Dumb Question: .38 Wacutters in 9mm Luger?

[VariableRecall]

Thanks to some patience, I've finally got my hands on a Lee 148gn Six cavity Wadcutter mold thanks to Midway USA! While I'm excited to give it a whirl once I get the chance to cast them, an incredibly dumb question has arisen in my mind.

I've got a Hi-Point C9 with very few Boolits in my inventory. The other mold I have remaining is my Lee 105gn SWC mold that's perfectly adaptable to both .38 and 9mm. So, I had noticed that the heaviest 9mm loads I've seen were around 148gn, which is right on point for the grain weight of my new wadcutter mold.

Is it possible to load 148gn .38 Special Wadcutters into 9mm Luger brass? SAAMI specs for Boolit length are quite strict. Not to mention, the .38 wadcutter is almost as long as the 9mm brass, and the whole gamut is supposed to be headspacing on the case mouth in comparison to its .38 Special cousin. I honestly thing the biggest nail in the coffin would be the fact that magazines for 9mm are tapered towards the front, which may make even loading them into a magazine impossible as well.

Honestly I'm not going to try it on a whim, as I know this is a very strange gamble. I'd just like to know if anyone's tried it, and if they were successful in doing so.

[tazman]

The throats on most semi automatic 9mm pistols will not allow a wadcutter to be seated out of the case far enough to make it practical even if the cartridge would feed through the action.
Most 9mm boolits are either stepped so the nose goes inside the rifling or tapered which accomplishes the same thing. Very few barrels have enough freebore in front of the chamber to allow a full wadcutter to chamber if any of the boolit is outside of the case.

That said, the wadcutters work just fine in 9mm revolvers. I have used them in my S&W 929 with good results.

[smkummer]

Find yourself a qood 38 special revolver to go with that mold and life will be good. No more looking for empties. I finally wore out my 6 cavity lee 9mm mold and can’t find another unless I am going to pay double. I used to shoot well over a 1000 rounds of wadcutters made from that same brand 6 cavity mold a year. I am down a bit because of primers now but I have 2 30 cal ammo cans loaded with that bullet and 3 grains bullseye.

Oops, looks like your avitar is a 38 special S&W.

[Thumbcocker]

In addition to feeding issues the seating depth could do bad things with pressure.

[bangerjim]

38 wads do not work well in 9mm! As stated above there are several thing there that can cause troubles, depending on your 9mm and it's internal geometry. And then there is always the problem of downsizing a tad from 38 to 9mm sizing....again depending on what your 9mm gun likes. 9's are very tricky on the ramp. I finally found 3 molds that yield boolits my 9's like to eat. 2 others...............not so much.

[Burnt Fingers]

38 wads do not work well in 9mm! As stated above there are several thing there that can cause troubles, depending on your 9mm and it's internal geometry. And then there is always the problem of downsizing a tad from 38 to 9mm sizing....again depending on what your 9mm gun likes. 9's are very tricky on the ramp. I finally found 3 molds that yield boolits my 9's like to eat. 2 others...............not so much.

I can size to .358 and use them in both.

[tazman]

I can size to .358 and use them in both.

I have a couple of 9mm handguns that will accept boolits sized to .360. I have others that will accept nothing larger than .357.
It all depends on the chamber dimensions of that particular gun.

[bangerjim]

I can size to .358 and use them in both.

You are lucky to have guns that will accept cross-overs. Many will not!

It all depends on the throat, ramp, and barrel. So be warned out there, this does not ALWAYS work with ALL guns!!!!!!

Been there - - - done that.

[Cargo]

I pm'd you about a lee 6-cavity

[VariableRecall]

You are lucky to have guns that will accept cross-overs. Many will not!

It all depends on the throat, ramp, and barrel. So be warned out there, this does not ALWAYS work with ALL guns!!!!!!

Been there - - - done that.

It was mainly just a thought experiment. As more and more people respond, the utter stupidity of shoving a full sized .38 Wadcutter into some poor 9mm luger cartridge just gets worse and worse.

While I'm certain that my Model 10-5's going to love those wadcutters, let's save the wadcutters for the cartridge it was actually designed with!

[frkelly74]

They will not feed well in my G2c but my high point carbine eats them up.

[smkummer]

It was mainly just a thought experiment. As more and more people respond, the utter stupidity of shoving a full sized .38 Wadcutter into some poor 9mm luger cartridge just gets worse and worse.

While I'm certain that my Model 10-5's going to love those wadcutters, let's save the wadcutters for the cartridge it was actually designed with!

Yes, now your talking!

[onelight]

I haven't even tried but I can say with out a doubt a 148 grain WC will not work in any of the 9mm pistols I own now or have ever owned . A 9mm revolver why not give it a try but not in any of my semi auto handguns.

[VariableRecall]

They will not feed well in my G2c but my high point carbine eats them up.

