Recommendations for 45ACP and 9mm?

[H.Callahan]

Back in the dark ages, I tried casting for automatics, both 45acp and 9mm. The results were rather grim. I had a lot of FTFs, usually with the lead getting hung up on the ramps, plus there was a lot of deforming of the noses of those rounds that did feed correctly. I gave up on it and got rid of the molds and have been using j-words for autos when I was reloading for them. I have continued to cast for wheel guns with good success.

However, spurred on by the fact that there are zero dealers of components in the local area and even if there were, the prices of j-words are getting higher every year, plus winning a boatload of 45 & 9mm brass in a raffle at my gun club, I am revisiting this. As I recall, there was little choice in molds back then and the Internet was decades from becoming a reality. I know there is a ton more available choices than back then when you kinda had to take whatever the local dealer had.

Therefore, has anyone got good recommendations for 45acp and 9mm molds? THE number one requirement is that they feed reliably and can survive the trip more or less in the same shape that they were cast. Accuracy is always important, but even if I am guaranteed one-hole groups at 300 yards (yeah, right...), if they don't feed one after the other, then it is kinda useless (if I wanted a single shot, I'd get a TC).

What say ye, gang?

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

I have had excellent results with the Lee 230 grain TC, the RN, and the 200 grain SWC, all sized to .452" and used over a normal quantity of HP38/231.

As to 9MM, I have no less than 5 molds that can be used. 124 grain RN, 136 grain RNFLgc, 135 grain RNFL pb, 100 grain RNFL pd, and a 102 grain RN. All from Lee or Ranch Dog. I recently disposed of my 124 grain Truncated Cone 9MM as it showed a tendency in many guns to FTF more than was allowable. I cant give you any first hand experience with any of them since I dont own/shoot/load for that caliber.

The only problem I have had with the 45's is if they are cast from too soft an allloy, usually range scrap. The soft lead seems to catch on the barrel ramp. Harden up the alloy, the problem goes away.

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[koehn,jim]

I shoot a lot of 45acp in both rn and semi wad cutter. I have in the past had some minor problems with feeding but once i figured out the correct overall length it went away. I also polished the feed ramp and this helped a lot. Be careful about the crimp as 45 chambers on the case mouth, too much crimp leads to some interesting pressure. For pratice i use bullseye a little goes a long way.

[H.Callahan]

The only problem I have had with the 45's is if they are cast from too soft an allloy, usually range scrap. The soft lead seems to catch on the barrel ramp. Harden up the alloy, the problem goes away.

At the time, I was casting out of 100% WW. This would have been back in the mid/late '70s when ALL the WWs were lead based and you were considered a hero when you stopped by a tire place and took them off their hands... *sigh*. At any rate, straight WW is not hard enough?

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

Straight WW's should be plenty hard enough. Most of what I get as range scrap is fairly soft since its almost all jword bullets.

Cores are soft lead, the jackets, free money. Skim em off the melt, sell em to a local scrap yard. Keeps me in primers LOL

Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[captaint]

H - I cast virtually all of my 45ACP boolits out of 50/50 WW & Pb. All. MP molds has a great 200 gr HP or solid, if you prefer. He has a H&G 68 clone, as does Lee. The Lyman 452460 is an excellent 200 gr boolit. Take your pick. My feed ramps are polished, and I load to normal, book OAL. I usually burn 4.0 to 4.2 grs of Red Dot, Titegroup, or WW231. I'm certainly no expert at casting, but I have no problems with barrel lead or FTF issues.
Now, the 9mm has been a little more interesting, for me... Had to go to straight WW's and size my boolits a little larger than initally. Got the leaded barrel at first, but the bigger boolit and better alloy solved that - FOR ME.. I think most of us size our 45's at .452 and I size my 9's at .3575. These are just my experiences. If you stay with the folks here, you WILL get your 45ACP issues worked out - IF they are not gun related. Generally speaking, even us knuckleheads can cast and succeed with the 45ACP. enjoy MIke

[paul h]

The only 45 acp mold I've used to date is lee's 200 gr tl swc they've all been tumble lubed and loaded as cast dia. Out of my ruger P90 it's been 100% reliable with ~1000 rounds through it using both Bullseye and Unique as fuel.

