Question about Lead vs FMJ

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lazyeye

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Good morning all.
I'm going to start loading some lead bullets in 9mm. Up to this point I've only loaded plated and FMJ.
Are there any complications I need to know about for lead?
 
The only things you have to consider when loading lead bullets is to bell the case mouth enough so the bullet won't be shaved as it's seated, and to be sure and use lead bullet data. You can't just take jacketed bullet data and use it with lead bullets. Most manuals will have data for both. Use just enough taper crimp to remove the case mouth bell and ensure smooth feeding and headspacing.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
One complication I JUST experienced loading 9mm for the first time was this: Bullet geometry can RADICALLY alter the necessary seating depth to to fully chamber the round (and thus charge weight). I was using a truncated cone bullet in a standard bullet weight (124gr), and there was NO way it would chamber at the seating depth listed for "lead bullet 124 gr" in the Lee manual & Alliant web page. It seems that most lead bullet OAL data is based on a LRN bullet shape.

I have yet to find good data for the TC style bullet, so I will be working up from MUCH reduced loads to find something safe/powerful enough to cycle the action. Make sure that you use load data not only for lead vs fmj, but for that particular bullet shape (wadcutter, TC, LRN, etc). Since I cast these bullets from a Lee Mold, there isn't really published data that I know of.

Are you using round nose bullets? RNFP? SWC? TC? lead hollowpoints? I had to pull 20 rounds of test ammo because they wouldn't chamber. Not something I'd want you to have to do.
 
The Lyman 48th Edition Reloading Handbook has truncated cone cast bullets listed for the 9mm in 120 and 125 grain weights. For the 120 grain bullet, the over all length is listed at 1.110", and for the 125 grain bullet, it's listed as 1.115".

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
I'm using 124gr LRN Oregon Trail bullets. I haven't measured them yet, but I would assume they are dimensionally very similar to the 124gr plated bullets I've used.
 
If you plan to load lead bullets for anything, there is just no substitute for the Lyman manual.

No other source of load information includes such a wide variety of cast bullet data in every shape & size Lyman made or makes molds for.

In almost every case, you can find a Lyman bullet that very closely matches anything you can come up with.

rcmodel
 
Some other things to worry about

One thing to be aware of with the 9mm Parabellum: there is considerable variation in groove diameter in barrels, and some are larger than what is supposed to be the max. This is not that important with jacketed bullets, but if a Lead bullet is too small the gasses blowing by will cut large amounts of Lead off the bullet sides and deposit most of it in the bore.

Another thing: some rifling designs are not supposed to be compatible with Lead bullets. Enquire of your barrel's maker whether it is compatible.

I cast my own, I cast them as hard as I can, and I use them as large as I can. There is an upward limit on the diameter of the bullets you can use set by the chamber ID and the case wall thickness. If they are too big, the cartridge will not chamber.

CDD
 
Cast boolits website is great help. Even if you are only loading lead.

Lee book has separate data for lead bullets.

I use 5.3gr W231 for 200gr Lead, 230gr FMJ, and 230gr JHP. But I change the OAL for feeding purposes.

Lead may be softer, so be careful when you crimp you don't deform them with post-seating crimp.

You may have to modify your bullet seater die. My 41 mag die deforms my JSP bullets in my 41 mag.

There are lead poisoning concerns. Just use gloves and don't eat or smoke when handling lead.

I am casting for 45ACP with Lee mold in 200gr RN.

It's a lot of fun.
 
Well I've loaded up a couple hundred of them, and shot about a hundred with no incident. No noticeable leading on my Glock barrel and no variations in accuracy or FPS that would indicate an issue.
 
I just got a bunch of 124gr tc bullets cast from a lee 2 cav mould and will be loading them tonight. The info I got from alliant's site said to load them to 1.15 min oal with a load of 4.9gr of bullseye behind it. Bullseye is my powder of choice for 9mm, and I will start with 4.5, 4.6, up to 4.9. I just got a chrony at the fun show this past weekend, so I get to try that out as well. I was curious about the oal though, it seems long at 1.15. I'll load up a dummy and see if it will chamber and fit in the mag before I start. Does this sound right?
 
Alliant's web loading data is for RN type bullets. It will be too long for TC bullets and the charge will probably be too heavy. I used that exact data for that exact bullet, and the rounds would not chamber. In fact, it bound up the gun. You're going to have to seat much deeper and reduce the charge. I'm in the same boat.
 
Bullseye, I load Hornady FMJ FP's at 1.050", per the Hornady manual's reccomendation. They feed and shoot very well in my Kahr. I think they use the same data for 1.150" RN's, FWIW, so their FP's seem to be .1" shorter.

I know at 1.15 the FP's wouldn't be happy in my gun.
 
I had to turn my orgeron trail laser cast 115 and 124 grain lead RN down to 1.050 too chamber correctly. A trunicated cone shaped bullet would be even longer and possibly need to be seated deeper but then again there is less meat at the nose to run into the rifling.
 
I haven't rolled any 9mm with Unique yet,need to try next, but 4.9g Bullseye did the trick.
 
I cast my own bullets from LEE TL style molds. The bullet itself will determine the seating depth. I did pull an assortment of factory rounds to measure the depth of the bullet in the case, ignoring the length that was out of the case just for comparison. I seat to the middle of the top band on all of them and taper crimp only enough to remove all traces of mouth flare. I cast 2-OG round nose for 45, TC and SWC style bullets for .40 and .380. This never corresponds to a standard seating depth from anyones table. As always, start light and work your way up. All bullets I seat to the physical attribute of the bullet cycle great and have no feeding issues in my (3)Colts, (2)Kimbers or (2)Taurus PT. I do change springs in my 1911 styles to accommodate the load variations I feed them with. The Taurus .40 is my wife's home defense gun, so it only gets one item on it's menu, which is as close to factory as you can get, so no spring changes are made. However you decide to feed it, just be safe.
 
I specd them to chamber in my Glock 17(LoneWolf Match grade Stainless barrel) and Taurus pt92, but I'm sure they will run threw my Beretta 92,90-two,Glock 19 w/stock barrel,Mac-11,and Steyr Tactical Machine Pistol(will eat anything).

Had to run em kinda short too fit the match grade chamber. Might be able to get away with 1.10-1.15 in a looser gun and they were peppy enough too cycle anything. Bullseye is a little hotter.
 
I would not shoot lead bullets in a factory Glock barrel with polygonal rifling! That is potentially dangerous!

The polygonal rifles barrels tend to lead more and have no place for that fouling to go. This can cause an over pressure situation.
 
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