Any reason I can't or shouldn't do this?

You probably don't even need to size them. They're ok if a loaded round fits in your chamber with a little wiggle movement in the front.

You can size them if you want, but keep in mind that most 9mm barrels are not cut at exactly .355". Most are a bit larger, like .356" and .357".

the barrel on my browning hipower slugged out to .3575" groove diameter. i shot 358" diameter bullets in it all the time. just make sure your dummy round passes the plunk test.

luck,

murf

I'd load a few dummy rounds up and see if they fit the chamber.

If they do, I'd back off the load a little and try a few loaded cartridges out at the range.

I shoot only .357 boolits in my 9mm firearms.

As long as the bullet is not pinched by the throat, it will go down the barrel. I don't know how to quantify any pressures, but I do know, if the throat pinches the case neck, pressures spike. I would say, take some fired, unsized brass, and see if the bullet will drop in the case. That should be a clue whether there is enough chamber clearance.

You probably don't need to size those bullets. Give them a try with W231 or W244 and have some fun.

My M&P full size 9mm loves 38 special bullets. Go for it! Make sure you do the plunk test as CZ's are short throated. My bullet COL for my M&P runs around 1.072".

Start low and work up. Pleas let us know what happens.

ETA: you might come up with a really nice load!

The plating will be more likely to come off, not unlike when one overcrimps them but you won't know until you try it. I would start with a small test run, myself and place a target just a few feet in front of the muzzle, if it looks like this, I would abandon the idea.

slug your barrel to see what is the size is. make some dummy rounds to test fit. then work up your loads starting low.

I'm not sure the FP profile will feed; last time I tried a similar profile, it wouldn't. The COAL was too short after seating deep enough to plunk.

I'm also not sure you need to size them; plunk test to check.

bersaguy said:

So, 9mm projectiles for reloading are pretty scarce, so is there any reason I couldn't size some Berry's Plated 125gn .357 bullets down to .356 and load for 9mm ?

Click to expand...

• 0.357" bullets (38Super ??) would come closer to working than 0.358" for 38 cal. Is that simply the labeled diameter, or is that also the measured diameter ??
• I would not push these through a Bullet Sizer for fear that the plating would slough off the lead core.
• Usefulness would totally depend on the handgun you intended to use. Not all 9mm barrels slug to the same bore diameter.

bersaguy said:

They go thru the sizing die ok, and with them being plated soft lead, i don't see the .001 being a problem. But there is always the infinitely small possibility that I don't know as much as I think I do. They would be fired thru a CZ75-SP-01 if that is relevant. Figured it may be wise to tap the knowledge here before giving it a whirl.

Click to expand...

• The "Sizing Die" operates on only the empty cartridge case. Do you mean a Bullet Sizer or the Sizing Die ???
• Most SP-01 barrels slug to 0.3555"
• Upon firing you'll want to inspect the paper target for tiny holes indicating the copper plating is coming off the bullet.
• Are you using a Lee FCD ??? I could see the FCD re-sizing the bullet, and loosening the copper plating, which could create issues onto itself.

Hope this helps.
.

You mentioned sizing a plated bullet down .001" (that's one thousandths of a inch). I think what would happen is pushing a bullet through a die trying to reduce the diameter by .001" would not do much if any reduction. If the diameter was reduced, the "spring back" would negate any reduction. Plus many bullets, no matter how carefully they are sized, get started crooked and misshape the bullets. The bearing difference, the interference difference between .356" and ,357" is .0005" (how much more material will engage the bore/rifling).

I have only reloaded maybe 1,000 plated bullets and always used lead bullet data and reloading methods. I have had no problems with cutting the plating or "oversize" bullets raising pressure any more than my cast bullets, but for me at least, there was no advantage of plated over my cast so I stopped buying/shooting them. I'd say load them up, plunk 'em and choot 'em...

I am in the load and shoot camp.
As said, you are going to have to seat them deep enough to chamber.
My coated bullet vendor replaced his worn 124 gr moulds with the new and wonderful NLG type with a blunter nose. I had to seat them shorter to stay off the lands of my shortest throated barrel.

rfwobbly said:

• 0.357" bullets (38Super ??) would come closer to working than 0.358" for 38 cal. Is that simply the labeled diameter, or is that also the measured diameter ??