While not a 9mm mold perse I've used lee's 105gr swc 357 mold sized .357 out of a Ruger P95 and had the same performance as the 45, 100% reliable with both bullseye and unique. It's been a suprisingly accuracte bullet and you it's frugal with lead.

[bruce drake]

For 45 ACP, I use LEE's 230gr Truncated Cone Tumble Lube mold over a load of Unique and they feed fine and usually is pretty accurate when I do my part behind the trigger. My alloy is pretty much straight wheelweight but a mix of clipon and softer stickon weights makes it softer than a straight WW alloy. My LEE 230gr Mold with this current alloy drops at 240grs. Luckily, Sierra's Reload Manual has 240gr loads...

For 9mm, I used LEE's 124gr RN and Ideal's 356402 120gr TC sized at .357 for my Taurus 99AF. Both worked fine out to 25 yards but I developed tumbling issues at 50 yards. I never had a problem feeding from the magazine but I probably could have sized them to .358 to help with the tumbling issue at 50 but never dug into and explored that option with that particular pistol.

Bruce

[avogunner]

I don't have a 9mm mold but have cast thousands of .45 ACP with great success. I always thought of my 1911 as a pretty forgiving cast boolit shooter and have never had any trouble whatsoever. My normal alloy is straight COWW or 50/50 COWW/range lead (air cooled) poured into a Lee 452-228-1R or the 452-200-SWC. Put them over a 4.something grain of Bullseye and I get 0 leading, 100% functioning, and superb accuracy. I'm sure they Lyman, RCBS, or any other 230 gr RN mold would give similar results.

[David2011]

H. Callahan- Dirty Harry?

The ~230 grain Truncated Cone is a good design and easy to cast. Better yet, the geometry of feeding the TC is the same as Browning's original design. The contact point with the top of the chamber as the rounds is stripped from the magazine is in the same place relative to the head of the cartridge for both boolits. If you want something like the original .45ACP profile the Lyman 452374 is extremely close to that original profile and weight. It also works well for .45 Colt and looks very traditional in the cartridge loops of a leather gunbelt.

I'm with Carolina on the 124 gr TC for 9mm. While I don't recall a lot of FTFs with them, I just for some undefinable reason don't have warm fuzzies about the long skinny pointed flat nosed shape. It just doesn't look right. The Saeco #115 looks like a boolit should and with its extended parabolic nose, feeds like ball ammo. I've cast many with good results.

I use wheelweight alloy with 4 ounces of monotype per 10 pounds of WW. It's harder than necessary for the low velocities involved but the mono makes it flow beautifully. I'm going to try 50/50 WW and lead with the same a mount of monotype next casting session.

David

[H.Callahan]

H. Callahan- Dirty Harry?

Yeah. It is a nickname that I got when I was an LEO many moons ago. I carried a Model 29-2 with a 6.5-inch barrel on duty. Off duty I carried it in a Bianchi shoulder holster that looked similar to the one Eastwood wore in the Dirty Harry series. Every one started calling me "Harry" and "Callahan" and it has stuck ever since. When the Internet was born and I needed a pseudonym, it was the obvious choice for me.

Anyway, some good information here. I will take note of the suggestions. Please continue and I will monitor the replies!

[454PB]

In general, I have better luck with truncated cone designs when it comes to proper feeding, but it depends on the gun.

I also like a harder (12 BHN or more) boolit to get a good grip on the shallow rifling that is usually found in semi autos.

[MtGun44]

H&G 68 clone(200 SWC), sized .452, NRA 50-50 conventional lube. 1.250 LOA and taper crimp
to .470 at the mouth.

Lee 356-120-TC sized to .357 or .358, NRA 50-50 conventional lube, adjust LOA and TC to
your chamber and throat using the dismounted barrel as a gage.

Use air cooled wwts for both. Very accurate, zero leading and 100% feeding are the norm.

