What TRICKS are needed to successfully reload cast 9mm?

[Super Sneaky Steve]

For soft lead I find using a gas check with PC helps a lot. With both you can use pure soft lead.

Otherwise, depending on your barrel you may have fitment issues with the wider ogive. In that case look for a boolit with a smaller nose.

Like this lee TL design. Load flush to the shoulder.

[murf205]

Personally, I i’ve never had an issue loading cast in 9 mm. I can’t tell you how many thousands I cast (various different molds ), loaded, shot, out of multiple firearms. I size to 356, have superb accuracy, zero leading, out of multiple firearms, with various different boolets. My alloy is wheel weights, with a little tin added to help fill out. I have completed the NRA pistol marksmanship course all the way up to and including distinguished expert using my 9 mm Ruger SR9 with Cast Boolets. I don’t consider that some outstanding achievement it’s just some thing that I’ve done. After reading a plethora of posts about the problems that some people have loading nine I guess I’m extremely lucky I don’t know. I’m just never found it to be a problem.

You might be lucky and then you might just be using the right gun. I, too was a lot apprehensive when I started the 9mm journey and it was from all the bad press this round gets. Like you, I use an SR9 and this thing will eat anything you can stuff in it, even 150 gr swc boolits traditionally lubed. I bought a 500 rnd box of Magnus 147 gr BB boolits and they are soft but they don't lead in my gun. I use a full snort Blue Dot load and that may be helping to obturate but the crimp I use is just a touch right at the case mouth.
Stopsign, load it and shoot it. You might not have as much of a problem as you think but 'ya gotta' start somewhere.

[armoredman]

Well I assumed 9mm casting reloading would be pretty straight forward but apparently from my researching it is anything but that!

So before I start I'm wondering what are some of the tricks you guys have come across that make it easier? The main issue I have been reading is of course you size your lead bullets to .357-3

So far in another thread of mine a member stated his eureka moment was when he started using .38 S&W full length sizing die. I have one on the way but last night I started wondering, what will a, we will call it larger full length sizing die do to help this issue? I could understand a larger expanding die helping but what will a full length sizer do?

Then of course I've read people are using the Lee SE1699 expander plug for .38 S&W. In smaller suggestions I also saw 9x18 Makarov suggestions.


Anyways so the stage is for you guys. I'm really hoping to get some knowledge here and enjoy the journey of 9mm casting.

I'm a little lost - I have been using the Lee 4 die carbide set forever, (the name is starting to wear off!), with the Lee 124gr 356 2R Tumble Lube boolit, sized to .356 after powder coating and I don't have any troubles, even loading in my CZ short chambers, loaded to 1.095 COAL. I wouldn't have ever dreamed of using any other sizing die at all. The only difference between cast and jacketed is flaring the case a TOUCH more, that's it. I have used this boolit in this manner in a bunch of different pistols and pistol caliber carbines without issue.

[mike_kaleigh]

I have had good luck when i switched to noe HTC356-135-RF-AH2 and Lyman Stainless Pro 4-dies (I have a rl1100). Also when I size brass if i get one the pieces of brass is hard to size I immediately chuck it in recycling, I have found out work hardened brass sizes the bullet down. Also I seat the bullet out as far as I can and kiss the rifling.

btw I size to 356, hitek and use ww/pure alloy, and use hornady oneshot when i size bullets (smooth side bullet size harder)

good luck

[Huskerguy]

One additional item is actual mold.... I have tried most every mold I can for 9mm, and the one that always shows most accurate and repeatable is this one:

Miha designed this one up himself, and while it looks a bit ugly in the hand, its a GREAT performer. wibsite says it's a 135g but they always come in around 140.5g for me with RR.

https://www.mp-molds.com/product/359...6-cavity-mold/

Lakehouse2012 - I have been looking for the magic bullet for 9mm. I have multiple options and a lot of them for plated bullets, primarily Berry's. Just finished using up all the FMJ's I had laying around. I have an NOE truncated mold 358-124 TC I am starting to work with. It shoots great in my Ruger Carbine but then so does everything I run down the pipe. I have an M&P 147 grain HP that drops heavier than that and working on those loads. The bullet does look at bit odd at first but I am always on the hunt for the most accurate bullets for anything I shoot. For 38/357 I am down to a SAECO 148 WC that shoots great in my model 66 for league and a RCBS 258-150KT. When I find the magic, I stick with it and make a bunch. I think it must also make a difference that I shoot all CZ's in my 9mm and finding the niche is a trick. Now you have me thinking! What powder and OAL are you running? I am a fan of W231 with Titegroup second and have CFE Pistol as well. Thanks in advance

