If I'm only going to have 1 mold for 9mm to plink with is there a better option?

[gwpercle]

A little advice .
Get a mould that has a lube groove . You never know what going to happen ... be flexible , if a boolit has a lube groove you can :
1.) Powder Coat
2.) Conventional lube / size
3.) Tumble lube
4.) Pan lube

If you only going to have one 9mm ... leave all the lube options on the table ... one day maybe you can't powder coat ...then what ... your screwed , blued and tattooed .

You pays your money and takes you pick ... think about the options .
One day you just might wish you had listened to those who said ...lube groove can be your friend .
Gary

[mdi]

I have some 9mm NLG coated bullets, but I purchased those. I like to be able to use some molds/bullets for more than one caliber so I got the Lee 125 RF. I use it in my 9mms, 38 Specials and 357 Magnum. I also use this bullet PCed and the lube groove doesn't seem to make any difference and if I want to shoot nekkid lead, I'll just add some Caranuba Red to the grooves. I've only got 13 molds and with my alloy, my methods very few cast to the diameter of the mold "design". I've come close a few times,but most of the time the bullets drop .001"-.003" different than their designation so I size all my cast boolits...

I've never thought of using smaller bullets to save lead so, (and you math fellers can corrct my figgers, please) to save one pound of lead you would have to cast 700 115 gr bullets instead of 125 gr. bullets...

[derek45]

I have this one, and like it a lot.

lighter bullets use more powder, and I've found 124-147 shoot more accurately for me than 115gr


https://noebulletmolds.com/site/shop...2-5-cavity-pb/




.
.
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yes, the 9mm can shoot.

[Stopsign32v]

A little advice .
Get a mould that has a lube groove . You never know what going to happen ... be flexible , if a boolit has a lube groove you can :
1.) Powder Coat
2.) Conventional lube / size
3.) Tumble lube
4.) Pan lube


Gary

Yep, I was also thinking this!

[Stopsign32v]

I've never thought of using smaller bullets to save lead so, (and you math fellers can corrct my figgers, please) to save one pound of lead you would have to cast 700 115 gr bullets instead of 125 gr. bullets...

You also have to factor in more powder. So in theory a 100gr boolit over a 125gr boolit, you will get 1 free boolit per 4 casts. That adds up...

[Walks]

As much as I Love the Lyman #356402, these days I use the Lee # 356-125-2R. The 6cav puts out a lotta bullets in a hurry. At half the price of an MP mold. Of course it's nowhere near the quality of an MP, N.O.E. or Accurate mold.

[Burnt Fingers]

I have that MP mold. I cast thousands of them. I shoot thousands of them. For me, it's been a VERY accurate boolit.

I use Hi-Tek to coat them. My mold is the .359 and I size to .357.

IMO it's the best possible 9mm mold.

[Blkpwdrbuff]

I use the Lee 356-120TC in my 9mm, .38 Super and 9X23.
It does everything I need.
Blkpwdrbuff

[dverna]

A little advice .
Get a mould that has a lube groove . You never know what going to happen ... be flexible , if a boolit has a lube groove you can :
1.) Powder Coat
2.) Conventional lube / size
3.) Tumble lube
4.) Pan lube

If you only going to have one 9mm ... leave all the lube options on the table ... one day maybe you can't powder coat ...then what ... your screwed , blued and tattooed .

You pays your money and takes you pick ... think about the options .
One day you just might wish you had listened to those who said ...lube groove can be your friend .
Gary

You are absolutely correct.

I have never understood the NLG bullet as I see no advantages to it but only downsides. If the SHTF I can cast bullets over a wood fired stove if I had to, and lube them without needing power.

As to having one bullet for 9mm, I would listen to some of the fellows who have suggested a bullet that can be used effectively in both the 9mm and .38/.357. That seems more of a benefit than saving 10-25 gr of lead.

If lead costs are your main concern one of the 92 gr /380 bullets would be as light as you can go. There are loads in the Lyman handbook for them.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I bought the MP 93gr HP also casts 95gr solids.

Great for .380 auto or 9x19.

If you are shooting a carbine you'll really get a lot of speed and power out of the lighter bullets.

