9mm Luger cast sucess?

[Texas by God]

Who's has it and what are your tips/loads? I have a Star BM that that shoots pretty good with fmj factory loads but I'd like to shoot fpl boolits for small game. I tried the Lee 358-105 swc sized to .358" but no joy in funtion or accuracy. Years ago I tried the Lee 124TC TL in a Ruger P89 and a Manhurin P1 with no accuracy and bad leading. So my record is zip so far.
Help?


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[lotech]

If you'll do a search here, you'll find more information on this subject than you care to read.

I don't know anything about your gun, but use the fattest bullet that will chamber without difficulty. This is usually .358" but can be .357" or .359". An alloy of wheelweight composition will usually work fine, but it pays to experiment. Some guns, like a Beretta 92 or Sig P226 (or variation) are forgiving of nose style and will feed anything. Other guns may require a roundnose design for perfect functioning.

I use heavy bullets (145-150 grains) because they are both accurate and shoot to point of aim where bullets of 125 grains or less shoot low. Bullseye and 231 are great powders to start with but others may work just as well. Good luck-

[toallmy]

I have tried a few different molds in my 9s but still keep coming back to my lee 6 cavity 356-120 tc lube grove mold at .357,.3575 with c red . After I got so I could load them with out squeezing them down all has been wonderful .

[reddog81]

I've found 9mm to be a pretty finicky round. It's a small high pressure round so little changes can make a big difference. Some brass can cause problems so 9mm is the one handgun brass I make sure to sort and toss all the oddball headstamps aside.

Making sure the bullets are the right size makes a big difference and making sure the bullets don't get sized down when being seated also helps. Wheel weights or harder is helpful. If you're getting leading it can cause accuracy problems in a hurry.

I prefer larger bullets myself. All my 9mm shooting is pretty much 135 grain or larger. Light charges of fast or medium speed powder seems to get me my most accurate loads.

[Texas by God]

Thanks, guys. I will buy some comercials to try. I'd like to mimic the shape of the fpfmj 124 gr Hornady because it feeds great.

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[Wheelguns 1961]

According to the Hornady manual, Power pistol followed by unique are the best powders in 9mm. I use unique with good success.

[igolfat8]

I like the Lee 120 TC and 95 RNFP in my 9s. Both will shoot like lasers if you do your part. I don’t shoot wax anymore but am a firm believer in powder coat and HiTek coatings.

[Ed_Shot]

The Lee (standard lube) 120 TC or 356-125-2R are solid performers in every 9MM I've tried. My favorite is the NOE 359242 (120 gr.) Agree with .358. I used to both lube with WL 2500+ and also tumble all 9MM but now I powder coat. Use a .356 (not .354) expander plug. Use a COAL as long as possible that will plunk in your chamber. For 120~125 gr. in 9MM I like Red Dot/Promo 3.6~3.8 gr or Blue Dot 6.0~6.5 gr. or WSF 4.2~4.5 gr. HOOKEM!

[Tom W.]

I have tried a few different molds in my 9s but still keep coming back to my lee 6 cavity 356-120 tc lube grove mold at .357,.3575 with c red .

I use that mold and lube also.....


My Glocks that I had would shoot anything, as will my Ruger LC9s Pro. My CZ-75 SP-01 will not digest anything larger than .357.....
As I made a pile of rounds before I bought the CZ I still have a LOT of the fatter boolits to fire in the Ruger. I ain't gonna stay in the shed pulling boolits from loaded rounds. I now size all my new handloads to .357, and the CZ said thank you. No little lead rings on the cases that cause them to jam up the pistol.

[tazman]

Who's has it and what are your tips/loads? I have a Star BM that that shoots pretty good with fmj factory loads but I'd like to shoot fpl boolits for small game. I tried the Lee 358-105 swc sized to .358" but no joy in funtion or accuracy. Years ago I tried the Lee 124TC TL in a Ruger P89 and a Manhurin P1 with no accuracy and bad leading. So my record is zip so far.
Help?


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I haven't been able to get the 105 swc to work reliably either although some on this site have. The TL series for the 9mm can be problematic. In some pistols, they don't grip the rifling well enough to properly stabilize the boolit.
I have my best success with truncated cone or round nose as far as feeding and accuracy in 9mm goes. I also find that all my 9mm handguns(9 of them) prefer near max loads with the exception of my S&W 929.
My bore sizes range from .355 in my Springfields to .357 in the Beretta barreled Taurus pt92 and some in between. The pt92 will shoot .357 well without leading and the others will chamber a boolit that size, so that is the size I use. None of the guns lead the barrels with my loads.
My biggest problem has been making sure the rifling in the barrels is sufficiently tall enough to grip the boolits well. The factory Taurus barrels did not do so, hence they received Beretta barrels. The Taurus barrels would shoot jacketed well and cast poorly. None of the other pistols had this issue.
You may want to take a look at the rifling in your Star and make sure there is plenty of rifling there to work with. If so, any good boolit design should work reasonably well.
The Lee 120 tc has been mentioned and does well. The NOE 358-135-FN is one of my all time favorites and runs great in everything. The NOE 155 TC ELCO also works well if you have a hankering for a heavy boolit. That one also comes as a hollow point that will weight 147 grains making load data easy to find. All these designs use a standard lube groove. You can use a lubsizer or just tumble lube them. I do it both ways depending on my mood and both methods work for me.
There is a sticky in the handguns forum about loading for 9mm that gives a lot of good information. I based much of the development of my loads on that article.
Here is a link to the thread. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...s-in-a-new-9mm

[sukivel]

I shoot the Lee .358 124 grain RF, sized to .357, in my Austrian friend and he loves them...


