Tried some bullets tonight, 9mm, failure to extract, need advice.

[kryogen]

Tried to cast some 9mm round nose 124 grains with lee 6 cavity mold and WW.
.356 mold I think, Resized to .356 I think with the lee push through. Lubed with alox.

Used something like 5 grains of power pistol and OAL of 1.150, supposed to give around 1000 fps. Lee FCD also.

(thats the load I use with plated bullets and it works fine).

Well, I tried those in my beretta 92fs tonight, and they fail to extract because of a lack of presure (my feeling).
They freely drop in the barrel, and the cases freely extract when I retract the slide, but it's just like there is not enough back presure to cycle. Most of the time, a case gets stuck, or the slide just doesnt cycle. Recoil feels normal to me.

Is the bullet too small and gas is leaking around?
I fired 40 bullets and the barrel is visibly leaded. (I never shot lead before so I do not know what to expect, but the barrel looks gray coated.

I will try those with my glock 17 next time and see I guess.

Suggestions? Thanks.

[bhn22]

It does sound like your bullets are too small in diameter, but it would have to be an extreme mismatch to prevent cycling. Your load seems a bit light for a Beretta, which seem to like warmish loads. My Lyman book shows 5.0 gr as just above minimum. I suspect your Beretta disapproves of the situation. I know mine doesn't like moderate loads, and Beretta states in my manual not to feed it bullets under 125 gr. What weight do your bullets come out at? For that matter, what are your bore dimensions? Most 9mm have larger than advertised bores, and are happier with .358 or so bullets. You need to check this situation out. Also, make certain you clean your core of all leading before shooting it again. If the leading isn't removed, it won't come out on its own. A few strands of a COPPER Chore Boy pot scrubber wrapped around your bore brush will make short work of leading. We'll have to take this a step at a time, but we can figure the situation out.

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

As for the Glock, did you see this thread? http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?33855-The-Truth-about-Glocks-and-Cast

[Shiloh]

Were the cases dirty from powder blowback?? I agree with the above post as it is to lite. Have you slugged your bore??
.356 lead boolits pattern at 50 feet. .357 is better, .358 is a LOT better.

Shiloh

[kryogen]

Will have to pull a round and re-weight the powder, honestly I dont exactly remember my load. forgot to write down.
how do I size my bore?
I have 300 rounds or so, so I would rather be able to shoot those than to scrap, but if I need to, I will just pull the bullets and re-melt and learn my lesson not to make 400 before trying 20 ;)

Will have to read some more I guess.
What is the outcome of that 10+ pages glock thread? cant really read it all.

[kryogen]

Were the cases dirty from powder blowback?? I agree with the above post as it is to lite. Have you slugged your bore??
.356 lead boolits pattern at 50 feet. .357 is better, .358 is a LOT better.

Shiloh

yes, cases seemed really dirty on the outside half the length. why?

that means I bought a lee 6 cavity mold and a size kit in 356 for nothing?
and I guess I did the same for my 45? (.452 sized to .451)
whats the good size for a 45?

[alfloyd]

My Taurus PT92 and PT99 both measure 0.3575 inch diameter for the barrel.
I tried 0.358 dia. lead slugs and still got leading in the barrel.
I then tried powder coating the 0.358 dia. slugs using the Piglet method, and the leading went away.

Lafaun

[Recluse]

yes, cases seemed really dirty on the outside half the length. why?

that means I bought a lee 6 cavity mold and a size kit in 356 for nothing?
and I guess I did the same for my 45? (.452 sized to .451)
whats the good size for a 45?

How are you crimping the boolits--taper or roll?

Check out the sticky in the Molds forum on Lee-menting and get yourself some very mild grinding compound and lap out a couple of the cavities in that Lee mold, cast some boolits from those cavities, size them to .357 and increase the crimp a little bit.

My problems with 9mm cast have never been with ejection or feed, they've been with dismal accuracy and consistency. The only cast boolit I'll load for a 9mm these days is the Lee TC124 sized to .3575 and seated with a moderate taper crimp. AA#2 and W231 have proven to be the best powders for my Berettas and Taurus, with Blue Dot running a very close third.

:coffee:

[btroj]

Dirty cases on outside means low pressure. Up the powder charge. Bhn22 gave you the info you need.

[kryogen]

how to I get my 357 mold to give me bullets more on the 357 size rather than 356? Cast hotter, or cooler?

[blaser.306]

how to I get my 357 mold to give me bullets more on the 357 size rather than 356? Cast hotter, or cooler?

