Setting up for boolits in a new 9mm

[dudits]

wheni had my problems with 9mm it was cause of to small diam boolit.

[taco650]

Can a Glock barrel be slugged and accurately read?

[Springfield0612]

Thanks! You provided a lot of clarity!

[MtGun44]

Don't know a thing about Glocks except they don't suit me in several ways, so I'll
never own one.

Bill

[9-toes]

Always heard they don't recommend cast in a Glock barrel because of the rifling.

[Arkansas Paul]

Very informative.
I paid down on a Ruger LC9 that's supposed to come in this month (Fingers crossed). This will definitely help out when I get started.
Thanks.

[popper]

Most don't have pin gauges so would an OD and thickness measurement work?

[MtGun44]

HMMM? Measure OD of the slug, yes. Not sure of the "thickness" application in this situation. Please
clarify.

As to measuring the inside of a fired case, this can be checked out by trying to put a known
dimension boolit/bullet into the case. It actually isn't a hard and fast thing because the brass
is springy and will pop back smaller than it was as it was held against the chamber by the
internal pressure during firing. So my brass only measured about .356, but it worked fine with
.358 boolits - in the sense that pressures were normal in a bunch of guns.

I do have a KelTec PF9 that is NOT happy with .358 loads - shows significant pressure signs,
and it is likely due to a very tight chamber. It all WORKS, but primers show excessive
pressure on otherwise normal loads that are not showing any signs of pressure in at least
5 other brands of 9mms. I don't actually practice with that one all that much, so I use
white box Win ball for practice, easier than making up a special load for that pistol alone.

Bill

[BAGTIC]

No need to size unless the as cast bullet is too large to chamber.

Seat an as cast bullet in a dummy round. Check to see if it will chamber in your gun. If it does tumble lube the rest of your bullets with JPW. After drying JPW will not be sticky and will not need Motor Mica or anything else to eliminate tackiness. Work up load using published load data. Enjoy.

[KAS]

I've been lurking here for about a year and have been loading 45 ACP for about two. I'm now in the process of developing a cast 9mm load for my Glock 17 with stock barrel (I know, I know). I was hoping for a lower pressure round with a heavy bullet to make IPSC minor power factor.

After reading the stickies on cast lead in 9mm, I bought a Lee 358-150-1R double cavity mold, a 38S&W spud for my Lee expander die, and slugged my barrel (.3555).

After casting a couple of boolits (air cooled and water quenched wheel weights, dropped at .359) and loading some unsized dummy rounds, I've run into problems.

Basically, the fat 1R ogive contacts the rifling all the way down to 1.045 OAL! Normally this wouldn't bother me as I'm not married to my reloading manuals, but this is a long blunt boolit.

Bullet length .640 + case length .750 = 1.390
1.390 - 1.045 (should really be 1.030) = .345

That's a lot of boolit in a small case. I was planning on loading this round with Titegroup, maybe not with so little case capacity left. Even with a 2.5 grain charge, I'm still only about .080 away from a compressed load with very fast powder.

Seating at this depth still swages the base of the boolit down to .350 for air cooled and .3555 for water quenched. The rest of the bands measure .357 after being pulled (crimped to .379 OD). I'm still willing to try the water quenched boolit as it is, just not too sure about the powder or case capacity.

My searches of the forum did turn up a few people who use this boolit for 9mm, yet none list their OAL. Others are loading very short round in the 1.100 to 1.070 range, but always with much lighter/shorter boolits and still not anywhere near 1.045 OAL.

Has anyone else had success with this boolit? What about the 358-140-TC? It looks bottom heavy too.

Can I safely continue down this road? Should I cut my losses and get a different mold? Slower powder?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just trying to avoid a KB here.

[1_Ogre]

Great job Bill. Easy to follow steps, and it's what I use for all my autos and even the wheel guns as to the slugging and espically the TC for the test cartridge. If I had to critique this, TC = Taper Crimp, LOA = Length Over All, minor but excellent article. Just take your time, and be patient, none of us ever get it right the first time. Good Job

[Lizard333]

Always heard they don't recommend cast in a Glock barrel because of the rifling.

