NOE mold .359 for 9mm and .38spl

[Nick Quick]

As title says I'm looking at a mold on NOE site. To be more specific is HTC359-129-TC-CD4 5 Cavity PB.
I was wondering if a bullet that drops out of a mold at .359 could be used for both 9mm and .38spl or even .357. The idea of a mold doing two jobs is awesome. The 129 grains is very decent for plinking for both 9mm and .38 spl.
Now I have few questions:
Would be any issue to size a bullet from .359 to .356 after powder coating or HTC ? I never tried sizing that much.
Any cons for a plane base bullet other than belling the brass mouth a hair more than the beveled base.
As I said I'm really flirting with the idea of having a mold for two calibers and I was wondering if my expectations are realistic or not.
Thank you

[Evoken]

You should have no problem sizing down. I cast the lee 356-120. It comes out 125 gr and I size down to .358 for .38 and .357 or .356 for 9 with the alloy I ise.

[Panman213]

I recently bought the NOE 358-125-TC from a member here in a 5 cavity. My alloy is mostly range scrap. Cast size is .359.5 to .360. once I add Powder coating now Im at .362 to .364. Ive been able to size them down to .356 but its not ideal. It took some coating off. However size to .357 or .358 is fine. Unfortunately, I bought that mold for its recessed nose profile hoping it would chamber in a 9mm with a tight throat. It does not help so it may go down the road.

[Green Frog]

In my experience, if you’re sizing down .003” or more you’re on the verge of bullet swaging. You’ll start to smear or close grease grooves and have other issues. You [U]can[/] do it, but I like to get my moulds close enough to proper size so that sizing just “kisses” the bullet and cleans up its roundness.
Froggie

[Nick Quick]

Thank y'all for input. Really helped your insights. God bless.

[nicholst55]

Thank y'all for input. Really helped your insights. God bless.

Talk to the folks at NOE and see what they recommend. Just a thought.

[gwpercle]

I use the NOE mould #357-124-TC GC to load 9mm Luger , 38 Super , sized at .357" ... 38 Special , 38 Special +P and 357 Magnum , sized at .358" .
I use a softish alloy (range scrap & COWW 50-50) so I had the mould made for a gas check . which allows for Pushing the boolits over 1000 fps with no leading .

Although the boolit doesn't have a crimp groove I just use my 9mm Luger seat / taper crimp die on the revolver loads ... they hold just fine , no creep even with nice 357 Magnum loads .

I like having double duty moulds ... it can work just fine , if you play your cards right .
Gary

[higgins]

If you slug the bore of your 9mm you may find that that the groove diameter is over the nominal .355. Many 9mms have .357-.358 grooves. I use the Lee 358-124-2R unsized with LLA. They drop from my mold about .359 and work well in my gun that has a .358 groove diameter.

[fredj338]

Likely the bullet drops fatter. So likely looking at 0.360+. While you can easily size down to 0.357, a better fit imo, more force than needed.

[fredj338]

If you slug the bore of your 9mm you may find that that the groove diameter is over the nominal .355. Many 9mms have .357-.358 grooves. I use the Lee 358-124-2R unsized with LLA. They drop from my mold about .359 and work well in my gun that has a .358 groove diameter.
This may be true for older manf guns but modern 9mm will be pretty much on. My oem glocks shoot 0.356” fine but i size to 0.357” just in case.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I size my boolits .357 for 9mm in my guns.
.358 or .359 for 38spl/357mag
.
While I am not a fan of using the "HTC" boolits, you will have no problem sizing that boolit for 9mm or 38 or 357M
good luck.

[20:1]

As mentioned earlier, many 9mm bores run .357-.358. Out of the four or five I have around here, only one is .356. These are all modern guns from large, reputable U.S. manufacturers with U.S. manufacturing plants. I'd suggest slugging your barrel in advance of ordering to help you determine your needs. I also size 9mm to ,357, but have also used .358 in the past. Once you know your bore dimensions you can make a dummy cartridge to make certain your chamber isn't undersized and you can chamber a cartridge with the bullet sized to the bore. Don't forget that powder coating will add to the bullet diameter as well.

[Divil]

In my experience Kimber, Colt and Aftermarket Glock 9mm barrels appreciate .356 boolits.

9mm Beretta, Browning, S&W, and a Girsan High Power clone appreciate .358 boolits.

[Bigslug]

I tend to regard the 9mm and .38 as "cartridges of quantity" that get cast for and loaded in large numbers to fill up large quantities of free range brass. Since you generally know how much brass you'll be trying to fill, you might as well be casting with the right bullet, and the cost of a mold for each is kinda small potatoes in the grander scheme.

However, if I was going to do something like what you suggest, I would go with a heavy-ish for 9mm and medium-ish for .38 bullet weight. I have really liked the 135 grain tumble lube NOE/Ranch Dog bullet dropping out of the mold at .357" for reliable feeding in 9mm. This design is available from Accurate as the 35-135D, and coming from that "custom order" source, it would be easy to request Tom bump the diameter up to .359" with your alloy and convert the front TL groove into a crimper for your revolvers. Size to .357" and you're good for the autos.

[armoredman]

I used the NOE 129gr .314 mold for 7.62x39mm for years, and I sized them down to .311 with no issue whatsoever.