Lee 105 swc 9mm load

[Jniedbalski]

I just tried out my new mold in 9 mm. It’s a lee SWC 105 gr. I got the mold because of the good reports here. It did shoot very accurate for me and nice clean holes. I started at 4 gr of bulseye with the bullet crimped in the crimp grove. First off I noticed some rounds where to long to chamber most would. I had to give the back of the slide a love tap a few times on my Bretta and star and high point pistol’s. Next I noticed the very bad leading I got in all guns. My 9 mm loading has been easy for me in the past.I just load the biggest bullet that will fit and it always worked for me no leading. My star and Bretta like as cast .358/.359 my high point some times will not chamber with .358 but .357 is fine. So this time instead of using as cast .3585 .359 I ran all them through a .357 sizer and lubed with white label alox 45/45/10 lube. I thought that since my high point liked .357 the other nines would be fine. They leaded bad and I never had that problem before. I also lubed them very very light. Most times I can see a light golden brown color. This time not so much. The reason I sized them this time is because this mold dropped big at .360. I do use NOe sizer .357/.360 in the past that worked good at not sizing down my bullet in the case. Got some work to do I guess. I know all the horror stories on loading for 9 mm but I never had any leading problems before. I have loaded my 115 and 124 gr with 3.5 to 4.0 of bulseye and always had very good results.

[Misery-Whip]

Tall order to run cast 9mm in 1 load across 3 firearms with 3 different manufactures.

I'd size some ammo smaller for the high point. Id use a peticular boolit style for easy identification.

[Finster101]

I use 3grains of Promo or Red Dot with the 358-105 and seat it deeper where the bullet is about a thumb nail thickness above the case and taper crimp. It runs in every 9mm i own which is several, including a HighPoint carbine. I powder coat and size to .358.

[Jniedbalski]

I wanted to size at .358 but all I got is the .357 sizer for now. I did seat the other bullets I made deeper so will see how it goes. I have all the lee 9 mm molds and the 357 molds and shot everything in my nines with out a leading problem and only just a small seating adj all the same has worked with all of them. The lee .356 120 tc ,and the.,.356 124 gr 2r rn ,.356 tl124 tc and ,.358 125 gr rf ,.356 125 2r rn. Is what I have tried. Also I have always used as cased not sized before so will try this bullet without sizing next. At least it is accurate up to 20 rounds or so then it starts to open up when the led builds up.

[Lloyd Smale]

I use 3grains of Promo or Red Dot with the 358-105 and seat it deeper where the bullet is about a thumb nail thickness above the case and taper crimp. It runs in every 9mm i own which is several, including a HighPoint carbine. I powder coat and size to .358.

same here except i use 3.5 grains of bullseye or 4 grains of aa2. Believe it or not the only 9 i have thats finiky with that bullet is my glock 43. My 3 shields, full sized m&p, glock 17 and 19 and the wifes lc9 dont miss a beat with it. No leading in any of them casted out of ww and im still using up my lubesized bullets so no leading even without pc coating.

[Jniedbalski]

I will try straight ww aloy next time if the unsized bullets don’t work. That’s what I usually use but have been using more ww aloy mixed with pure to save my ww lead.I will also try the 3.5 gr load of bulseye. My 120,124, and 125 cast loads work great with 3.5 gr of bulseye

[RKJ]

You might take a look at PC. The shake & bake method is reasonably inexpensive to get into,

[cstrickland]

I have heard that Berreta and Taurus 92 variants all seem to have oversized barrles . I have heard typically in the 0.359" area, so the Beretta running as cast seems correct. If that is the case I can then understand the leading when you size them to 0.357"

I see you also stated you crimped into the crimp groove which is no good on a 9mm as it seats on the case mouth, that could be causing issue as it might be swagging the bullet down at that point on the next two driving band down.

I have cast and used that same bullet in a few 9mm so it can be done , but you will need to find that happy medium. Maybe have a 0.358 sizer made or lap yours out . I powdercoat so I can not speak to the lube, it may also be causing you some issues , but from your prior experiences it seems doubtful

As another stated I load that bullet until just a about 0.010" - 0.015" of the top driving band is exposed. I seat and taper crimp in the same step just to enough to remove the bell I put in to facilitate seating. I have mine set up at 0.379" I run that over 4.4 grains of unique or 5.5 of BE-86

[Bashby]

That was the first mold I bought about a year ago when I got into casting. I could never get them to feed in my Polymer 80 (Glock 17)

[fcvan]

I originally bought the Lee 359-105 SWC for use in a Berretta .380 back in the mid 1980s. I did eventually load 9mm for a S&W 459 and had good success with it. As in a previous post above, the boolit was seated where the case mouth was in between the front driving band. My big concern was the case sizing down the boolit when seating. Someone has suggested replacing the Lee case expander from 9mm to .38 S&W, not special. Anyway, I never went down that path as I found my dies weren't causing a problem. I size ever eything to .358 as that just works for me.

I stopped using the 105 SWC in 9mm as I prefer the Lee 356-125 2R or the 356-102 R. I shoot the 102 a lot because it saves lead and still knocks over tin cans. My AR 15 9mm Carbine prefers RN boolits and that carbine uses Colt Stick mags. I am considering changing out the mag well adapter to use Glock mags that feed from the center. The AR 15 is probably my favorite 'plinker' gun but I can't shoot it in N CA. When I am out west I can cross over into S OR and go to a range there, or CO when I'm back home.

I powder coat everything and that helps prevent nose deformation when making the trip up the feed ramp. The 105 SWC doesn't make that trip well. The 356-95 RF seems to do okay but I generally load that in my .380 ACP pistols. I don't shoot them that often as my EDC is G43 9mm and maintaining proficiency requires frequent practice. That reminds me, I have to re-qualify tomorrow.