If you don't like to cast and reload for the sake of reloading, read no farther. Many of us have a 357/9mm Ruger convertible with the 9mm cylinder residing in some drawer. I can hear the thoughts now. It don't shoot worth a darn with factory ammo....I have trouble chambering my reloads in it....I don't get accuracy with cast bullets.

Have no fear, I've said them all at one time or another but there is a solution.

Then there's the old "Why reload 9mm, factory ammo is so cheap".

At our range, the ground is almost paved with 9mm brass. Like every other loader, I've picked it up and have a goodly amount all FL sized, tumbled and ready to prime. Not your military or S & B stuff...good FC, Speer, R-P, and WW stuff. I have a mould cabinet full of good moulds...just aching for casting bullets to load in 9mms.

Several years ago, I decided to rectify that situation so I bought a Blackhawk .357/9mm 6 1/2" and dusted off the dies. I'd already learned the fact that you have to use a taper crimp die when loading rimless in revolvers so one was on hand and adjusted.

My first loads were 9mm with .356" bullets....the Lyman 358242. Loads were "top of the envelope" listed 9mm loads as I figured the Blackhawk could take anything and so it could. The weak point in the equation is the 9mm case. I proceeded to open the primer pockets on a couple of boxes of once fired R-P brass and accuracy was ho hum to say the least. This is when I started to learn about reloading the 9mm.

I throttled back the loads and seated the bullets out a little farther. The pressure problem went away but the accuracy problem stayed the same.

Next step was the sizing diameter of the bullet. I went to .357 and then .358 in that order and accuracy improved immensly. Now, I think I'm using a .3585 die and accuracy is great. I've used as big as .3596 with no problems.

I have many moulds that are suited for the 9mm. The 358480 SWC is my favorite...either in solid or HP configuration. The 356402 or 358242 (125 grain version) in either solid or HP are also good designs. The 929 Saeco is a good, heavy bullet but it's hard to get the velocity over 1,000 FPS without running into pressure problems and my goal was to develop loads in this range. An exception to the moulds is the 358472 "Snowball" wadcutter. No joy with it so far.

Powders are very versatile. My favorite is Herco, followed by 700-X, Red Dot, WW231 and Blue Dot. AA5's in there too.

Most of my shooting is done at plinking targets at 50 and 100 yards. Almost any of these combos of bullet and powder with a larger diameter bullet will provide acceptable accuracy for this task. The SWC would make a great woods walking combination and a couple of boxes of 9mm ride the pockets a lot easier than a couple of boxes of 38 Special or 357 Magnum. The brass is so plentiful that a cylinder full shucked in the woods in the heat of the moment is no great loss.

So, find that cylinder and clean it up, dust off the 9mm dies, watch the seating depth, size them big and enjoy the niceties of the nines./beagle

beagle,

You almost made me go out and buy one of them funky 2 cylinder jobs. Except I remembered I have one already. Only in 45 Colt/ACP.

This was one of the first "New Model" RBH in our town that I picked up in the early 70's. Been shooting big 45's out of it for years, never the ACP's.

You ever done the same type of thing with this combo? I'd try it myself but can't until I get back up to Idaho. That's where the ACP cylinder is hiding.

Regards,

I don't think beagle has as he helped me lay hands on a .45 ACP cylinder for my Bisley. He's happy with his 9mm/.357 set. It took a bit of machine work to get the .45 ACP cylinder to fit properly, but it wasn't very spendy to get it set up with minimum cylinder barrel gap (~ .003). It is a pleasure to shoot and you don't have to go find the brass like I do when using the Kimber The only "problem" I'm having with mine is the cylinder appears to be ~ .001 or so short. I get some severe "drag" with at least one case out of each cylinder full (6 total), sometimes more. I'm thinking of making up some cases that are a thou shorter or so and keeping them segregated for the Ruger only. Other than that, it's been fine. Use any 1911 load and dink around with the load until you find the load and length it likes, or one that makes you happy. Whichever comes first. Pilgrim

