Sizing 9mm bullets

[BigCheese]

I'm just starting to cast 9mm lead bullets for a 9mm. Springfield XDM 3.8. Jacketed bullets are .355 diameter. Can lead be a larger size? I have .357 and .358 sizing dies, but am concerned about high pressure if the bullets are oversize. The mold is Lyman 356637, RN 147 grain. Advice would be much appreciated.

[Piedmont]

As long as they fully chamber bigger bullets are just fine. Even my tight Barsto 9mm (.355) will shoot .358" but is a little more accurate with .357".

It would be best if you slug your barrel, but the more important part is the throat (just in front of the case). The idea is you don't want your bullet to tip on ignition. Larger bullets minimize the tipping and therefor maximize accuracy potential.

You'll probably get better accuracy around 1,000 fps than running them full out. Most 9mms are twisted too tight for optimum accuracy with cast (1-10 is standard) but there are a few with more gradual rifling.

[CPL Lou]

When I first started casting for my 9mm, a SIG P225, I tried sizing to .356" and I had a ton of leading.
So, I slugged my barrel to see if it was oversize. Nope, spot on at .355".
Next I tried .357", still had leading.
When I went to .358" all was well !
It wasn't until I had the correct bullet diameter that I started working up a good load.
I haven't had a problem with excess pressure due to an oversize bullet doing my load workup this way.

Also, you might want to read this : http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm
And this : http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=121737

Hope this helps !

[MikeS]

When it comes to pressure, it's easy to make a round that's got excessive pressure, but that's usually due to the wrong powder charge, or the boolits being seated too deeply. As far as the boolits being too fat, remember, even the hardest lead boolits (cast from linotype generally) BHN 22 or so are still less than 1/3rd the hardness of a jacketed round! (around BHN 100)

While some people feel you need to use a harder boolit in a 9mm due to it being a higher pressure cartridge, 'harder' doesn't mean the hardest boolit you can cast! Boolits cast from Lyman #2 (BHN 15) are plenty hard for most loads.

[williamwaco]

I'm just starting to cast 9mm lead bullets for a 9mm. Springfield XDM 3.8. Jacketed bullets are .355 diameter. Can lead be a larger size? I have .357 and .358 sizing dies, but am concerned about high pressure if the bullets are oversize. The mold is Lyman 356637, RN 147 grain. Advice would be much appreciated.

You can make them too small but you can't make them too big.
.355 or .356 is too small. .357 is probably optimal ( without slugging your bore )

You can fire them unsized with no fear. If you can chamber them, they will shoot fine.

BUT.

If you load them as-cast, you will find a significant number of them will not chamber and will prevent the slide from closing into battery and MAY even jam tight enough to require field stripping to remove the barrel so you can tap it out with a rod. NEVER force a round into battery. If it fits that tight, it will not expand to allow the bullet to exit the case easily and WILL raise pressure.

I tried the as-cast route and my conclusion is that sizing them is considerably less trouble than not sizing them.

All my 9s like .357. one of them leads slightly with .356. I have never tried .358 because .357 works perfectly.

.

[Alphalpha]

For you guys that use .357 cast bullets and claim no leading in a .355 barrel is this a 92-6-2 alloy or are you using soft lead ?. Just curious, because with my coated bullets sized .356 I never had any issues with leading.

[Buzz64]

+1 with the .356 through a .355 (slugged) barrel with no leading. COWW and carnauba red. 800 + rounds through a S&W Shield and probably five times as much through a CZ 75BD.
Green dot powder at 4.0 grains in a 127gr RN.

[fcvan]

I had a buddy who was pan lubing his 9mm boolits, push through sizing to .358, and still got horrible leading. I shot some his rounds and within one box there was leading. It turns out his dies were set wrong and he was resizing his boolit in the seating and crimping stage. Once he reset his dies to expand the case mouth without over belling his case, seating was easier and did not resize his boolit. He reset his crimp die to just remove the slightly belled mouth and his leading went away.

