate?

Thanks


For the past several months I've been powder coating the 120 TC. The cartridge smokes less than a lubed boolit and the barrel is clean after 1 pass of a dry patch. I PC and then size without lube. The Harbor Freight PC gun was on sale (39 bucks) and their flat black powder is 5 bucks a pound. They look cool and shoot great!
I'm going to have to try that someday.

[MtGun44]

You can pan lube the 356 120 TC and shoot unsized or use Lee push through sizer
for cheap, and use .358.

Bill

[jwber]

Thanks everyone for the tips. Going to call a family member this weekend and see if he can give me a hands on demonstration. He's been casting for about 20 years, he casts 9mm as well. Was supposed to go down there in a few weeks anyways.

[SlowSmokeN]

You will find out exactly what you need once you slug your barrel. My Taurus 1911 9mm had to have a .358 for it not to lead. Those same rounds would not shoot out of my Xd 9mm, it needed .356. Every gun is a little different.


Out of curiosity, did they not chamber, or were they simply inaccurate?

Thanks


I'm going to have to try that someday.


They would not chamber. I tried to seat them a little deeper but that did not work either.

[Dannix]

He's been casting for about 20 years, he casts 9mm as well.
If it works out, that's a brilliant way to get started and learn the basics. If you hang around and glean information here, you may over time end up dotting your i's and crossing your t's a bit differently than he does, but at the very least he should be able to give you a very solid foundation.


They would not chamber. I tried to seat them a little deeper but that did not work either.
Cool deal. Thanks for the update.

[captaint]

After experiencing the "9mm program for new 9mm people" I would make up a dummy round, size the boolit to .358 or VERY close to that and if it chambers, you're good to go. Save yourself some trouble. Mike

[Slow Elk 45/70]

I use my 9mm boolits unsized as dropped at +-358. WFM