Best Auto loading pistol caliber for cast

[RyanJames170]

What do you guys think is the best overall caliber to load cast in an auto loading pistol?
Ie do you think 45ACP, or 9mm ect and why?

[35 Rem]

45ACP without a doubt. Larger caliber bullets are always easier to cast. Velocity is lower so that makes it more forgiving on alloy. Pressure is low which is good for cast. Also the availability of SP and LP brass gives you flexibility during these times of primer shortages.

[kungfustyle]

All will work if there is enough throat. You can or have someone ream out the throat and any just about any gun will shoot well. Problem is most of us are cheep and pick up range brass and reload with it. Range brass have different thicknesses, lengths etc. That makes it difficult to get to get everything lined up for a flawless day at the range. A chamber checker will help, but you have to go through the hassle of testing every round. If I had to vote, 45 ACP. I have noticed great results with a bullet shaped like this: https://noebulletmolds.com/site/prod...54-237-rn-ac4/ seating to the edge of the top driving band.

[WRideout]

Here is another 45 ACP fan. I was at the just-for-fun pistol league yesterday with my Star PD, and had great fun with a box of my handloads. Lyman 200 gr over Bullseye. Even in my lightweight gun recoil was manageable, and it is more accurate that I am able to use.

Wayne

[schutzen-jager]

45 acp 230 grain because of the larger diameter + weight -

[Barry54]

45ACP without a doubt. Larger caliber bullets are always easier to cast. Velocity is lower so that makes it more forgiving on alloy. Pressure is low which is good for cast. Also the availability of SP and LP brass gives you flexibility during these times of primer shortages.

This about sums it up. The only downside is 45 uses a little more lead, but using a cheaper alloy offsets that for me.

[dverna]

9mm for me. It allows me to have a "light" carry gun (Kahr) and a full size Glock when I can carry something bulkier. Having a few extra rounds in the magazine is a plus. The lower recoil allows a smaller "light" gun and it allows my fiance can use the same guns and ammunition. She bought a Sig 365 in 9mm and loves it. One self defence load for all our guns and one cast practice load. KISS

There is a slew of very effective and affordable jacketed bullets for self defense loads. I have never had to shoot anyone, so 100% of my rounds so far have been at paper and steel and 99% have been commercial cast bullets.

Brass is cheap $30-35/k. SP primers have been cheaper and easier to get during shortages. If you are buying lead, you get 56 124 gr bullets to the lb vs 35 200 gr - 60% more.

We added a 9mm carbine for home defense and critter control. In the carbine, 1250 fps with the 124 gr HP's gives us 430 ft-lb at the muzzle and 100 yard effective range.

[ioon44]

With .45ACP you can run 185 gr, 175 gr or 155 gr cast bullets to save on lead going down range.

[fivegunner]

Hand`s down 45ACP

[schutzen-jager]

9mm for me. It allows me to have a "light" carry gun (Kahr) and a full size Glock when I can carry something bulkier. Having a few extra rounds in the magazine is a plus. The lower recoil allows a smaller "light" gun and it allows my fiance can use the same guns and ammunition. She bought a Sig 365 in 9mm and loves it. One self defence load for all our guns and one cast practice load. KISS

There is a slew of very effective and affordable jacketed bullets for self defense loads. I have never had to shoot anyone, so 100% of my rounds so far have been at paper and steel and 99% have been commercial cast bullets.

Brass is cheap $30-35/k. SP primers have been cheaper and easier to get during shortages. If you are buying lead, you get 56 124 gr bullets to the lb vs 35 200 gr - 60% more.

We added a 9mm carbine for home defense and critter control. In the carbine, 1250 fps with the 124 gr HP's gives us 430 ft-lb at the muzzle and 100 yard effective range.

original poster was asking about cast + not jacketed bullets -

[SSGOldfart]

I'll go with the 45acp caliber just plain fun with a 200gr. SWC in a 1911 you can't go wrong.

