9mm SWC questions

[Bashby]

Ive been doing a 2x4 shoot at my local gun club where we shoot a 2x4 in half for the fastest time. Im at somewhat of a disadvantage with my Polymer 80 9mm (G17 size). .45s work better of course beings how they make a bigger hole, but the Semi wadcutters seem to do a lot more damage than round nose, other things being equal. Looking for suggestions on what mold to get for a SWC that will work well in my pistol. Im not sure if a heavier bullet would make much difference or not, so if you have any input there chime in.

Ive done a very little bit of reloading YEARS ago and have never done any casting. Been reading a lot here and learning. So far I have collected range scrap and melted it into ingots but have virtually no casting equipment so I will have more questions. Will probably need to start another thread or three!

[MT Gianni]

In general a SWC has a shoulder that can hang up when feeding in an auto. A Round Flat bullet may feed easier. Reloading cast 9mm is a college level course if 38 special is a high school freshman one. It is certainly attainable but a tough place to start.
IIWM, I would start loading jacketed, getting accurate loads and transition into cast. You may do better looking at a small shop rather than a large casting business as their lube may fit your needs better. When you are doing OK with cast there are many stickies here and lots of people with decades of experience that can help.
Good luck in your journey.

[kywoodwrkr]

All stars must have been aligned when I loaded SWC for a Colt commander and a S&W 39 in early 70's.
I loaded the cast 115 gr FP and HP both. All I remember about the duo is they both fed like a charm and being of small frame, firing both as rapid as possible kinda backed me up a bit. Lost both molds(+~75 others) to someone who obviously needed them/$ worse than I did. Neither pistol had been refined or tuned up, just stock.

[scattershot]

Dunno about SWC, how about a truncated cone design?

[gwpercle]

The 9mm Luger can be a stinker to load with cast boolits .
I've never tried to shoot a 2x4 in half but over the years have fooled around with cast SWC's and a WWII era Walther P38 . It has a generous throat unlike new modern pistols that have none or very little . Having a throat makes loading easier.
The following boolits are the ones that I could get to feed and fire reasonably well in my P38 .

Lyman 356632 - 100 gr. SWC
Lyman 358345 - 115 gr. SWC*
Lyman 358477 - 150 gr. SWC**

Lee 358-105-SWC - 105 gr. SWC*
Lee 140-140-SWC - 140 gr. SWC*

* boolits marked with one * worked well , no problems feeding

** boolits marked with two ** fed well but the 150 gr. boolit didn't leave a lot of room for powder.

My P38 seems to favor the Lee 358-105-SWC boolit , feeds it 100% , shoots to the P38's sights and makes ragged one hole groups with it .
The most important thing in the boolt you select is 100% feeding...if the keep stopping in a match that's not going to be acceptable .
If you have issues with lack of a throat in your pistol a member , Doug Guy, can fix that for you .
Good Luck in your cast 9mm SWC quest,
Gary

[Bashby]

Dunno about SWC, how about a truncated cone design?

I think that would be slightly better than a round nose. I should pick some up and try them on a 2x then compare to RN. It seems the shoulder on the SWC acts like a hole punch wher the RN just spreads the wood fibers apart and doesnt do much damage.

Thanks for all the other input, Im taking it all in!

[Kraschenbirn]

At various times, I've loaded 125 JHPs, 124 TCs (Lee), and 147 RNs for both my P-35 Hi-Power and my Kahr CW9. All were acceptably accurate and fed without a hiccup. That said, I must mention that I'd been reloading rifle and handgun for over 25 years when I acquired my first 9mm (the Browning) so it didn't feel like much of a transition. Btw: to date, I haven't found anything, loaded within spec, that little Kahr WON'T feed!!

Bill

[Boogieman]

MtGun44 has a stickie in Wheel Guns on loading cast bullets in a 9mm. He covers it well ,it's not hard just paying attention to the details

[reddog81]

I try the Lee 358-105 SWC mentioned in post #5 if it was me. The Lee 358-125 RF would also work and has a wide meta-plate.

[Bashby]

MtGun44 has a stickie in Wheel Guns on loading cast bullets in a 9mm. He covers it well ,it's not hard just paying attention to the details

I will definitely check that out, thanks.

[Bashby]

I try the Lee 358-105 SWC mentioned in post #5 if it was me. The Lee 358-125 RF would also work and has a wide meta-plate.

My research has kept leading me to the 358-105. It seems to me that a heavier bullet wouldnt cause much if any more damage. Ive been thinking a downloaded, lighter round would let me get more rounds on target faster.

