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Old February 6, 2012, 11:01 PM   #1
JohnLeal
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Loading 9mm 125g LRN, HELP!! lol

I just started loading this week and Im starting with 9mm LRN the only recipe I found came with the Lee Progressive Loader. Im also casting my own bullets from
(Lee 2-Cavity Bullet Mold 356-125-2R 9mm Luger, 38 Super, 380 ACP (356 Diameter) 125 Grain 2 Ogive Radius)

Current Recipe is
9mm LRN 125g (after lube it comes out .354)
OAL is Rangeing between 1.163 and 1.168
HS-6 5.9
CCI Primers 500 small pistol


is this an acceptable recipe? are there any others?
I also bought Accurate 7 any recipes for it?

Thanks from a grateful Newb
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Old February 6, 2012, 11:16 PM   #2
ScottRiqui
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The second edition of Lee's "Modern Reloading" lists 12 recipes for a 125 gr lead bullet (plus three more for a 126 gr, which should work as well.

Nothing there for HS-6, but for Accurate #7, it has:

7.5 gr starting / 8.3 gr max, 1.1" OAL

The Speer Reloading Manual #13 lists an HS-6 recipe for 125 gr lead round-nose:

5.1 gr min / 5.5 gr max / OAL 1.13"


This would indicate that your load of 5.9 gr of HS-6 might be too much, but I've found a lot of contradictions between different manuals, and I don't load 9mm myself, so I'll defer to the other members on that one.
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Old February 6, 2012, 11:51 PM   #3
Scimmia
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Does that OAL chamber in your 9mm pistols? That's right at the max cartridge length, and depending on the shape of the bullet might not even chamber correctly.

I don't cast my own so this may be a dumb question, but why are your bullets coming out so small? .354" is pretty small for most 9mm barrels.
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Old February 6, 2012, 11:54 PM   #4
ScottRiqui
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Addendum to my earlier post - looking around, it appears that many IPDA shooters are using up to 6.4 or 6.5 gr of HS-6 with a 125 gr LRN bullet with no ill effects, so your 5.9 gr might be just fine. I would still try to get some opinions from people that actually reload the 9mm, though.
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Old February 7, 2012, 04:24 AM   #5
chris in va
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Your bullet is much too small at 354. Needs to be around 357-358 for lead.

All 356 bullets went in sideways when I first started loading for my CZ. Once i got the Lee 358-125RF mold, all shots tightened up.

Regardless you need to make a dummy round to find out what OAL will chamber reliably in your particular barrel. 1.168 sounds incredibly long.
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Old February 7, 2012, 09:19 AM   #6
Adamantium
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Well there is nothing unsafe about 5.9 grains of HS-6, Hodgdon on their website lists that as the reduced load with 6.6 being max.

The OAL that will work for you is what will fit in you mag, barrel and feed between the two. I tend to go with the max length that meets all those needs.

On your bullets the .354 is a concern because lead works best when it is larger than the groove to groove diameter of your specific barrel and will usually be really bad when below it. In a perfect world every 9mm barrel would .355, already putting you below it, and this isn't a perfect world. Lots of 9mm barrels are oversized due to various reasons so you may have accuracy troubles. Really though you've got to try it before you know, just don't crank out hundereds of bullets and get them to .354 before you try. One gun I had key holed badly with .356 bullets and another stabilized them but groups were over a foot at 25 meters. Both suffered from oversized barrel dimensions.

What are you making these bullets out of and are they hard or soft cast? IE are they dropping out of the mold into a bucket of water or onto a towel and air cooling? I had really poor results with soft cast (clip on wheel weights) and 9mm when I first started out. Try both but don't make a ton of either until you do.
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Old February 7, 2012, 10:51 AM   #7
GroovyMike
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I'd use 4 grains of Bullseye or 4 grains of Red Dot.
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Old February 7, 2012, 03:13 PM   #8
JohnLeal
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Im making them just for plinking, I have made a few dummy rounds and they seem to chamber without any problems, however I am concerned that the bullets are coming out so small. I havent measured them right out of the mold, I let them air cool and sent them right through the bullet lube and sizer for .356 somehow they seem to have come out .354. Is that because they might have gone in crooked? Also the lead I'm using is lead that I bought for lure making. Not sure anything past that on the lead. Is it ok to go a little below the Max OAL? like 1.157? I have made a few dummy rounds and they cycle through my XD easily, I usually use a glock, but im in the process of purchasing a Lone wolf barrel so I can shoot lead
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Old February 7, 2012, 06:36 PM   #9
Scimmia
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Quote:
Is it ok to go a little below the Max OAL? like 1.157?
It's best to go with whatever OAL your load data calls for. Most of my 9mm loads are in the 1.080 to 1.120 range.
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Old February 7, 2012, 10:38 PM   #10
chris in va
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Quote:
Also the lead I'm using is lead that I bought for lure making.
Well, lures are made of pure lead, not good for 9mm. You want wheelweight lead at a minimum hardness, and water dropped.

You can shoot lead through a Glock barrel. Wait on the Lone Wolf. Fire a mag through it, check the bore for leading...repeat. I could put 200 rounds of LRN through my G21's barrel without any buildup.
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Old February 7, 2012, 10:58 PM   #11
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Your going to want harder lead, That lure lead is way to soft for what your using it for.You'll need to mix it with tin and antimony to around a bhn of 12-18.
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Old February 7, 2012, 11:30 PM   #12
azjohn
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I have shot a lot of the same bullet sized to .357; run through a Lyman 450 and lubed with BAC. Never used HS6 but have used Unique, Bullseye, Herco and 231. My OAL is 1.125 as that is as long as I can go and have no issues with chambering. I use ww with a small amount of tin to get good fillout and let them air cool. The bullets run just about 130 grains. If the sizer is decreasing the diameter you may consider shooting unsized as you will probably have a leading problem at .354 So you might want to try some tin and see if they drop larger from the mold. You also might consider asking for some help in the casting section here or here.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8
Also a good read is the book by Glen Fryxell. A Cast Bullet Guide for Hangunners which is available as a PDF here http://www.lasc.us/ With cast bullets proper fit is the most important starting point. Good Luck as you have a lot of reading. Here is another link that will help.http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=121737
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Old February 8, 2012, 08:18 PM   #13
JohnLeal
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wow alot of good information. Im going to check it all out and get back to all of you. Everyone on the forum is very helpful and it is much appreciated
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Old February 8, 2012, 11:36 PM   #14
JKP
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I like 4.9 gr of Unique with 125 gr LRN. Lighter loads will lead the barrel a lot more.
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Old February 11, 2012, 08:50 AM   #15
Huskerguy
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I loaded up some 125 grain lead round nose bullets a friend gave me and this is what I used:

3.6 grains titegroup
1.145 OAL

I now pour my own using the Lee mold and expect I will start with the same load as the profile is the same. I haven't shot any of them yet.

I have tried HS-6 with plated bullets and am currently working up some loads for some 115 grain bullets I have. On the larger bullets I came back to TG, it just performs well for me.
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