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Thread: Setting up for boolits in a new 9mm

  1. #41
    Boolit Man
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    Thanks, Great read

  2. #42
    Boolit Master superior's Avatar
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    My wife outshot everyone in her CHL course with the boolits I made and loaded for her. Glock 19, Lee 124 TC, Bullseye powder. After a complaint from another student, her ammo was disallowed and she had to finish the last portion of the course with factory 147gr softnose ammo. The factory stuff was far less accurate. The instructor lady wasn't familiar with the looks of a tumble-lubed boolit and decided that they may be unsafe to fire. I guess she thought it would be better to reduce her exposure to potential issues. LOL My wife assured her that the lube was normal for cast ammo, but ..oh well.
    By the way, I dont want to reopen the Glock and cast can of worms, but I've fired several thousand cast through my 23 and her 19 with no issues whatsoever.

  3. #43
    Boolit Bub
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    A little different question but I'll be reloading for a 9mm Mod 34 shortly and I have some cerrosafe I think its called I used some long ago and had a little trouble getting a good pour but thought I'd try again when the gun gets here. If I can get a clean pour would I get as accurate results as slugging the barrel. Ive never driven a slug down a barrel and when I think about it makes my toe nails curl though its obvious its done all the time. If I can get away with the melted whatever it is what I'd like to use it. I'd do both the chamber end and the muzzle end.

  4. #44
    Boolit Master
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    Re: Setting up for boolits in a new 9mm

    Don't mess with the cerrosafe. Just slug. Use a brass rod, greased slug, and a 2x4 for a base. Use carpet or a towel if it makes you feel better. A soft air cooled boolit works great.

    Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
    scrap, smelt, cast, lube, load, shoot. repeat.

  5. #45
    Boolit Bub
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    If my new Glock barrel is perhaps .356 in dia. ( a caliper check at the muzzles tells me it might be) and I attempt to slug it with a .358 dia cast boolit (that's been lubed (blue ring)) will it go through if I grease it or will I stick it? Ive looked at the slugging kits (Meister) and im assuming it soft lead and at $35 I sure like to use a boolit?

    Lets say the barrels slugs .356 would I want to shoot .357 dia. sized rounds, .001 interference?
    Last edited by tenneesse; 12-19-2012 at 08:35 PM.

  6. #46
    Boolit Master



    retread's Avatar
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    Great write up Bill. I have been fighting through this problems with my new SR9. I was partly down the same path. I think your insight will speed up my progress greatly. It is very much appreciated.

    Jay

  7. #47
    Boolit Mold
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    I am just getting everything together to reload 9mm. Supplies are limited at this time and the powder I found is Vihtavuori 3N37, 115gr LRN and CCI small pistol primers. I am having trouble finding the charge for the powder. The only thing I am finding is for FMJ and plated. would it be a problem to use that charge with the LRN's?

    Curt

  8. #48
    Boolit Buddy
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    Thanks so much for the great article! I purchased a P-1 several years ago and decided to reload for it this year. I had several hollow-based wadcutters from when I was shooting .38Spl. These are about .359 with the heavy graphite coating, so I put them in the vise and squeezed them until they fattened up to .365 and then slugged the barrel in the P1. Wow, was I ever surprised! I had heard that some of the German guns had fat grooves, but 2 of the grooves were .3583 and the third was .3581. I am planning on polishing my .358 H&I up to .359 and going with that.

    Back in '07 I shot for one season in the local IPSC league with my P1 and Winchester White Box. This was a real hoot and I decided to give it a try with lead bullets and all my saved up brass........................... RayT

  9. #49
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Glad to hear that the post is helping people.

    9mm has been a steady problem child for new boolit shooters, so
    if this helps folks, I am happy to help.

    I am baffled at the number of folks that are freaked out at the
    idea of slugging a barrel. Use a brass rod to drive a soft lead
    lubricated slug down a STEEL barrel. . . . pretty hard to mess
    that up. Use a plastic mallet or chunk of 2x4 to hit the brass
    rod and support it against wood block and you can't possibly
    hurt the dismounted barrel.

    Bill
    Last edited by MtGun44; 06-02-2013 at 02:17 AM.
    If it was easy, anybody could do it.

  10. #50
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I revisit this thread every so often, and consider it a Cast Boolit Classic. My rocky path to success with the 9mm would have been smoothed and shortened markedly many years ago had someone gone to the trouble that Bill did to summarize his experiences so succinctly.

    What Bill has condensed herein applies in equal measure to at least two similar autopistol calibers--the 40 S&W and the 10mm Auto. Nicely, the 40s and the 10s tend to be a lot less squirrelly about internal dimensioning of throats and grooves than are many 9mm barrels. Dimensional integrity REALLY starts to matter as pressures elevate in cast boolit reloading.
    I don't paint bullets. I like Black Rifle Coffee. Sacred cows are always fair game. California is to the United States what Syria is to Russia and North Korea is to China/South Korea/Japan--a Hermit Kingdom detached from the real world and led by delusional maniacs, an economic and social basket case sustained by "foreign" aid so as to not lose military bases.