Multi step answer! Cooler, more antimony/ tin and lapp / beagle your mould. Just what you needed for the holiday season , A hobby.

[Pb2au]

how to I get my 357 mold to give me bullets more on the 357 size rather than 356? Cast hotter, or cooler?

Mr. Recluse gave you your answer.

"Check out the sticky in the Molds forum on Lee-menting and get yourself some very mild grinding compound and lap out a couple of the cavities in that Lee mold, cast some boolits from those cavities, size them to .357 and increase the crimp a little bit.

[Garyshome]

Add a little bit of powder to 2 or 3 rounds to see if they cycle! Once they cycle *** a couple more10ths' and you have a plinking round!

[Pb2au]

how to I get my 357 mold to give me bullets more on the 357 size rather than 356? Cast hotter, or cooler?

Mr. Recluse gave you your answer.

"Check out the sticky in the Molds forum on Lee-menting and get yourself some very mild grinding compound and lap out a couple of the cavities in that Lee mold, cast some boolits from those cavities, size them to .357 and increase the crimp a little bit."

I am pretty sure there is more than one thread on 9mm woes. I would suggest give them a search and settle in for a read. Very excellent information.
The short answer is the usual one. You need to get the fit of the bullet sorted out first!

[Pb2au]

how to I get my 357 mold to give me bullets more on the 357 size rather than 356? Cast hotter, or cooler?

Mr. Recluse gave you your answer.

"Check out the sticky in the Molds forum on Lee-menting and get yourself some very mild grinding compound and lap out a couple of the cavities in that Lee mold, cast some boolits from those cavities, size them to .357 and increase the crimp a little bit."

I am pretty sure there is more than one thread on 9mm woes. I would suggest give them a search and settle in for a read. Very excellent information.
The short answer is the usual one. You need to get the fit of the bullet sorted out first!

[rsrocket1]

Did you slug your barrel? Even if you can get the .357 mold to drop .357 bullets, it won't help if you load light and your bullets are too hard if your barrel is bigger than .357. You might be able to cause the bullets to obturate up and seal off the gases to prevent leading with a high enough charge, but it's better to start with a correctly sized bullet. You won't know what that is until you figure out the groove diameter of your barrel.

There are techniques to get bigger bullets out of molds that are slightly too small (beagling or lapping), but you first need to slug your barrel to see what size bullet it really wants.

[gefiltephish]

...Resized to .356 I think with the lee push through....

There's the first clue. It's helpful to KNOW what's coming out of the sizer die. It's equally helpful to KNOW what your barrels groove diameter is. Further, it's imperative to KNOW that your bullets are not being swaged down while seating. There have been perhaps more "discussions" about the potential swaging effect of Lee's pistol FCD for oversize cast bullets, than anything else. Search for it. Get yourself a 1" mic and some calipers. One way to enlarge your bullets, if they are in fact too small, is "beagling" (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?117331-Mould-Enlargement-%93beagling%94). But you really need to know where you are first before you can determine where you need to go. I'm sure a forum search for barrel slugging will turn up plenty of info.

.452 is most often fine for 45 cal (for 1911 anyway), but YOUR barrel may be different.

[gefiltephish]

...Resized to .356 I think with the lee push through....

There's the first clue. It's helpful to KNOW what's coming out of the sizer die. It's equally helpful to KNOW what your barrels groove diameter is. Further, it's imperative to KNOW that your bullets are not being swaged down while seating. There have been perhaps more "discussions" about the potential swaging effect of Lee's pistol FCD for oversize cast bullets, than anything else. Search for it. Get yourself a 1" mic and some calipers. One way to enlarge your bullets, if they are in fact too small, is "beagling" (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?117331-Mould-Enlargement-%93beagling%94). But you really need to know where you are first before you can determine where you need to go. I'm sure a forum search for barrel slugging will turn up plenty of info.

.452 is most often fine for 45 cal (for 1911 anyway), but YOUR barrel may be different.

[Shiloh]

yes, cases seemed really dirty on the outside half the length. why?

that means I bought a lee 6 cavity mold and a size kit in 356 for nothing?
and I guess I did the same for my 45? (.452 sized to .451)
whats the good size for a 45?

You don't have the pressure to expand the case and seal the chamber. Not enough energy to cycle your pistol. You need to look at your data, bump the charge up, or change powders. I would use what you have, and work your loads up. Work up loads carefully watching for signs of pressure.

