Lee 358158 in 9mm

[sniper7369]

I have quite a few of these already lubed and sized at .357. Would it be possible to shoot these through a 9mm? I'm primarily concerned about seating depth and associated pressures.
Also, could this mold be shaved down to produce a lighter, shorter boolit for use in 9mm?
I have about a thousand or so of these sitting on the bench and I no longer have a .38 to shoot them through, so it's be nice if I could shoot them up in some of my 9mm pistols and carbines. :Fire:

[GrizzLeeBear]

I assume you mean the 358156, gas checked 155 gr. SWC? Do they already have the checks on them? If they don't have the checks on them, get a 9mm mold and melt them down and cast 9mm boolits.
I'm sure people have done it, but that is a heavy boolit for a 9mm. Like you said, gonna have to watch the loads and seating depth carefully. Also, feeding may be an issue. You may not be able to get a seating length that will feed well with the SWC. I'm sure others who have tried it will chime in.
If they already have the gas checks on them, it might be better to trade them to someone looking for .38 / .357 boolits.

[oso]

There are several Lee 358-158 molds. Seating depth will depend on the feeding and nose band fit in the gun chamber allowing it to go into battery. Looks like there'd be a lot of boolit in the case and risk of excessive pressure with any of them, so your concern is appropriate.
You could mill off a lot of the mold block and still have a nose profile your 9mm doesn't like!
I didn't have much luck with the Lee 358-140-SWC in the 9mm.
So which Lee 358-158 do you have?

[sniper7369]

So which Lee 358-158 do you have?

The box says it's a C358-158-SWC

I was thinking about cutting down the boolits I have shorter and trying them out in some of the guns to see if they feed OK.
It looks like if I shave down the mold it would drop something very similar to the Lee 358-105-SWC that I've seen others use for 9mm loads.
Seems like it might be worth experimenting a bit with it.

[Papa smurf]

Many years ago I loaded Lyman #358477 -150 gr. in 9 mm. The were sized to .357 and I think 4.0 gr Bullseye (you may want to start at 3.5 gr and work up or down to what works the action) in a Browning Hi Power. It would only feed five rounds but it did without any trouble. Great for target shooting ,nice clean holes.
Good Shooting-----------------------Papa Smurf

[GrizzLeeBear]

Good lord, I just came back and see that you said Lee not lyman! Anyway it is the gas checked boolit right? If not, or if they don't have GCs on them melt them down. For the cost / work of grinding the mold down, I think you would be much happier getting one of the Lee 6 cavity 9mm molds and melting them down and casting 9mm boolits. If you got one of the +/- 125 gr. molds you would also end up with more boolits:

1,000 X 158 / 125 = 1264 so you end up with 264 more boolits!

[sniper7369]

Good lord, I just came back and see that you said Lee not lyman! Anyway it is the gas checked boolit right? If not, or if they don't have GCs on them melt them down. For the cost / work of grinding the mold down, I think you would be much happier getting one of the Lee 6 cavity 9mm molds and melting them down and casting 9mm boolits. If you got one of the +/- 125 gr. molds you would also end up with more boolits:

1,000 X 158 / 125 = 1264 so you end up with 264 more boolits!

That's a good point. More boolits is ALWAYS a good thing. :mrgreen: It IS the GC mold, but the boolits do NOT have the checks on them. Seems like everyone is always out of stock on the 9mm Lee six bangers when I actually have the extra cash to get the mold AND the handles for it though. May have to just go with the double cavity for now.

[oso]

The Lee C358-158-SWC could lose the GC shank, bottom band and first lube groove but it still has the shortest nose of the Lee 358's and a wide meplat that might not feed well in 9mm. You could try a dummy cartridge to see how it feeds but I'd get another 357 Mag or even 38 Special first! In fact the Mrs. wants a new snubby right now - and it's all your fault.

[jdgabbard]

The 158g SWCs work fine in the 9mm, or at least my Ruger PC-9 and Intratec AB-10. You have to play with the seating depth a little, but once you figure it out, it is a dandy little round for critters. I've taken a few Jacks and quite a few armored dillows with 'em.

Check out this thread.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=41487&highlight=9mm