Multiple 9mm handguns = more than one bullet diameter?

[vincewarde]

OK, I don't think there is any way around this - but hey, no problem in asking, right?

I have to cast for several 9mm's that have bore diameters ranging from a tight .355 to a not so tight .3565. Is there any way I can use one bullet diameter for all of them without leading? Currently, I load some 9mm with .356 bullets and others with .3575-.358 bullets. One diameter (and one load for all) would be SO MUCH EASIER.

I have lots of hardball, some Lyman #2 and some WW alloy - would any of these be better as a single load for all of the pistols?

Thanks!

[Motor]

I size all my 9mms to .358" and I haven't found a 9x19 that wouldn't shoot them great yet.

Don't think I'm strange I've seen plenty of other guys agree. Let's see if some will chime in.

Motor

[Vann]

Same here I size them all to .358 also.

[tazman]

I also size mine to .358. This also allows me to use them in my 38 special as well.

[bobthenailer]

I have three 9mm's and two 38 supers I use .357 dia cast in all ! even in the two match barrels that measure @.355 dia, I get my best accuracy with .357 dia bullets over .356 dia bullets

[OptimusPanda]

I size to .358", seems to work fine. I end up using that diameter in all my 38/357s, 9's, and .380s. Except for a troublesome ppk that slugs .358 but even there it only leads minimally and not worth keeping a seperate bullet as I dont shoot it often.

[aap2]

I size my 9mm boolits from my MiHec mould to .357 and they shoot great in a Glock 19 with factory barrel as well as in my SigSauer X5. I use mixed range brass which includes some military cases and find that if I size to .358 some of the cartridges are too fat to chamber as easily as I like (unless I apply an excessive taper crimp which swages the boolit down and that's a wasted effort)..When I load WW or other thin commercial brass I size to .358 and they fit fine and I use these for accurate target shooting (not sure if they are more accurate than the .357 boolits). But I agree that sizing to one diameter simplifies things; since we shoot coffee-cans full of 9mm one sizing diameter is a good idea. I'm going to hone out a spare sizing die to .3575 and use if for all my 9mm.

[bedbugbilly]

I do what taxman does . . luckily, most of my molds that I have that I use in 9mm drop at .358 or a tad bigger and I don't size them at all. They seem to work just fine out of my 9mm . . but I only have two - a SR9 and a Shield.

[Ed_Shot]

+1 for .358. I'm now up to loading for 7 different 9MM's (CZ, BHP, 3 Glocks w/LW barrels, Hi Point Carb, Ruger BH) and have never slugged a barrel....they are what they are and .358 works perfectly in all. Same .358 goes for Ruger, Colt and Bersa 380's as well as .38/.357 in rifles and pistols.

[captaint]

I only have 2 9mm's. A DW PM9 and a Beretta 92FS. They both get the .358 treatment. The PM9 leaded up on anything smaller. I think the Beretta was OK with .357 though.

[Scharfschuetze]

+1 on the .358 diameter.

Works a treat in my M9 Beretta and Browning High Power.

[rsrocket1]

My S&W M&P9 and Shield 9 have throats just over 0.356" in diameter so unless I size my boolits to 0.356", if any part of the driving band sits above the case, they won't pass the plunk test and consequently won't allow the slide to close on the gun about 50% of the time. My Lee 356-120-TC and TL356-124-2R molds drop boolits at 0.358" and after powder coating, they average 0.361".

Recently, my son asked for me to potentially load for a Beretta M9. I know Berettas are notorious for having wide groove diameters and since I won't be able to slug a gun 1800 miles away, the only way I could load and have a prayer that the bullets won't lead the barrel is to see if I can load to 0.358" AND hopefully still use these for my S&W guns. Those barrels slug at 0.3545"

I took measurements before and after with PC'ed unsized bullets seated to where just the cone sits above the rim and to where all TL grooves are below the rim and the pulled bullets still kept at least 0.358". I used the Lee 38 S&W expansion plug in the 9mm Powder Through Expansion Die (poor man's Lyman "M" die) and closed the flare with the Lee separate Taper Crimp Die for 9mm. They plunked just fine in the S&W barrels and shot just fine out on the range. Another plus is that I can use these same bullets in my Ruger Service Six .357 magnum revolver. The down side is that I can't load the 9mm nearly as hot because of the reduced volume and increased pressure. I was able to load 5g Unique with the bullets seated shallow for MV's of about 1100 fps out of a 4.25" barrel. With the deeper set bullets, I had to reduce the load down to about 4.4g and got MV's about 1020 fps.

But this would be worth it if I can shoot the same boolits and load across all 9mm platforms.

[sigep1764]

I have one load for a G19, G26, CW9, CZ75B, and XD9. Sized to 358, 2.8 grains Red Dot, 147 grain hollowpoints from the Elco mold by NOE, at 1.125 oal. I may not be getting the max level of accuracy, but a hundred rounds in a hole the size of a fist at 30 feet from any one of those guns is a normal day at the range.

[Larry Gibson]

I have sized cast for the 9mm from .356 to .358 and had no problems until recently. Some newer chambers are tighter than older ones and with the .358 sized bullets in some cases chambering problems resulted. Fell back to .357 and all is well again.

Larry Gibson

[garym1a2]

I powder coat all mine and size them to .357. Plus my expander die is a Lee with the 38S&W insert. Works good in G19 and both Storm Lake and Lone wolf Glock conversion barrels. They also work fine in my CX4 storm 9mm carbine.

[NuJudge]

I have a Browning HiPower that has a chamber that will not admit a cartridge loaded with a bullet whose diameter is more than .356". The groove diameter is a bit larger than .356".

[DougGuy]

You may end up throating some of the barrels so you can use the same boolit and same COA for more than one of them. I usually throat the 9mm barrels to .3585" with enough 3° freebore in the throat to handle whatever COA the customer wants. Dummies sent with barrels are always very welcome.

[vincewarde]

OK everybody, you all really need to work hard at coming up with a consensus

Seriously, thanks to everyone - I will give that a try. I do fear that I will run into the same problem as aap2 did with my Bro-sto barrel on my Colt Commander.

[Petrol & Powder]

The varying diameters of 9mm barrels is without a doubt my number one complaint concerning cast bullets and 9mm pistols. They are all over the place ! I can cast & size bullets that work well in some of my 9mm pistols but I cannot get all of them to work with the same bullet diameter. Some will lead and others will not chamber. I played with it a little while and gave up.

My solution was to pick one gun and size bullets for that gun. The other guns get jacketed bullets, sorry I know this is a cast bullet forum but that's where I landed. If I ever take up powder coating maybe that will change. I'm set up with a lubersizer and for now that's where I'm staying.

[Tom W.]

Dummies sent with barrels are always very welcome.

And you can always find them at the LGS....