  11. #51
    Boolit Master Garyshome's Avatar
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    What is a good burn rate for the 9mm powder?
    Last edited by Trey45; 10-03-2013 at 10:31 AM.

  12. #52
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Unique and Bullseye are both good in 9mm Para. W231/HP38 would also be a good choice.

    Bill
    If it was easy, anybody could do it.

  13. #53
    Boolit Buddy zubrato's Avatar
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    Hi everyone,
    I'm beginning my casting journey with two calibers, .38 special and 9mm.
    Guess which is giving me more trouble.
    I haven't been able to go to the range and try out my loads, however I have assembled a dummy round using my 124gr TC TL ice water quenched wheel weight boolits, and I noticed the base of the boolit had been swaged down by the case to .356 from .357, and in some areas to .3535. My barrel slugs at .357 at it's widest. BUT for this particular round, I ran it through the factory crimp die, knowing it might swage it down..
    Should I expect leading? I know there's no replacement for actual experimentation, but I have so little time to get to the range, I really want to get everything right the first or second time.
    I should mention, I will be using the glock OEM barrel, so leading is the big bad boogeyman and I'm just trying to shoot for cheap.
    I will be working up using IMR 800X, and staying with this powder, so long as I can find more..
    Recycle, Reuse, Reload.

  14. #54
    Moderator Emeritus robertbank's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zubrato View Post
    Hi everyone,
    I'm beginning my casting journey with two calibers, .38 special and 9mm.
    Guess which is giving me more trouble.
    I haven't been able to go to the range and try out my loads, however I have assembled a dummy round using my 124gr TC TL ice water quenched wheel weight boolits, and I noticed the base of the boolit had been swaged down by the case to .356 from .357, and in some areas to .3535. My barrel slugs at .357 at it's widest. BUT for this particular round, I ran it through the factory crimp die, knowing it might swage it down..
    Should I expect leading? I know there's no replacement for actual experimentation, but I have so little time to get to the range, I really want to get everything right the first or second time.
    I should mention, I will be using the glock OEM barrel, so leading is the big bad boogeyman and I'm just trying to shoot for cheap.
    I will be working up using IMR 800X, and staying with this powder, so long as I can find more..
    Why would you run it through the FCD if you knew it was going to swage it down? When it comes to most lead applications bigger is better. I would expect ypu to get leading from gas cutting but you may get lucky.

    I found 800X to be to slow in the 9MM guns I have. Lots of unburned powder. That said 6 grains under my Lyman 356402 bullet gave me an avg vel of 1186 with a SD of 11 over my Chrony. OAL was 1.115 for my Hi-Power. Boolits sized .357.

    I tried 800X in 38spl cases in my Rossi hoping the longer barrel would consume the powder. 5.9 gr under a Lyman 358477 boolit gave an avg vel of 1208 fps out of my Rossi with a SD of 16 and an extreme spread of 66 fps.

    My advice would be to play with it and see how it shoots in your guns.

    FYI I shoot a lot of IDPA using both the 9MM in my M&P Pro and 38spl using 4.2" Ruger GP-100. 4.1 gr of 231 runs my 124 gr Lyman 356402 bullet while 2.8 gr of Clays runs my 165 gr RCBS RN boolit in 38spl. Both loads are extremely accurate. The Ruger develops some leading due to constriction in the barrel. The Clays load runs very clean, an important attribute when it comes to shooting the revolver. 231 runs to dirty for my liking in my revolver loads for IDPA. The powder is excellent for the 9MM from my experience.

    I apply a slight taper crimp on my 9MM boolits, just enough to remove the belling I applied during the loading process. I run around 10K rds a year through my 9MM guns without incident. For the 38spl I just want to remove the belling on the case. I size my 38spl boolits .358 and rely on friction on the case to hold the boolits. Again over the past three years of shooting competitions with the Ruger I have had nary a problem using this method. In both cases there can be seen a slight bulge in the case . The bulge has had no effect on loading rounds into the chamber using speed loaders or in the case of the semi auto via the magazine.

    Take Care

    Bob
    Last edited by robertbank; 09-26-2013 at 05:30 PM.
    Its been months since I bought the book, "How to scam people online". It still has not arrived yet!

    "If the human population held hands around the equator, a significant portion of them would drown"

  15. #55
    Boolit Buddy zubrato's Avatar
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    Thank you for that awesome post Bob! Sorry for my late reply, I've been working like a dog lately.
    I read some guys on the net had no problems with the FCD, while others did. Since I used it a lot for my plated bullets, I figured I'd give it a shot and see if Im one of the problem guys, and I probably am since I did feel the carbide ring, but given the case itself swages down the boolit its probably multifactorial.
    Due to running out of powder, I'll be using whatever I can get at the store, and if anything decent I'll grab 4 lbs at a time, everytime I work up a load for a caliber, I end up scratching my head at the store when I see they stopped carrying my powder..

    So it looks like for the time being, its blue dot since I ran out of 800X for my plated loads. And then it may be green dot..

