Thought I might get away with one

[captaint]

So, here's my sad tale. Got out to shoot last evening. Took the new 1911 in 9mm out for the first time, shooting cast boolits.. This was my first experience casting, sizing & loading for the 9mm cartridge. After reading MtGun44's excellent sticky on the subject, I thought all might go well. Whoops !!
I think my biggest mistake was thinking I could use my current melt, which is 50/50, Pb & WW's. Maybe, if all else was flawless, it would have worked OK.

Casting with a new to me RCBS mold and with that lead mix, the boolits came out just barely about .3565. They sealed OK in the nice new Lathesmith die, but they just barely kissed the die and the loob didn't leak all over. I did slug the barrel - almost exactly .356. I loaded the first 100 rounds low and slow, like 3 grains of Clays. It was funny, the brass just drooled out of the ejection port and laid on the bench.

Anyhow, when I get home and clean the gun I had a little (too much) lead still in the barrel. I got it clean, but somehow that just ain't no fun.

I'm thinking next time we'll go with straight WW's and the boolits should drop out at .357+. A little harder, a little bigger - maybe next time..... enjoy Mike

[ku4hx]

Not sure what you mean by "low and slow" but I load my Lee 124 grain TC and RN 9mm boolits to about 1,150 fps and I get no leading to speak of. I size mine to no smaller than .357" and lately I've been loading the RNs as-cast which is nominally .358".

Given the less than energetic spent case ejection, I'd say you need to up your charge a mite. Hodgdon lists 3.7 grains Clays for a 124 grain jacketed at 1,056 fps and 3.9 grains Clays for 115 grain jacketed at 1,095 fps.

[captaint]

Low pressure, slow velocity. I was thinking, with that alloy, higher velocities would bring trouble. Thanks, ku4hx - may I ask what alloy you're running with success in the 9 ??. Mike

[Echo]

+1 for more energy - hammer those boolits, and I bet the leading goes down, or disappears. But a fatter boolit would probably help, too.

[clintsfolly]

bump the powder up! I use 4.2gr of 231 with my 356402 out of the same 50/50%PB/WW and I can't remember the last time I cleaned the barrel and got leading but I only shoot 1500 rd last year Clint

[captaint]

Thanks fellas. I did load 50 rounds with 4.0 of 231. That shot well, but I shot them first, so I'm not sure if they leaded or not. I do suspect the Clays load. I will try pushing them harder. I have about another 100 cast up & lubed. enjoy Mike

[sqlbullet]

Like others have said, you may not be getting enough pressure to get the boolit base to seal the bore. Before I gave up on 50/50 which so many love, I would ramp the load a little. I had this experience with my 10mm.

[ku4hx]

Low pressure, slow velocity. I was thinking, with that alloy, higher velocities would bring trouble. Thanks, ku4hx - may I ask what alloy you're running with success in the 9 ??. Mike

It's basically what Rotometals calls "hard Ball" but with a little less Antimony. I try and keep Tin to about 1.5-2% and Antimony around 4%. I say about because a good portion of what I smelted the last session was diver's weights. It's entirely likely I'm erring on the Antimony a percent or two.

From what I read, 9mm is problematic for a lot of people. The first loading I ever did was with 357 Magnum and second was 9mm. That was in the early '70s and I've had very good success with 9mm. In fact, maybe ten years ago I bought some 124 grain boolits from Georgia Arms at a local gun show. For a long time I didn't load 9mm but then my wife got interested and the 9 suits her very well. Even those boolits (.356" hard blue lube) shoot well. I have no explanation but I try and not question success too awful much.

[captaint]

Funny, we try to think of all the variables. I'll bet the harder "bump" will help. I'll let you know how it works out. enjoy Mike

[captaint]

A little follow up. This weekend I cast up more boolits for the 9mm. Same mold - it's the only 9mm mold I have. Straight WW's this time. I was hoping the boolits would drop out of the mold at least .357+. No good. They were still under .357. SO - The light came on. While I don't have any real "beagle" tape, I got a regular stick on paper label. Stuck on two strips and success. Boolits came out at almost .361. I ran a couple through the Star and they came out like .3575. Now, that will work. Later in the week, I'll size up a bunch and shoot em. Thinking I won't have any lead deposits this time. I'll report back later in the week. With good news, I hope. enjoy Mike

[bruce drake]

captaint,

Nice temp mod to a mold to get the diameter you were looking for. Neat little tip that I've put in my mind for later as well to bump up some boolits for a later experiment

Bruce

[Larry Gibson]

Add 2 % tin to the WWs for a better alloy and fill out.

I've shot lots of .356 cast in all sorts of 9mms and never got leading. I use 4 gr Bullseye with 115 - 125 gr cast.

What Lube?

Larry Gibson

[captaint]

Larry - I did add the tin to the mix. I can assure you MY 9mm will lead the barrel with .356 boolits. I slugged the barrel and it's almost exactly .356. The last boolits (that leaded) were, .3565. I have tried lower and higher velocities with 50/50 WW and Pb.
I was thinking that with straight WW's the boolits would be bigger enough that all would be well. They were still short of .357. I'm hopeful this last batch at .3575 and straight WW's will do the trick. I'm using LBT Soft for lube. Should this not work out, I'll go back to BAC and see if that makes any difference. I'm thinking it's more of a size issue. enjoy Mike

[R.M.]

I've never used it, but I've read a lot here of people getting leading using clays. Kinda makes one wonder.

[Doc Highwall]

If you get the bullet diameter up a lot of your troubles if not all of them will go away.

Don't be afraid to shoot lead bullets .001"-.002" over groove diameter.

[captaint]

Thanks Doc. I guess if the latest doesn't work, I'll be opening up the sizing die a little.... Hoping I can escape that, though. enjoy Mike

[MtGun44]

Yep - too small will cause a lot of headaches and is really an issue with 9mms more than
most cartridges. Larger is much more important than harder - although some 9mm have
amazingly shallow rifling, so sometimes harder is needed for that reason, not to stop leading.

Beagling is a good solution. Bump up might work, but sizing them to the right size is more
certain.

Bill

[captaint]

Bill, Having looked (too many times) at the inside of my barrel, I did notice the rifling is not real shallow. Not nearly as shallow at my 45's. So - bumping to hotter loads didn't work, so now we're going bigger - until it works !!! enjoy Mike

[captaint]

Another follow up - only this time with success. Put 100 rounds through the 9 this afternoon and no leading. I shot those .3575 "beagled" boolits and all went well. I had loaded SR7625 - 4.2 grs. That load really was accurate. I think I'll try some more of that. Now, I have to get a mold from Accurate to get the diameter I need and I'll be good to go. Feels good to get problems worked out. enjoy Mike

[MtGun44]

Congratulations! It is best to have the right size and beagling really does work.

Bill