Which Lead Bullet for a 1911 in 9mm

[tkcomer]

Never thought I'd load for the nine, but with ammo prices the way they are.... I have a STI Trojan and have bought 500 Hornady 115gr FMJs to "learn" on. Now, I'm thinking about lead to save some money. But the question I have is, what is a good profile bullet for reliability? I don't want to order 1000 bullets only to find out "they jam in this style gun, but not others." The FMJs were easy. Then again, any 1911 gun will shoot hardball. And all I do is shoot paper and pop cans out in the yard. So what's a decent bullet for this gun?

 

[Walkalong]

Just pick a weight and buy some RN or TrFP's to try in it. The gun will tell you what it lies best. No easy answer. It will probably shoot most of the offerings by bullet makers well though.

I used to shoot Magnus bullets in 9MM, but only because they were available locally and cheap. Good bullets though.


Missouri Bullets is a member here and has gotten good reviews on both there bullets and their service.

There are a lot of choices though, and most bullet makers put out a good product.

 

[Rugg_Ed]

I have used the 138 grn .356 dia. conical and 128 grn .356 dia. round nose both seem to work well. Check around your area for bullet makers there maybe a local commercial bullet maker, or cast your own. The 9mm / 1911 I have never had jackets shot through it, but I also cast and have a wide variety to choose from.
Enjoy

 

[Jim Watson]

I currently prefer Billy Bullets' 135 grain moly coated roundnose.
http://www.billybullets.com/Bullets.aspx

Their main disadvantage is that his moly coating is not as tight as Precision or BBI and you will have stained fingers after loading them. But they are a smooth feeding eliptical roundnose and shoot accurately in my guns.

If you don't mind the smoke of a conventional cast bullet, Laser Cast and a few others make a 145 grain roundnose that feeds and shoots well.

Light weight lead bullets can be a challenge in 9mm, so the 135 is the least I use.

 

[tkcomer]

Those 115 grainers were no problem. Picked a mid range load of 6.0grs of True Blue and the gun cycled just fine. I used a WWB FMJ that worked well in my gun and set the OAL at that. Those bullets dropped in my barrel fine and so did the Hornadys. I use a Lee Factory Crimp die to take the bell out. Easy. But I am worried the FCD might have problems with lead. The 357s are a little tough to get out at times, and I had to have them make a FCD for 44 mag as I have to use .431 bullets for my oversized barrel in my Rossi lever gun.

 

[rklessdriver]

I'm loading the "Small Ball" 125gr from Missouri Bullets.

All of my 9mm's (one of which is a 9mm COLT Combat Commander) like this bullet. I seat it to 1.110 OAL and push it "just over middle of the road" power wise at 3.8gr Red Dot (won't cycle my Luger at anything less). I can get by with 3.5gr Red Dot in most everything else - but why switch the Auto Disk around all the time...
Will

 

[tkcomer]

The Small Ball was one of the bullets I was looking at. Glad to hear it works well. True Blue shows a load for 124gr lead bullets at almost the same as the 115gr FMJs. I know what you mean about the disks. I use the Lee Adjustable Charge Bar for the 9mm and have it set for it. I may buy more for other calibers and leave them set as it does a good job of metering with this powders and they're cheap. Though I have "heard" they don't do so well with other powders. Do you use the FCD?

 

[rklessdriver]

Do you use the FCD?

The Lee Factory Crimp Die?

No. I know they are suposed to be the best thing since sliced bread and all but honestly I've never had any problems with bullet set back using the regular Lee dies with a taper or roll crimp. Since I haven't had any problems I don't care to spend the extra money.

If you switch calibers alot when loading - Setting yourself up with individual/dedicated powder throwers per caliber is a good idea. I load 9mm, .38spl and .45ACP on a Lee Turret press with dedicated Auto Disk's and really enjoy the convience of having everything already set up and ready to go.
Will

 

[Walkalong]

I know they are suposed to be the best thing since sliced bread and all but honestly I've never had any problems with bullet set back using the regular Lee dies with a taper or roll crimp.

Words of wisdom.

 

[reload68]

I've had excellent performance from Georgia Arm's 147 gr truncated cone 9mm cast in my 1911 - with 4.2 grs of 231 pushing it. No problems what so ever.
For a .45 try GA 200 round nose flat point - no problems there either

 

[Will Durant]

Very good load

Try 4.9 grains of 231 with any good 115 grain jacketed bullt.The Winchester 115 hollow base usual works out quite well.Will

 

[sltintexas]

I get a more consistent COL with round nose bullets than I do with the flat nose. I also use missouri buillet small ball. I also get the flat nose 147gr as the wife like those better. she is becoming a recoil junkie