With my Sub 2000 chambered in 9mm I was getting 1,694fps with a 90gr pill.

[gwpercle]

You are absolutely correct.

I have never understood the NLG bullet as I see no advantages to it but only downsides. If the SHTF I can cast bullets over a wood fired stove if I had to, and lube them without needing power.

As to having one bullet for 9mm, I would listen to some of the fellows who have suggested a bullet that can be used effectively in both the 9mm and .38/.357. That seems more of a benefit than saving 10-25 gr of lead.

If lead costs are your main concern one of the 92 gr /380 bullets would be as light as you can go. There are loads in the Lyman handbook for them.

I have found that the NOE 358-124-TC GC does a great job in ;
(sized .357") 9mm Luger - 9mm Super and 9mm Largo

(sized .358") 38 Special , 38 Special +P , 357 Magnum and 357 Herrett .

I had all 4 cavities cut for gas checks ... but I could have ordered it with 2 - PB & 2 - GC cavities .
I have many 38 special PB moulds so just went with gas checks on all . I use a soft BHN 8 alloy and the gas checks allow 1000 + fps . A very versatile boolit that can cover a lot of territory !
The Truncated Cone design feeds well in lever action rifles too .
Gary

[AndyC]

As much as I Love the Lyman #356402, these days I use the Lee # 356-125-2R.

What follows is not to knock your choice at all - just a small caveat that I discovered when I had that mold:

That bullet has a (relatively) long shank before the ogive starts - while in most pistols it should work fine, for those with a short leade in the chamber like CZ and others, it will require seating the bullet deeper in order to clear the throat. I sent my CZ barrel to DougGuy here on the forum and now it runs fine, but I have found that that bullet will not chamber (when seated to a normal OAL) in a number of friends' pistols when I tried to gift them some ammo (A Walther, 2 Shields and so on).

Rather annoying and made me look like an incompetent reloader (try to explain leade vs ogive to someone new to guns or who doesn't handload). I finally sold that mold and got an MP mold instead.

[gwpercle]

What follows is not to knock your choice at all - just a small caveat that I discovered when I had that mold:

That bullet has a (relatively) long shank before the ogive starts - while in most pistols it should work fine, for those with a short leade in the chamber like CZ and others, it will require seating the bullet deeper in order to clear the throat. I sent my CZ barrel to DougGuy here on the forum and now it runs fine, but I have found that that bullet will not chamber in a number of friends' pistols when I tried to gift them some ammo (A Walther, 2 Shields and so on).

Rather annoying and makes me look like an incompetent reloader (try to explain leade vs ogive to someone new to guns or who doesn't handload).

I have that mould (Lee 356-125-2R) and AndyC is right on . Very sensitive to throat or lack of throat ...some newer compact 9mm's have little or none and must be deep seated ... If you powder coat it , things just get worse , plan on getting your barrel throated ...
The Lee 356-120-TC is much easier to work with and my choice for a plain base 9mm boolit ,
I got it to work in 4 different pistols without getting any of them throated ...
The Lee 356-125-2R would only work in 2 full sized pistols a Walther P-38 and Barretta 92F and that was conventional lubricated ... not powder coated.
Gary

[Bigslug]

As to having one bullet for 9mm, I would listen to some of the fellows who have suggested a bullet that can be used effectively in both the 9mm and .38/.357. That seems more of a benefit than saving 10-25 gr of lead.

Hmmm. . .in the group buy that led to the creation of the NOE/Ranch Dog .45 ACP bullet, one of the players suggested turning the front tumble lube groove into a crimp groove. What we ended up with was this:



You could just as easily request the same treatment from Accurate Molds for any of the 9mm pattern slugs. A 130-140 grain projectile would give you a medium-heavy 9mm and a light-medium .38/.357. A .3585"-.359" sized down with the option of heat-treating for hardness would be a pretty versatile thing.

Something in profile LIKE the 35-130A - maybe a touch heavier - with the nose similarly stepped down, but the front driving band tapered to take the crimp of a revolver's case. Some tweaking of nose diameter to clear a 9mm's throat and bore ride, and I think you've be golden.