[HWooldridge]

H&G 68 in 45 ACP. Accurate in most guns and will typically feed with a little bit of throating, sometimes none at all in some barrels.

[sureYnot]

I found 45acp to be easier to make happy. But, if you can make your 9mm happy, it's easier on your lead pile, and the brass grows on trees.
What you're willing to go through depends on what you need.
When I was single, I carried a .45. With a family, I figured the ability to suppress and facilitate escape might be better than putting d's in the dirt. So I switched to 9mm with almost 3x the ammo in the pistol and on the belt.
For a 9mm, mine was very cooperative. I understand some are not so much. I'd start with a cheap 2-cav Lee mold and see how it treats you and move to something better if it doesn't put up a fight.
Decide what you need. Then, do whatever it takes to bend it to your will. There's always a way. Cost sometimes outweighs the benefits. Years of reading this forum suggests I got lucky with my 9mm.

[Bigslug]

"Best" or "easiest"? Sometimes you might need to do a little homework, but there really isn't much difference between them if you do.

.45ACP is very forgiving if you aren't going to do that homework. There's very little mystery to it dimensionally, the dies easily accommodate jacketed or cast, and pretty much any alloy slightly harder than pure lead will work. Stick a lubed bullet of .452" on top of a reasonable powder charge and check the diameter of your taper crimp and hey - it usually works.

9mm hits many of us with the problem of the brass swaging our bullet down below nominal diameter creating a leading issue. The answer is simply expanding the brass slightly more with one of several options available - such as using a .38S&W sizing die (Lee is cheap and works). Once you understand that quirk, it's no harder to run the Dillon for 9mm than anything else.

If you get a Smith 52 or Colt Gold Cup in .38 Special, you've probably got one of the most accurate wadcutter guns in existence. There isn't much mystery to making a 148grain wadcutter shoot, but it's only a wadcutter gun and will never be anything else.

Would I deliberately choose the fairly intense 7.62x25 Tokarev as a cast bullet platform? No, but I wouldn't shy away from casting for one either.

So basically, I'm not going to define my pistol choices around cast vs. jacketed bullets. Pick the gun for whatever reason you need the gun for, start casting for it and address any issues as they arise

[Finster101]

I have had pretty good luck with 9mm, 45 ACP and 32 auto. I'd say pick a caliber you are happy with and go to town. Might there be a little learning curve? Yes, but once you find the right combo it is easy to keep a good supply of ammo in any caliber of your choice. If you are just starting out, then I would have to go with the majority that 45 ACP if the most forgiving but don't be afraid of going a different route.

[sureYnot]

These last two contributors nailed it.

[tejano]

Amigos, would one of you explain to this dummy how to use the 38 S&W sizing die for 9mm. Is it used in place of the 9mm resizing die? Thanks.

[sureYnot]

Amigos, would one of you explain to this dummy how to use the 38 S&W sizing die for 9mm. Is it used in place of the 9mm resizing die? Thanks.

Nobody does that. The expander is used because it reaches further into the case and helps prevent the brass from swaging down the bullet upon seating.

[Cheap Trick]

Ive cast 45 ACP for several decades but I think that the 38 Special is at least as easy and accurate. Ive been mostly casting 125 grain round-flat and I certainly use alot less lead plus, I don't have to search for my empties! In bear country I feel a certain security packing the 45's.
oops "auto loading" of course my 38 isn't a automatic.

[RyanJames170]

I have been thinking twords 45 ACP just because it could share a lot of molds with my 45 colt revolvers,
As far as 9mm vs 45ACP I think it’s a horse a peace both got there ups and downs but perhaps sharing bullets with my 45 colt revolver would be a big upside to it, I mean in average defensive shooting it would be more then sufficient, in the poo was hitting the fan world, ehh both are the wrong choice your much better suited to a rifle as Evan 5.56 hits harder