Glock 9MM and cast

[Curly James]

After three powders, different cases, multiple COLs, and an at times frustrating three months of trial and error I have finally found the load that my Glock 17 will shoot accurately and reliably. I started with a Lee 6 cavity 125 grain TLTC mold that was a gift and a ton of range lead. A Storm Lake barrel for the Glock and I thought I was set. It just wasn't that easy as I wanted something that was easily cast and loaded in volume. The first loads leaded like crazy and would show either tumbling on the paper or at least tipping at impact. Accuarcy as you can imagine was lackluster at best A load must shoot into less than 3 inches at 20 yards to be minimally acceptable. I tried WW 231, HS-6, and Titegroup before I finally found the right combination of powder (6.0 grain of HS-6), COL (1.120) that gave me consistant 2 inch groups at 20 yards today. It also did this with a mix a cases, mostly Speer and WW. Velocity averaged 1112 FPS for 10 rounds. This is exactly what I wanted in a nice little plinking and competition load for IDPA. Now all I have to do is cast and load a thousand or so and shoot to my hearts content. take care, CJ.

[clintsfolly]

just a thousand???????this week month or year? have fun clint

[cohutt]

Thats a slow powder for 9mm, relatively speaking. Interesting, thanks for posting.

[Curly James]

HS-6 is one of the powders recommended by the Lyman and Lee manuals as being well suited for the 9MM cartridge. In some instances a slower powder will provide better performance with high pressure rounds and lead boolits. By the way, where you at in Ga? near the area that resembles your screen name? Take care, CJ.

[fecmech]

CJ--Two powders that I found worked extreamly well with cast in the 9MM were Longshot and Blue Dot with the Lee tc 121 bullet. If you are looking for accuracy, spring for a lb. of Longshot, I don't think you will be disapointed.

[9.3X62AL]

CJ--

Glad to hear that you found a combination that works for your pistol. The 9mm Luger is not a very lead-friendly pistol caliber.

This might be a little late in the game.......but what are the diameters of the boolits and the barrel throat and grooves? That early-on leading you describe sounds like undersized boolits to me.

[Shiloh]

The biggest corrective factor was the after market barrel.

Shiloh

[runfiverun]

the fact he was using range scrap and the fast powder didn't want to work well
i would suspect his scrap was really soft, i think iwould try water dropping these.

[Curly James]

Thanks fecmech I will try some of the Longshot powder soon.

Al, the barrel mikes out to .355 and the boolits are sized at .356 I actually tried some at .358 (the size they drop from the mold) and the leading was worse. The range scrap I am using tends to vary in hardness depending on what pit I salvaged it from [smilie=1:. One of the parameters I was searching for in a load is that I could get it to shoot ANY of the lead I tend to smelt and cast with at any given time. At this moment and for quite a while to come it will be a fairly hard lead from and indoor range. Almost all of this lead was once the core for a jacketed handgun bullet. Also I actually did get the factory Glock barrel to shoot lead fairly well, but the process meant hardening boolits either by heat treating them or using some of my precious supply of linotype. Also despite the the fact that it would work, I did not want to go to all of that trouble for a competition, practice load. Anybody else got any suggestions, I tend to learn by doing and will always try something new. Take care, CJ.

[cohutt]

South of there a ways, Rome. (I have some property on the other side of the Cohutta wilderness on the blue ridge side.)

I don't have any hs-6 but I do have some Power Pistol and WSF under the bench somehwere. Maybe I'll revisit those with the lee 125s

The magic formula for me so far is with the rcbs 147g cast with soft alloy (50/50 pure/ww), lubed with lars red, sized to .356 & 3.6g WST. I shoot them though a lone wolf extended barrel in a g17. Velocity runs around 970fps.
Ave weight runs closer to 155g with the softer alloy.

BTW these are extremely accurate through semi UZI as well.

[fecmech]

CJ--after rereading your post are you using the tumble lube Lee bullet with the Lee liquid alox? If that is the case I could send you some Lee 121's that have the single lube groove and are lubed with either Magma or Rooster lube to try. I did not have much luck with TL bullets in my 9's. Nick

[kjg]

I my self use blue dot and 700x blue dot for 125 grain hard cast and 700x for 124 grn gold dots,and just for fun loaded 162 grn rcbs semi wad cutter that were cast for my rugar gp100
4" the 162's arn't real accurate but really havent tested hard get about 2" off hand at 20 yards but are interesting possibliity, the 124 grain load with 700x and 124 grn hardcast both shoot in exactally the same as well extreamly accurate, not shooting them in a glock but in a cz 75 bm. kjg gray ga.