Cast bullet size 9mm S&W Shield?

[usmc0811]

Im casting some 9mm bullets for my S&W Shield. I just slugged my barrel by pushing soft lead thru the barrel from muzzle to chamber and then measured the groove dia. My groove dia. was between .353'' - .354'' using a caliper. I know they are not the best choice to measure groove dia. but thats all i had.
What is a good starting dia. cast bullet for this size bore? 1-3 thousands bigger?? I do have a .356'' resizing die.
I know bullet size is more important than hardness but what BHN should I shoot for? When I look on forums and elsewhere I get all types of answers. Basically just for shooting paper.

 

[243winxb]

I would take a unsized cast bullet and put in the chamber. Tape it in a few times. Measure the diameter.
Your bullets should be SIZED a bit smaller, but not less then .355" https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?media/albums/taurus-g3c-9mm-luger.317/

 

[Thomasss]

I know bullet size is more important than hardness but what BHN should I shoot for? When I look on forums and elsewhere I get all types of answers. Basically just for shooting paper.

If you are shooting target loads, which is what most people do with cast bullets, staying under 1100 fps will be fine regardless of your BHN. Many people, like myself will shoot soft cast bullets because the bullets will obturate, or fill into the rifling as the bullets are pushed down the barrel and improve accuracy. Stay under 1100 fps will help prevent barrel leading. Load to properly eject the case is all you need. If you want to play with BHN work towards 9 and up. According to Hornady, many people confuse hardness with barrel leading, when velocity is the real problem. Check out Hornady's or Speer's cast bullets and see how soft they are.

 

[Docendo Discimus]

You will get a thousand suggestions on this and here is mine. Use bhn around 10-14, Size them to. 356, powdercoat them and send em.
Generally small diameters and harder lead cause more problems than bigger diameters and softer lead do.

 

[mdi]

.353" and .354"? I would question those measurements. I have 5, 9mm handguns and none are smaller than .355", with some .356" and one .358" (a surplus Tokerev in 9mm). Careful use of dial calipers can give you an accurate measure, just run a few more slugs and try a "light touch" after zeroing your calipers. Your gun, being a newer, modern 9mm probably has a .355" groove diameter so I'd try some .356". I have worked with a couple "problem guns" that needed bullets so large that they barely chambered when loaded, up to .004+" over groove diameter...

A good place to find every day info on any lead bullet related subject is https://castboolits.gunloads.com/ and for reading, "From Ingot to Target" http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm

 

[LiveLife]

9mm ... S&W Shield ... slugged my barrel ... groove dia. was between .353'' - .354'' using a caliper

.353" and .354"? I would question those measurements. I have 5, 9mm handguns and none are smaller than .355"

Same sentiment here for my Shield 9mm with 5 land/groove rifling - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...g-oal-col-for-reference.848462/#post-11068319

You may be over squishing the knob on the caliper to get smaller readings. I use pin gages in .355"/.400"/.451" and learned to "feel" calipers around cylinder gages to read consistently and now I get same readings from my FA dial calipers as my Brown & Sharpe micrometer to verify pin gages. They are just a few dollars and good to have on hand to check your caliper measurment accuracy - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ks-for-digital-calibers.821135/#post-10545265

What is a good starting dia. cast bullet for this size bore? ... I do have a .356'' resizing die.

what BHN should I shoot for? ... just for shooting paper.

For my .355" to .356" groove diameter 9mm barrels (KKM, Lone Wolf, Tactical Kinetics, BCA), .356" sized 18 BHN Missouri bullets at low to mid range load data worked well without leading referencing Speer lead load data for 125 gr Lead RN (I got leading using high-near max Hodgdon lead load data) - https://reloadingdata.speer.com/downloads/speer/reloading-pdfs/handgun/9mm_Luger_125.pdf

And worked well with .356" sized 14-16 BHN Z Cast bullets without leading as softer alloy likely deformed the base better to seal with the barrel - https://www.jacobeagle.com/about

 

[fxvr5]

.353" and .354"? I would question those measurements. I have 5, 9mm handguns and none are smaller than .355"

That doesn't mean a thing. The OP's barrel could measure as stated.

Your gun, being a newer, modern 9mm probably has a .355" groove diameter so I'd try some .356".

Of my four 'modern' S&W 9mm M&P 2.0 barrels, only one measures less than 0.356".

 

[fxvr5]

Same sentiment here for my Shield 9mm with 5 land/groove rifling - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...g-oal-col-for-reference.848462/#post-11068319

I didn't see the groove diameter of the barrels you describe in that link. Did I miss it?

 

[Walkalong]

Don't over think it, try some commercial cast .356 bullets and see how they do, which is likely to be just fine. Or bu some coated and try them and again, they'll likely do just fine.

 

[LiveLife]

I didn't see the groove diameter of the barrels you describe in that link. Did I miss it?

I no longer have the Shield 9mm but I think the groove diameter was around .355"+.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Im casting some 9mm bullets for my S&W Shield. I just slugged my barrel by pushing soft lead thru the barrel from muzzle to chamber and then measured the groove dia. My groove dia. was between .353'' - .354'' using a caliper. I know they are not the best choice to measure groove dia. but thats all i had.
What is a good starting dia. cast bullet for this size bore? 1-3 thousands bigger?? I do have a .356'' resizing die.
I know bullet size is more important than hardness but what BHN should I shoot for? When I look on forums and elsewhere I get all types of answers. Basically just for shooting paper.

