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9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

1 by DanielJ
Does anyone know where I can get 9mm SWC to reload? If not and actual jacketed bullet or plated bullet, how about a cast bullet? Even a good mold would be nice since I want to start casting my own soon.
I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.
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Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

5 by Bisbee
Yes, Lee makes two truncated cone molds for 9mm:
https://leeprecision.com/bullet-casting ... let-molds/

However, I have to say that I've not had good luck with the Lee molds for my 9mm. Folks generally have a hard time loading cast bullets for that high-pressure round. Still, I am trying to figuring out the leading issue I'm experiencing on all my 9mm's (Glock, Sig, CZ...). It looks OK at the chamber end but gradually has leading toward the muzzle. Indicates loss of lubrication as the bullet travels the 4-5 inches of barrel. Then I did a base diameter check of the boolit when it drops from the mold versus one's pulled from a case... they are different! My .356 boolits as dropped became .354 after pulling from a loaded case!

Marlene's suggestion of a .358 boolit mold for .38/.357 also may not work because a round using such diameter boolits simply will not chamber (in any pistol other than a Beretta) based on my experience.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

9 by Wabatuckian
Daniel, if you're going to cast, you should size.

Cast boolits should be sized about 0.002" larger that the bore. For example, 0.452" for .45acp.

A 9mm bore is nominally 0.355". Therefore, a cast boolit for 9mm should be 0.357".

A Lee sizer is inexpensive and effective. Cast some boolits between 0.357" and 0.359" and you should be able to size them down.

Regards
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Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

14 by eelj
Polygonal, ok. I think there is a very long sticky on the castboolits forum on cast for polygonal rifling and glocks so obviously it can be done successfully.

And Josh you are wrong about the SWC shoulder cutting anything at all, It's the flat meplat that does the job on both paper and flesh. Thats why full wadcutters are used for targets. The shoulder doesn't touch a thing and SWCs only advantage over a RNFP is that with the shoulder you can seat deeper and crimp over the shoulder.

Since you don't roll crimp with an auto I would look for a good truncated cone mold and size and lube it according to the dimensions of the bore, after slugging the bore.

Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

16 by eelj
Marlene wrote:Eelj, I haven't shot SWCs in a while, and I agree with you entirely on game, but I think they do cut a somewhat cleaner full-size hole in paper than TCs and RNFPs.
Marlene it all depends on the size of the meplat. When target shooting I have always gotten a kick out of finding the little paper discs on the ground behind the targets. When held up to the nose of the bullet they always cover the end of the bullet. Most truncated cone bullets tend to have smaller meplats making them longer so it will feed more reliably so there is always that trade off.

Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

18 by Marlene
Here's that thread on cast boolits http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthr ... Cast/page2

The early Glock 40s were notorious for blowing up with any provocation. I had one blow up in my hands with someone's jacketed handloads (not fun). It seems the the Glock can fire out of battery and that would certainly be ugly. Oversize cast bullet loads that don't quite chamber fully could be a cause of that.

I'm still reading over there.

Also still waiting to hear what Josh had in mind, or if it was just repeating the general admonition, which seems sketchy at best and based on little.
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Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

19 by Bisbee
I own a Glock 17 that I wanted to shoot my cast bullets out of so I did some research into the matter. Apparently the stated warning in the Glock instruction manual is that its polygonal rifling increases the chance of overpressure with cast bullets and any warranty is void with its use. I've never understood why that would be the case and haven't found any explanation that makes sense. At the same time there have been plenty of folks on the Glock sites that say they've shot many thousands of cast bullets out of their polygonal barrels without issue. I happened to come across a good deal locally on a used Lone Wolf barrel (standard lands rifling) for a G34 so I just picked that up to avoid the any potential issue (which also give me an extra inch of barrel).

Unless Josh has other experiences with polygonal barrels and lead-cast bullets to illuminate us on this, I would call it Glock lawyer-speak and take it with a grain of salt.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

20 by Wabatuckian
Marlene wrote:Josh, can you describe the alleged problem?
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l ... _list&c=59

Try that. Since you don't have the valleys in polygonal rifling, you can overpressure faster due to fouling.

Hard cast should be ok if lubed properly.

I don't know that I'd recommend either hard or soft cast for beginners in polygonal rifling.

The main thing is that 9mm speeds melts lead fast. I'd not be as concerned about, say, light loads in 45acp.

Regards.
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Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

21 by Bisbee
Ah-ha. So the argument is that the entire diameter of the barrel is reduced quicker by softer cast boolits due to leading.

I have to admit that my home-cast boolits are not as hard as commercially produced hard-cast bullets. Leading is an issue in my own 9mm rounds, probably because of lower tin & antimony percentage. Yet I have no problems even shooting warmish .357 rounds out of my revolvers and lever-carbines using the same lead mixture.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

23 by eelj
Lead never melts in the barrel. It can be cut from the sides from gas licking up. I have recovered many bullets that I have shot and the bases are perfect. When gas licks up from the sides it's because of undersized bullets. A very hard bullet can cause gas cutting because the bullet doesn't upset enough to fill the rifling.

I know there is something weird about glock chambers, redding makes special sizing dies for brass fired out of them, apparently the brass can look like some drunks belly if it's cirrhotic.

Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

24 by Wabatuckian
eelj wrote:Lead never melts in the barrel. It can be cut from the sides from gas licking up. I have recovered many bullets that I have shot and the bases are perfect. When gas licks up from the sides it's because of undersized bullets. A very hard bullet can cause gas cutting because the bullet doesn't upset enough to fill the rifling.

I know there is something weird about glock chambers, redding makes special sizing dies for brass fired out of them, apparently the brass can look like some drunks belly if it's cirrhotic.
Eelj, lead melts at 600-700 degrees. I'll admit to using "melt" rather loosely, too -- it smears off.

Still, the lead basically solders to the barrel. The best lubes also seem to be the best ant-flux. One of the best lubes I ever used was a combination of beeswax and Soldergate. (I stopped using it because I am not sure the Soldergate isn't toxic.)

While I agree that it's probably safe in hexagonal rifling, I personally won't recommend a practice that goes against both Glock's and Buffalo Bore's advice.

I might do it, but won't recommend it.

Regards.
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Re: 9mm Semi Wad Cutter Bullet

25 by Wabatuckian
eelj wrote:Polygonal, ok. I think there is a very long sticky on the castboolits forum on cast for polygonal rifling and glocks so obviously it can be done successfully.

And Josh you are wrong about the SWC shoulder cutting anything at all, It's the flat meplat that does the job on both paper and flesh. Thats why full wadcutters are used for targets. The shoulder doesn't touch a thing and SWCs only advantage over a RNFP is that with the shoulder you can seat deeper and crimp over the shoulder.

Since you don't roll crimp with an auto I would look for a good truncated cone mold and size and lube it according to the dimensions of the bore, after slugging the bore.
Yes and no on the shoulder. The wound profile is different than a ball round.

The flat point is best in meat shooting -- I agree with you there.

"Best" seems to go, in order, HP, Full WC, Flat Nose, Round Ball, SWC, Round Nose, FMJ.

I'm talking about when these are driven to similar velocities.

Regards,

Josh
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