What TRICKS are needed to successfully reload cast 9mm?

[Stopsign32v]

Well I assumed 9mm casting reloading would be pretty straight forward but apparently from my researching it is anything but that!

So before I start I'm wondering what are some of the tricks you guys have come across that make it easier? The main issue I have been reading is of course you size your lead bullets to .357-358 and the expander die leaves the case around .356 and in turn it sizes down your lead bullet which will leave gas getting around it in the bore...yada...yada.

So far in another thread of mine a member stated his eureka moment was when he started using .38 S&W full length sizing die. I have one on the way but last night I started wondering, what will a, we will call it larger full length sizing die do to help this issue? I could understand a larger expanding die helping but what will a full length sizer do?

Then of course I've read people are using the Lee SE1699 expander plug for .38 S&W. In smaller suggestions I also saw 9x18 Makarov suggestions.


Anyways so the stage is for you guys. I'm really hoping to get some knowledge here and enjoy the journey of 9mm casting.

[Lakehouse2012]

While there are a few tricks, 9mm isnt that difficult.

Items that work for me...: (NOTE- I am a USPSA and Steel Challenge competitor, so I have a favorite mold that I have stuffed probably +20,000 into cases)

1) Sizing projectiles at .357
2) Bevel Base mold, whether you are PC or Hitek coat, its a fairly delicate material loading into the case. BB is a huge advantage to start the process.
3) minimum bell mouthing, almost non-existent flaring of the case mouth.
4) I use a standard 9mm resize/deprime die in a progressive press. When you get around to putting projectile in, you will see case bulge. All testing I've done over the years, when I pull projectiles, they are staying at .357.
5) my lead isnt all that hard, usually 12-13brn. Typically I use range recovery and naturally is comes in around there.

Case bulge isnt an issue. While it may not look pretty, but is not affecting the shot. Keeping the interface tight is more important to me then looks. Going the other direction- with a larger sized brass and a looser connection risks gas bypass and inconsistent pressures and velocity.

Hope this helps,

Well I assumed 9mm casting reloading would be pretty straight forward but apparently from my researching it is anything but that!

So before I start I'm wondering what are some of the tricks you guys have come across that make it easier? The main issue I have been reading is of course you size your lead bullets to .357-358 and the expander die leaves the case around .356 and in turn it sizes down your lead bullet which will leave gas getting around it in the bore...yada...yada.

So far in another thread of mine a member stated his eureka moment was when he started using .38 S&W full length sizing die. I have one on the way but last night I started wondering, what will a, we will call it larger full length sizing die do to help this issue? I could understand a larger expanding die helping but what will a full length sizer do?

Then of course I've read people are using the Lee SE1699 expander plug for .38 S&W. In smaller suggestions I also saw 9x18 Makarov suggestions.


Anyways so the stage is for you guys. I'm really hoping to get some knowledge here and enjoy the journey of 9mm casting.

[Lakehouse2012]

One additional item is actual mold.... I have tried most every mold I can for 9mm, and the one that always shows most accurate and repeatable is this one:

Miha designed this one up himself, and while it looks a bit ugly in the hand, its a GREAT performer. wibsite says it's a 135g but they always come in around 140.5g for me with RR.

https://www.mp-molds.com/product/359...6-cavity-mold/

[metricmonkeywrench]

You have to hold your tongue just right….

Otherwise the 9mm is supposedly a tapered case that we’re about to stuff a straight sided bullet into it, as with about any cast bullet flaring out a case mouth a smidge to let the bullet start without shaving is the key part. Some use the Lyman “M” dies or similar and others use the standard expander. The last part is ensuring that any flare that you put in is taken out with either the seat die or a appropriate crimp die.

And hold your tongue just right

[Mk42gunner]

Don't go looking for trouble before you even start. Load a few dummies first and see if they cycle/ chamber. If so load a few to test. Your worries may be moot; may not be either, why I suggest just loading a few.

It was in the last century (pre-internet) when I last loaded 9mm with cast (or anything else) but we just loaded and shot them. No major problems I can remember now.

Robert

[whisler]

I had leading with my 9mm until I checked a pulled bullet and found that it was .354 in diameter. A Lee 38 S&W powder through expander plug fixed that problem and no more leading.

[Hick]

I use a lee 356-124 truncated cone bullet and size the lead to 0.356, then powder coat to 0.358. Works quite smoothly in all my 9 mm guns (two German: a WWII P38 and post war P1, a Taurus PT-92 and a Beretta 92) The powder coating seems to solve all the issues.

[higgins]

If you load .357-.358 bullets use a .38 spl. M-die instead of the 9mm M-die to prevent the bullet being sized down in the loading process. Slug your barrel first - you may not need to use .358 bullets. My 9mm slugs .358 in the grooves so I load an unsized Lee 358 125 gr. RNFP that drops about .359. With brass expanded with the .38 spl. M-die there's no bulge in the cases and the rounds chamber freely in my gun.

As noted above, load a couple of dummy rounds to make sure they will plunk into the chamber regardless the bullet diameter you go with.

[country gent]

When the moon is right and you can hear an old man laughing, its time to load 9mm
Pay attention to details use the correct expander for your bullet dia. Work up the load carefully this is a small case and pressure can jump quickly. Taper crimp as this caliber head spaces on the case mouth. Plunk test the first few rounds in your barrel.
I dont find the 9mm any harder to load than 45 acp or other semi auto calibers.

