357 in 9mm

[nagantguy]

Now that I have jumped back into the 9mm game and will be casting for 2 pistols and and a rifle all the reading I’ve done here the concusses seems to be 357 diameter for most as 356’is to small . My question is before buying new molds; what 357/8 diameter molds have a good nose shape to feed in semi autos? Also If I went with a standard 356 mold couldn’t i PC up to size? These may sound like newbie questions but I’ve zero experience casting for 9mm and with a baby due in October cash isn’t in high surplus so I thought I’d ask the experts here first! Thanks!

[beagle]

The Lyman 356402 and the Lyman 356242 both shoot well in mine. The Lyman 358480 130 grain SWC will feed and is a good shooter but it requires just the right seating depth. These are in my High Powers./beagle

[Wheelguns 1961]

I have had the best luck with round nose and truncated cone. You can size down or pc up. If it were me, I would look for one in swappin and sellin or ebay. Just remember to double check prices at midway or elsewhere.

[Rcmaveric]

The round nose bullets were designed for reliable feading in semi autos. There are a couple othee nose profiles that will feed good. I think its a semi wad cutter or the truncated, shooting from the hip though on those.

A i use the Lee 356-125 in 4 different 9mm and the Lee 356 102 in 5 different guns. I havent been able to get PC to work in the 9mm category. I have a list of tricks to try, but i havent yet because lubbed works just fine.

Just sized to the biggest of the guns. You can pretty much use the largest bullet that will chamber. Then measure the seating depth on the guns and seat so that a bullet will be good for all them.

My revolver and compact 9mm both have tight chambers so they get used and case gadges.

Pc ing can add some diameter but it is really minute. I sized my 9mm bullets to 357. And call it a day.

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

[nagantguy]

Thanks guys!

[sigep1764]

Accurate makes a 356402 copy called the 358 120B. You can get it in 5 cavity and drop a lot of boolits. Mine drops .360 and 125 grains with wheelweight. Should be able to size for all three of your guns. Lots of people know I'm a fan of the Elco boolit from NOE as well. It is made to fit short leades in 9mm. It throws 150 in hollow point and 160 in solid for me.

[tazman]

Any round nose(RN) or truncated cone(TC) nose design should feed well in a semi auto and they do in mine.
I would recommend NOE molds for 9MM as they all consistently drop at .358 for me.
Lyman designs are good if they drop the size you need as are the standard lube groove Lee molds. Both of these brands can be problematic as to dropped size.
Using powder coating to increase the diameter of an undersize boolit can work well but can be problematic if the rifling in your barrel isn't deep enough to grip the boolit well.

[trapper9260]

I use mainly the molds for my 357 mag and size to fit the 9mm like tazman stated for what is best to use.I size and lube .I do not PC have not got into that.

[Thumbcocker]

Lee 125 rnfp or NOE 135 rnfp sized .358 over power pistol shoot well on all my 9mm.

[mdi]

I have a RNFP 125 gr mold from Lee (358-125-RF). I use it in my 38 Specials (3), My 357 Magnum, and my 9mms (3). It drops bullets about .359"+ with my "mystery metal" alloy and I size the bullets according to the gun I'm gonna use them in. In my 9mms I size to .357" for two of my pistols and .358"+ for my Tokerev...

[nagantguy]

I have a RNFP 125 gr mold from Lee (358-125-RF). I use it in my 38 Specials (3), My 357 Magnum, and my 9mms (3). It drops bullets about .359"+ with my "mystery metal" alloy and I size the bullets according to the gun I'm gonna use them in. In my 9mms I size to .357" for two of my pistols and .358"+ for my Tokerev...

This is one of the molds I’ve been looking at, thank you all for real world experience!

[LenH]

I have an old H & G #73 mold that was made for .38 Super, it cast a 147 SWC with a rather pointed nose. My brother experimented with these in his 9's and really liked them.
They were sized .358 in a Laithsmith die for a Star sizer and lubed with Tac-1. He said they worked like a champ.

[asmith80]

Right now, I use the Accurate 35-135z and the NOE 358-155 ELCO in both my 9mm and my 357 mag. I size everything to .358 because I have one gun, a Hi Power clone, that slugs to .356. That's the largest bore I have in all the guns that use those two molds. I've had most of my 9mms throated so I could seat to 1.14 OAL, but I have a few that chamber more reliably if I seat to 1.09 OAL, so all my 9mm gets seated to that.

