Hello,

I’m new to the reloading scene and have a question about reloading lead bullets for 9mm and .45.
I’m strictly putting holes in paper and the occasional steel plate so from a price standpoint I’m thinking lead would be the way to go. My concern is that I’ve been hearing that lead fouls the barrel up pretty bad, too bad to reload and shoot? I’m very diligent with cleaning after each use but would like to hear some options on lead bullets fouling the barrel and just reloading them in general as opposed to FMJ. Any good manufactures?

Thanks
Mike

Take a look a Berry' Bullets, they'll have what you're looking for.

http://www.berrysmfg.com/

lucy11--To begin with why buy lead bullets? Make your own. It is not rocket science as some that cast their own would have you believe. MOST reloading manuals do not include cast data as they are put out by companies that make jacketed bullets. One exception is the Lyman Manual. They make and sell cast bullet equipment thus they include information and data about casting. You will hear many old wives tales about all the bad things cast bullets do to barrels. The folks putting this info out for the most part have never shot them has been my experience. The Lyman manual points out that you don't see shot out .22 rimfire barrels and that is all they shoot (lead bullets). The Lyman manual also describes where two identical 30-06's were shot same number of rounds, one using jacketed and the other cast bullets. When the jacketed barrel was shot out, there was no measurable wear on the lead bullet barrel. You can get into casting fairly cheap and you can spend a bunch, but keeping it cheap doesn't mean you have to sacrifice quality.

I have shot tens of thousnds of commerical and home cast lead bullets in handguns.

They work great. 9mm 357 45 40 41 44 some of my 44s never have seen a jacketed bullet.

Lucy11
Lead bullets are fine in your pistol as long as it has regular lands and grooves and NOT a polygonal rifled barrel. Glocks have a polygonal rifled barrel and they stress in the owners manual not to use lead bullets. Just my .02

Lead bullets are great and in big bore guns better penetrators (killers) than jacketed. Also less bore wear and save a ton of money.

As an aside I have shot over 1000 cast bullets through various Glocks with no issues at all.
With the right metal mix and right lube they work fine.
Polygonal Rifling is hardly a new concept, dating back to the 1850s. It reduced BP fouling and worked just fine with lead bullets. The issue with the Glock is not the rifling, it is the transition from leade to bore. Cast em' very hard and use a high temp lube and you'll have no problems.

Lead bullets work fine in Glock barrels; don't believe the hype. Use hard cast, which most 9mm cast bullets will be.

They work well as long as you remember that fit is king.

That said if you want to try some that are good try the berry's plated bullets.
I have shot them in my 40 S&W and did not have any problems,they were also cheaper to shoot than jacketed.

A different way of looking at what the OP was actually asking?

YES! LEAD BULLETS FOUL BARRELS IN 9MM!

But what you actually should be shooting are LEAD ALLOY bullets.

So noboby actually shoots pure lead bullets in a modern cartridge handgun where the velocity is likely to be over 900 feet per second. They shoot instead a bullet that has a generic title of being a "lead" bullet but is actually a bullet cast (or swaged) from lead and other metals such as tin and antimony to give it an extra hardness.

So a bullet for a 9mm Luger in "lead" will actually be 93% lead with 3% tin and 4% antimony.

Or, as we used to use here in Britain, good old scrap wheelweights from the local tyre depot!

You would use "lead" bullets, that is pure 100% lead in a muzzleloader such as a "cap 'n ball" or with a paper patch in some old cartridge rifles.

But in modern cartridge handguns, no, it would be a lead alloy.

So it's like calling a "beefburger" a "beefburger". Some are 100% beef but others? Well maybe 93% beef with other things.

Same with bullets. Not all generic titled "lead bullets" are, in fact, 100% lead. Most, for modern handguns will be that alloy mix I mentioned...but....for catalogue and selling purposes will carry that (incorrect) "moniker" of "lead".

Hope it helps! Wheelweights, if you can get them, and they haven't changed the alloy, used to make excellent "lead bullets" for 9mm and 45 ACP pistols!

And if you ever get what is called LINOTYPE that printers used to use (and again that was often wrongly called "lead type") that is good to go for 1,200fps plus in any handgun!

