Seating depth/charge

[holsterguy]

Want to try to make a bullet that I have work in an FEG hi power. The bullet is a TL356-124TC. Near as I can tell, it's going to have to be loaded all the way to the top of the bands, with only the nose sticking out. Do you think I can safely use start data and work up, or should I reduce. (Thinking about HP38 or Unique). By the way it's just for plinking.
Thanks in advance.

[wmitty]

I used this boolit in a Browning h.p. and 700 X starting load and it seemed to do o.k. except for one that keyholed on a 15 yard target. I didn't figure out why that one round keyholed, but I've read of others having the same problem with this design. I bumped a number of these as-cast slugs up to .358 using an old CH Swag-o-matic press, but haven't been able to shoot these to see if it improved the accuracy. I did load these with one band sticking out and had no problem with chambering or pressure as far as I could tell. Think you would be fine using Unique.

[holsterguy]

I got lucky in the fact that my mold drops at 358. I'm going to try them as cast. Got a 38 S&W expander for my Lee dies. Read a lot of good about it here.

[runfiverun]

try some dummy rounds through the magazine if they feed fine with no drama and come back out smoothly you have established your oal.
now look at where the base of the boolit is inside the case.
compare that to where other bullets bases sit in the case.
base your starting load off the difference.

[rsrocket1]

This is how I load my TL356-124-2R
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj96/rsrocket1/Shoot/Powder%20Coating/33fe14a0-faed-4ce4-af8a-1e3011aa981a_zpsxrmu9o4y.jpg

The seating depth is 0.187". If I seat the bullet to where the top of the top band is flush with the rim, the seating depth is 0.270"

It's the cartridge on the left. Yeah, the crimp is a little too aggressive with the dummy rounds, but they plunk fine.
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj96/rsrocket1/Shoot/85ab52e4-bfc5-49e2-b2bb-2b8d3a72bbb1_zpsaqx5asup.jpg

Fortunately, Unique is a low pressure, medium-slower burning powder that can tolerate a smaller volume better than a fast burning powder like Red Dot, Titegroup, Clays. I've been able to get decent velocities (1100+ fps) with Unique with the bullet seated to 0.27" without going over pressure. I choose 1100 fps as a goal with 9mm because I find that with that velocity, I get good positive ejection of the cases and not wimpy 6" flip ups, cases landing on my head or hitting me in the forehead.

Examples only, don't use as reloading recommendations
This is a test run I calculated with Quickload for various seating depths with this bullet and Unique
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj96/rsrocket1/Shoot/Beretta%2092fs/PMAX_MV_vs_SD_TL356-124-2R_zpsojwqdeai.png

It behaves quite well and does not go over pressure all the way to 0.27"

On the contrary, this is a run I did with Titegroup a few months back. The bullet was different (Lee 356-120-TC) and even lighter, but the numbers showed that I would be skating on the hairy edge if I seated to 0.27" and wanted 1100 fps.
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj96/rsrocket1/Shoot/Beretta%2092fs/4g%20Titegroup_SD_zps8djecllt.png

Because of this, I now only use a seat depth of no more than 0.2" when using Titegroup. With that depth, I can load up to 4.2g Titegroup and average 1138 fps out of my 4.9" Beretta 92fs. Hp38/W231 is somewhere between Titegroup and Unique and you might be able to get by with a deep seat but to be safe, Unique would be a better choice.

One problem with Unique at that charge and with that seat depth is that the powder will be compressed a bit. The good thing is that you will get better uniform ignition and no position sensitivity. I have had some chambering problems with denser powders being compressed in 9mm (notably 20/28). What happens is the base flares out very slightly. The cartridges will then fail the plunk test with my narrower S&W barrels, but pass in the wider Beretta barrel. So I did 2 things. First, I labeled the rounds "92fs only" and shot them all in that gun. Next, I avoided that load in the future. Unique is not only a bulky powder, it is a fluffy powder so I did not recall running into the bulging case problem, but you should plunk test all your rounds anyway just to be safe.

Hope that wasn't too much information.
Good luck.

[reddog81]

I know everyone these days seems to think 9mm needs .357 or .358 bullets but I have the best luck with .356. .356 gives me the best accuracy out of 4 different guns and has more reliable chambering. I powder coat my bullets so leading is not a concern for me.

[rsrocket1]

At first I would have disagreed with you reddog81 because a lot of times, people get leading from using too small a bullet but that is often from also using lower pressure loads. I thought I needed 0.358" bullets to fit in my 92fs which slugs at 0.357" but in fact the 0.356" sized PC bullets shoot just fine with no fouling and if there is any gas cutting, whatever is getting cut is not lead because it wipes clean with a dry piece of paper towel. I am also using straight reclaimed shotshell shot with virtually no tin so the combination of softness of the lead, pressure of the load and protection of the powder coat all work in my favor.