9mm hardness?

[trebleplink]

Hi folks - I think I have my 45 colt alloy worked out - but I was thinking also about 9mm. About 35000 psi / 1280 suggests it needs to be 27 bhn.

This seems pretty high. Anybody worked this before?

[Conditor22]

I have good luck with straight COWW [I powdercoat ALL my boolits]

but here's what I fond on LASC

[bangerjim]

I shoot 10-12 hardness + PC in all my 4ea) 9mm semi's and long guns. They all like that range (at the range!), so why waste a harder alloy on something that a cal does not need to perform well?? Even the long gun performs exceptionally well with that range.

Where did you get the idea you needed 27 in a simple 9mm gun? I don't ever cast that hard for my 30-30 and 30-06 30cal rounds!

The LASC info I believe is several years out-of-date, and shows that in the hardness ranges listed. Today we have found out "fit is king" not hardness. And PC acts (sort of) like a jacket, eliminating the need for lube of any kind, eliminates grease smoke and sticky boolits, and lets you shoot softer lead. I used to worry over each batch about hardness. Today, I just throw a bit of this and a bit of that in the pot (knowing before hand the EXACT % content from X-ray analyses) and cast away. It all ends in the 10-12 range.....basically the same as pure WW's as Conditor22 said above. Perfect for 90+% of my shooting needs.

I use that same alloy for all my 38SPL, 40, 9mm, 44SPL, and 45 castings..........10-12 hardness.

banger

[Wheelguns 1961]

I go even softer. I cast hollow points for 9mm and powdercoat. Started out with 70% coww, 30% soww. The last batch, I tried 50/50 and they work great with no leading at all. Shooting near max loads.

[Dusty Bannister]

Hi folks - I think I have my 45 colt alloy worked out - but I was thinking also about 9mm. About 35000 psi / 1280 suggests it needs to be 27 bhn.

This seems pretty high. Anybody worked this before?

Show us your math. Even the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th edition shows loads worked up with Lyman #2 (15 BHN) and 10-1 lead-tin (11.5 to 12.5 BHN).

[gwpercle]

For the longest time I used straight COWW , air cooled ... but have discovered , like bangerjim said , fit trumps hardness ... a 50/50 mix of COWW and soft lead , air cooled , works just as well and maybe better ... cast into hollow points they mushroom nicely at 1,000+ fps .

A simple 1 part Tin to 10 parts Lead , air cooled , is another time tested auto pistol boolit alloy .

Gary

[Hick]

I use an alloy I bought from another reloader when he got out of reloading (old age issues). Seems to be roughly 1:10 tin/lead. Not sure how hard that is but it works great in all my pistols and my Henry rifle in 357 magnum (1500 fps at its hottest).

[gnostic]

I've loaded buckets of 9mm from water dropped range scrap without leading and acceptable accuracy for USPSA. I load for a BHP, CZ75B, S&W669 and a couple Lugers without a problem...

[kevin c]

I shoot 147's at ~900 fps for action pistol. My alloy is basically WW plus tin (95-3-2, to be exact), which is about 12-13 BHN, and HiTek coated. Sized .357 for factory Glock polygonally rifled barrels, they work fine for me.

I'm pretty sure that, with the HiTek, I could push a lighter 9mm cast design to 1100 fps or more without issues.

[ioon44]

I have been casting 130 gr 9 mm with 10 to 12 BHN alloy and coating with Hi-Tek and size .002" over what a barrel sluggs, so I agree that "fit is king" not hardness and I make sure the loading dies are not swagging the bullets after loading.

[trebleplink]

That's great info guys. I'm using the wonderful "lead alloy calculators" spreadsheet published on this site. His references include: "According to Missouri Bullet, the optimum Brinell Hardness = CUP / 1279.8. See your load data for the CUP."

Perhaps I'm confusing CUP with psi?

In any case, sounds like I should be using 12-15 bhn.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

>>>SNIP

In any case, sounds like I should be using 12-15 bhn.

I load all my 9mm luger to full power, I use 94-3-3. My alloy measures about 14 bhn with Lee tester.
If you down load 9mm, assuming your gun will cycle it, you could surely use a softer alloy.

[trebleplink]

So, is there any validity to the psi/1280 formula?

[Dusty Bannister]

Not too sure what you are asking about so did a site search and found this thread. Maybe your question has already been answered?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/arch.../t-154496.html

[fredj338]

I shoot range scrap, PC & water dropped out of the oven after PC. It works just fine in 9mm or 40.

[farmbif]

ive always just use straight clip on wheel weights with a little bit of tin added for good luck and never had any problem with 9mm, 40sw, 357, 41, 44 and 45 colt.
I think it has more to do with sizing and lube than alloy hardness but I'm no expert just a hobbyist.

[ABJ]

9mm is not hard to shoot cast in if you know what to do. I would start by using a 125 ish truncated cone boolit sized to .357. That is what I have had the most success with. My alloy is the same a coww plus tin. 13.5 to 14 or so. The end of the chambers can be somewhat sharp, and those give me the most trouble with leading, hence the truncated cone. Every gun that I shoot lead alloy in without leading with a .357 will lead with a .356 no matter the alloy.
Tony

[Cosmic_Charlie]

From comments here, seems 9mm groove diameters can vary widely from pistol to pistol. So this suggests that slugging your 9mm barrel is a good idea. Just got a CZ 75 B and I plan to slug it's barrel tomorrow.

[Conditor22]

Looading 9mm is easy -----

The 2 biggest problems loading 9MM
The 2 biggest problems/causes of failure with loading cast in 9MM are OVER-CRIMPING & downsizing the boolit when seating.
The 9MM has a tapered case.

Crimping, I use the Lee FCD and only crimp to where the boolit won't move when the cartridge is pushed against a hard object.

For seating I like the NOE neck sizing dies so much I talked with a member ob CB who made a Lee powder through die with the NOE profile of several different diameters. I've had good luck expanding the brass using the same diameter expanding plug as the boolit diameter (brass springs back .001 after expanding and that.
.001 does the job holding the boolit in place!

A 38spcl/357mag expander plug should work also

I used to expand the neck with the NOE neck sizing die the use the Lee powder through setup to charge the case.

Ues a kinetic boolit puller and make sure you're not downsizing the boolit in either of these operations.

this will go a long way toward tightening up your groups and preventing leading/tumbling

[fredj338]

I dont think I have just been lucky but I have not had any of the issues many have loading cast in 9mm. Even for stock glock bbls, a medium hard bullet sized 0.356" has worked fine. Sizing to 0.357" works a bit better with lubes. With PC, I can size 0.356" & still get really good accuracy in my Glock bbls, which are usually the most diff to get right in 9mm.