[gwpercle]

My research has kept leading me to the 358-105. It seems to me that a heavier bullet wouldnt cause much if any more damage. Ive been thinking a downloaded, lighter round would let me get more rounds on target faster.

Pet Loads : Walther P38
9mm Luger , Lee 358-105-SWC , sized .357

4.6 grs. Red Dot

4.7 grs. Unique

Gary

[Thekid]

My favorite 9mm load is a lee TL-358-158-swc powder coated and sized to .356 over 3.5 grains of unique and an OAL of 1.09. Very easy shooting and accurate out of my Glock 19.

[Beerd]

The one on the left is the Lee 105gr

250639
..

[Bashby]

Hmm, maybe I should order a 105 and 158 mold and see which one does better.

ETA: On a totally unrelated note, check out the join date of the first 4 responses. Some kind of sign from the casting gods?

[Lagamor]

Stick with the KISS principal when loading 9mm. For me, that means truncated, no-lube groove with a bevel base.
You’ll have to decide what works for you and your guns.

[Gamsek]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191103/2aaf6f55e3f2fdc10f43b61256d95b13.plist
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191103/c2fcaaa6079a959f9e463267318fc599.plist

Everyone I know was extremely satisfied with MP Molds copy of famous H&G #275, very accurate.
You can have it in 6cav brass or 8cav aluminium. My is bevel base which makes loading in tapered 9mm case even easier.


https://www.mp-molds.com/product/9mm-38cal-swc-hg275-clone-8-cavity-bevel-basemold/

Or flat base.

https://www.mp-molds.com/product/9mm-38cal-swc-hg275-clone/

I load it also in 38 spcl.

[Bashby]

I think I read that it is harder to get good results with the 6-8 cavity molds. Should I stick with two at a time?

[Gamsek]

I think I read that it is harder to get good results with the 6-8 cavity molds. Should I stick with two at a time?

I would start with 2cav and upgrade later if necessary. You will learn some basics about casting and you’ll have less frustration. 6-8cav are easy to work with if you know the basics and if you preheat them a bit on a hot plate. Then they rain bullets. Start with two cav, it will also not break your wallet.

[sigep1764]

You just have to get the 6-8 cavity molds up to temp is all. Pour and dump fast, the mold will tell you whether its too hot with broken sprues or too cold with really hard to cut sprues.

[Bashby]

So, I got a 358-105 mold and cast a bunch of boolits. PCed them and loaded a few up. I found that 3.7 gr of unique is enough to gently cycle the slide. As you may have guessed, I am having trouble getting them to feed. The tip of the boolit is hitting the top of the chamber and the casing hits the top edge of the feed ramp and it jams up. 252135

It dents the boolit where it is hitting the top of the chamber.252138

Here i colored the dent with a marker so you can see it better252137

I have shortened the OAL about as far as I can. I think it may be making it worse. I just made a couple long dummies and they seem to be working better since the tip contacts the chamber sooner and forces the front of the round down and lining it up with the barrel. Does that sound right? Im getting a little frustrated with the process of loading up a few different rounds, driving to the range and finding they dont work. Those of you that use the 358-105, especially in a Glock, what kind of OAL have you found to work? My short ones were .965-.970. Dummies that seem to work a little better are 1.060 or so.

[trapper9260]

I use the Lyman 147gr FN in my 9mm and cycle without any problems.If this would help.I size and lube.No PC .

[JBinMN]

I am going to have to try this 2x4 shooting gig. Are they edgewise with the 2 inch side facing the shooter or width wise with the 4" facing the shooter? ( I will assume the 4( 3-1/2") side faces the shooter, because that is how I picture it for most folks to shoot at, unless their skill level is high.)

To be honest, I think I would likely take one of my 124 gr. RN & file or sand the nose to a flat point to about 120 grains & use them. I think I would cast them with a BHN around 12-14 so they will penetrate, but still flatten out a bit, pushing out the backside of the 2x4 as they go, rather than harder & just making a round hole thru.

As long as that would be within the rules, anyway...

I think that would work out better & easier, for "me" anyway, than dinking around with other styles & since i have already done some dinking around with different style in the 9mm, I think I would be happier with just the Modified Rns to FNs.

Gonna have to try this sometime in the near future...
;)

G'Luck!
:)

Yep,I may have to try this.

[Bashby]

Shooting at the 3.5" side

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[JBinMN]

Shooting at the 3.5" side

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Thanks! That was what I figured was the deal.
:)