Heavy Cast in 9mm Parabellum

[gunboat57]

I have several hundred bullets cast from a Lyman 358311 mold. They run about 158 gr. These are great for the 38 Special but I wanted to see how they'd work in my 9mm XD, because I'm cheap. I lubed-sized to .356 and loaded them to 1.169" OAL over 3.5 gr of Unique. That leaves one grease groove exposed. I'm getting 5 shot cloverleaves at 10 yards and the brass/primers show no signs of overpressure. Feeding is fine and slide locks back on an empty mag.

My question is how can I tell if the slide is recoiling too fast and the gun is taking a pounding? It doesn't feel like it compared to commercial loads but I'd like to make sure. I'm not going for high velocity, just reliable operation and decent accuracy.

I cast and miked my barrel after loading 20 rounds , and found a .356 groove diameter. I should probably size to .357, right?

 

[JRH6856]

QuickLoad says that load should give you ~910fps at ~27322psi. That is well under max pressure for 9mm so I wouldn't think it was beating up the gun. QL also shows that to be a compressed load at 104%. Bullseye might be a better choice of powder.

And sizing to .357 would be optimal.

 

[gunboat57]

Thanks for the feedback!
I'll do some research on my own too, but does QL calculate what load of Bullseye will give similar performance? I think around 3.0 gr but I want to double check that.

 

[JRH6856]

CAUTION: The following post includes loading data not currently published for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information.

3.1 should be about right.

9mm Lugar
Lyman 358311
Bullseye 3.10g 908fps 289ft/lbs 28781psi

 

[Artofgolf]

Good job, JRH6856

Safety is #1 ~ keep a lookout for those 165g 9MM Luger loads from bds, as QuickLoad says they will definitely need to be CHECKED-OUT

 

[gunboat57]

I do have some 168gr cast bullets I could try in my 9mm, but I think I'll stick with 158gr and do a little Bullseye load development. I noticed Fiocchi loads 158gr jacketed 9mm that are in the mid 900s fps second range.

I also have a couple hundred bullets from a Lyman 356637 mold that run about 150gr. I'll give those a try too but I'll have to tumble lube them because they have a bevel base that really makes a mess in my Lyman lubesizer.

 

[jim8115]

Be Careful, QL comes up with some pretty strange numbers in pistol cartridges , though it usually shows way higher pressure / velocity than is real

 

[R.W.Dale]

38 s&w has heavy bullet load data and a case capacity virtually identical to 9mm

Now getting a 380/200 load to feed in a brass puker may be a different story

 

[PapaG]

Shot quite a few RCBS 38-150KT in my P85. Also some 150 cast hollow point swcs. Great accuracy, good on pins, and easy on both hand and wallet. I used a load published by John Taffin.

 

[Okcafe86]

I've got quickload as well and often times when I dial in information for published data for pistol cases it shows over pressure. From what I understand it has been programmed to err on the conservative side in straight walled cases. Also, Is it normal practice to seat leaving the grease groove exposed? I've just recently started casting and loading lead.

 

[JRH6856]

Is it normal practice to seat leaving the grease groove exposed? I've just recently started casting and loading lead.

No, but it is also not normal practice to load this particular bullet in 9mm. It is intended for a longer case like .38 Spcl or .357 mag.