Click to expand...

They are intended for a 38/357 caliber = revolver.

rfwobbly said:

• Most SP-01 barrels slug to 0.3555"

Click to expand...

What are the diameters of the SP-01 barrels you have slugged?

fxvr5 said:

They are intended for a 38/357 caliber = revolver.

Click to expand...

I really like to see a crimp groove or cannelure on my revolver bullets. It is obviously simpler and cheaper to do without and depend on neck tension and a taper crimp. I have some coated bullets that do ok in .38 that way. I found yesterday that seated to book .357 length, I can roll crimp because the case mouth is out over the ogive. I am going to load some up and see how they shoot.

I have drawn a lot of jacketed bullets to size, but admittedly, I would have a lot of reservations about sizing plated bullets.

However, I would also be confident enough to develop a testing pathway, if the economic juice were with the particular squeeze I were attempting. Conversely, I expect to also be able to find a suitable alternative either by lucking out to find the .357” bullets will chamber and shoot fine, or find .355” plated bullets will shoot fine.

In theory, however, a thickly plated bullet may be less influenced by drawing than a standard, non-bonded jacketed bullet - and I’ve sized thousands and thousands of jacketed bullets. A thinly plated bullet may be compromised. Maybe I’ve been lucky, I haven’t had much springback from the published sizing die diameter, but I also haven’t asked jacketed bullets to draw more than 2thou per step - because feel far more resistance and bit of (irregular) springback when sizing 4thou per step.

Let me also add, how do you know that your measuring equipment is to calibration and more consistent than that of the manufacturer. A good manufacturer has a calibration lab, or pays contractors who periodically come in and calibrate measuring equipment to National Bureau of Standards. And, what do you have, some $20.00 Chinese dial caliper that you dropped 100 times in the five years you have had it?

This:

fxvr5 said:

You probably don't even need to size them.

Click to expand...

Ain't this the truth!

nevadabob said:

Make sure you do the plunk test as CZ's are short throated.

Click to expand...

bersaguy said:

So, 9mm projectiles for reloading are pretty scarce, so is there any reason I couldn't size some Berry's Plated 125gn .357 bullets down to .356 and load for 9mm?
/

Click to expand...

Plenty here...took 4 days to arrive. $29/500 either .356 or .357. https://summersenterprisesllc.com/product-category/hi-tek-9mm-2

Let me also add, how do you know that your measuring equipment is to calibration and more consistent than that of the manufacturer. A good manufacturer has a calibration lab, or pays contractors who periodically come in and calibrate measuring equipment to National Bureau of Standards.

Click to expand...

Even when all of my measuring tools required calibration stickers on them showing the last time they were tested and the next time they were due, to be used in production, I always tested them against standards or pin gauges. More valuable to me to know they are right on as I am using them for critical work than find out months later they have been reading incorrectly for an unknown amount of time. It only takes a few seconds to confirm before use and better to find them at the machine, as they exit one at a time and can be corrected, than when a bunch of finished parts fail QC.

bersaguy said:

Found my answer, there is indeed a reason I can't do this. Trying without sizing the plated bullets, even with as much of a mouth bell as I can get, I'm just tearing up the bullets when trying to seat them. Sized down to .356, they'll seat, but after pulling them out again, I can see a fair amount of distortion. It will feed and chamber fine, and would probably fire ok, and maybe I could adjust my dies better, or use a different set......or maybe I could use properly sized bullets. Found a place that had some 115gn gold dots, so I'll load some of those up. Also found 500 95gn JHPs at the bottom of my stash that I had bought a few years ago for 380. I'll try a few of those out and see how they run.

Click to expand...

Something else is wrong. A bullet .001" "too big" isn't going to make enough difference to even notice, not just when firing, but when assembling the rounds too. A .357" diameter plated bullet won't seat cleanly but a .356" bullet will? And visible distortion? No offence, but you need to recheck your methods and/or equipment...