What powder to use for 9mm cast bullets

[sigpro2022]

I have some 9mm - 125gr (.356") round nose bevel base from Shooter's Cast Bullets. What's a good powder to use to reduce leading?
I've got Unique, Bullseye, 231, Clays, Titegroup, & HS-6 to choose from. Of the powders listed above which would be the best to use?

 

[jwrowland77]

To reduce leading, make sure they're .001-.002" over groove width. That'll help a lot no matter what the powder is.

I use Bullseye and Titegroup. I cast my own. They're .001" over groove width

 

[Schwing]

To reduce leading, make sure they're .001-.002" over groove width. That'll help a lot no matter what the powder is.

+1 on this. Size is king. AS far as powder goes, I have had the best luck with Unique followed by bullseye. Ultimately, I have found w231 to be the best for accuracy but every gun has its favorite.

 

[moxie]

I use Bullseye with my 9mm cast. Perfect!

 

[jdgreen]

I've used W231 (3.7 gr), Bullseye (3.4 gr), and Universal (3.8 gr) for 124gr TC and 125 gr RN cast bullets. Glad you have a variety of powder to try.

 

[Lj1941]

9 MM Cast powder

I like Red Dot and Titegroup. Clays/Clay Dot works fine also.

 

[Shoot66]

VN320 or AA2 for 124-125 gr plinkers and 3N37 or VN340 for 135-147 gr accuracy loads.

 

[chiltech500]

I have used Titegroup, very smokey in the hotter months, I am using 231 now. Don't know how available Bullseye is in you area but may be best to save that for a better bullet combo, ie plated or jacketed or 45 acp. The faster powders in my and some other opinions are not always favored with a 9mm lead for accuracy - that would be your Clays and Titegroup for sure.

 

[Sunray]

Been using 3.5 of Bullseye with 121 grain cast for eons. Never bothered to load for optimum accuracy as my Inglis isn't up to that.
Leading has nothing to do with the powder. It's caused by trying to drive a cast bullet too fast. Follow your manual for any of those powders and you'll be fine.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

The Unique or W231 is what I would use.

The thing with 9mm and cast bullets is, you have to make sure you bell the case far enough down. 9mm is a tapered case and you can swage the bullet down smaller than the groove diameter pretty easily.

 

[Average Joe]

W231 would be my first choice.

 

[BSA1]

As I reload a wide variety of handgun cartridges W-231 is my first go to powder.

 

[Dudedog]

It's caused by trying to drive a cast bullet too fast.

This is not the case.
Leading is caused by the base of the bullet failing to expand enough to correctly seal the bore. Hard bullets with low pressure/low velocity can result in leading just as much as a soft bullet driven to fast/high pressure, pressure to high for the bullets BHN.

Bullet to bore size is important as well.

Missouri bullet Company has an intersting piece on the correct hardness for a given pressure.


Anyway I have used Bullseye, Unique, HP38/231 and Titegroup with lead 125s. (more powders as well)
I liked the Titegroup and HP38/231 loads the best.


Here is a great link where they talk about cast bullets.

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm


I would load up maybe 10 rounds of each and give them all a try!
The loads that worked best for me using those powders with lead 125 gr bullets were
Bullseye 3.7gr
Titegroup 3.5 (soft)
Unique 4.3
HP38/231 3.8 or 4 (close tie 3.8 maybe a little better)

Hope this helps.

 

[GRIZ22]

Agree with Dudedog 100%. I use Bullseye for cast bullets in 9mm.

 

[GRIZ22]

Agree with Dudedog 100% . I use Bullseye or Unique for cast 9mm loads.

 

[ljnowell]

AA#5 is perfect.

 

[jwrowland77]

Fryxell read was OK, but I didn't find it to help me all that much. I read through it a couple times because everyone hounded on reading it. It was just OK.

 

[Dudedog]

Fryxell read was OK

I Agree just OK.
I haven't had any leading issues to speak of but I felt it was worth reading and the price is right. (free)