Going to start casting for 9mm

[nickl403]

I currently cast for muzzleloaders and am going to start casting for my new ruger sr9 9mm. I am going to purchase a lee mold and was wondering if anyone has any experience using them with an sr9. I am not sure what size to get or what bullet type will work best. Not sure if i should be getting a .356, .357, etc. Also alittle confused about sizing and gas checks. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[kir_kenix]

Don't worry about gas checks for 9mm. If you are looking at the Lee molds, the TL356-124-2r seems to have some fans. I've never had great luck with it myself, but everyone I've ever asked about it seems to like it. I also have the 356-120-TC, and it is a good boolit.

You will probably have to slug the bore to decide which diameter you need to size to. I would probably try .356 first however. You can either size conventionally with a lube sizer, or use the lee push thru (much cheaper as well) to start with. Someone else will come along and offer some better advice then me however.

Good luck Nick! Welcome to the board. You'll learn a bunch and have alot of fun here.

Jon Schram

[Jumping Frog]

Well, I purchased the TL356-124-TC six-cavity mold and started loading for my new Ruger SR9. Bullet profile looks like:
http://www.leeprecision.com/graphics/bullets/l356124t.gif
I haven't had a single feed problem and they are as accurate as factory hardball in my gun.

That said, if I had it to do over again I would have bought the non-tumble lube version, 356-120-TC
http://www.leeprecision.com/graphics/bullets/356120tc.gif

I figured out that I can still tumble lube a traditional lube groove bullet now while I am using the Lee Sizer and Alox. However, if I choose to buy a lubricizer down the road, I wouldn't have needed to replace my die. It is nice to have options. The TL mould does not provide that option.

[snaggdit]

I have the 356-2R lube groove Lee and it works well for my various 9mms. I also have the 111 (for the 9's) and 102 (which I use mainly for the 380) that have worked in the 9's as well. I have tried pan lubing but LLA still is the easiest so that is what I went back to until I get my lube sizer. Of the three, I would recommend the 124 first.

[MtGun44]

The most important point for most beginners to 9mm is to NOT plan on shooting
.355 or .356 diam boolits thru most pistols. Plan on using .357" diam, or even .358
esp for Euro9s, which seem to be even more likely than US 9mms to need large
boolits to not lead, not tumble and shoot accurately. MANY Euro9s will tumble
commercial cast boolits which are usually too small and too hard. Too hard is NOT
likely to be a good thing, as much as the commercial guys keep trying to convince
you that "hard cast" is the ultimate. Hard cast definitely has it's place, but not as
the first choice for most handguns. I have no idea where the Ruger groove diam runs,
so you should either just try .357 (what I would do) or slug the bbl and size groove
diam plus .001 or .002". Gas checks are completely unnecessary for 9mm Luger.

I, too, have had excellent results in several 9mm pistols with WW alloy, not heat treated,
sized .357 with NRA formula 50/50 lube and the Lee truncated cone 120 gr mold, the
second image on Jumpin Frog's post above - the one he says he wishes he had
purchased.

Get one, cast up a batch with WWts, size to .357 and load to about 900-1000 fps
level to start. Try Unique, W231, Titegroup, Clays or similar medium to fast powders.
Use a taper crimp separate die, use your removed-from-the-gun barrel to check your
load. Add enough taper crimp so that the round will drop freely or with only about
1 lb force into the chamber. Watch out for the full diameter portion of the boolit hitting
the rifling due to seating too far out. Once you have the tc correct and the seating
depth, you will be fine. Pushin of the boolit during feeding is very bad, use enough
tc that you cannot push the boolit into the case handholding a test round and pushing
against a hard surface by hand. Pushin causes pressures to spike up, esp with a tiny
case like 9mm.

Bill

[nickl403]

Is sizing necessary? (cant find the lee sizer in stock anywhere)

[Jumping Frog]

Is sizing necessary? (cant find the lee sizer in stock anywhere)
You can try shooting them as cast and skip the sizing. There are a lot of people that do that. You will either be happy with the results, or you won't.

Try casting first and seeing what diameter they drop from the mold.

[leadeye]

I've had good luck with the Lee 358 125 Rf sized to .358. I use it in both 9mm and 38 special.:-D

[Rick N Bama]

I've had good luck with the Lee 358 125 Rf sized to .358. I use it in both 9mm and 38 special.:-D

That's the best boolit I've found so far for my 9, ain't too shabby in plinker 357s either. For the 9, I'm casting it from a 20lb pot of WWs with something like 1/4th cup of magnum shot mixed in & the boolits water dropped. That makes for a hard boolit that my Beretta seems to like.

Rick

[Doble Troble]

My SR9 slugs 0.356 on the button. Slugging is 100X easier than guessing.

I shoot the 105 gr Lee SWC (OAL = 1.043 - a hair over the crimp groove - don't seat it in like it was a 200 gr SWC in a 45 ACP) and the slippery nine pointy group buy mold (seated to max OAL for 9 mm). Depending on which I've shot most recently, my favorite changes. The slippery nine feeds very well sized at 0.357 and 0.358, but has keyholed in the cold. I've never had leading problems with it. The Lee 105 gr SWC will occaisionally not go into battery at 0.358, but seems to have no problems at 0.357 (knock, knock). I've got the Lee 124 2R, but the high power that I used to have didn't like it, and so I just havent' gotten back around to trying it.

I've tried to load both for USPSA minor. I keep life "simple" by only loading Unique. For both of these bullets I've found that for accuracy (and avoiding key holes with the slippery nine) that I have to run them pretty hot. 4.5 gr Unique with the slippery nine, and 5.3 gr with the SWC. I get a bit of leading that isn't a load breaker with the 5.3 gr 105 gr SWC load. At least the steel won't hestitate going down.

Conventional wisdom says not to crimp cartridges like the nine that headspace on the mouth of the case. When I load 9 mm and 45 ACP conventionally, I occaisionally get jams that go away if I give them a good, firm taper crimp with a Lee die.

[Marlin Hunter]

That said, if I had it to do over again I would have bought the non-tumble lube version, 356-120-TC
http://www.leeprecision.com/graphics/bullets/356120tc.gif

I figured out that I can still tumble lube a traditional lube groove bullet now while I am using the Lee Sizer and Alox. However, if I choose to buy a lubricizer down the road, I wouldn't have needed to replace my die. It is nice to have options. The TL mould does not provide that option.



The cost of a lee mold is under $20 if you order online and add a few other things to absorb the shipping cost, so getting another mold is not that expensive. If the tumble lube works for you, why would you want the mess of a hard luber?