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View Full Version : Powder charge 9mm


Swampman1
January 8, 2014, 08:11 PM
I will be casting my first 9mm cast bullets tomorrow. The Lee mold (356-120 TC) will drop at about 125 grs. Any suggestions as to what powder charge I should start at? Currently, I use 4.4 gr of HP-38 with my jacketed bullets. I'm thinking I'll start at around 4.0.

FrankenMauser
January 9, 2014, 01:48 AM
3.9-4.0 gr would be a good starting point with HP-38/W231.

With the Lee 120 TC, you'll probably find an OAL of about 1.110" to be ideal. (Just a guess, I've never used that particular bullet; but I use almost nothing but 120-127 gr bullets in 9mm.)

I load everything in the 120-130 gr weight class to 1.090", but there was a fair amount of personal preference involved in getting to that number. Some bullets might do better if seated just a hair longer.

chris in va
January 9, 2014, 04:18 AM
Yikes.

Where's your lead bullet reloading manual?

No mention of making a dummy bullet, necessary when using lead.

Swampman1
January 9, 2014, 08:58 AM
Thanks Frank...just what I was looking for.

Swampman1
January 9, 2014, 05:10 PM
No mention of making a dummy bullet, necessary when using lead

OK thanks, can you explain the dummy bullet?

chris in va
January 9, 2014, 05:55 PM
Every gun has a different 'leade', the smooth barrel part before the rifling starts. Some have a longer leade while my CZ's is very short.

A dummy bullet is made using a case with no primer or powder, and the bullet is seated to various depths to determine at what point the round will chamber without sticking.

Take the barrel out of the gun. Seat the bullet to a length that fits in the magazine comfortably. If the round drops in the barrel with a nice CLINK and no sticking, you have your proper depth. If not, seat a tad deeper until it does. Be careful though, the deeper a bullet is seated, the less your powder charge can be to avoid blowing up your gun and hand.

You'll also have to verify it'll cycle properly as some bullet profiles aren't agreeable with all feed ramps and chamber types. SWC bullets have this issue.

On a side note, I bought a Lee mold, 125gr flat point for my 9mm. It has a weird shape (or ogive) and my CZ wouldn't accept it until...1.02oal. It was so deep I had to back off the powder charge to minimum levels so it wouldn't blow up.

Swampman1
January 9, 2014, 08:12 PM
OK Chris, I did remove the barrel and dropped a cartridge that was seated at 1.092, and is had a nice "plink" sound to it. I also took one of the bullets and inserted it into the barrel...it traveled about 1/2" then stopped. I could turn the barrel over and it would slide out. Not sure what significance that means if any. I haven't tried actually loading a magazine to see how it functions through the action. The Lee mold is dropping them at 357.4 to as much as .358. That being said, I would assume these need to be run through my Lee .356 resizing die after lubing?

Sure Shot Mc Gee
January 9, 2014, 10:12 PM
If you like flash & accuracy AA-#7 is a powder you'll like. Easy to measure reasonably clean burning. As it has a history back to the Israeli UZI's preference.

FrankenMauser
January 10, 2014, 12:36 AM
Where's your lead bullet reloading manual?

No mention of making a dummy bullet, necessary when using lead.
That should be standard reloading practice - if that's the method you prefer - not just something to do with lead bullets.