[MtGun44]

Good advice above. Too big is only a problem if it will not chamber, not a pressure
issue unless you let the feeding cycle push the boolit way into the case, reducing the
combustion chamber volume a lot. Expect to need .357 or .358 in 9mm.

This may help.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...s-in-a-new-9mm

I encourage all newbies to spend some weeks reading the stickies.

Bill

[Shiloh]

My personal experience in the 9mm is that .358 works best. Commercial cast at .356 pattern, .357 is good, .358 is very good.

Shiloh

[Pbaker]

Reviving an old post here… but how are you guys getting around the bullets swage during seating? At .357/.358, my bullets are being swagged down to sub .354. Curious if there’s a work around for this, possibly an expander or neck sizing. Not sure how much you can get away with in that area before you run into chambering issues.

[Soundguy]

Are you telling the case neck prior to seating?

[Bigslug]

Reviving an old post here… but how are you guys getting around the bullets swage during seating?

I use the sizing die out of a Lee .38 S&W set, which is designed to set that round up for a .360"-.362" (ish) bullet. A small bit of fiddling was required to not open the cases too much, but no big issue. I then finish the job with the Dillon 9mm seat and taper crimp dies.

[243winxb]

03-16-2012, 01:08 AM Day of original post.

[Pbaker]

Yes, I’m using a Dillon powder drop and flaring just enough to not shave the bullet. The lead is approximately 13BHN, which is good enough for 9mm, but it’s getting swagged down to .352 after seating. I use a Dillon seating and crimping die, with only enough crimp to remove the belling. Bullets are being sized to .357, barrel slugs at .356. I suppose the easiest way to fix this is hit the reset on my alloy and make them harder, but I was hoping there was an easy fix.

I’ll have to look into the 38S&W dies. Wasn’t aware they were close enough.

[Soundguy]

I'd go with the 38sw if it's swaging while closing the bell.

[fredj338]

I shoot a lot of coated lead. Sized them 0.356”-0.358”, all seem fine, even in my stock glock bbls, but i settled on 0.357” for every gun. In my Springfield loaded, tight match bbl, it was finicky with some brands of brass.

[Bashby]

Yes, I’m using a Dillon powder drop and flaring just enough to not shave the bullet. The lead is approximately 13BHN, which is good enough for 9mm, but it’s getting swagged down to .352 after seating. I use a Dillon seating and crimping die, with only enough crimp to remove the belling. Bullets are being sized to .357, barrel slugs at .356. I suppose the easiest way to fix this is hit the reset on my alloy and make them harder, but I was hoping there was an easy fix.

I’ll have to look into the 38S&W dies. Wasn’t aware they were close enough.

Uniquetek makes a powder funnel that replaces the one from Dillon and has the profile of an Mdie. I was using an Mdie when using a single stage and got the one from Uniquetek when I upgraded to a 550. I was having the same swaging problem as you before.

[pacomdiver]

Yes, I’m using a Dillon powder drop and flaring just enough to not shave the bullet. The lead is approximately 13BHN, which is good enough for 9mm, but it’s getting swagged down to .352 after seating. I use a Dillon seating and crimping die, with only enough crimp to remove the belling. Bullets are being sized to .357, barrel slugs at .356. I suppose the easiest way to fix this is hit the reset on my alloy and make them harder, but I was hoping there was an easy fix.

i would check your seating die, sounds like there might be buildup of crap in it causing the squeeze down. im using that exact same die set except im using PC'd bullets (brn 10-11. sized to .355, pc'd then sized .357) and my dillon dies dont swage the bullet down, ive pulled many rounds and mic'd them when i first started loading cast and was worried about them being too small.

[Pbaker]

I’ve checked my dies, they are clean. I think it’s an issue of soft-ish lead mixed with hard brass. I have mixed brass, and it’s just used for blasting ammo, so I’m definitely not interested in going through the sorting process. I size all my bullets to .357 as that seems to be the best average for all my 9mm guns. I think getting a modified powder funnel is the best solution at the moment, just need to do more research as there are a couple to choose from. The one I have found so far only expands the neck to .353, which I would think is still going to cause problems. Might have one made as it is a simple part made from bar stock.