Thoughts on 9mm lead out of 38spcl

[jonaddis84]

I have a mold for the Lee 124 grain round nose for 9mm (.356) and want to start reloading for my LCR for practice ammo. The Lee mold for 38 says (.358), but the only bullet they offer in tumble lube 38 is a 158 grain, which seems way too heavy and is also not close to the 130 grain I normally shoot.

Ive found very few reports of how these shoot, most say they are safe but not very accurate? I guess theres only one way to find out huh?

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: Thoughts on 9mm lead out of 38spcl

The only down side I can think of is blow by or flame cutting, on the bullet I think the barrel would be okay. I'm not even sure that you would get that from 2 thousandths of an inch. I've seen 158's sized down to .355 for heavy 9mm loads.

 

[MALLARD]

Re: Thoughts on 9mm lead out of 38spcl

160 gr sounds pretty heavy , what kind of powder were you going to try and use ?

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: Thoughts on 9mm lead out of 38spcl

It was a Guns and Ammo artical a few years ago. I'll see if I still have it.

 

[bohem]

Re: Thoughts on 9mm lead out of 38spcl

I tried shooting the Lee cast 158's from a couple of my 9's back in 2009.

The general twist rate in the 9x19 doesn't stabilize them nor do they fit well in the case. I had to seat them, then FL size the whole loaded round to get them to feed. The bullet is very long and causes problems with the taper.

You can shoot the 356-357 diam in a 9x19 with cast lead, the 358's will work but be careful when working on a load with them.

Now, in terms of shooting the cast bullets you can order 0.355, 0.356, 0.357, 0.358, and I think 0.359 sizing dies from Lee.

Pick one that is 0.001" larger than the nominal jacketed bullet diameter for the bore you're going to use them in.

IE a 38 bullet is usually a 357-358 so shooting cast at 358-359 is good.

9x19's work well at 356-357.

I have a bunch of "ready to shoot" Lee 158 tumble lube bullets on my shelf that I haven't loaded up for my 38 revolver yet. I use them for easy plinking loads over 4.3gr of Unique (IIRC)

It's smoky but very easy to shoot and CHEAP.

If you want a handful send me a PM, just cover the shipping and I'll mail you some to try before you buy a mould.

 

[Mike_R]

Re: Thoughts on 9mm lead out of 38spcl

They should be fine but might lead up the barrel quicker... also try cranking up the temperature on your pot, I have been able to cast 1 to 2 thousandths over size by raising the temp of the alloy.

You also can tumble lube non tumble lube bullets. They don't have the micro lubes but they work fine if the bullet fits your cylinder throats reasonably. I shoot a 200 rnfp with regular grooves out of a. 44 blackhawk using tumble lube. Also different tumble lube blends are much better than the straight lee liquid alox in my experience. YMMV. Best of luck with the experiment.

 

[jonaddis84]

Re: Thoughts on 9mm lead out of 38spcl

I guess I might as well try them out, just wanted to confirm it wasnt going to be a dangerous situation.

Wish I had a longer barrel 38 to test their real accuracy with, the LCR is good but not that good.

 

[Mike_R]

Re: Thoughts on 9mm lead out of 38spcl

The opposite very well could be dangerous, the only threat I could see with using undersize bullets would be not sealing the bore with super light loads and lodging a bullet in the bore, but with standard pressure loads that is unlikely. Just make sure you see holes on paper after each shot at least for the first few cylinders. Try running the pot hotter and you can probably get them to fit pretty well.

IIRC somebody (ruger?) makes revolvers that have a .357/.38 cylinder and a 9mm cylinder, those bullets go down the same bore its the cylinder throats that are different. Soft lead with a reasonable charge should work just fine.

 

[Force_Multiplier]

Re: Thoughts on 9mm lead out of 38spcl

I've seen S&W revolvers in 38, w/ a 9mm cylinder... so I don't see why it wouldn't work