Joe_Atlanta Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 (edited) I'm fooling around with loading some Lee TL158SWC in 9mm that drop into the water bucket at just over .358. I'd like to load them without a whole lot of extra steps and I've found the Federal cases (recommended here: http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/18) fit the unsized bullets fairly well, with the case starting to thicken up just as the bevel base reaches full size. My question (before I sort for headstamp): are there any other thin walled brands I should be sorting for? I've reached the stage where my hands and eyes don't want to do the fine work of this type of measuring, so I would appreciates any help. thanks, Joe Edited February 17, 2015 by Joe_Atlanta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRush Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I loaded 158s at .357 and .358 for my G17 although it was with the round nose tumble lube bullet. Dont recall having issues using mixed brass but that barrel has a generous chamber. I'd lean towards getting the chamber reamed to take a deeper bullet (leaves more room for powder and keeps the bullet from being seated down into the thicker part of the case wall) before sorting by headstamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgj3 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 What Mike said above... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyD Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I load the Lee 358-125-RF powdercoated sized to 358 in my XD Service (I have to run super short). The only brass I toss is CBC, Tula (brass) and the usual Ammoload and IMT (ledged crap). The CBC and Tula always bulges at base of bullet and I can't get them to chamber. Picking up an XD Tactical as my main gaming gun and I might looked into getting it reamed so I have less issues and don't have to seat super deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I use Win brass with 130gr LSWC @ .358 with OAL @ 1.111. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbcaster45 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Federal is my favorite for larger diameter bullets but CCI/Blazer isn't bad either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Atlanta Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Thanks for the help, folks. Even though it would make the whole process easier, I don't really want to ream the chamber (it shoots factory defense loads quite well) so I'll have to make the load fit the gun. I'll try the Lee bullet with other headstamps and see how that goes, I do have a pretty good stock of Blazer. I'm not married to that bullet, it would just be very convenient since I already have several hundred cast and access to a mint 6 cavity mold. Looking past initial tests, whatever I end up loading needs to work with the majority of available brass if I cull out the bad actors. Besides CBC, Tula, Ammoload and IMT are there any other I should keep a look out for problems with? How about military headstamps? Any particular heavy walled flavors? thanks, Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Try 5 or 10 of each and see what fits your chamber best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Atlanta Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Try 5 or 10 of each and see what fits your chamber best. Yeah, I know. Just trying to cut out as much of the donkey work as I can by eliminating the known stinkers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Atlanta Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 Update: Slugged the throat/ barre of my STI Ranger II, .355/347 groove/land, nice .358 to 355 1/4" taper in the throat with a smooth leade. Found the Blazer to work as almost as well as the FC. Went ahead and sorted a couple hundred cases, came up with 17 head stamps plus various military. No visible bulging, but 11 out of 17 would not fully drop into barrel, averaging about an 1/8th inch of protrusion. Pulled bullets showed heavy swaging of the base band, dropping it from .3585 to below .357. CBC was the worst, base measured .355! A couple of the cases that passed the plonk test still swaged the base heavily, leaving only FC, Blazer, Speer and PMC as usable with the unsized bullet ( a lead bullet base that is under throat size is subject to gas cutting, once that starts you can pretty much count on getting a leaded barrel). Using the mic I checked a bunch of cases and found the thickening of the case usually happens .25 to .33 from the mouth. Depending on manufacturer it tapers from there, some brands getting heavy in a hurry. So I need a bullet that seats no more than .25 inside the case (not counting the bevel base). My next step is to size the bullets to .358 (rear band runs .3585 to .3595 as cast) and see if they can be seated out that far and still chamber. Although I've given up on the unsized bullets, I went ahead did a pressure/function series and will post that as soon as I get a chance. thanks again