Lead/Cast/Coated Bullets in 9mm

S

sawdustdad

New member
I don't want to damage my steel (CAS) targets with FMJ or plated ammo so I've ordered some HiTek coated lead bullets (115g RN) for use in my 9mm pistols--a Taurus PT99 and a Ruger LC9s.

Plan to load down to a level that reliably functions in either gun, but with minimal recoil (and bullet speed).

Suitable powders I have on hand: Bullseye, Red Dot, 700x, AA#7, TiteGroup, W231, HP38 (yeah the same, I know), AutoComp, HS6, Power Pistol, Unique, Trail Boss. I think that's it.

Never used cast or coated bullets in 9mm before. What's your favorite powder in this application and why?
 
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I used to shoot moly coated Billy Bullets out of my XD9 all the time - used Clays and International Clays and loaded them to pretty decent velocities. Never had a problem, and actually loved the load.

I've loaded regular cast in 9mm with Clays and Unique without any problems. My plinking loads are not all that hot though (I don't chrono, so can't help you with velocity). I am pretty much in the middle range of load data for either powder. For target/plinking/range loads, I never saw the need for super hot rounds.
 
I shoot Lead almost exclusively. The only Jacketed I buy are for hunting or self defense.
But for 99% of my shooting I make my own.

I never see the point in paying .20 for some thing I can get for .03
Once you pull the trigger that .20 is gone. You not going to get a return of a consumable.
Even if you buy you lead bullets. Why pay more?

For my 9's I am casting a 147gr pill. I will ether standard lube them or powder coat.
Lately I have been powder coating most.
I have a 9mm pistol that leads any time a bullet gets with in 10 feet of the chamber.
Powder coating solves that issue. Plus the Powder coated bullets work in my bullet feed dies. Win win.

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PCed bullets will have very little (if any) more effect on target as plated or lead. Plated bullets are generally softer lead with a thin copper coating which adds very little to terminal effect on target. I seriously doubt that any lead, plated, or PCed bullets will have any effect on steel targets designed as targets...
 
I also cast my 9mm 125 grn and Lubersize on a Lyman using Lyman Range Magic. The best I've found for my Blackhawk is on top of 4.0 grn Tite group.
 
hp38 is a winner with 125gr lead cast. doesn't burn too hot, seems less prone to leading than other options. hs-6 is good for the 147's if you keep it on the light side, it can get pretty hot. my favorite cast load is a .357diameter 125gr flat-point loaded with 3.5gr of HP38. I know it seems light, but it reliably cycle all my guns, even my very stiff springed pt111. very accurate in a cz75 compact

titegroup is a great powder for all things 9mm, but I prefer it for plated or jacketed because it's get the velocity up with very little powder variations. but I don't think you'll have an issue with any leading using hi-tek. have fun, and just know that making soft recoiling lead bullet is addictive and will make you appear to be a much better shooter than you are.

play round with larger diameter bullets if you can, something about squeezing that big piece of lead down to a 356 barrel makes em come out straighter than ever. at least find a .3565 if you don't wanna go full .357

no matter what load you decide, you are not going to be surpassing the threshold of hi-tek safe velocities. you have the option to just load them up as you would normally. I agree with the above poster, 4.0 of titegroup is a great accurate load, although I usually go 3.9, not sure if there would be any difference

save that hs-6 for 147's, its amazing in that weight. it also is tops for high velocity lightweights like 90gr hollow-points, but don't do that with lead.
 
Thank you, skizzums, that is actually where I was thinking about going. I actually pulled out a jar of W231 the other night and started to set up the press and dropped a bunch of test charges. I was initially looking at starting at about 3g, but with your suggestion, I'll probably bump it up to 3.5 and see how it goes. I'm waiting for my MoBuCo bullets to arrive to start loading, so I didn't actually load anything and thought I'd ask here for suggestions.

When you have one powder on hand that works in a particular cartridge, the decision which one to use is easy. :)

With a dozen different powders, some I've never used before, in a bullet/cartridge combination I've never used before, and 5 different sources of load data, it feels a little like throwing a dart at the wall to pick a starting point.

Appreciate the suggestion.
 
