Best alloy for the 9mm

[GARCIA]

Oldest son has committed to buying a MP Mold in 9mm for me so that I can reload 9mm for him.
I have zero experiance with this caliber/round and would like to get a rough idea as to what would be a good alloy to use. Can go from pure lead to pure linotype or anywhere in between.
Going to be strictly for target shooting if it matters.

Any help is alway greatly appreciated.

Tom

[captaint]

I can only tell you what I do, Garcia. Straight up WW's, air cooled and a little tin. Works for me. Mike

[GARCIA]

Hey I appreciate the info!
From the amount of responces it would appear it's a popular round to shoot cast in?(sarcasm here)
Now just to wait till Miha emails me telling me the mold is ready!!!!!!!

Tom

[Treetop]

GARCIA, there is a sticky at the top of this sub forum that answers all the questions re: Loading cast boolits in the 9mm. It's not an easy caliber to cast for because of the rate of twist in most 9mm barrels and the higher working pressure. Tt.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...s-in-a-new-9mm

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i use range scrap lead and mix in about 40% WW lead and a little pewter
i also like Bullseye for powder i just got 3# of 231 powder for free so i will
use that up next my 92fs just loves cast

[MtGun44]

AC WWts and maybe a touch of tin if fill out is less than satisfactory.

Bill

[rintinglen]

A proper fitting boolit some where in the 11-16 BHN range will work just fine. Don't be surprised if proper fitting ends up being .357 or .358.

[NuJudge]

The 9mm is a high pressure cartridge, and because of that I really like hard bullets. The bullet I cast most is the Lee 125gr 'Cowboy' bullet, which in its current form is quite different from Lee's pictures in its advertising. I use mostly wheel weights, with a little added Tin, and I drop them from the mold into a bucket of water.

Groove diameters vary a lot on the 9mm, as noted above. You would do well to slug your barrels before buying a mold. The standard is .356", but all my Beretta and Walther barrels are over .357" and Lead like mad with .356" bullets.

If you need an oversize Lead bullet, you also might want to try a couple dummy cartridges loaded with that size bullet and make sure they chamber. I have a Browning High Power Race Gun that has oversize barrel groove diameter, but will not chamber a cartridge loaded with a bullet over .356" diameter.

[gwpercle]

I go with straight air-cooled wheelweights sized .357 in Walther WWII issue P-38. The mould is Lyman #358345 , 115 gr. SWC, over 5.0 grs. Unique . Does well in P-38.
gary

[EMC45]

I use air cooled clip on WWs for EVERYTHING. Works just right. I get deformation and accuracy. I have killed game and plenty of paper with my loads and alloys. Never had a complaint yet.

[KCSO]

For me 1/2 and 1/2 Lino and wheel weights works just fine. I load either 124 or 138 grian bullets with mostly bullseye powder and run from 900 to 1100 fps. No leading and excellent accuracy in booth the S and W 6906 and the Walther P38 .

[EMC45]

I have tested my clip on WW alloy through the years with a SAECO tester and get Lyman #2 on the scale. If that helps.

[robpete]

I use various scrap combinations, but tend to keep hardness in the 12-14 BHN range.....with verypositive results in all of my 9mm's

[Bucolic]

I don't want to hijack the thread but I've been having some problems with cast 9mm. I cast and loaded up a bunch, like 5,000 or more and sized them all to .357 (120gr WW). Shooting them out of my Browning High Power I get 2 out of 5 keyholing. Any suggestions??

[GARCIA]

Water dropping looks to be the ticket in using coww as an alloy with a hint of tin.
Thanks to everyone!

Tom

[Wal']

I don't want to hijack the thread but I've been having some problems with cast 9mm. I cast and loaded up a bunch, like 5,000 or more and sized them all to .357 (120gr WW). Shooting them out of my Browning High Power I get 2 out of 5 keyholing. Any suggestions??

Sadly if they're key holeing 2 out of 5 they're to small, skidding down the barrel maybe, my HP uses a minimum of .358.

First slug your barrel & you will have your answer straight up, 5000 loaded & sized, that's going to hurt.

Another suggestion would be to maybe try a slower burning powder, this helped me when mine was leading badly when I started working up loads many years back.

[EMC45]

I run my bullets at .358 in the HP.

[TommyT]

I use WW with a little tin mixed in. My mold of choice is the Lee 125 grain RN sized to .358 for my Walther's. I tried .356 and got lots of keyholes and leading. Slug your barrel and save a headache later when you ahve to pull down hundreds of loaded rounds. That will kill and afternoon...trust me..lol.

[MtGun44]

WD is not necessary at all.

Bill

[S. Galbraith]

Garcia,

If you are referring to the MP 6-cavity 358-140 mold I found that it worked great. I used regular air-cooled WW and Lyman #2 with great results. However, I just don't have the time for casting, nor the space any more. So, I am selling the mold if you are interested. I will try to post in the seller's forum.