Recommend a new 9mm mold

[Bashby]

New to casting, my only mold is a 358-110 swc Lee. (Edit:its 105 gr)I want to make some boolits that function and shoot well. Just shooting paper and steel, might get into some sort of steel competition. I will be powder coating so lube groove is optional. I was looking at the group buy thread for an MP 359-135 and those look promising, but I don't know how long the wait will be... Months maybe? My barrel slugs at .3555.

[jaysouth]

Before you buy another mold, drop some bullets from your .38 110 SWC. Size them to .357 and load some up in 9mm. If they work OK, you have an excuse to buy a 6 banger.

The .38 125 RF Lee sized to .357 works very well in all my 9mms.

[oldhenry]

I have 3 9mm molds & they all produce good boolits that function well in my SR1911 OM: all sized to .357
1. MP 359-130
2. MP 359-115 BB
3. Lee 356-125 R2

[Jniedbalski]

All my lees work good. I really like the lee .356 120 tc or the lee .358 125rf

[KVO]

That MP 359-135 in 8 cavity is all I use for 9mm and I've been through more than a few molds. Not magic, just what I settled on that works in all my guns of that caliber and produces better than average accuracy. It's a rerun so he already has the cherry. In reality many of the standard 120 to 130 gr RNFP and TC designs work about equally well for typical 9mm service pistol type shooting. I started with the Lee SWC you describe and found it is finicky about feeding in some guns, and may or may not shoot to the sights which are likely regulated for heavier bullets. Since you have it give it a try. It might work perfectly for your needs. We reloaders and casters have a habit of spending thousands to save hundreds.

[sigep1764]

The Accurate 358-120B is a perfect copy of the Lyman 356402 boolit but it drops bigger and 5 at a time. The truncated cone will feed in just about anything. Beautiful mold and rains boolits. I also use the Elco boolit from NOE. It has a tapered nose to feed in tight throats or short leades.

[Bashby]

What about the ones with a tapered base? Any effect on performance? Sure would make it easier starting them into the case.

[Petrol & Powder]

I'm not a fan of bevel base molds. With the proper expander you don't need a bevel base and the flat base bullets work better if you're using a lubersizer. If you're tumble lubing or powder coating, the bevel base doesn't matter as much.

As for the bullet itself, the truncated cone [TC] designs work very well in most 9mm pistols. Keep the weight in the 115-125 grain range.

The Lee 120-TC works very well in most 9mm pistols.

The 9mm Luger is one of the more difficult cartridges to load cast bullets for. I find a lot of variation between pistols, particularly groove diameter. My experience has been that you pretty much have to cast, size & load for one particular gun when dealing with the 9mm Luger.

[ioon44]

I have a Accurate 35-130 C 5 cavity which is easy to use and produces great bullets, when I buy another mold it will be from Accurate.

[lightman]

I have a Accurate 35-130 C 5 cavity which is easy to use and produces great bullets, when I buy another mold it will be from Accurate.

I just received the same mold this week except mine is a 4 cavity. I have not had the time to use it yet but I expect it will work fine.

[gwpercle]

Here are the ones my guns favor...I've also tried others that didn't work very well but no use listing them . For use in 9mm Luger I size them all .357 .
Lee 358-105-SWC ( this boolit is surprisingly good)
Lee 356-120-TC ( also a good one)
Lee 356-125-2R (OK if you like round nose... I like TC)
The best - NOE 358-124-TC-GC .

The NOE is my favorite , 124 gr. weight , drops from mould @ .358 dia. easily sizes to .357 dia. , Truncated Cone profile and the gas check makes seating without base distortion easy , can use a softer alloy and sized .358 can be used in 357 magnum and 38 special loads ... Like having 3 moulds in one !
Experience no leading at velocities up to 1300 fps.
Gary

[Hanzy4200]

I started out on a couple Lee offerings, but have settled on the Lyman #356637 147 gr. flat nose. It runs great in all my pistols. Only issue I've had are with a couple older military pistols like the Walther P38. The flat nose can cause feeding issues unless a longer than normal OAL is used. They make great subsonic loads for suppressed shooting as well.

[Phlier]

What about the ones with a tapered base? Any effect on performance? Sure would make it easier starting them into the case.

Since you are going to be PC'ing, I'd recommend a bevel base, for exactly the reason you stated.. much easier to start them into the case. IMO, starting them into the case as squarely as you can is more important than a lot of guy realize.

[toallmy]

The lee 356-120 tc 6 cavity after a little work , made me put my other 9mm molds on the shelf gathering dust .

[Petrol & Powder]

The lee 356-120 tc 6 cavity after a little work , made me put my other 9mm molds on the shelf gathering dust .

That is a very good 9mm bullet.

[Lagamor]

I have a few 9 mm MP molds with hollow points and they are great, but making them work in all my pistols got to be a pain. I don’t like going “off book” with boiling recipes.
I don’t have as much experience as some of the folks on this board and I like to err on the conservative side.
That being said I recently bought Accurate’s 35-135Z mold. Has the bevel base and no lube grooves. Some people don’t like the bevel base, but I’m really liking it.
Always hated scraping the side of a bullet and it never happens with the bevel base mold.

[Bashby]

I have a few 9 mm MP molds with hollow points and they are great, but making them work in all my pistols got to be a pain. I don’t like going “off book” with boiling recipes.
I don’t have as much experience as some of the folks on this board and I like to err on the conservative side.
That being said I recently bought Accurate’s 35-135Z mold. Has the bevel base and no lube grooves. Some people don’t like the bevel base, but I’m really liking it.
Always hated scraping the side of a bullet and it never happens with the bevel base mold.

Dang it! I had almost settled on the Lee, but was thinking a bevel base might be better, now I see this one. I like the no lube groove as it is less likely to swage when seating and crimping, also probably less damage to the PC when seating.

[MT Gianni]

Look for a Lyman 358242 RN 121 gr. I have found it to be very accurate.

[Cary Gunn]

I'll echo the recommendation of a few other forum members responding to this thread.

Try the Lee 358-125-RF. It's really intended as a "cowboy action" bullet for .38/357 revolvers, but it does just fine in my Kahr CM9. Size to .357," and load to a C.O.A.L. your pistol likes.

It's a very versatile bullet.

Happy trails,

-- Cary Gunn --

[Dvdmacdaddy]

I feed all my 9mm’s a steady diet of the NOE ELCO mold (147gr HP).

I’ve tried the Lee 356-102-1r, TL356-124-2r, 356-125-2r just didn’t get the results I wanted. The 356-125-2r was the better one of the bunch.

I’m in the group buy for the MP 359-135-FP in a no lube groove design.

I also would like to try some of the lighter TC designs available like the Lyman 356402, Lee 356-129-TC, Lee 358-105-SWC.