Shiloh

[gefiltephish]

...Resized to .356 I think with the lee push through....

There's the first clue. It's helpful to KNOW what's coming out of the sizer die. It's equally helpful to KNOW what your barrels groove diameter is. Further, it's imperative to KNOW that your bullets are not being swaged down while seating. There have been perhaps more "discussions" about the potential swaging effect of Lee's pistol FCD for oversize cast bullets, than anything else. Search for it. Get yourself a 1" mic and some calipers. One way to enlarge your bullets, if they are in fact too small, is "beagling" (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?117331-Mould-Enlargement-%93beagling%94). But you really need to know where you are first before you can determine where you need to go. I'm sure a forum search for barrel slugging will turn up plenty of info.

.452 is most often fine for 45 cal (for 1911 anyway), but YOUR barrel may be different.

[gray wolf]

Another person jumping into the deep end of the pool.
I think and I don't remember,

[DRNurse1]

Good point, Grey Wolf! Without meticulous record keeping we cannot move forward since we do not know where we started.

Kyrogen: May I recommend the Star-date method of organizing your notes, and start keeping track of your work NOW. Safety is an integral part of this hobby. Failing to keep track of your work and test appropriately may make interesting stories, if you survive these failures.

[seaboltm]

Will have to pull a round and re-weight the powder, honestly I dont exactly remember my load. forgot to write down.


It sounds like you are cutting a lot of corners in the reloading process. Mr. Murphy will get you eventually. I made the simple mistake of not wearing my glasses one night while doing some load development. My EYES said I was loading 50 grains. The scale was actually set to 55 grains. A blown primer and heavy bolt lift later, the fact that my eyes are old and less reliable than I THOUGHT sank in. A man has got to know his limitations.

[Bzcraig]

Tried to cast some 9mm round nose 124 grains with lee 6 cavity mold and WW.
.356 mold I think, Resized to .356 I think with the lee push through. Lubed with alox.

Used something like 5 grains of power pistol and OAL of 1.150



There are several things in your post that trouble me. You think the mold is 356, you think you resized to 356 and used something like 5 grains of power pistol. If you are that unsure about what you are doing stop reloading before you hurt yourself or someone else!

[rintinglen]

As has been said, the load is too light. I use 5.3 grains of Power Pistol or 4.7 grains of Unique for my 125 grain loads. The other suggestions are interesting, but they assume facts not in evidence. If you have a lot of leading, there may be size issues. But before we chase down that road, let's get the gun to go bang repeatedly, without any hangups.

http://http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?121737-Setting-up-for-boolits-in-a-new-9mm
Once we are there, then we can work on the next problems to arise. MtGun44 wrote an excellent post on loading the 9mm that is in the stickies forum and I think in the pistols and revolvers section as well. It is well worth the read, I've been reloading since 1970 and I learned a thing or two, and re-learned a few more in reading that post.

Let me also second those who have stressed the need for good records. It is ok not to remember, provided you wrote it down someplace you can find it. I have loaded something like 30 different cartridges with lord only knows how many different powders. I pencil loads in my manuals as I try them. Good ones get a star.

[kryogen]

Records are in the garage, I am in front of my computer, do not flame.
I will report tomorrow when I have time. I will be off work for 2 weeks so that will give me some time to look into this.

[kryogen]

Ok, report:

Lee mold is .356. Sizing die is .356.
Average powder charge is 4.92 of power pistol.

Tried slugging the barrel of the beretta with a .356 boolit just to see (now, that might be undersize to begin with so that's probably not a good way to test it? Maybe I should slug it with a 45 boolit and see ?
Results: .3555 Funny thing is that measuring the barrel with the calipers gives me .357 So what does that mean? That slugging with an undersized boolit to begin with just doesnt work anyway?
So lets say my bore is really .357, then I should add some tape to my molds, and try to cast .358 boolits and size to .358?

And then use a proper charge of powder like 5.7? (5.7 is max load in the hornady book, while 5.3 is the charge below). What would you load with?

And then, I have 300 or so bullets loaded with that load. Using the puller on those 300 rounds seems to be out of my free time list. So just shoot those, hand cycle, and give the barrel a few brushes every 50 rounds? A few passes of bronze brush got rid of most of the lead that had accumulated after 40 shots.

Thanks

[1Shirt]

Lots of good advice here! Both my 9 and my 380 take, and shoot well with .358, w/o leading!
1Shirt!

