New paperweight

[Longone]

Approximately, how closely fit is the pushing stem to the sizing die in a Lee push through sizer?

 

[CZ93X62]

"Straight-forward"? With a 9mm?? Surely, you jest.

I would love to have ownership of a 9mm pistol with true .355" groove diameter. Such frontiers have always been either the stuff of legend or the province of aftermarket barrels. Like The Yeti--well known, but never seen.

 

[Brad]

Approximately, how closely fit is the pushing stem to the sizing die in a Lee push through sizer?

Likely .003-.006 smaller. Possibly more. I don’t like to make them less than .002 because any tighter and even a small misalignment of ram and threads means the punch binds in the die.

 

[RBHarter]

I don't think I can get the .454 stem in the .451 die . As a side note the .451 is actually .453 with 50/50 sized and the .454 is just a scuff on .455s at possibly .4545 . It binds without sticking enough you can't get them mixed up .

 

[Charles Graff]

So I wanted a RN mold for the 9mm and ordered one from a custom maker. An aluminum 5 cavity, when I tried casting with it the dropped Bullets measure .360” which is completely useless when you need .355”. I have contacted the maker and have heard zero since last Thursday. Just for the heck of it I did try to cast some of my straight WW and they are still .309” 90 degrees from the parting lines. As you can see the lead was still cold as was the mold but still were too big.
Is there any hope this mold can be used for a light 38 special or 38 S&W bullet? Of course there is no crimp groove so it will have to be a taper crimp. Just hoping it will have some use other than a paper weight.

I don't see the problem. I have shot cast bullets in variety of Euro and American 9mm autopistols and have found that .358 works well in all of them. Sizing from .360 to .358 is a piece of cake. I have never found a 9mm auto with a true .355 bore diamters. They all have gone .356 to .357.

 

[Ian]

Maybe in yours, Charles, but not in his.

A .358” bullet will not plunk in my P365, a .357” will so the chamber is a little tight on this handgun.

 

[Charles Graff]

Maybe in yours, Charles, but not in his.

Maybe in yours, Charles, but not in his.

OK, I had to look up what a P365 is. My 9mm experiences has been with Lugers, P38s S&W 459, Browning HPs and one 2005 vintage SIG P239. Oh yes and a couple of UZIs. I have a couple of Glocks, but only shoot factory ammo in them. I don't cotton to these new fangled striker fired pistols.

 

[popper]

Lee sizers 314 (308W smooth sided) get to 310 no prblem. 312 (BO smooth sided) go to 307 no problem. You do have to watch the alloy hardness as soft comes out smaller than hard. Both do MOA at near full speed. Your mould is fine.

 

[Longone]

They can indeed be sized down no problem.

 

[Ian]

I dunno, Longone, that looks terrible to me. Bullet got sized quite crooked and lead is smeared nearly halfway up the ogive on one side, lube groove distorted on same side, and base guaranteed not square with the body of the bullet anymore which is pretty much a death sentence to any kind of accuracy.

 

[Brad]

That bullet no be concentric now. It won’t enter the bore on center and won’t shoot very well most likely.
A push thru sizer should do better

 

[Longone]

This is what I‘ve tried to explain, it was sized on a LAM with a RN top punch. The excess lead from the large dia. has to go somewhere so it follows the bullet shape. Not to mention that even if you were to try and use this bullet the seating would be so deep in the case there wouldn’t be much room for powder.

 

[Brad]

Nose first sizing cures many of those problems. One issue you are facing is the fact the bullet is sized off center.
I bet that once you get the push thru sizer and lightly lube a few bullets they will look very different.

 

[fiver]

the diameters are all wrong.
where the MIC. is sitting should be tapering from about 351 down to 350 right there.

maybe Brad has a measurement of the HM-2 mold diameters right in front of the drive band and can illustrate it better.

 

[Ian]

This is what I‘ve tried to explain, it was sized on a LAM with a RN top punch. The excess lead from the large dia. has to go somewhere so it follows the bullet shape. Not to mention that even if you were to try and use this bullet the seating would be so deep in the case there wouldn’t be much room for powder.

It would do a lot better if it weren't crooked and were pushed through nose-first instead of base first, but like you said originally this is a no-go for your particular handgun. Even the Lee push-through won't prevent that metal from trailing off the base edges, the punch won't fit tight enough to keep that from happening and the base will tend to cup as the bullet is sized even with a flat punch shoving on the base because that's the way the alloy wants to flow. Get yer money back and spend it with Accurate Molds LLC , maybe get one cut like Fiver suggested if you can stand a bullet with a .180 flat meplat.

 

[Ben]

just be certain you know exactly what you're asking for.

Ahhh..........Glad you included that !

Tom is good, but he MUST know exactly what you want , the diameter of the nose , drive bands, and alloy you plan to use.
Very impt.

Ben

 

[Walks]

I just came on to this thread.
That bullet you're showing looks exactly like the Lee 9mm; .356-125-2R, which bullets drop from My Lee 6cav at .357 cast of 50/50 COWW/#2. So I'm either putting them thru a Lube-Sizer .357 to ensure roundness and lube or a TL of 45/45/10 and a push sizer of .357 (Lee).
I've cast and loaded for just about every 9mmX19 made before 1980 and a lot since. The only pistol I've ever found that measure a bore dia of .355 was a Browning BDA, (Sig-Sauer P220).

And I have an early Wolf Conversion 9mm bbl for My Old Glock 23, it measures .356, most of my nines are .3565-.357, each one is a Law unto itself. Cast and size accordingly.