[Lakehouse2012]

Lakehouse2012 - I have been looking for the magic bullet for 9mm. I have multiple options and a lot of them for plated bullets, primarily Berry's. Just finished using up all the FMJ's I had laying around. I have an NOE truncated mold 358-124 TC I am starting to work with. It shoots great in my Ruger Carbine but then so does everything I run down the pipe. I have an M&P 147 grain HP that drops heavier than that and working on those loads. The bullet does look at bit odd at first but I am always on the hunt for the most accurate bullets for anything I shoot. For 38/357 I am down to a SAECO 148 WC that shoots great in my model 66 for league and a RCBS 258-150KT. When I find the magic, I stick with it and make a bunch. I think it must also make a difference that I shoot all CZ's in my 9mm and finding the niche is a trick. Now you have me thinking! What powder and OAL are you running? I am a fan of W231 with Titegroup second and have CFE Pistol as well. Thanks in advance

You wouldn't be disappointed...

I have been running cfe pistol (8lber) for the last few years, it's a consistent but smokey. 3.6g put be safely into 125 power factor, usually 130-132 PF. 930FPS is my goal.

Sent from my SM-A526U using Tapatalk

[dearslayer]

Following this thread closely as I'm having an issue with my Lee expander not creating enough flair for my cast 9mm . It does create a flare but when I seat them sometimes it does scrape the powder coat and it gathers along the edge of the case. I think mostly because it doesn't sit straight enough at the beginning of the seating process. I have the adjustment as much as possible but it's still not enough. I tried to find the Lee 38S&W powder through expanding plug here in Canada but no luck with it in stock. Ordering from Lee in the US will cost me $20.00 USD plus the price of the plug. Converted in CDN funds it will be about $30 to get the $3.00 plug to my door. I will continue my search.

[gwpercle]

Following this thread closely as I'm having an issue with my Lee expander not creating enough flair for my cast 9mm . It does create a flare but when I seat them sometimes it does scrape the powder coat and it gathers along the edge of the case. I think mostly because it doesn't sit straight enough at the beginning of the seating process. I have the adjustment as much as possible but it's still not enough. I tried to find the Lee 38S&W powder through expanding plug here in Canada but no luck with it in stock. Ordering from Lee in the US will cost me $20.00 USD plus the price of the plug. Converted in CDN funds it will be about $30 to get the $3.00 plug to my door. I will continue my search.

Get a NOE Expander Plug ... of the proper size ! Tell them your boolit size and they will advise as to correct expander size .

NOE Boolit Mould 358-124-TC (Truncated Cone)- GC (Gas Check) ... the secrete is the gas check... it helps protect the boolit base during seating and you can cast them of a softish alloy and shoot them over 1000 fps with no leading .
I know we all are supposed to hate gas checks but with the 9mm Luger it helps a lot !
Gary

[Willie T]

I cast and load two bullets for 9mm. Lee 125 round nose and a gas checked NOE truncated cone. I size to .357. Both shoot good. The NOE does not require as much attention to detail and is the more accurate of the two. The Lee is a longer bearing surface and without the gas check it requires more attention to details setting up to load. If you are concerned about 9mm issues you have read about, go back to basics. Take the barrel off your pistol. Make a dummy round and load one long. Taper crimp the case mouth to .381 O.D. (SAAMI) so you know it will fit. Color the projectile with a magic marker. Push it in the chamber and take it out. It will have marks from the lands in the magic marker. Seat a few thousands deeper, color and repeat until it will chamber freely without touching the lands. Measure OAL. Subtract .010-.020 or whatever distance you desire for jump to the lands. Write that down. This is your max OAL. Pull the bullet. Resize and expand the case. Seat a new bullet to your OAL. No taper crimp. Pull the bullet and measure diameter again. If it is smaller, screw the expander in a bit more. Repeat till you can seat and pull the the bullet without swaging down the diameter or scraping off your P.C. Measure the I.D. Of the case. Write that down. This is your minimum case mouth expansion. With a sized and expanded case, seat a new bullet. Gradually screw the taper crimp die down till it will plunk. Measure the case mouth diameter that plunks and write it down. Pull the bullet. Measure diameter to see if the bullet swaged down smaller. If bullet diameter is still what you seated, you are good to go. If it swaged down, measure the case wall thickness at the mouth. Double the case wall thickness and subtract from the cartridge mouth diameter that plunked. That will give you the bullet diameter that will chamber in that case. Use this to adjust where you have room to adjust. If it is just .001 you may be able to size the bullet .001 smaller. If it is more you may need to use cases with thinner walls. It is a little work on the front side but it will eliminate any issues before you have any issues.
Willie

[MT Gianni]

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...s-in-a-new-9mm

[Petander]

What Lakehouse said above works for me too.