Bill

[Grandpas50AE]

I have cast 10's of thousands of the 230RN from the Lyman mold since the early 70's, all from straight COWW, air cooled. Used Javelina 50/50 lube and never had a problem with any of my 1911's feeding them andshooting them well, and no nose distortion from the feed ramp. I have no pistols that have required polishing the ramp. Several years ago when I started collecting my Kimbers, I switched over to SWC 200gr. and have had zero problems with them as well. A few months ago I decided to cast some HP's out of Miha's 200gr. RNHP mold and soften them for expansion. I've now cast and shot over 700 rounds of those cast from 50% COWW and 50% pure lead and lubed with BAC from White Label Lube. I have zero leading, deadly accuracy to at least 25 yards (haven't tried at 50 yet), and feed problems are non-existent with the correct OAL. I have shot the SWC's (LaserCast 200 gr.) at over 100 yards and accuracy was very good (consistent hits on 4" balloons) on the berm behind the 100 yd. target frames. The .45 ACP's main hiccup seems to be getting the OAL right. All of my boollits are sized .4515 and taper-crimped at .470".

Haven't tried cast for the 9mm yet.

[tacofrank]

I've have great sucess with Lee's 230 TC 6 cavity mold. Sized .452 and Lubed with Javelena's 50/50.

[gwpercle]

Total sucess in 45 acp with Lyman #452460, 200gr. SWC cast of straight wheel weights, air cooled and sized .452.
Used in several 45's Star, Colt , Tarus and an AMT Hardballer. Liked to seat it over 5.2 grs unique.

Haven't done much reloading with 9mm yet , but will soon .

[Cherokee]

My 45's all like the Lee 230 TC (w/lube groove) and my 9mm's like the Lee 356-120TC (w/lube groove). My 9's have gone through 8-10,000 of the TC without any problems. About the same for the 45's, and before that I use an NEI mould of 233 gr TC for 30+ years. Lee356125RN is not as accurate in my 9's but works fine.

[H.Callahan]

Well, my daughter's significant other made the .45 question moot. He picked me up an RCBS 45-230-RN. I let him shoot my 1911 the other weekend and I think I hooked him! He felt bad about losing some brass, but I think he wants to shoot some more....

[ThreeFoot]

For 45 ACP:
H&G 68, 200 grain SWC feeds very well. Wheelweight lead, sized .452 with a slight taper crimp. I use this bullet for 25 yard time and rapid fire.

Saeco 130, 180 grain SWC, cast hard. It has a short nose so I cast it a little harder to avoid the bullet from digging into the feed ramp. Excellent 50 yard slow fire bullet.

For 9mm I use a Lee 356-120-TC 120 grain. No crimp. Works okay.

[Blammer]

for the 45acp, I would recommend starting with either of these, feeding would pretty much be a non issue.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Cast%20boolits/45ACP/DSCN7746.jpg

Here is a link to NOE's site and he has a 2C avialble.

http://noebulletmolds.com/orders/catalog/index.php?cPath=41&osCsid=7rgs76uo9dnm8k8c2v76oh5fl7

9mm, no comment as I've no experience with shooting them yet.

[Blammer]

I also like this mould
the RCBS 45 200, good shooter, feeds well too.
It's relatively in expensive compared to the custom mould makers, and avialable. :)
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Cast%20boolits/DSCN7180.jpg

[9.3X62AL]

In general, I have better luck with truncated cone designs when it comes to proper feeding, but it depends on the gun.

I also like a harder (12 BHN or more) boolit to get a good grip on the shallow rifling that is usually found in semi autos.

This above......

The harder alloys also seem to slide up feedramps more smoothly than do the softer metals.

I seat the Lee TC designs (conventional lube groove variants) with about .020" of front drive band exposed above the case mouth--9mm, 40 S&W, 10mm, 45 ACP. The cartridges in all four calibers run like water down a funnel. Lee got these pistol boolit designs right, and then some.

[geargnasher]

Dang Blammer, I somehow missed that RCBS boolit all these years. The Accurate 45-230L I keep recommending to folks looks very much like that except it's a tad longer and heavier. I love the way that "SWC" nose with the RFN tip works in the 1911 platform, and it makes clean holes in the targets too.

Gear

[mortre]

This weekend was my first ever attempt with cast bullets. I was using lee 230 TC's and feeding was a non-issue. I'm going to have to go back and adjust some things like powder charge/size/lube etc. But they fed just as well as the 230 rn plated bullets. COAL was 1.20 and were running 874 fps.
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