Lee 105 grain swc in 9mm

[silverado]

Don't use matches; the oils in the wood can be counter-productive and make the mold cast worse. Use a clean gas flame from a Bic lighter.

If it's not vented properly though, smoking won't cure it, so take care of that first.

I've seen other posts saying the Bic is the way to go but did not want to stray from the teachings of Mr lee....
I always had one when I smoked cigarettes so I'm sure I have one around here somewhere.

[Blammer]

hmm, wooden matches when smoking? have to roll your own too?

[williamwaco]

silverado!

1) Re-read MtGun44

2) You are seriously over thinking this problem and starting from the wrong direction.

The correct length is the longest length that will feed reliably from a FULL magazine every time.
Hopefully this will be at a length that puts the crimp ring just inside the case mouth.
If NOT - Functional reliability trumps all else.
(This will almost never happen with the case mouth still expanded like your photo.)

When you find this length, then it is time to start thinking about powder charge.
Start with a load about .5 grains BELOW the published STARTING loads for the nearest bullet you can find. If you can't find anything of the same weight, pick the nearest heaver bullet.

Load 5 of these. then load 5 more with .2 grains more, then .2 grains more, then .2 grains more.

You should have about 25 - 30 loads with steps of .2 grains. Most likely the lowest will not cycle the action. Shoot them single shot so you don't need to disassemble them.

Try progressively stronger loads until you find the lowest load that fires and functions all five rounds.
What ever that load is, your starting load is .2 grains more. Load 25 with that charge and try them out.
Odds are that load will function reliably and be a soft shooting load.

Now, if you want more power, start working up .2 grains at a time. BEWARE. You cannot tell anything about pressure in handguns by "reading pressure signs". By the time they appear, you are SERIOUSLY too hot.

[tazman]

What williamwaco said

The biggest reason you can't tell much about pressure from "signs" on a pistol is the pressure differences between cartridges.
38 special runs at 16000psi 9mm runs at approx 32000 psi most modern rifle ammo runs at 60000psi.
The pressure signs you look for usually don't show up much on pistol rounds until you are way past max pressures on your cartridge.
Also your most accurate load in a pistol usually shows up in the lower end of the pressure scale. Not always, as each pistol will have it's own likes and dislikes. But often enough to become a general rule.

[silverado]

Williamwaco you have given me a lot of advice, as did others and I appreciate it very much. Going from storebought projectiles to homemade boolits us a huge change in the way I have to work, especially with the oddball shaped boolits like the 105 grain. I will probably pull those loaded already and learn from it. I just got 8 pounds of cfe pistol today so i will be switching from titegroup to that and leave my 1/2 pound of TG for backup/decoration

[silverado]

hmm, wooden matches when smoking? have to roll your own too?

Haha... I still have cigars so I switched to matches that work better for lighting. I will check out my b.o.b. I'm sure there's a few bics in there

[tazman]

Since you have so many loaded up, I believe I would fire at least a few of them to see how your weapon tolerates and feeds the ones you have loaded. The charge you have listed should not be too heavy for the pistol. The Beretta 92 is listed as safe for +p ammunition. The Hodgdon data site lists 4.3 grains as max for a 115 grain lead bullet in a standard load, so your 4.2 should be safe enough.
Might as well find out if they feed since you already have them loaded.
If they won't feed properly, you will have other things to contend with.

[Handloader109]

Williamwaco is right, case mouth still too big, have you tried empty case dropped into chamber? Bet it stops at about same spot.

[silverado]

Williamwaco is right, case mouth still too big, have you tried empty case dropped into chamber? Bet it stops at about same spot.

I will say that the case mouth thing seems to be an optical illusion due to lube groove, they were crimped pretty good.... I loaded up some plated projectiles today with the same die setup and the crimp was pretty stiff.... I even double checked the crimp and the re crimped boolits measured the same at the case mouth as the rest, and they did all drop freely in my beretta 92 barrel but we're too long for the 6904 barrel

[silverado]

Believe this may have been a better choice.... lee 120 grain tc 356. Drops at a hair over 358 by calipers and has a tiny bit of resistance going through 358 sizer.. weighs 125ish grains... The lube groove may work well for crimping after pc. After some toying around over a few weeks time I might be selling that 105 grain mold.