[hades]

I'm with country gent and don't find 9mm any harder to load than 45acp.


I just got a 9mm a year and a half ago (and a second 9mm last summer), and have been loading 45 since the Beginning. (My first handgun, my first cartridge reloading, and my first cast bullets).

I had dies already and naturally bought a mold for the new to me cartridge. I'm sizing the NOE 135gr RF to 0.356 and loading on a 550c with the stock dillon powder funnel and after I dialed in the taper crimp I haven't had any issues and accuracy is better than I can shoot out of 2 of my 9mms and one of my buddies doing a full load workup with a couple different powders.

I'm using a dump and stir mutt alloy around 9ish BHN, PC, and driving the 135s just over 1000fps and they shoot and feel sweet.

[blue32]

stock dillon powder funnel

I was about to ask how in the world are you getting that to work with traditionally lubed bullets and then saw PC on the last paragraph.

[Soundguy]

Not sure where you got your sizing info from..but they had no idea what they were doing. I size to .356 with good result. Cast requires more mouth flare than jacketed..thats also not a problem. Prime..charge..taper crimp Ang go.
As with most semi auto firearms.. Starting charges seldom perform well. Usually takes at least midrange or higher loads to get feed, stove pipe and short stroke issues to go away. One good short stroke test is to see if the bolt hold open upon empty works..if yes..you made it past the short stroke issue..etc.

I havnt found 9mm cast to be any different in difficulty than any other. 5.7-28 in cast..now that one takes work.

[Harter66]

The only trick I've used for 9mm is that my 2nd hand RCBS dies have a 38/357 expander spud .

[poppy42]

Personally, I i’ve never had an issue loading cast in 9 mm. I can’t tell you how many thousands I cast (various different molds ), loaded, shot, out of multiple firearms. I size to 356, have superb accuracy, zero leading, out of multiple firearms, with various different boolets. My alloy is wheel weights, with a little tin added to help fill out. I have completed the NRA pistol marksmanship course all the way up to and including distinguished expert using my 9 mm Ruger SR9 with Cast Boolets. I don’t consider that some outstanding achievement it’s just some thing that I’ve done. After reading a plethora of posts about the problems that some people have loading nine I guess I’m extremely lucky I don’t know. I’m just never found it to be a problem.

[GhostHawk]

I had 2 9mm guns that wanted to keyhole on me.

Switching from .356 to a .38 special mold that with my alloy cast at .359 solved both.

Lube needs to be up to the job.
Those loads have worked for me with Red Dot charges from 3 grains to 4.5 grains.

Both immediately showed much tighter groups and no more keyholing.

I am using the .358 125 gr plain base bullet, as cast from .359 to .3595.
Lubed with Lee Liquid Lube, 2 or 3 light light coats, dry in between in front of a fan.

[hades]

I was about to ask how in the world are you getting that to work with traditionally lubed bullets and then saw PC on the last paragraph.

Being relatively new to 9mm casting I've never traditionally lubed any bullets for this caliber because I was already powder coating and just went straight into that. I don't see the issue using the dillon powder funnel for traditional lubed though.

Am I missing something?

[Stopsign32v]

Being relatively new to 9mm casting I've never traditionally lubed any bullets for this caliber because I was already powder coating and just went straight into that. I don't see the issue using the dillon powder funnel for traditional lubed though.

Am I missing something?

I'm in the same boat. Went straight to PC when I started reloading.

[Bigslug]

The .38 S&W sizing die is intended to get that case ready to receive a .362" (ish) diameter bullet. For 9mm, you don't need (or necessarily want) to set it so you're traditionally sizing the full length of it. Obviously, you need the decapping pin deep enough to kick your primers, but you don't want to open the case so much that your bullets are falling/pressing too deep into the case before you have a chance to seat and taper-crimp them in place. Some minor independent adjustment of die body and decapping/expander stem heights is needed. Like MMW says, holding your tongue just right is important.

In my case, there was already a Webley with an accompanying Lee .38 S&W die set on hand to test and confirm the theory, and buying a duplicate set so one sizer could be permanently committed to the 9mm Dillon quick-change tool head was a cheap and easy fix. The Dillon 9mm sizing die was clearly happier with jacketed bullets and we had to wrestle with the common severe leading issue until will figured that out. The other dies in the Dillon set work just fine to finish out the process. Mine is clearly not the only answer. As long as you end up with a seated bullet that isn't swaged down farther than you started with and your case mouth is TC'd to .380", it doesn't really matter how you get there.

You don't NEED granite-hard bullets, but given the initial leading difficulties Pop and I had in the learning curve, we decided to stick with the air-cooled wheelweight+2% zone.

[Ia.redneck]

I've shot ALOT of lead in the 9mm. Everything from CZ75 (tight chamber & barrel) to Beretta 92 (needs .358-.359).
The two things that helped me the most were switching to the NOE case expanders. Match expander size to the size of boolit you're seating, he makes them in .001 increments.

Set the expander to just let the base of the boolit enter the case straight, like half of the bottom band.

Next use the Hornady seating die. It is a sliding sleeve design and keeps everything straight and true. I load on an RCBS progressive and it runs smooth with those two dies installed.

[hades]

I've done a fair amount of tumble lubed and lube sized, just not for the 9mm. PC probably takes me longer than running the lube sizer idk. But they're so much nicer and easier to store for me.


What mold do you have? Or looking to get?