for all the tips, Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novalty Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I've been loading my own cast 9mm sized at .358". Bullet is a RNFN 125gr. from a Mihec MP Mold. Still working on testing powder levels, but so far they have functioned well in my S&W's (M&P fullsize, Shield, and 5906) without any leading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Atlanta Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Update: Load test with unsized Lee 158 TL SWC. Weight cast from WW:159.5, .3585 +.001 diameter, 1.047 COL, .379 crimp. STI Ranger II with factory spring (recoilmaster light). No chrono data, will compare against AA&A 900fps 147 gr and Blazer 115 in terms of feel and case ejection. 2.2 gr Red Dot failure to eject and a few stove pipes, felt like a .22 2.5 feeds, fires and ejects OK, random failure to lock slide back, feels lighter than AA&A 130pf load 2.7 complete function, maybe a bit firmer than 130pf stuff, ejection pattern similar. 3.0 getting close to Blazer Since the unsized bullets could only be used with a few brands of brass, I resized the remaining bullets to .358 and loaded them with 2.5gr Red Dot, 1.08 COL (read a report on Cast Boolits of a chronoed 158 swc getting 800fps with 2.4 gr Red Dot). Functions fine and accuracy is good, low smoke with Rooster Jacket Tumble Lube (floor wax), cut down a 12 lb commander spring for my Recoilmaster and now slide lock back is 100%. Coming from many years of .45 shooting, I much prefer the heavier bullet in 9mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmo412 Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 It really is no big deal to ream the throat of the chamber. When I wanted to run JHPS in my open gun, I called Manson and got a throat in reamer for about $40. I loaded a test round at 1.185. I went about a half turn on the reamer by hand and dropped the round in the chamber and tried to twist it. Second try it spun freely. You aren't changing the dimensions of the chamber...just getting a little extra room before the rifling starts. Accuracy was not affected at all and I have done the same to several friends' guns now. You would be able to load your 158s out to 1.150 or so and eliminate the bulge you are getting in the case. I did the same thing to my XDM so I could use bayou 160s and it worked like a charm with any brass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Atlanta Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 (edited) It really is no big deal to ream the throat of the chamber. When I wanted to run JHPS in my open gun, I called Manson and got a throat in reamer for about $40. I loaded a test round at 1.185. I went about a half turn on the reamer by hand and dropped the round in the chamber and tried to twist it. Second try it spun freely. You aren't changing the dimensions of the chamber...just getting a little extra room before the rifling starts. Accuracy was not affected at all and I have done the same to several friends' guns now. You would be able to load your 158s out to 1.150 or so and eliminate the bulge you are getting in the case. I did the same thing to my XDM so I could use bayou 160s and it worked like a charm with any brass Thanks for taking the time and explaining about the process. Reaming was suggested by other folks and it would be the best option if I was stuck with this bullet and had to shoot it unsized. In general, the throat on my STI is not particularly tight, it's just that the Lee 158 SWC is not a great design (short stubby nose) for semi-autos and the bullet as cast is oversized (.3585-.3595) for the caliber. However, once I resize it to .358, all the case problems went away, even though I was still at a short COL. I was able to seat the bullet out just enough so that the full diameter body section did not get down into the part of the case where it started to thicken and had plenty of room in the case for the tiny powder charge needed to make minor pf. I've just started loading a 160 gr. coated bullet from http://www.blackandbluebullets.com/. With it's standard RN shape and sized to .357 I'm able to seat it much further out to a COL of 1.145. Good looking bullet and you have the options of ordering it sized from .355 to .358 and four different colors. http://www.blackandbluebullets.com/160_gr_FB_RN_NLG_1000ct_Shipping_Included/p1287789_12754283.aspx As far as my quest for a home cast bullet to tumble lube and shoot as cast, I'm probably going to go with a variation on a Ed Harris designed bullet that Accurate Mold makes. The section of the body that is full sized in the case is only .25, with the front band starting at .357 and tapering down. I going to eliminate the big lube grove and specify the body to have TL grooves and a as cast diameter of .358. http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-155D-D.png Edited April 1, 2015 by Joe_Atlanta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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