Who loads 9mm, a little help?

[wrench]

I just got a beautiful mold for 9mm, the NOE 358 128RF.
I cast some up a couple of weeks ago, they came out of the mold right at .358. I sized them to .357, for my STI Spartan. The barrel on the Spartan slugs at .356.
Now for the trouble, making up a couple of dummy rounds, I have to load these at 1.015" to get them to drop into the chamber:confused:
In other words, really, really short.
Anybody else use this bullet, and what OAL are you able to use. Please note the type of pistol you're loading for.

[zxcvbob]

If they look anything like the Lee RF, that's probably normal. And not necessarily a problem.

[tinyejp]

I have almost given up on the books for OAL. You need to remember that length they are giving you is for the specific boolit/bullet they used, and a different mold or manufacturer may have differing dimensions somewhere in their projectiles' profile. Putting the weight elsewhere, say more in the nose and less in the body, would change your case's interior volume when seated to their published OAL.
Most of the time these days I will simply start with a dummy round and seat it until it fits the mag and the chamber. If it's under or over published OAL, so be it. I'll then start with a minimum charge and load five or ten, step up a few tenths for five or ten more, etc. I'll do maybe 30 rounds this way, staying well beneath the published max. Then go out and shoot, paying special attention to the case for pressure signs. I find that I seldom get anywhere near max loads before I find a round that cycles well and shoots to point of aim.
All-in-all, reloading can be a dangerous game. It's your gun and your body...use it as you see fit.

[MtGun44]

Throat issues, probably, or inadequate to non-existent taper crimp.

Look for marks on the boolit from the rifling, seat deeper until they go away, and then set
the TC to let the cartridge drop into the dismounted bbl freely or with a 1 lb fingertip assist.

This is why the Lee 356-120 TC works better, less likely to hit the rifling in tight throat.

LOA in the books is only of interest so that you know where the base of the boolit was for their
loads. As your boolit base moves into the case more, the pressures increase, so you should
back off a bit in powder. The external LOA issues are totally dependent on mag length, throat
length and what it takes to feed properly. Book LOA is nearly meaningless beyond the effect
on powder combustion chamber volume.

Bill

[wrench]

Well, no guts, no glory.
I loaded up 30 of them today, @1.015" over 4.5g of WSF. Bullets sized at .357, and lubed with Recluse 45-45-10.
Ran in the pistol great, smooth, no failures. Was decently accurate. Unfortunately, leaded like nobody's business.:evil:
After I finished scraping out the barrel, I sized some more at .358", and they're drying right now.
Back on the pony!

[2ndAmendmentNut]

That's it get back on the horse that bucked you off. Your crimp can also size down the Boolits, might want to pull a few loaded rounds and measure the diameter. Also remember harder is rarely better.

[bob208]

well i don't go by over all length as it is all over the place with different bullents as allready stated.
i do a reverse method where i measure where the base of the bullet is and how far that is in the case compaired to a factory load. after all it is the base being too deep in the case is where you will get into pressure trouble.

[Bwana]

"Your crimp can also size down the Boolits, might want to pull a few loaded rounds and measure the diameter."

I wish people would stop posting this erroneous statement. Merely crimping will not "size down" your boolits. Under certain conditons the Lee FCD can cause the reduction in size of boolits. This can be a matter of concern. They are not the same thing.

[wrench]

I'm not using the Lee factory crimp, just a regular taper crimp. I've loaded thousands of 9mm cartridges with jacketed, plated, and lead bullets, but this is the first time with a bullet that I cast.[smilie=w:
Lead is mostly range scrap so I doubt it is too hard.
When I load some more, (tomorrow), I will pull a bullet after seating and check the diameter.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

I stand corrected. What I should have said is the inside of a 9mm case is smaller towards the base. When a cast Boolit gets seated deep it can squeeze the boolit below the needed diameter.

[Love Life]

Your lead could be too soft. I love the 9mm and once I got the bugs worked out it is a dream to cast for.

[MtGun44]

Go to the sticky "Setting up a new 9mm for Boolits" it may save you some
time.

Bill

[Bullet Caster]

This problem seems persistent with 9mm reloading. I have found that by seating to the same depth as a factory round works for me. I don't think I've ever measured the OAL. Also I have found that many who reload 9mm also seat the boolit too deeply (which can cause a pressure problelm) and the front driving band gets seated into the case. I use the Lee 124 grain tumble lube for my 9mm and as long as I leave the front driving band exposed and not crimped into the case it doesn't lead the bbl. For QC I lock my slide back (Hi-Point C9) and drop each round into the chamber. Haven't had one yet to fail to chamber. My outside overall length is to stand a factory round on its base and put one of my reloads next to it and place a flat ruler (or anything flat) across the tops of the rounds and place a small level on the flat surface. If they're both seated the same the level bubble will be in the center. That's how I control my seating depth. Once set on the die it should never change. That's the advantage of having only one boolit mould in 9mm. I don't have to change the seating depth every time I use the die. I've also pulled some 9mm jacketed bullets out of old military surplus berdan primed cases 'cause the primers wouldn't go off and saved the bullets. When I went to seat them they were the exact same profile so I didn't even have to change the die settings when using them. BC

[thegreatdane]

the Lee is loaded short also. Just be aware when choosing load data and start 10% lower than published (as compared to a longer load specification of similar weight).

[MtGun44]

Here is how I set the LOA for the Lee 120 TC. Note that I set the front corner to be on
the curve of the factory FMJ for a same point contact during feeding.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=161&pictureid=4223

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=161&pictureid=4224

Bill

[jameslovesjammie]

Bill,

Love the pics! That is a great visual example.

James

[autopilotmp]

MTgun44: is that around 1.088 overall length? That just barely catches the lube groove with that boolit right?

[Lloyd Smale]

little off topic but I had a 9mm trojan and it absolutely drove nails with the 120 rcbs round nose. that bullet has done well in all of my 9s. Make sure if you get one you dont get the one with a shoulder. they make that one as a target bullet because it punches cleaner wholes in the target but in my experience its a real dud!