9mm leading badly

[xxclaro]

I have a Norico 213 9mm that I have been shooting cast bullets in. It seems to lead really quickly,no matter what. I was sizing them to .356, and tumble lubing them. It would show lots of lead after a dozen rounds, though accuracy still seemed to be okay.
I decided to leave them as cast,at about .358 or a touch more. It's hard to seat them straight when they're that big, but I managed to get some done and tried them. Same thing,lots of lead really quick. Again,accuracy seemed to be okay. Since it's chrome lined bore, it cleans up fairly easily, a few minutes with a good bronze brush will get most of it out.
Any recommendations, other than shooting plated of jacketed? I shoot my .45 a lot more,and it doesn't lead at all,so If I had to shoot plated in this gun, I guess that would be tolerable.

[docone31]

I do not like Alox. I pan lube. I have been sizeing my 9s to .357, with pan lube.
No leading.
I water drop wheel weight, pan lube, size to .357, load em up, and they fire well.
I just do not like Alox.

[GrizzLeeBear]

The FIRST thing you should do when considering shooting cast boolits in any gun is SLUG THE BORE. Without knowing what your bore dia. is you are just guessing. You will waste casting time, shooting time, cleaning out leading time when slugging the bore only takes a few minutes. You will also elimate one of the major variables when dealing with leading. If you size your boolits .001 - .002 over bore dia. it is very unlikely that boolit size is causing the leading (at least at normal cast boolit loading levels). You can then look at boolit hardness, powder load, lube, bore roughness as the probable source of leading.
BTW what load were you shooting? What alloy? Might help everyone diagnose the problem if we had all the info.

[xxclaro]

The alloy is straight water dropped Wheel weights, 125gr bullets over 5.0 gr Unique. If these bullets are still too small at .358 I'll probably stick to jacketed or plated,as they get too difficult to seat properly at that diameter.

[Leftoverdj]

The alloy is straight water dropped Wheel weights, 125gr bullets over 5.0 gr Unique. If these bullets are still too small at .358 I'll probably stick to jacketed or plated,as they get too difficult to seat properly at that diameter.

Too hard. Try a batch air cooled and as cast.

[runfiverun]

the bbl even though plated is still rough.
you are more likely tearing the rough tendrils [from antimony] rather than leading.
if it's easy to clean or not affecting accuracy it should get somewhat better as you shoot more.
you could also try a different lube.

[dwtim]

Any lead shaving when seating?

I had this problem with bevel base bullets in my 45s. They leaded almost immediately, right near the throat. They're also like weebles when I try to seat them; they seat off-center, leaving a nice gap for gas erosion, (evident by the blob of lead in one spot of the case mouth after discharge.) This is different from normal problem fouling, which begins in the first inch of the rifling, and slowly progresses toward the muzzle--that is, if I don't correct the load first.

I chased those with loads containing Lee 452-228-1R and TL452-230-TC (over Unique), which didn't lead at all, and scrubbed existing fouling from the bore. Interestingly enough, the slight bevel on the Lee TL bullet is not a problem.

I tested about 480 of the gas-erosion-enhancing-base bullets in two guns and have given up in favor of those with square(r) bases. I was able to reduce the problem by putting in my own soft lube and dipping the bases in LLA, but that is frankly too much of a bother when I have bore scrubber loads available.

I used the Lee 125-2R in 9mm (~ .357") to great effect. Until I accidentally rusted out the bore on my Firestar.

[Echo]

After slugging the barrel, you might consider a larger expander-beller button. I doubt if the boolits are being sized down - water-dropped are fairly hard - but if your groove diameter turns out to be .358 or larger, you will have to have larger diameter boolits, and the larger expander button will make that easier.

And have you seated a boolit, then pulled it to check its installed diameter? Could be that they are being sized down, especially since you indicate that seating is difficult. Are you using GI brass, or commercial? GI tends to be thicker, and less forgiving regarding sizing the boolit on seating.

[DLCTEX]

It sounds as if you may not be flaring the case mouth enough, causing the problem with getting the boolits seated straight and possibly shaving lead.

[GabbyM]

Lee liquid allox needs to cure for one or two weeks before you shoot them. For best results.
Are you using a Lee collet crimp die? People have been known to swag their bullets undersized with this step. As Dale stated if one or two thousandths makes seating hard you're not flaring the case enough with your expander die.

[Doble Troble]

Five grains of Unique is about as much as i've been able to use with any cast bullet in the 9 w/o leading - 105 gr swc, 124 gr RN, and the 136 gr slippery nine - bullet weight doesn't seem to matter in my hands, once I get over 5.0 the Chore Boy comes into play. All my nines are around 0.356" bores. I shoot 0.358" bullets.

In addition to all of the above you might consider dropping the charge a tenth or three.

[deltaenterprizes]

Check the twist rate of the barrel and the depth of the grooves. Most factory barrels in imported 9MM automatic pistols have shallow rifling and a twist rate of 1:9 as opposed to 1:16 in domestically produced barrels the same as a 38. The lead bullet strips the rifling causing leading. Marlin Micro groove barrels have a similar problem with lead bullets.
Lighter loads like 3.5 gr of Bullseye or 3.8 ge WW 231 may work. A bullet with more bearing surface on the driving bands like a 147 gr SAECO will help.

[243winxb]

though accuracy still seemed to be okay. all you have is normal fouling if accuracy is OK.

[GabbyM]

I jsut looked in my Lyman 49th edition and see 5 grains of Unique is max charge for their #356242 120gr round nose. With 1194 fps and 31,500 C.U.P. With variables thrown in you could simply be running to much pressure. In a 9 x 19mm you only need take up .030" more case capacity to run the pressure way up. Looks like Doble Troble may have your solution.
Plus with the price of brass these days I'd want mne to last. Nothing you shoot will notice much difference between 1120 fps and 1190 fps.