So you have stared into the belly of the beast and tried that out? As a C-9 owner those magazines don't seem very compatible with a boolit that's so long and flat. Would you seat them about halfway, then?

[Jniedbalski]

I have the lee wc 358-148 . I need to try and see if they will load single shot first. My high point likes .357 but .358 will some times not go all the way and chamber. My beretta and star 9 mm like .358 .359 . My stars are throated from the factory for lead bullets. They might actually work and chamber. Wanted to melt some lead today because Iam out of most of my cast. Every weekend Iam off it rains. Almost got started today and a big storm is headed my way. My son lives 30 miles west of me and said it’s poring and hailing. I put my casting and pot/ burner up for I hope tomorrow

[onelight]

A WC would not plunk in mine a full diameter bullet even .020 would prevent most of mine from plunking .
A SWC has to be seated with the shoulder a thumbnail above the case mouth , or it won't go into battery.

[Mk42gunner]

Best advice I can give for any non standard case/ projectile combo is to make up a few dummy rounds and check chambering and feeding.

Also be very careful regarding seating depth, the 9mm case is very small and it doesn't take a lot of increased seating to increase pressures to the dangerous level.

Robert

[Thumbcocker]

If you want one boolit to work in 9mm and .38 special; i have had good results with the Lee 125 rnfp sized .358. A plus is that it shoots to sights in model 10s.

[onelight]

If you want one boolit to work in 9mm and .38 special; i have had good results with the Lee 125 rnfp sized .358. A plus is that it shoots to sights in model 10s.
This type bullet is a much better choice for use in both.

[tazman]

If you want one boolit to work in 9mm and .38 special; i have had good results with the Lee 125 rnfp sized .358. A plus is that it shoots to sights in model 10s.

I agree. I regularly use it in both 9mm and 38 special.
I have used the NOE 155 TC(ELCO) in both as well. The drawback is the lack of a crimp groove for 38 special use.
When I use the 155TC, I crimp into the side of the boolt as much as it will let me. I haven't had any of them move yet but it could certainly happen.

[Harter66]

I have a 358432 . The WC with about .1 out of the case . I started with 38 short data and worked from there . The 9mm I had , 2 of them , would both feed empty cases .
Low recoil , full function , round holes , little groups , about 800 fps .

[highpower223]

I agree. I regularly use it in both 9mm and 38 special.
I have used the NOE 155 TC(ELCO) in both as well. The drawback is the lack of a crimp groove for 38 special use.
When I use the 155TC, I crimp into the side of the boolt as much as it will let me. I haven't had any of them move yet but it could certainly happen.
I am loading for a 9mm revolver. I am using 115 gr wadcutters sized to .356. I'm starting with 2.0 gr of WW231, should be safe. Any tips?

[GhostHawk]

Another vote for the Lee 125 here. Shoots great in all my 9mm guns have loaded them as large as .359 as cast. I like the big flat front as well. But the bullet has enough ogive to load well in everything I've shot it in.

9mm's can be extremely variable size wise from small and tight to big and sloppy.

My Hipoint c9 from the pawn shop keyholed until I switched to .38 special molds. Groups went from shotgun patterns to 8 rounds inside a soda can bottom sized circle.

PS Rock Island Armory M200 or 206 are pretty nice very affordable .38 special 6 shot revolvers.
Nothing to write home about looks wise, but solid and dependable and should be able to find one for 200-250$

[Bigslug]

I've got some pretty grave doubts. . .

One of the auto misfeeds I see a lot at work is caused by varying degrees of weak mag spring or limp-wristing - often both together. As the pistol rotates upward in recoil, the rounds in the magazine effectively stay in place via their own inertia. This has the result of the rounds nose-diving and impacting the front wall of the magazine instead of the feed ramp. This is with what amounts to truncated cones or duty hollowpoints. Now imagine the same problem with no taper AT ALL on the bullet's nose.

All of that has to not happen BEFORE the round hits the ramp, noses up, hits the top of the chamber (think also of the edge at the throat), , noses down and fills the throat. I had a brief fling with loading the Keith 452423 .45 Auto Rim SWC bullet into 1911's - and yeah, it can be done, but it was a clear case of "exceeds design parameters".

Take a look at the NOE TL357-135RF or it's Accurate equivalent, the 35-135D if you want blunt force trauma in a 9mm bullet.

306627

[tazman]

I am loading for a 9mm revolver. I am using 115 gr wadcutters sized to .356. I'm starting with 2.0 gr of WW231, should be safe. Any tips?

It would depend somewhat on the individual revolver. My S&W 929 headspaces off the moon clips rather than the case mouth. It has no ledge for the case to run into.
This means I can load any boolit out to the end of the cylinder in theory. It works in practice with the boolits I have used.
For a revolver, pretty much any boolit that can be used in a 9mm case will work.
I don't have any experience with the particular boolit you mentioned here in a 9mm case. I used some in 38 special and they worked well.
I see no reason they would not work well in a 9mm revolver.