Do some reading here. I've fired thousands of cast boolits in Glocks. Might be a problem with a commercial cast but not with your own cast boolits. You can control size, hardness, and lube. Your stuck with what you get with commercially made boolits.

[taco650]

I've been lurking here for about a year and have been loading 45 ACP for about two. I'm now in the process of developing a cast 9mm load for my Glock 17 with stock barrel (I know, I know). I was hoping for a lower pressure round with a heavy bullet to make IPSC minor power factor.

After reading the stickies on cast lead in 9mm, I bought a Lee 358-150-1R double cavity mold, a 38S&W spud for my Lee expander die, and slugged my barrel (.3555).

After casting a couple of boolits (air cooled and water quenched wheel weights, dropped at .359) and loading some unsized dummy rounds, I've run into problems.

Basically, the fat 1R ogive contacts the rifling all the way down to 1.045 OAL! Normally this wouldn't bother me as I'm not married to my reloading manuals, but this is a long blunt boolit.

Bullet length .640 + case length .750 = 1.390
1.390 - 1.045 (should really be 1.030) = .345

That's a lot of boolit in a small case. I was planning on loading this round with Titegroup, maybe not with so little case capacity left. Even with a 2.5 grain charge, I'm still only about .080 away from a compressed load with very fast powder.

Seating at this depth still swages the base of the boolit down to .350 for air cooled and .3555 for water quenched. The rest of the bands measure .357 after being pulled (crimped to .379 OD). I'm still willing to try the water quenched boolit as it is, just not too sure about the powder or case capacity.

My searches of the forum did turn up a few people who use this boolit for 9mm, yet none list their OAL. Others are loading very short round in the 1.100 to 1.070 range, but always with much lighter/shorter boolits and still not anywhere near 1.045 OAL.

Has anyone else had success with this boolit? What about the 358-140-TC? It looks bottom heavy too.

Can I safely continue down this road? Should I cut my losses and get a different mold? Slower powder?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just trying to avoid a KB here.

Have you tried sizing them to 356 or 357 before loading?

[KAS]

Have you tried sizing them to 356 or 357 before loading?

Yes, I have. I didn't gain anything in terms of seating depth, so I still don't have enough case capacity and the the base of the boolit is swaged down to .350.

Time to call it a failed experiment and get another mold. Now if only I could find a Lee 356-120-TC 6 banger in stock somewhere...

[Michael J. Spangler]

KAS I notice that your boolits were sizing down less when water dropped.

Do the rest of you find this true also? I have an issue with my boolits sizing down and my mold being possibly a tiny bit small too.
I was planning on using a 38 powder funnel from dillon to help with the squeeze issue.
I guess I'll load some of the water dropped to see if they swage down as bad.

[felix]

Yes, depending on the strength (toughness) of the alloy. Rule: More toughness, more rebound. In HOME practice, there is NO correlation between hardness and toughness. ... felix

[MtGun44]

KAS,
Your problem with throat clearance on the round nosed boolits is why I don't recommend them. You will find the 356-120-TC to be more user friendly. Water quenched is
probably not necessary and may be harmful. I have never observed boolit squeeze
down with AC wwts even with a .3535 expander which is quite small. I do not
doubt that some are getting it, but I wonder if weird brass isn't as much to blame as
the expander size.

Bill

[Michael J. Spangler]

Beagled the mold
Water dropped
4 coats of 45-45-10 (may be a little too much)
No leading and good accuracy in the 2 test firearms today.

Works for me

[taco650]

Beagled the mold
Water dropped
4 coats of 45-45-10 (may be a little too much)
No leading and good accuracy in the 2 test firearms today.





Works for me

What do you mean by "Beagled"?

[H.Callahan]

What do you mean by "Beagled"?

Beagling