Beagle,
Thanks for dustin off that trail for me. The 6.5" Blackhawk was the first iron I got for shootin way, way back when (late '80s). That's when I figured I'd need to reload or go broke, even on Ensign's pay .
I do actually use the 9mm cylinder with factory loads, and even a few wheels of reloads from time to time. I've been planning to try out an AA#9 load I saw in Speer #13, try to take advantage of the longer barrel (longer than the P85, anyway). I figured if it worked OK there, I'd use it in the Calico. Now there's fun shootin... Load a couple of mags, shoot all day. Probably be a tight balancing act between pressure and OAL in the autoloader, though.
LostCajun

Anyone have/shoot one of those revolvers that was supposed to shoot anything reasonably 9mm? I think it was called a Medusa, or something mythological (pardon my spelling) like that, and had a kind of spring/extractor that adapted to whatever case it was fed.

the 357/9mm and 45acp/45lc convertibles are nice to have. I probably shoot more of the 9mm and 45 acp than the other 2 loads. I like the fact I can shoot whatever type bullet nose I want. Like Beagle I have found 357-358 to be a better size for the 9MM's and 453 to be a good size for the 45 acp's. Orygun

[ 09-09-2003, 09:24: Message edited by: Orygun Mark ]

C1pnr....Indeed I have and it's a shooter. In fact, I probably shoot more 45 ACP cases in mine than I do 45 Colt.

Sizing is .451/452 and accuracy is great.

The key to getting good functioning in the convertibles, and I'm talking about flawless chambering here, is to use a taper crimp die. This advice also applies to the .30 Carbine in the Ruger.

The small lip that we casters put on the case is sometimes not ironed out by a roll crimp die which people insist on using. This tends to give us hard chambering and ties up the cylinder when we're shooting as the round isn't fully seated. The use of the taper crimp die eliminates this problem. Adjust your die and then try several cylinders full cycling through the cylinder. When you get flawless functioning, you're there...lock that die down and leave it that way.

The 45 ACP can be run right at 1,000 FPS and this ain't no slouch load.

My favorite is the RCBS 45-230-CM. With the slightly rounded nose, it seems to feed ino the cylinder better than do the 452423HP and 454424HP. Either of these is a good shooter too as is the 452400HP, 454309 and 452490HP (minus the GC shank). Either of these required a little seating tinkering and are a little heavy for the 45 ACP and should be used in the 45 Colt case. Probably my most used bullet is the #457 Saeco which is a 452374 Lyman clone. The 230 grain RN makes a darn good plinker.

I just hate to see an old man down on his knees picking up 45 ACP brass...especially when it's me./beagle

[

Beagle, Do you have to inside ream the 9mm brass to get the fatter bullets to chamber? I like my 45 convertible, and have a Ruger p-89 I have wanted to try fatter than .3565 bullets in but the peestol will not chamber any with a .002 bulge in the cartridge. Gianni.

Gianni--

There is a wide variance in metal dimensions in the 9mm casings. Try Remington cases for this application with the fatter boolits--the Rems have the thinnest case mouth walls of the several brands I've tried, and the webbing is also the lowest reach of the several makers. This second dimension is probably what's screwing you up.

My 9mm boolits get sized at .357" and .358" for my pistols. The SIG-Sauer mics at .3565", and the Ruger .357". The Rem brass saved me the expense of aftermarket barrels for shooting lead. The barrels would be easier to deal with, but I'm a cheap jerk at times.

JohnM...I haven't inside neck reamed. I expand a little more for the larger diameters. I shot some .3585" diameters this week and they were loaded in a 310 tong tool (wanted to see if I could do it with the 310) with only a .358 expander and no shaving. I did taper crimp the case mouth slightly after the loading.

They shot well in both the Blackhawk 9mm cylinder as well as a friend's 9mm High Power.

Glocks seem to have a tighter chamber as we had some trouble with chambering last summer in a friend's G-Lock as they call them here in KY.

I haven't used the P-89 so I have no idea what the chamber dimensions run on them. You might try hitting the case mouth very lightly with the taper crimp die and see if that makes a difference. Loaded rounds for the Blackhawk that looked good failed to chamber occasionall until I did that and then things straightened out and all is well now.

You also might try some FC or Speer brass as the weight's lighter on them./beagle