Sizing my 9mm Bullets

C

chris in va

New member
Here's what I've got going.

358 125gr RNFP boolit, drops at 362. They're too fat to chamber in my CZ which slugs at 355. The bullet shoulder hangs on the (freebore?) and won't go completely into battery unless I load it to 1.01"OAL (no, that's not a misprint).



I get no accuracy with 356 bullets, hence the 38 special mold.

Am I on the right track ordering this?

http://www.grafs.com/product/261743

Lee .358 sizing die. I have a lot of ALOX so would be using that.
 
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I have had best luck with cast bullet sized to 358 in 9mm. Watch your seating depth. With the sizer kit you should be able to chamber the round sized to 358....but I have a buddy with XD and he was not able to get it to work at 358 and had to bring it down to 356. He is new in reloading, so that may be a factor of him not knowing what he is doing. :rolleyes: I have also had the best luck seating the bullet so that it is touching the lands when chambered. It is important not to seat the bullet out too far, but just far enough to rest on the lands and still function reliably. In other words, you will headspace off the bullet instead of the mouth of the case (or extractor). I have also had good luck water dropping the boolit to bring up their BHN. And finally, max loads or just under max loads seem to work the best for me (I have a Sig 228). BUT, be sure to work the load up from the start load (DUH!).
 
Just be sure to fill the lube groove with lube good before squeezimg it down ,that`ll keep the groove from collapsing in on itself.

My cuz had it set up to size & lube A 38 trunicated boolit on a star then push the lubed boolit thru a lee 356 sizer, worked slick when ya had 2 people , not fun by yourself though !!
 
personally I think .007 over might just be a bit too much. I think you might get lead smashed over, clogging the lube groves.

I think I would use 358 bullets in 38/357 cases and get a 355-356 mold for the 9 mm.

You said they dont shoot good, Most "Make DO" bullets dont shoot good.
 
I get my sizer tomorrow, will report back. If all else fails I'll contact Lee and have them do something about my oversized mold.
 
Chris in va before sendin it back I would like to offer what ya paid for it !

I usually don`t go for the liter molds but hey how many ya run across that throws a .362 fatty !!!!
 
I sized a few dozen, works great! Everything came out at .358 as it should. The die was screwed in too far at first and I had a heck of a time closing the hand press (yes yes, I know) but once I fixed that, everything went smoothly.

Can't wait to shoot these. Will tumble lube them again of course, just showing what the sizer did.

 
Update...they shoot fantastic out of my carbine! I found a piece of I-beam at the junk yard today that measures about 11" tall, and had NO problem hitting it at 80 yards. PING PING PING...music to my ears.

Still working on a good OAL for the CZ 75. Someone pointed out I can seat it to 1.01" but will have to severely reduce powder to compensate. If that's what it takes, so be it.
 
Hi Chris!

The answer to your question lies in your bore actually. Slug your bore (with a soft lead slug preferably) using a series of hardwood dowels and a nylon mallet. Measure the diameter of the slug and record it. Add 0.001" to that diameter and that is the 'starting diameter'. You will realize great results by adhering to this method. I hope this helps you.

Matt
 
Update yet again. On the advice of several members, I went with a minimum charge and seated the boolit to 1.01 OAL. The boolit leade just touches the throat at that length yet still chambers fine.

Had a chance to shoot 300 rounds through the CZ yesterday and they are just as accurate if not moreso than the FMJ I was previously using. Not much leading, just a couple runs with a brush every 100 rounds and it's good to go.

So the combination of short OAL with a fat 358 boolit did the trick!
 
Chris

Good lookin bullets, sounds as if some more scrounging is in order!!!!

Warm the bullets in the sun & lube with johnsons paste floor wax & see if ya little bit of leadin goes away.

Warm the bullets up good thin swirl em like the alox then stand em up .
 
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