[MtGun44]

Check the stickies, read the one on "Setting up a new 9mm for boolits"

Bill

[rsrocket1]

You do need to drive an oversized soft lead slug through the barrel, not a hard cast bullet unless you are casting with pure lead. You say 0.3555" is the bullet size after it goes through the barrel, 0.3555" is the measurement of the widest part of the bullet? (just making sure). If your measurement of 0.357" is correct, you have a constriction somewhere in the barrel where it goes down to 0.3555", then back up to 0.357", but the 0.357" measurement may not be really accurate.

Power Pistol is a low pressure pistol powder. You should try a higher end load with Unique, or Red Dot to see if a full pressure load will bump up the bullet to seal the gas cutting. It may not, but it's worth a try. Do this with no more than 50 bullets.

You now know that until you develop a good load, never load a whole bunch of bullets or you'll be left with what you have now which is a bunch of leading bullets that fail to extract out if your gun and no time to pull them and redo them.

I learned how to cast for 9mm just about a year ago and took everything in baby steps. Maybe too conservative, but I never had to retrace my steps.


Slugged the barrel
Tried factory cast bullets
Bought a mold and sizer (Lee 356-120-TC)
Tried them both sized and unsized looking for leading feeding in both instances
Tried different seating depths for optimum reliability and proper velocities

Only after finding the right load did I start to cast and load in big batches

[popper]

Just hit one of your boolits with a hammer to make it larger for slugging. Try your sizer die without the stem for pulling them, fast, not messy and works. You have to size and expand the cases before using them anyway. Leave the primer in, dump the powder into a container for reuse.

[gefiltephish]

I use the egg shape fishing sinkers to slug with. AFAIK they are pure lead. Lube the bore and slug well first. An alternative is the push through slugs (http://www.lbtmoulds.com/measurebore.shtml) from LBT. They're easy to use and convenient.

[kryogen]

will try and report.
Pulled 150 or so tonight with a hammer puller.... sucks but it works. will try the sizer die trick tomorrow.
Will smash a bullet to slug, and then see.

[kryogen]

Question, I measured a shot brass and the ID is .356

That means after case cooling, that my chamber is .356 + 2x the thickness of the case

Is it still reasonable to think that I can put a .358 boolit in there and have no issues with feeding, etc?

[btroj]

Check the stickies, read the one on "Setting up a new 9mm for boolits"

Bill


THIS!!

This sticky tells you what you need to know.

[375RUGER]

Question, I measured a shot brass and the ID is .356

Is it still reasonable to think that I can put a bullet larger than 356 in there and have no issues with feeding, etc?

I just got here. Nobody is flaming you, they are trying to save your life. Don't be so quick to take offense.

Are you running those spent cases through a Resizing die? You really are clueless aren't you? You really need to understand THE PROCESS better or you are going to hurt yourself. You are in a very good place to learn.
We don't just grab some stuff and throw it all together and go shoot. That's not how it works. If you will PM an email address to me I'll send a pdf 'Basics of Reloading' that covers the process and load development, geared to the beginning reloader for hunting rifles but has across the board application.
Besides the 9mm sticky mentioned, I suggest this one also
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?222520-Why-some-new-members-will-do-better-than-others-here
.
Somewhere on this forum there is a beginners guide, I'll try to find it.

[kryogen]

I have been reloading for 3 years, 308, 300 win mag, 9mm, 45 acp, and 223. I know what I am doing with plated / jacketed bullets.

I am new to casting.

The 356 ID cases are fired cases.

My point is that I slugged my barrel to .357

That would mean I should cast some .358 boolits and size those to 358.

Since my chamber = .356 + case thickness, how am I going to fit a .358 boolit in my case and then expect this to chamber properly? That's just what I am wondering.
Maybe the case is this size after it has cooled and contracted a bit, therefore the chamber might be 2 thousands larger than this?

So, with a 357 bore, my .356 sizer is pretty much useless, and I should beagle my .356 mold to make it a .358?

[kryogen]

Bore is 357.
What would you do?
Try some more .356 with more powder and see if they still lead?
or try to beagle to 357, or 358? Opinion?

[375RUGER]

How hard is the lead you are casting? I've shot plenty of 9mm that didn't lead the barrels at .356 but much prefer .357-.358. I also don't shoot alox and the tumble lube boolit designs, so someone else will have to help you with that.
don't size your boolits, shoot them as cast.
IF you fired cases measure .356" consistently like you say, you may not want to size the cases at all but you will need a larger boolit than .356.
Increase your powder charge too, all the 9s I've loaded like loads on the top end.

