Originally Posted by
williamwaco
Your alloy is plenty hard.
You do not need two alloys.
You may need two different loads.
Reread your post. If you are using .358 bullets in a .359 bore it is not likely to "be fine".
You do not mention your lube. Lube is more critical in the 9mm than any other handgun cartridge I have ever loaded.
The 9mm is the most prone to leading of any handgun cartridge I have ever loaded.
Fit and Lube are the most critical components. MUCH more important than alloy or hardness.
I strive for .002 to .003 over grove diameter. For me, that is .357 to .358.
I cast anything (alloy) I have available from BNH 10 to 13. Occasionally bur rarely BNH 14 to 15.
Fit is CRITICAL. Not your sizing diameter but your diameter when the pin hits the primer.
Pull a bullet from cases of different head stamps.
If you are worried about pulling a bullet from a live round, load a dummy. Load it exactly like your normal procedure but omit primer and powder.
You are very likely to find that some of them are significantly smaller than you thought.
The 9mm cases vary significantly in wall thickness and some will size your bullet down to .349 to .350 during the seating operation.
Oh yes. Did I mention that fit is critical.
The popular hard lubes do not work well in the 9mm ( for me). I like LLA or Lyman 50/50. The custom mixtures mentioned frequently here are excellent. I don't use them because I am too lazy to mix them.
If you have a hard lube you can sometimes get it to work by increasing your powder charge to maximum. I don't recommend that so I just don't use the hard lubes.
The perfect storm for leading is a hard, undersized bullet with a hard lube. ( Don't go there. )
If you are determined to make one load fit all guns. make a load that works with the .359 bore. Then if the overall cartridge diameter is small enough to enter the chambers of the others, it will probably work in the others too. BUT it must fit easily and loosely. Not just crammed in.