I used to shoot heavy (158) subsonic cast in suppressed carbines. I went through all those large expander and alloy and mold "tricks" etc.

Now I use a Mihec 135 bevel base NLG mold to get standard 9mm ammo. I PC and size .357. And load with the little Dillon Square Deal press, all standard. No tricks. Everything is easy and shoots clean and nice.

[Soundguy]

Lee makes a universal expander too...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I had a custom insert made for my Lee 9mm Powder-thru expander die.
It's not as fat as the 38 S&W, but it's longer than the 9mm insert ...something I found is just as important.
I use boolits sized to .357

[bedbugbilly]

A cartridge gauge for the 9mm is a handy thing to have on your bench to check your loaded rounds.

And don't forget to load a few dummy rounds and do a plunk test on your individual pistol - cycle the dummy rounds to make sure they cycle as well.

I also changed my expanding plug out like so many others. I have used 120ish grain truncated style and 120ish grain RN Ideal/Lyman 358-242 - sized to .356 and tumble lubed - never had a leading issue - knock on wood.

Will note my experience but may not apply to others. My first 9mm was a Ruger SR9 - a great pistol IMHO. It shot and cycled a 120is grain truncated or RB over 3.5 gr of Bullseye very well. When I got my S & W Shield, it wouldn't cycle with 3.5 gr of BE, but did very well with 3.7 gr of BE - so I changed my loading to 3.7 gr of BE for both the SR9 % Shield and it worked very well out of both pistols. I added a Glock 26 and the same load works well out if it as well. My point in mentioning this is that if you are loading for more than one pistol - when you work up your loads, don't assume the same loading will cycle well in each pistol.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Soundguy]

Agreed on the cartridge test blocks. I have the Lyman one that does ? 6 different cartridges
Nice easy check for drop in/ drop out..and you know you are good.

[dearslayer]

Get a NOE Expander Plug ... of the proper size ! Tell them your boolit size and they will advise as to correct expander size .

NOE Boolit Mould 358-124-TC (Truncated Cone)- GC (Gas Check) ... the secrete is the gas check... it helps protect the boolit base during seating and you can cast them of a softish alloy and shoot them over 1000 fps with no leading .
I know we all are supposed to hate gas checks but with the 9mm Luger it helps a lot !
Gary

Well I did reach out to NOE this morning and they did reply with a suggestion. Unfortunately given the fact that I live in Canada it seems that ordering the proper expander plug for $24 US dollars and having it shipped to me which would cost another $48 US dollars would make it almost cost prohibitive. I'm talking close to maybe $80 or more Canadian to have it sent to my door. I'm not aware of any Canadian dealers for NOE. $40 I think I'll pass and try to come up with another solution.

[pworley1]

While there are a few tricks, 9mm isnt that difficult.

Items that work for me...: (NOTE- I am a USPSA and Steel Challenge competitor, so I have a favorite mold that I have stuffed probably +20,000 into cases)

1) Sizing projectiles at .357
2) Bevel Base mold, whether you are PC or Hitek coat, its a fairly delicate material loading into the case. BB is a huge advantage to start the process.
3) minimum bell mouthing, almost non-existent flaring of the case mouth.
4) I use a standard 9mm resize/deprime die in a progressive press. When you get around to putting projectile in, you will see case bulge. All testing I've done over the years, when I pull projectiles, they are staying at .357.
5) my lead isnt all that hard, usually 12-13brn. Typically I use range recovery and naturally is comes in around there.

Case bulge isnt an issue. While it may not look pretty, but is not affecting the shot. Keeping the interface tight is more important to me then looks. Going the other direction- with a larger sized brass and a looser connection risks gas bypass and inconsistent pressures and velocity.

Hope this helps,

Everything he said except I use this mold LEE 6 Cavity Bullet Mold 90457 356-125-2R and size .358 after powder coating.

[Soundguy]

Sounds like a tapered center punch may be the cheap method..

[Assnolax]

The only hiccup i had on 9mm cast boolits was was the stock dillon expander was shaving lead. Swapped to the photoescapeinc pdu/mr bullet feeder powder die. been gravy ever since.

[higgins]

I have pulled many PC bullets from 9mm cartridges picked up at the range. I'd estimate 50% of them have the PC scraped off to some extent so be sure to expand enough to avoid that when seating. I'll bet most of the people who loaded these scraped bullets had no idea they were doing it.