158 gr .38 special bullet in a 9mm?

[jonk]

I have a 158 gr Lyman mold for my .38 special. It drops a slug at about .359 with a nominal 158 gr weight with number 2 alloy- though depending on my mix it could be anywhere from 150 to 165. Anyhow- it works great in the .38 special but I'm looking at it and devlishly thinking of ramming that huge slug into a 9mm (after sizing of course). It would seat darn near to the powder charge, but I'm thinking of a very light load of Red Dot or perhaps better yet trail boss. Thoughts?

[45 2.1]

Lyman had data for this in its previous manuals.

[jonk]

Hmm. I have Lyman's cast bullet handbook (mine was printed in 81).... I hadn't thought of looking at the 9mm for data for that bullet. We'll see if its there.

[Leftoverdj]

Yeah, it's doable to load 158 RN in 9mm and is very popular among the Class III boys. There are exceptions. I tried it in a Marlin Camp Carbine, and the cases came out looking like the snake that ate the rabbit. That gun is straight blowback with a light bolt and the bolt was partially opening before the bullet exited the barrel. No problems in locked breech pistols or even in blowback guns with heavy bolts.

Accurate Arms has data for 147 jacketed. That's close enough for me to be willing to use their starting loads as starting for 158 cast. Likely to be my stopping point, too, given reasonable performance.

[38 Super Auto]

I think you'll be able to make it work if rounds with this bullet will chamber in your gun.

You might consider loading up a few mechanical samples with spent case and bullet to verify they'll feed and chamber ok. Just a thought.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I have a S&W 952 that likes 147 gr boolits more than any of the lower weights. Have used 158 grainers out of WW with a bit more tin added to lower the weight some (altho 11 grains is not a big deal to start with). Actually got 153gr and used that. It worked very well but I made it a point to start powder weight lower and work up as bullet seating depth in the 9mm is a fairly critical issue. Pressure can jump over very little variance. I used 4.5 grains of 4756, rather than the faster powders and that gave a lower pressure to start with. It was accurate and did not pound the gun; not anxious to beat up a 952 anyway.

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/94E23D0AC147FC1/standard.jpg

Not a 9x19 but a 38 Super. The slug is the RCBS 38-162 SWC-GC. With that boolit and load I use a 24# recoil spring :-)

................Buckshot

[trickyasafox]

I got an article on this from a loader on another forum. Darnit if i don't have it handy. There is definitely data floating around in that range though. The article stated accuracy wasn't the greatest out of the tested handguns, but it wasn't a big sample. I think a p38, a 92f, and maybe a sig?

sounds like a fun project.

[kawalekm]

Hi Jon
I load my 9mm with Lyman's 358477 which casts out in my alloy to 154 grains. I load that with 6 grains of Blue dot. Very nice load. It looks silly with it's crimping grove sticking out, but it feeds well in my P89. I also have a Wather P1, but it proferrs 120 grain TC.
Michael