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[RED BEAR]

i had a star bkm a while back i lowered the angle of the feed ramp a bit and it would feed anything mine just loved the old 130 grain hydro shok ( before federal bought them. it was a semi wad cutter. any round nose from 90 grains to 140 grains. really very accurate gun. wish i still had it . i see them very cheap these days maybe time to get another.

[Texas by God]

Thank you all. I should buy some more of these pistols, too. My youngest daughter all but claimed this one today after putting 8 rounds in 8 clays on the berm at 20 feet......

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[gnostic]

The easy way is to go with the Lee, 120 grain TC bullet sized to .358 with Titegroup and enough taper crimp to get to spec. I've loaded buckets of them for my USPSA rig with range pick-up brass and seldom have a feeding issue, even without the use of a case gauge. Loading with titegroup will save you some money and it works very well.
I've picked up a five gallon bucket of 9mm brass that I pick the best cases from to load. I've tried BLL and got leading so I size with an RCBS and super moly with out leading the barrel and they shoot great.

[Motor]

When I started casting for the 9mm I also found it to be very finicky. I found 15BHN alloy and .358" boolit diameter worked most of the time. That held true except for the Lee 102gr which needed "hard cast" and very light loads to prevent excessive leading in 4" barrels.

Then I started powder coating and all that changed. I now shoot 12BHN and even size the 102s .3565" (That's what size my .356" die makes them) and I can shoot them with any loads I care too. Same holds true for my other 9mm moulds.

If there was ever a cartridge that benefits from powder coating it's the 9mm.

Motor

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Thank you all. I should buy some more of these pistols, too.

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Good advice! Like anything, the supply will dry up, the price will go up, and there will never be any more made as Star is kaput.
I own two, plus a frame. I got mine when the first wave washed ashore and decided that they are very close to the ideal 9mm pistol.
All steel, compact size, the durable basic Browning design. At present, the price is right.

[Thumbcocker]

In Lee molds I have had best results with the 125 rnfp over 5.0 of Power Pistol. Sized .358. The 120 tc is a reliable feeder but the extra bearing surface of the 125 rnfp makes a difference in my guns. The mold I use for 9mm now is the NOE 130 rnfp. It is just a hair easier to get right on seating depth than the Lee 125 rnfp and shoots equally well. Also sized .358 and loaded over 5.0 of power pistol. IME crimp is VERY important on 9mm. There is a thin line between just right and too much. Too much is bad. The 9mm is a quirky little sucker but once you get it right it is not hard to equal or better J word accuracy. It is kind of like setting up for the .30 carbine Blackhawk. A bit of a PITA but generally worth the effort.

[JBinMN]

I use the Lee molds. 120 TC & 124 TC in regular lube groove(<I pan lube these) & 120 TC, 124 TC as well as 124 2R, in TL. (<These are tumble lubed in 45/45/10)

I had to do some tweaking in regard to BHN, sizing & speed, but I do not have much, if any leading now & no keyholing at all. Nice part is that the powder amounts are relatively the same due to the similarities in boolit weights.

G'Luck! with whatever ya decide to try out!

[tazman]

I use the Lee molds. 120 TC & 124 TC in regular lube groove(<I pan lube these) & 120 TC, 124 TC as well as 124 2R, in TL. (<These are tumble lubed in 45/45/10)

I had to do some tweaking in regard to BHN, sizing & speed, but I do not have much, if any leading now & no keyholing at all. Nice part is that the powder amounts are relatively the same due to the similarities in boolit weights.

G'Luck! with whatever ya decide to try out!

Anytime I am using a number of boolits of close weight for a handgun such as what you mention, I develop a powder charge for the heaviest boolit and then use it for all of them. It works for me since I am too lazy to work up individual loads for every boolit weight I might have. On occasion, I may have 4-6 boolit designs in the 120-125 grain area with somewhat similar nose profiles.
For jacketed, I will work up a load for each weight since I only have one bullet weight in each weight category.

[Char-Gar]

I have an old NEI 3 cavity mould for a more or less downscaled version of the H&G 200 grain 45 SWC. It is plain based and casts out at 124 grains. I load these over either Unique or AA5 to a velocity of 1,100 fps. They are sized .357 and sometimes .358. Note: AA5 was developed for use in the 9mm round.

I get nice round groups full equal in accuracy to factory ammo. I have fired this through several American and Euro 9mms. They even do great in my Chicom Uzi clone.

This NEI mould is out of print but I would expect any similiar mould would do as good.

Addendum: Experience has taught me that 9mm cases vary quite a bit in length and internal volumn. I sort my cases by headstamp and then by length.