9mm, best lead boolit weight for accuracy?

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Catpop

Catpop

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I've tried 115 lead round nose and was not terribly impressed with the accuracy. Is there a better weight for target practice? Maybe 124 or 147 or?? I think someone suggested a heavier boolit was better in the 9mm. Any experience here? I want to stay with lead if at all possible for accessibility and ecomonics. Also any powder suggeations?
 
Good quality ammo generally leads to better results, in other words you often get what you pay for. That being said I have found that even the least expensive steel cased east european ammo yields decent accuracy though its more likely to have an obviously light charged round. Hand loaded ammo just takes a lot more experimentation and search for proper bullet and load to match commercial performance. Usually I've found loads need to be hotter if using commercial hard cast and lighter if using softer swagged bullets.

Guns may have a preference for a different bullet weight. The only way to find out is to try them. Take a box of each to the range and shoot some off the bench from a rested position that eliminates shooter induced errors as much as you can to test potential accuracy. Missouri Bullet company used to offer sample packs that could get you some different bullets to try rather than having to buy a full box of 500 just to experiment with.
 
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125 grains are really accurate for me IF they're sized properly for the bore. My beretta and SIG both have .357" bores... and .358" sized lead 125 grain 'smallball' from Missouri Bullet are very accurate and don't lead. I have to ask them to size them to .358" rather than .356" which they happily do because they rule.

I use Red Dot but others have their favorites. I stick with Red Dot because I know the charge that's most accurate, my Auto-Disc throws that charge consistently, and I don't feel like working up another load. :)
 
Boolit: Oregon Trail 115 gr lead round nose. I don't think there is anything wrong with boolit.
 
I have only been reloading for about a year and have had a terrible time getting accurate 9mm loads. I came to find out that the Israeli surplus 9mm 124 grain rnbb projectiles I was using were .354... I do have a 92fs and the barrel is .357. I have also tried some projectiles from heavymetalbullets.com that are 125 grain rnbb and are .356 which are also not very accurate. If I was to use the .358 projectiles, can this cause excessive pressure if I fire them out of another gun with say a .356 barrel?
 
.354 is too small.

I size my home cast boolits to .356 with a Lee push through sizer. Accuracy is good enough for plinking ammo.

830112.jpg

Cast up another hundred plus of these bool;its yesterday. I use both the Lee 124 grain Tumble Lube boolit and the 125 Single Lube Groove, both work fine, cast with typical wheelweight garbage lead. Edit to add, the bottom load pictured is well over today's listed maximums after Accurate reformulated the data - do not use that load.

Phantomcastload.jpg
 
The Laser Cast bullets are always on the hard side as well. You have to shoot them hot to orbituate? the base and get a good seal with no leading. Correct sizing is the key to accuracy for sure.

FWIW I like a 124-5 grain lead bullet better. Lately been using MB Small Ball myself with good results
 
It is very hard to imagine a 0.002" larger LEAD bullet increasing pressure. It is about 90% softer than copper/gilding metal. 9x19 has historically been fired with 0.358-0.359" lead bullets with no change in loading data.
Many folks get better results with a 147gn bullet — more, I believe,due to lower velocity than any inherent accuracy of the heavier bullet. I 'think' this since 147gn bullets have not been more accurate in any of my 9x19s than 124gn bullets, on average.
My philosophy has been, since my as-cast bullets have always been as accurate or more accurate than my sized bullets, why bother sizing? If it doesn't make the load more accurate, it isn't going to be done.
I get very good accuracy from the Lee 102gn L-SWC, as-cast and tumble lubed.
The 115gn and 125gn L-SWCs are very accurate, with my nod going to the 125gn L-SWCs. Likewise, the 124gn Precision Bullet "black bullet" is also very accurate — the moly-kote seems to prevent leading and help accuracy even though the bullet is not a large as I would like.
An off-the-wall commercial bullet that has done well for me is the Missouri Bullet "Cowboy #17," a 0.357-0.358" 125gn 12 BHN L-RNFP. I think some will be put off due to the crimp groove being exposed and not being aesthetic or something.
I shoot my own and commercial L-SWCs in all my 9x19s, except a Browning Hi-Power with a groove diameter of about 0.3595", and they work well even in pre-WWII Lugers and WWII Walther P-38s.
The "best" lube I have found is LLA--two light tumbles works better than one light or massive tumble.
When I am through my existing stock of my cast bullets, I plan to try 45/45/10, but that might still be a few years away.
Just like in the '70s, some of the most accurate bullets will be jacketed 0.357" and cast 0.357-0.358" lead bullets.
 