Well cast "lead" (there we go again...well cast LEAD ALLOY) bullets that have a good lubricant will give excellent results in any quality good condition 9mm or 45 ACP handgun.

Just remember that loading powder charge details for, say, a LEAD ALLOY bullet and a jacketed bullet of the exact same weight will often not safely interchange.

No cast bullet vendor that I have ever seen here sells pure lead bullets for a 9mm so you won't get a pure lead bullet anyway. they will all be an alloy of lead. Yes, they have changed alloy of wheelweights since tin went up in price. They aren't what they used to be in the 60s but they still work. And I do use the same powder charges as for jacketed bullets.

Even the swaged bullets that Hornady and Speer used to sell (maybe they still do?) in 9mm didn't lead too badly. Normally a dry brush would remove it easily. Load them fast enough to reliably cylce your gun and stop. Trying to save money remember. Look at 231, HP38, Bullseye for the most economical powder and will work for your .45 too. At 1,000-1,100 fps the 9mm will lead no worse than your .22RF, if the inside of your barrels are in the same general condition. Glocks not liking lead bullets? B.S.

Keep it simple.Get a set of moulding blocks for your 9mm + cast straight wheel weights.You can make a Lyman #2 alloy from 9lbs. W.W. x 1 lb. 50/50 but why bother.Your Brinnell hardness is just fine with straight w.w. Save your linotype for .44 mags.

In most cases leading can be controlled by using the correct diameter bullet and the right alloy. Bullet diameter is determined by driving a pure lead slug that is slightly larger than the bore diamter through the barrel and measuring it with a micrometer. Egg sinkers (fishing weights) are commonly used. If it is a little too large it can be filed down to slightly over bore diameter. Then select a bullet that is 1 to 3 thousands of an inch larger. For example I have two 9mm's. One has a bore diamter of 0.3545 so I size to 0.357. The other barrel slugs at 0.3572 so I size the bullet to 0.359 for that gun. No leading in either of them. The 0.357 bullet leads quite badly if I shoot it in the 0.3572 barrel though. If the bullet is too small hot gas will pass the it in the bore and that causes leading. As far as the alloy goes too soft a bullet will strip in the bore and deposit lead. Too hard a bullet will not expand to seal the bore and thus lead. Sometimes it takes a bit of experimentation to find the right combination.

There are other causes of leading but the above are the most common.

quote:

Keep it simple.Get a set of moulding blocks for your 9mm + cast straight wheel weights.You can make a Lyman #2 alloy from 9lbs. W.W. x 1 lb. 50/50 but why bother.Your Brinnell hardness is just fine with straight w.w. Save your linotype for .44 mags.

+1

I got tired of messin with it in 9mm. I didnt make my own though. Shoot lead in my 45 acp. Started shooting jackets in my 9mm. Now you cant find them since the anti gun people are tryin to take away our autos.

They are also doing away with wheel weights + replacing them with a form of steel alloy (not bullet grade.)This program started Jan. 1,2012. I'm sure the antis used their same old rhetoric,"we're doing it for the children." For the life of me I never gave my kids a wheel weight as a teething toy.

I didn't reload and shoot a lot of cast lead bullets in my 9mm P85 when I had it as back then 9mm FMJs were petty cheap. In the decade plus since then I have shot a mix of cast lead (alloy) and jacketed bullets in my 1911's in 45 Auto, as well as 38 Spl, 357 Mag, 41 Mag, and 44 Mag in revolvers. I will keep the cast bullets lower powered and go with hotter (book published) loads for the jacketed bullets. Then at the range I will shoot all of the cast bullets through the particular handgun, then all of the jacketed bullets. I have not had a leading problem in a very long time since I started doing this.

I shoot lead in most of my weapons...with the right mix, you can get amazing velocities relatively lead free. You have to clean your weapon anyway. If you shoot something too soft, or too fast they can smear in the grooves....just dont shoot it too fast or soft.

Plenty of data on lead and velocities. I have a ton of casting equip for hard times, but my Buddy casts my pistol and rifle bullet for me now, and I am very happy to plink and hunt with my reloads.

Regards,

quote:

For the life of me I never gave my kids a wheel weight as a teething toy.

+1

Nor did any kid I ever know gnaw on the walls or windowsills to get the lead paint.