Just loaded a uncoated boolit for testing the dies and it looks like it could work.
Jeez I have 5 molds now... I need to watch myself here before it gets out of hand

[tazman]

That tc boolit works wonderfully in most 9mm pistols. It has a reputation for good feeding and excellent accuracy. I use it in my 9mm. It is my second most favorite boolit there.

[rintinglen]

Too late!
Bullet molds are like potato chips, you take one, you want another.

[williamwaco]

Silverado.

You switched horses in the middle of the stream.

You started asking about seating and crimping a 9mm.
The photo appears to be a .357 Magnum.

The crimp on that .357 case is appropriate for that combination.
That same amount of crimp on a 9mm would be WAY too much.

[silverado]

I was just messing around with a different boolit made for 9mm. I will be casting up and loading more 105 boolits later as I'm watching my son while the wife is out.

[williamwaco]

I was just messing around with a different boolit made for 9mm. I will be casting up and loading more 105 boolits later as I'm watching my son while the wife is out.

Do try it in the .357 too.

I use it and find it to be very accurate in my S&W and my TC.

[alamogunr]

I used that Lee 105 SWC in a couple of Ruger P95's I bought for my sons. To try them out before presenting them, I loaded up about 100 rounds for function. I don't remember(it was about 5 years ago) the load of Unique I used but I do remember that I followed a manual load as to OAL. They went thru both pistols like grease thru a goose. That may have been because Rugers are known for reliable functioning. I'm not an expert pistol shot, far from it, so I can't comment on accuracy.

Since they worked I didn't have to do any of the checks that have been recommended here. I guess I just assumed that this boolet was an easy one to cast and use.

[silverado]

Well I give up on that mold for now. It jams maybe 1 out of every 10 in my beretta and won't chamber at all in my 6904. They are being sized to 358 for now, since I don't have the 356 sizer. Beretta slugged at 357 and haven't measured a slug from my other 9mm. I'm pretty sure boolit diameter is the problem on my 6904 since my 120 grain tc doesn't like to chamber in it either with a profile less than some store bought sd ammo that feeds fine. Thanks for all the advice. That mold may get traded sometime in the future.

[gwpercle]

Don't ever get rid of a mould, you just never know what firearm will come into your possession some day and that mould will be just the one you need! But I don't know if you should take advice from me ...a truer reloading packrat with a hording problem, that ever existed. I've bought dies and moulds for guns I don't even own...yet. Who knows what you might get! A .356 sizer might solve the problems you are having. I size that boolit and shoot it in a WWII Walther P-38 and it works fine, but the P-38 has some generous war-time manufacturing tolerances.

Gary

[tazman]

I just got back from range testing that 105 boolit in my 9mm. In the past I have had issues getting it to feed 100%. Usually 2 or 3 in a magazine would jam.
Today they all went through with no issues at all.
The difference was a change in crimp. Before I was using the Lee 3 die set, seating and crimping in the last die. This time I changed to just seating with the seating/crimping die and used a standalone Lee taper crimp die in the fourth hole of my turret.
The crimp was noticeably smoother and the boolits all fed perfectly.
This was NOT a factory crimp die, just a taper crimp only die.
Apparently I was getting some friction from a slightly open case mouth and didn't realize it.

[MtGun44]

Gee, seems like that is what I said previously, back in post 18. Taper crimp was the problem, and seated
a bit too long. And Williamwaco said to reread my post. In my experience, with semiautos about 85%
of the problems are inadequate to no taper crimp and/or too long seating length.

And seriously - smoking you mold is "smoke and mirrors" BS. It does no real good, just a voodoo
thing that some people think works. Scrub mold clean, deburr properly and it will work.

Bill