What do the pulled boolits measure? Are they less than before loading? What about your crimp?
What alloy are you casting? I suspect if you soften up the lead a little it will help a lot. And it may not since you have a large, .357" barrel. If softer lead doesn't help, I'd personally get a LEE 358-125-RF, it will give you a boolit that is the proper size to start with. In fact, I can even send you a handful to try if you want.

"Since my chamber = .356 + case thickness, how am I going to fit a .358 boolit in my case and then expect this to chamber properly? That's just what I am wondering."
This is something you don't need to be concerning yourself with right now, 99% chance it will work. Worry about this IF and only IF they won't chamber. Oversize boolits chamber around here all the time.
.
I'm sure you are frustrated right now, but you're not giving us all the info we need about your process, casting or loading.
If you didn't read the whole thread "setting up for a 9mm", then read the whole thing, because you will find in it information from the experience of others that is contradictory to what I just gave. Read it. It's just that I've loaded for about 6-- 9mm's and they were all the least troublesome I've ever loaded lead boolits for.

[kryogen]

How hard is the lead you are casting?
- WW

IF you fired cases measure .356" consistently like you say, you may not want to size the cases at all
- will try to measure a few fired and a few resized. But thats right, fitting a 358 boolit in a 356 case seems ok to me without resizing.

Increase your powder charge too, all the 9s I've loaded like loads on the top end.
- will do.

What do the pulled boolits measure? Are they less than before loading? What about your crimp?
- Did not cast any 358 yet. I use the lee FCD, with a light crimp. (no gouge in the bullet)


What I will do is cast a few and measure right out of the mold without sizing.
If they happen to already be close to 358, then I just have to size to 358 and I'm done.

If they are too small, then I might try some beagling to get them close to 358, then size to 358, and then try to build a dummy round, chamber, pull, measure.

If I can salvage my 356 mold I would rather do that just to save the cost of another one I guess, because this is probably the only 9 I am going to shoot lead with.

(And I have read all the posts that I have been pointed to)

[375RUGER]

I use straight range lead a lot, which has been analyzed at 2.5%Sb, 2.5% Bi, and .5% Sn. When I want softer I add pure lead. If you are using straight WW, you might try adding 2 oz of pure tin to 10# of WW to get the Sn up to about 2%, this will help to throw a larger boolit.
You are going to discover that fit is king to prevent leading, and for $20-25 shipped you will be less headache to get a new mould. But by all means, try beagling first.
Don't worry about sizing them unless they are larger than your target diameter of .358". You are using a tumble lube design, correct? My understanding is that those are not supposed to be sized. A lot of folks here also use 45/45/10 instead of straight alox for lubing and are extremely happy with it.

[kryogen]

will do some 45/45/10 if I can find some paste wax.
will try beagling, if it doesnt work, ill get a new mold
will try to cast unsized and measure and report. I think I've got the answers now.

[kryogen]

tried to cast a few tonight.
TL 356-124-RN

bullets are around 358 at the last ring of the bullet. (tl mold).

Maybe I should just get a 358 sizer to "uniform" it all, and try em that way?

lower on the grooves it gets a bit smaller though. Or should I beagle it to get 358 on all groves, and maybe 360 at the base, and then size to 358?

[MtGun44]

Sizing to .358 is a great idea. TL is not so great, but may work, definitely more troublesome
on the average than conventional lube in 9mm.

Bill

[kryogen]

it's just that I already have that mold, and would rather make it work than buying another mold.

If I cant get it to work, I'll buy a 358-125-RF, but right now, I would rather save the 50$ (canada) and try my 356 mold...
I'll beagle my mold later today and try a few casts to see how they drop. I would rather have them bigger and size a bit, than too much on the spot with some irregularities.

[Recluse]

it's just that I already have that mold, and would rather make it work than buying another mold.

I'll tell you right here and right now, you are not going to get that boolit to work.

I'm one of the very few people here who actually prefer Lee 2-bangers to their six-cavity molds, so no prejudice here. I am also one of the very few people here who bought Lee molds because I liked the boolit design more than the price. I'm also definitely pro-tumble lube as evidenced by a sticky I wrote and that has been viewed over 160,000 times.

But I'm telling you that the TL124RN boolit that comes out of that Lee mold is absolute junk so far as consistent accuracy is concerned and as far as no leading is concerned. There are a number of reasons for that, and almost all have to do with the microbands and bearing surfaces in relation to what a general all-purpose projectile for a 9mm firearm needs.

