Lead 9mm Ammo

[warmi]

Last night I went to a gun show ( my first time).
Among the typical $12/100 rounds deals for 9mm ammo I found one guy selling 500 rnds boxes for $16. This stuff was packed in white, no-name boxes and was labeled "lead ball" or something like that.
As far as I could tell he had them in every caliber (45,38 etc ) ...

This seems like an incredible deal - too good to be true, what's the catch?
How does these round differ from a typical FMJ 9mm ammo from , say Winchester ?



Thanks

 

[jefmad]

I think what you were looking at was 9mm lead bullets, NOT loaded ammo. Actually the price is even pretty good for just bullets.

 

[tbeb]

The best price I ever got for loaded 9mm ammo was $5.00 for 50 rounds. (I would also say the $16.00 price was for bullets only.)

 

[Amish_Bill]

That sounds just like a box of slugs for reloaders.

If you look, you can find reloads that are done with cast lead bullets. They're a little cheaper, but I've usually been too annoyed with the cleanup required to get the lead out of my bore afterwards.

Don't get me wrong... lead .38s, .45s, .44spc, etc. and most all blackpowder loads are perfectly fine. When you get into the faster, hotter loads the lead bullets tend to leave a lead residue (called "leading" -go figure) in the barrel. Not all loads do this, but enough have for me that I now avoid plain lead loads as a habit.

 

[James Bondrock]

I have seen some commercially reloaded ammo in 9mm with lead round nose bullets. I believe this is Ultramax, but am not certain. www.sportsmansguide.com is where I saw them ... I think.

 

[warmi]

Thanks for all the answers guys.
I think these were simply lead rounds for reloaders.
With Winchester 9mm 100 rnds running as low as $$ 10.xx at places like Walmart I am pretty happy as it is

 

[stans]

I once tried loading hard cast lead in 9mm. Total disaster. I could never get groups, the best it would do was more like a shotgun pattern. My 9mm's just do not like lead.
My jacketed reloads are a whole 'nother story.

 

[Watch-Six]

I've hand loaded a lot of 9mm over the past 3 decades. Lead ammo has usually been a disappointment in 9mm. It works fine in 45 acp's.

 

[Jason Demond]

I always found store bought lead 9mm bullets lacking. That's one of the reasons, I started making my own.