Probably a stupid question

[presspuller]

I was looking over the Midway site at the 9mm bullets. They have the .380, 9mm, .38 Super and .357 Sig all listed together.

Some of the 9mm bullets are .355 dia and some are .356, both for jacketed bullets. Why?

Same with the .380 bullets.

I don't need this confusion in my life.

 

[Mal H]

Nope, not a stupid question at all, although I'm not a fan of the blanket statement, "there are no stupid questions".

The answer is that there are different 9mm barrels in various pistols and revolvers. Some of the older ones (and a few newer ones) might require a larger diameter bullet than the nominal .355". Lugers and P-38's are some examples that might, but not always. When in doubt, a barrel should be "slugged" to determine its exact diameter.

In general, you can't go wrong ordering .355" jacketed bullets for most 9mm caliber reloading (and .356 in lead). 10 to 1, Midway's stock of .356 jacketed bullets is small compared to the stock of .355's.

One 9mm caliber to watch out for, however, is 9mm Makarovs. They usually require much larger "9mm" bullets, something like .364"

 

[rcmodel]

And it pays to know your bullets when you are ordering .357 SIG bullets.

Many traditional 9mm Luger FMJ bullet ogive's come back so far on the sides that the short SIG case-neck may not be able to hold them in place.

rcmodel

 

[ants]

There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

In addition to the fine advice above, please be aware that many retailers list products by specific caliber (380, 9mm, 38 Super, 357 Sig) even if they are all the same, simply because many customers look for specific products. So the retailer or catalog editor believes he is making it easier for us by listing the products in popular groups.

 

[Oberleutnant]

9mm bullets

Mahl H.:I just ckd Lee, es the Makarov has a .093/365"bullet. I hav used the Lee mold,es
the bullet werks vy well, in my Russian Makarov pistol, even in 2 using the 9mm parabellum
converted cases. they still werk vy well.-Charlie.........

 

[rcmodel]

please be aware that many retailers list products by specific caliber (380, 9mm, 38 Super, 357 Sig)

Some of them do that because the bullets are designed to expand at the performance level of the .380 ACP vis the 9mm Luger.

Also .38 Special viz .357 Mag bullets.

There are also .45 bullets designed to perform at .45 Colt velocity, and others designed to perform at .454 Casual/.460 S&W velocity.

IMO: Midway is doing the new reloader a disservice by clumping them all together.

rcmodel