Reloading for 9mm can be challenging enough as it is. Casting and reloading for 9mm can drive a man to crawl inside a whiskey bottle while shrieking at the top of his lungs and drooling uncontrollably. :)

Also for the record, even as pro-tumble lube as I am for certain boolit/load/firearm combinations, I have had zilch luck tumble-lubing for 9mm with that Lee TL124RN. In fact, I've had zilch luck tumble-lubing for any 9mm projectile and getting the consistent results and factors I was after.

Bill (MtGun44) wrote a superb tutorial sticky on casting and loading for the 9mm. He also helped me a great deal in finally getting a cast projectile/load/lube combination that works well for four of the six 9mm handguns we have.

I understand not wanting to buy a new mold, but for me, the frustration of trying to open a door by using my head as a battering ram as opposed to a more appropriate and less painful tool simply isn't worth it. :)

:coffee:

[MtGun44]

Here is the link, may shed some light. Strongly recommend the Lee 356 120 TC
in air cooled wheel wt alloy, conventional lube, NRA 50-50 or LBT soft blue at
.357 or .358 diam.

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

Bill

[kryogen]

Thanks, I read your thread a few weeks ago.

I will try that mold.

My only remaining question is :
Does the Lee 356 120 TC drop bullets at around .358 out of the mold? I just don't want to end up with that mold dropping .356 bullets and then having to buy a .358 mold.


Here is the link, may shed some light. Strongly recommend the Lee 356 120 TC
in air cooled wheel wt alloy, conventional lube, NRA 50-50 or LBT soft blue at
.357 or .358 diam.

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

Bill

[loadmak]

I've had good luck with TL356-124TC and the 356-125-2R, both sized to .358. I use Recluse's TL formula. I tumble the non-TL bullet also. Get the 38 S&W expander. I use only WW. Recluse and MtGun44 have been a great help to me. They know their stuff. Powders make a difference too. My standard plinking load is the TL356-124TC with 4.2gr Unique at 1.045 OAL. I've used W231 and Universal Clays also, but like Unique the best so far. Good luck.

[fcvan]

I'm with Recluse on Lee 2 bangers, and the only molds I on that aren't Lee are designs Lee didn't make. My dad started with me with SAECO molds, but we were shooting .357 and 41 mag. When I started on my own, I bought Lee and started casting for 9mm.

My first mold was the Lee 356-125 2R, and I bought one of the old style .356 push through sizing dies. The lead was range scrap from work which was 99.999% swaged hollow based wad cutters we shot through the S&W model 10s we were issued. Pretty soft stuff that I pan lubed with Javalina. I learned very quickly that .356 was too small for my S&W 459 so I started shooting them as-cast, which measured .358

I set up my dies to seat the boolit with minimal resize/swaging of the boolit. Once they passed the plunk test I loaded up a box and headed for the Mojave desert. I have been shooting 9mm with great success for 30 years and through many different 9mm pistols and 2 rifles. When I bought a Lyman 450, I bought a .358 sizing die and continued to have great success without leading.

A couple years ago, I bought the Lee 356-120 TC, which as cast runs .3585 and weighs 125 grains when cast with range scrap. Like an idiot, I decided to try a .357 sizing die. I still don't know what possessed me to do that. Every 9mm I tried those loads with patterned and tumbled, and leaded the bore. I horse traded that die with a member here for something or another. I went back to sizing at .358 and my Glock 22C (Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel) became a tack driver again.

Of late, I am powder coating everything, including the 9mm, because it's a new endeavor, I like it, and I like the reduced smoke. I still have about 10k loaded with lube, mostly the 125 2R but some with the TC boolit, and all over 5 grains of Unique - the same load for 30 years. I've also loaded some with plain base gas checks even though they weren't needed as far as leading goes. I did notice that groups shrank a bit.

The only other tinkering I've done lately was PCd with PBGC and pushed a little hotter. Oh, and I also loaded some of the Lee 356-102 1R (my .380 boolit which as cast drops .358 at 105 grains) with PC and PBGC and pushed them to upper end loads. This spring I need to do some serious chronograph work just to see where those loads measure. Other than that, I plan to stick with the 125 (either mold) sized to .358 over 5 grains of Unique. It just works for me.

[MtGun44]

Both my Lee 3567 120 TCs drop .3585 or so with air cooled wwt alloy with 2% tin added for good fill
out. I have a double cav and a 6 cav. Superb boolit in 9mm, IME.

Bill