spyshot

i am new to loading. so far i've only loaded .40 cal fmj with no problems. i am now going to start 9mm. i was at a gun show this past weekend and got a good deal on some bulk 9mm 125 grain lead bullets (lubed). i'm going to shoot them in my ruger p-89 and s&w m&p9c

1) is there anything i need to consider when loading lead bullets vs jacketed?

2) i noticed some of the bullets have the lube that is a little messed up. by this i mean the lube is out of the groove, and therefore maybe a few millimeters of the goove does not have lube in it. is this a problem?

3) i currently have a hornady reloading manual, should i buy a reloading manual for lead bullets, or should i just go with the data for the same weight bullet (they would be jacekted i think). i've heard layman has a good one for many types of bullets.

thanks!

dukalmighty

Lead bullets have different load criteria over jacketed as far as max powder charges and min oal

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mcp1810

Depending on how hard the alloy is you may need to keep your velocity down to avoid lead fouling the bore. But if you are talking about ammo that is only going to be engaging paper and the occasional rabid soda can you don't need a whole lot of terminal performance.
One of my Hornady books and I think one of my Speer books has some 9mm lead loads in it. Sometimes they are listed seperately at the end of the caliber's section.

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jfl

True !
Lead bullets cannot be fired at the same velocity as jacketed ammo.
Serious fouling and subpar accuracy can be expected.
A little lube missing is nothing to worry about.

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spyshot

thanks all. i'm on the hunt for a reloading manual. my hornady book doens't list this load.

frankmako

check on the net for load data at the powder factory sites. you can load cast lead using jacket load data, just load at the lower end. i would not shoot cast lead in a factory glock barrel. you can get lots of information on this site thats talks about glocks and cast lead. do a search for the information. if you can find some old reloading books from 1970's they have some of the best/correct data.

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spyshot

thanks for the advice.

Faitmaker

I'm using 9mm 125gr RNL bullets in my loads. Lee has the recipe. Max grain is 5.5 with an OAL of 1.15 using Unique.

Tell me which powder you are using and I can give you the data.

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metaldemon7

My neighbor cast his own bullets. He had about 700 - 155gr. bullets that he cast many years ago. I loaded them with CCI small pistol primers and 3.2gr of Titegroup. My older Ruger P95DC shoots them very well, but my Taurus 24/7 pro compact does not shoot them well at all. I know they are very heavy for the caliber. I just use them for paper anyhow. My Ruger does shoot anything I put in it though.

automatic slim

I don't really know your reloading procedure but one thing to remember, especially with lead bullets is to thoroughly wash your hands afterwards. I know several old timers with serious health issues resulting from exposure/handling of lead bullets.
My personal experience with lead bullets, I purchased some due to them being much cheaper than jacketed. I reloaded several hundred for use in a S&W M-659. When firing them, things went well at the beginning, but soon my gun started jamming. After examining it I found that a slight amount of lead was being shaves off on the feed ramp, after enough had built up the gun was unable to chamber a fresh round. I also did have a problem with bore leading and they weren't as accurate as jacketed bullets. I'm not saying you'll have problems, just my experience with them.

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