I started casting and coating my own bullets as well. I Made a good load using Red Dot but to get data now you need an older alliant manual or there is some in the Lyman 49th. I load 3.8 gr with a coated 125gr SWC from Missouri Bullet. Can;t tell it from factory and on the top of the load. 3.5 is mild behind a 115 gr RN and functioned fine in my M&P and 5906.

I also have loaded Auto comp but can't remember where the soft load was in grains but I believe it was right along the middle of the chart from Hodgdon's website.

For 700x a light load for a 115gr RN is around 3.4gr. nice soft shooter and clean burn too.

Ive shot light loads using Unique 124gr plated under 4.6 gr. Little in the mid range recoil.
 
Of the powders you have on hand (nice selection, btw), I'd reach for the Bullseye. But the W231/HP-38 would work nicely too. Those are the only two I'd consider - with 700x getting honorable mention.

115's (lead, plated, jacketed, or coated) like to be propelled by fast powders - especially for your application (light rounds).
 
Thanks, Nick. Maybe I'll load some test rounds with Bullseye and some with W231 and see what I like best.

I finally got a chronograph last week, but have not had a chance to use it yet. Now's the time!

Would like to keep the velocity down to 950fps or so, but achieve reliable functioning of the pistols.
 
I don't load much 9mm. But I do have a LRN 115g using 4.0gn W231. 966 fps through a 3.7" bbl; and 1066 fps through a 5" bbl.

That's a fairly mild round and might give you a starting point; in conjunction with published data, or course.
 
The best combo for soft shooting loads is typically fast powder + heavy bullet. That said, I've never loaded 115 gr coated bullets. I do know firsthand that 3.2 gn of Tight Group under a 147 gn bullet makes minimum power factor out of my 5" barrels and is an extremely soft shooting load. Also 3.8 gn of Tight Group under a 124 gn bullet seems to be a very popular load and is almost as soft. Both loads cycle 100% in my guns but you would have to do your own testing.

Slower powders such as HS6 will not burn cleanly when downloaded to lower pressures so I would stick with something fast. Just my 2 cents
 
What's your favorite powder in this application and why?
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The powders I've tinkered with: W231, HP38, AutoComp, Power Pistol and Unique. I've transitioned from 115 grain to 124 grain over the years, along with some locally cast 140 grain. Higher bullet weight + faster powder generally give softest recoil.

124 grain SWC MBC HiTek with W231/HP38 is low velocity. soft recoil. Same results with 124 grain Smallball MBC lead. My limited data indicates these would not meet 125 power factor floor for 9mm IDPA.
 
Thought I'd provide a quick update on my 9mm lead bullet efforts. As noted earlier, I've always loaded FMJ, Jacketed or, more recently, plated bullets in 9mm. After adding an LC9s Ruger to my safe (which is very nice, BTW) I wanted to try loading lead bullets for steel target practice on my home range. Don't want to damage the targets with jacketed ammo since I use the same targets for CAS. They are 3/8 inch AR400 steel, BTW.

I'm loading 115g HiTek coated lead bullets from MoBuCo. My initial load tests started with 3.0g of W231. These failed to function in the LC9s about 50% of the time. Failed to actuate the slide fully or stovepiped the brass. At 3.5g I got better functioning, but an occasional stovepipe. At 4.0g (max is 4.9 in lyman 49 to over 5g in some manuals), function is excellent, perceived recoil is significantly less than factory SD loads and less than my 5g Unique plinking load.

Next step is to set up my new chronograph and see what I've got.
 
+1 on the 124/125 gr with 3.8 to 4.0 of Titegroup. Pretty nice load that should run factory springs in your guns. I know you are getting 115 gr to start but IMO the heavier bullets have a less snappy recoil and therefore are more enjoyable.
 
I set up my new RCBS chronograph and measured my 9mm load with 4.0g W231 with a 115g HiTek bullet. Out of my Ruger LC9s, this load averaged 982 fps with a SD of 13. Mission accomplished. This is the load that I was looking for. Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.
 
I am doing the same thing and have a home range . My Cousin past away the first of the year and I was given his steel targets (4) . I will be using a 44 Mag 44 Special and 45 Colt . so far the lead 200gr at 900 fps or less using Unique works well in all three . I am shooting the steel at 25 & 50 yards .
 
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