I would be tempted to use antimonial lead or 30:1 (9-10 BHN) and size to .356” with just a good lubricant like liquid Alox.

 

[highlander 5]

I've 5 9 mm pistols 4 1911s and a Canik I size my cast to .357.
What I have run into is tight chambers restricting cartridge oal.

 

[usmc0811]

Same sentiment here for my Shield 9mm with 5 land/groove rifling - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...g-oal-col-for-reference.848462/#post-11068319

You may be over squishing the knob on the caliper to get smaller readings. I use pin gages in .355"/.400"/.451" and learned to "feel" calipers around cylinder gages to read consistently and now I get same readings from my FA dial calipers as my Brown & Sharpe micrometer to verify pin gages. They are just a few dollars and good to have on hand to check your caliper measurment accuracy - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ks-for-digital-calibers.821135/#post-10545265


For my .355" to .356" groove diameter 9mm barrels (KKM, Lone Wolf, Tactical Kinetics, BCA), .356" sized 18 BHN Missouri bullets at low to mid range load data worked well without leading referencing Speer lead load data for 125 gr Lead RN (I got leading using high-near max Hodgdon lead load data) - https://reloadingdata.speer.com/downloads/speer/reloading-pdfs/handgun/9mm_Luger_125.pdf

And worked well with .356" sized 14-16 BHN Z Cast bullets without leading as softer alloy likely deformed the base better to seal with the barrel - https://www.jacobeagle.com/about

I'll try a few more slugs. I made sure I used light pressure and kept them on the high flats of the slug. I tested 3 different slugs

 

[fxvr5]

I'll try a few more slugs. I made sure I used light pressure and kept them on the high flats of the slug. I tested 3 different slugs

Drive them from the chamber to the muzzle. You'll get better alignment if they start in the chamber.

 

[LiveLife]

have a .356'' resizing die

Since you already have a .356" sizer, give that a try first as .356" should work with most 9mm barrels (If your barrel is .356+, then .357" should work and .358" only if your chamber will allow loaded rounds to fully chamber).

bullet size is more important than hardness but what BHN should I shoot for?

Not necessarily. If you are using wheel weights, you are already at 14-16 BHN, suitable for lighter target loads for punching paper.

Keep in mind that "softer" lead alloy used will deform/expand the bullet base so absolute "bullet to barrel fit" that is needed for harder 20+ BHN bullets is not necessary for 14-16 BHN and "softer" bullets. My PT145 had oversized barrel at .455"+ that produced leading and accuracy issues with 18 BHN MBC 200 gr SWC sized .452". Using "softer" 12 BHN MBC 200 gr SWC sized .452" with same light charge of 4.0 gr Red Dot/Promo expanded the bullet base to essentially eliminate leading and produced accuracy.

 

[DMW1116]

I load cast for my Shield 1.0 and use Acme 125 grain round nose. These are sized 0.356” and about BHN 16 (from Acme’s information). They are Hi-tech coated too though. No leading and I don’t even get any green smears when I clean the barrel. I tried some 0.356” sized Hunters Supply lubed bullets and they shot fine without leading too. I don’t remember specifically shooting them in my Shield but they ran through a Canik Mete and M&P9 with no trouble. I probably put a few through the Shield too just to see, I just don’t specifically remember that.

ETA: the 125 grain bullets I tried from Acme are coated in green high tech coating. That’s what would cause the green smears.

 

[243winxb]

A S&W 5 land/groove rifling is best measured by wrapping a strip of alumium soda can snuggly around the slugged bullet.
Measure the thickness of the strip first. Wrap bullet, measure . Subtract thickness of strip X 2 for the results.
Micrometer is best for this, or RCBS Dial Caliber.

 

[gwpercle]

.356" or .357" will do just fine . Since you have a .356" sizing die ...try it first .
I don't have a .356" die but have a .357" sizing Die and use bullets sized .357" to load 5 different 9mm Luger pistols with from a WWII era Walther P-38 to a S&W Compact size .
The newer and smaller the pistol the less throat they have ... some OAL's have to be adjusted for the lack of a decent throat but they all will feed fire and cycle .357" cast bullet loads .
Make up a few dummy rounds to test ... they need to pass the "Plunk" test and to hand cycle the dummies from magazine to chamber and eject cleanly .
I loaded up a box and didn't plunk & cycle test first ... the bullets jambed into the rifling and required deeper seating to cleanly cycle . Test them first !
Gary

 

[usmc0811]

Drive them from the chamber to the muzzle. You'll get better alignment if they start in the chamber.

Good idea I try that

 

[GooseGestapo]

Don’t over think it!
I’ve shot many thousands of the bullet shown in post 2 through my S&W PERFORMANCE CTR match pistols. I’ve even got National records that still stand shot using WW and scrap with about 2% lead-free solder added, sized to .356”.
However, after reading here, I started using .357” with even better accuracy. I use the shown bullet over 5.2gr of LongShot for about 1,200fps from a 6”bbl. 1,125fps from 4” bbl 5906 and 1,070 from the Shield I carry in my car.

Either.356 or .357 will work.

I’ve even used.359” in a Taurus PT99 that if I said how well it shot, I’d be called a liar. But, such ammo wouldn’t even chamber in the S&W’s.

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

I'm a bit late to the party, but since this issue has been clarified:
I shoot range scrap Lee 358-125-RF sized to .358 and tumble lubed in several 9mm pistols. More than 6 pistols, ranging from a Star 30m to a SW Shield.
Some newer, some older, but they all eat that .358 bullet just fine.