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I get my best accuracy using 124 grain lead with Red Dot powder. I have a couple M&P 9mms that I use in local action shoots and that is the load that keeps them in the -0 ring for me. I buy some of the bullets at the local shows and cast some of them myself. There is a local commercial caster that goes to the shows in my area that has prices so good that it is not worth casting them myself. Though his bullets are lubed, I tumble them anyway and get no leading in my barrels.
 
If I was to use the .358 projectiles, can this cause excessive pressure if I fire them out of another gun with say a .356 barrel?
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Not at all. I cast Lyman 358480 133gr SWC's and use them in 9mm after sizing to .358". Lead is very malleable and does not drive up pressure like jacketed bullets can.

Don
 
USSR said:
Not at all. I cast Lyman 358480 133gr SWC's and use them in 9mm after sizing to .358". Lead is very malleable and does not drive up pressure like jacketed bullets can.

Don
Click to expand...
I've used that bullet/mold for over thirty years out of 9mm. I love it.. it's a meat hammer.
 
I've fired about all he factory ammo out there and the most accurate to date is RWS 124 gr FMJ and Speer Gold dot 124 gr JHP.

Now for my own loads I only buy 124-125 gr usually round nose but do have a 1000 125 gr FN bullets that I've yet to shoot. I've never been impress with 115 gr nor the 147 gr FMJ stuff and as a result settled on 124 gr as that was the bullet size that my 3 9mm seem to love. I have sized my guns and most do fine with .356 for cast. As for powders I like several for the 9mm. Those would be HP-38, Titegroup, WSF, WST with little difference in accuracy between them. I've tried several companies for both cast and jacketed, but I'm using Quality Cast (Friendswood Bullets) and Precision Delta for jacketed. Both have worked out to be very accurate for me.
 
Lots of great ideas- thanks. I think I am going to try the 124 gr, but first I am going to measure my bore to make sure I can arrive at .001 to .002 over bore size. What hardness (soft) should I shoot for when I buy my boolits?
 
As for hardness it really depends on what you are doing with hardness. Now for 9mm 21-22 on the Brinnel scale is fine for target stuff other bullets vary so if you buy them check the page at the sight that gives the alloy or BHN etc.
 
What hardness (soft) should I shoot for when I buy my boolits?
Click to expand...

The commercial bullet casters have convinced a lot of guys that they need a hard (high BHN) bullet. You don't, it simply allows them to ship their bullets with less fear of damage during shipping. I cast with alloys that never exceed a BHN of 11, and this is for .357 Magnum and hot loaded .45 Colt loads. A lot of the commercial casters will offer bullets with BHN's of 12 and 18; go with 12.

Don
 
What USSR says is true about bullet hardness.. that's where a lot of the "problems" come from.. they're too hard.

Don, about that 133 Lyman SWC, I "lost" my old log/data book a long time ago. I mainly use Red-Dot and lubrisize that one to .356. Depth/OAL varies.. but I like to keep them "long".. it depends on your throat.
I like that one particularly because it'll make a full size hole even very small game due to the big flat point and sharp shoulder.
Just work up your load.. wish I could be of more help.
 
For non-magnum pistols, the "best" alloy is 11-15 BHN.
The hard 18-22 BHN bullets often need to be 0.002" over groove diameter as they will not effectively obdurate at 35ksi.
However, except for mastercastbullets.com, Missouri Bullets, or Penn Bullets, most commercial casters only use type metal for bullets and don't offer a range of sizes.
We are lucky that most barrels are held to tighter tolerances than years past and these too hard and too small bullets often work well despite everything.
Type metal isn't really needed until you reach 1600fps, at which point gas checks used to be the solution and not a harder alloy.
 
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