Like others have said, to keep things simple I would size to the largest size you need for all the guns that would use that boolit, and for the 9mm seat to the shortest depth so that it functions in all your pistols. It would drive me nuts to have to keep track of which gun could use which ammo. It's much easier to just figure out which size fits all.

Also, if you're looking for a mold, shoot me a pm. I'm thinking of selling the two molds I'm using and going with something different

[farmerjim]

I have a RNFP 125 gr mold from Lee (358-125-RF). I use it in my 38 Specials (3), My 357 Magnum, and my 9mms (3). It drops bullets about .359"+ with my "mystery metal" alloy and I size the bullets according to the gun I'm gonna use them in. In my 9mms I size to .357" for two of my pistols and .358"+ for my Tokerev...

100% what I do. I shoot so many of them that I use 2 6 cavity molds for speed in casting.

[bedbugbilly]

I cast in a Lyman 358-242 and size to .357 - which is a RN. You might want to check and see what NOE has to offer as well. There are a number of good designs out there. I also have several of the NOE molds - sorry - I don't have my mold list handy to tell you what the mold numbers are. All cast well and the boolits they drop feed good.

Personally, I like to stay in the 120 ish grain weight but I have loaded some with a 140 ish grain weight and they shot well too. I have used RN and the Lee 356-120 TC which also worked well.

Lee molds are pretty inexpensive - a good source would be Titan Reloading which is a sponsor here. For around $20 a 2 cavity mold, you might want to get a couple of different designs and try them out to see what works best for you -then when you find one, see what Accurate, OE, etc. have that pretty much matches the design / weight you like and upgrade your mold to one o them. You could always sell your Lee molds on here and recover some of the cost.

[WebMonkey]

100% what I do. I shoot so many of them that I use 2 6 cavity molds for speed in casting.

+1
switched to the lee 358-125-rf for wife's 38spl snub and all my 9x19.

i powder coat using smoke's clear (my fav now)
i do size down for my 9mm though.

really like it in the g26 and the rock island 1911 gi style.

good luck

[Cherokee]

Lee 356-120 TC (not TL) is my 9mm bullet. 6C mold is best for quality and speed. I size to .357. So far, I've run about 40,000 thru my 9's.

[bangerjim]

All my Rn and TC boolits for 357 MAG work great in my several 9mm guns (semi pistols and carbines). You gotta watch the ramp in your guns to make sure a different profile will load & cycle.

I only buy 4-5-6 cav molds and do not mess with those 1 and 2 hole things Lyman seems to just love making. Time is money to me and I want to crank out TON of quality boolits during a casting session. And brass molds (NOE & MiHec) are the absolute best for quality and long life.

Now I can cast one size for 2 cals!!!!! GREAT!!!!


But it will be totally up to what your 9mm guns like to eat and not what you would like to do!

And......I PC everything I cast.

Bangerjim

[nagantguy]

Good stuff; yes I’m trying to simplify;as we shoot a lot of 38special 357 mag and max and now a ton of 9mm so I’m looking to find a boolit that will
Work in at least 3 of these. So far we’ve been shooting plentiful and cheap 9mm ammo lots of it Russian steel case, lots of federal bulk but it may not always be cheap and plentiful. If I could load all 9mm and 38 and plinking /varmint 357 with one boolit what a time saver! And I also
Agree that brass molds especially from MP are great !

[fredj338]

Depends on alloy & casting temp but most molds cast slightly larger than indicated size. Most of my 9mm molds, using range scrap & casting at 700deg, throw 0.357-0.358" bullets. I PC & then size after to 0.357" for every 9mm I shoot. Any RN or TC cone bullet should work in either 9 or 38. I like a crimp groove for revo so I would look for that.

[OTShooter]

I'm looking at going in the other direction... How does a bullet like the the Lyman 356402 do in .38 Spl?

[sigep1764]

As long as it is sized appropriately, it should shoot fine. I have the Accurate copy of that mold and have given some to a friend for 38 Special loads. Mine drops .360 and 125 grains. I would refrain from loading them hot as they have no provision for a roll crimp and recoil setback might be an issue.

[winelover]

No crimp groove, no problem. Use a 38/357 taper crimp die. I know RCBS offers one, cause I have one just for that purpose.

Winelover