    On a lighter note, I've purchased the 38SW expander plug and it looks like a winner! I haven't tried seating any dummy rounds and pulling them, however I can tell there's an immediate improvement in the way the cases look in regards to taper and inside diameter.

    My question is: Can I use the crimping feature on the Lee seating die? I'll be using mixed brass, so I'm afraid of one case receiving too much crimp, and pressure spikes that may result in rapid dissassembly of my pistol, especially in a cartridge that headspaces on the case mouth.

    As for the 38spl, when slugging the barrel, I think i did feel some constriction towards where the frame attaches to the barrel, and that concerns me. I'll be trying out the loads I work up in about a week, so I'll be back wiser and probably less concerned about a lot of these things.
    Recycle, Reuse, Reload.

  16. #56
    Moderator Emeritus robertbank's Avatar
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    I haven't noticed a significant difference in 9mm cases that affected the crimping of rounds. I don't think I have changed my crimping dies setting for 9MM in the past five years at least. I use Dillon 9MM dies. Just set it so it removes the belling yoi applied early on and you should be good to go. If you are going to use the OEM Glock barrel just clean it after every shoot. Chor Boy 100% copper pads wrapped around a cleaning brush works the best for lead removal from my experience.

    Shoot your .38spl with boolits sized .358 and see how you make out from a rest. If accuracy is as good as you feel you can shoot the carry on. If not, it may be time to try to find a solution. If you want good clean shooting try Clays under 158 gr lead bullets in your revolver. 2.8 gr is a very accurate load in my Ruger GP-100.

    Take Care

    Bob
    Its been months since I bought the book, "How to scam people online". It still has not arrived yet!

    "If the human population held hands around the equator, a significant portion of them would drown"

  17. #57
    Boolit Buddy Walstr's Avatar
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    Greetings: I too am entering the 9mm boolit arena. I'm really fellin' the love in this fantastic forum, or maybe it's just the 9mm guys & gals.

    My 2 boys are shooting 3-gun matches & enlisted me to investigate casting & loading for this application. They're using H&K and Glock 34 [grooved barrel]. My current crux is:

    What's your experience with small pistol primer manuf. fitting various headstamp cases? To what degree do we segregate cases & relative to the primers that fit them? My suspicion arises from discovery years ago, that Winchester 12ga primers are .001" larger than Remington Premier pockets. This query is especially relevant for us today due to the lack of component availability.

    Thanks much & work safe.

    Wally
    Been loading 6.5 CM for ELD, learning to load Mosin Nagant & .308/7.62x51
    Caster & CWW / Lead miner.
    Mountain Mold 45-70-405, 80% Meplat, sized .461" dia. for Marlin 1895GS
    Lyman mold #429421 "Elmer Keith" style 255gr, Dbl Cavity; [for .44 Mag, S&W 629, Alox lubed]
    Lyman #356402, 9mm, Sngl Cavity [for a friend]
    LEE #90282, 12ga Drive Key, 7/8oz Slug [for: Son's 3-Gun]
    LEE #90349, 452-255RF, 6 Cavity [for 45 Colt & 45 ACP; Alox lubed]
    LEE #90697, 453-200RF, ditto

  18. #58
    Moderator Emeritus robertbank's Avatar
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    Wally I load between 10K and 15K of 9MM per year. I haven't found any difference in any of the mainstream primers. I buy Federal SPP only because I shoot revolver in IDPA and Federal primers are easier to set off. I don't segregate cases. S&B cases have very tight primer pockets so I avoid these cases.

    I shoot lead exclusively using the Lyman 356402 truncated cone 124gr boolit using 4.1 gr of Win 231/HP38. Load makes PF for IDPA and is very accurate. I use water quenched WW alloy. While I prefer Federal primers, as above, I have also used Win, Rem, and CI primers and have not noticed any difference in performance.

    From my experience 231/HP38, Unique, Universal and HS 6 work well in 9MM. Powders with burn rates similar to these should work well.

    Take Care

    Bob
    Last edited by robertbank; 10-15-2017 at 10:24 AM.
    Its been months since I bought the book, "How to scam people online". It still has not arrived yet!

    "If the human population held hands around the equator, a significant portion of them would drown"

  19. #59
    Boolit Man AABEN's Avatar
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    When I cast my bullets I drop then in 3 gal of tap water when dry. I spray the with case lube them throw a sizer. Then Moly them. I have not had any trouble with them. 9 MM 38/357 40 cal 44 and 45 Acp.
    Last edited by AABEN; 01-13-2014 at 07:56 PM.

  20. #60
    Boolit Grand Master popper's Avatar
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    Started to reload for 3 XDs 9s and ran into a problem with half the rnds. Won't chamber. The ones that did shot fine, accurate, no leading. Finally found the problem is the tapered case. I was using a 38P Lyman expander to expand and bell. It's too long! Expands down to the web and causes the chambering problem. Now I run it halfway down & use the RCBS to bell. Problem solved. The 38P expands to the correct size, now if I can con my machinist into shortening it. Actually they are all CC or HD so I won't be loading that much for them.
    Whatever!

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check