Good 9mm LEE boolit mold question

[bubbas4570]

I asked this question simply because of LEE's 6 gang molds.

Which of you guys cast your 9mm boolits,  and which LEE mold gives you the best service out of your clone/Witness?

I am not against other brands of molds either, if anyone can tell me which brand and mold (needs to be 5-6 boolit mold....no double cavities) I would appreciate the advice.

I currently own a couple of LEE molds, and other  brands also, so I don't have a preference...other than cost of purchase with said mold.

[noylj]

Lee 358-105-SWC is a lot of fun--pretty accurate and light recoil.
Lee 358-140-SWC is pretty accurate.
Key is NOT to size the bullets lower than 0.358" (I stopped sizing any of my cast bullets around 1976 or so). At least, all my 9x19 guns like LARGE cast bullets.
As far as Lee 9mm molds, many like the Lee 356-120-TC, but I need to cast it HARD to get it up to about 0.357". 
If you like 147gn bullets, I find the Lyman #356637 FNBB to be pretty accurate (compared to other 147gn bullets I have tested), though not quite as good as 140-145gn L-SWC bullets.
Two SAECO SWC molds that have performed well are the #924 and #929, but they cost a lot (to me anyway) compared to Lee and only come in three cavity (checked on Midway and they are $175 for three cavity and $96 for one cavity, but, shock of shocks, they have a 4-cavity #929 for $182, which seems like a good deal).

[armoredman]

I am the other way around, and I size all my cast 9mm bullets to .356. I use a 6 cavity Lee 124gr Tumble lube mold, and it works very well in all my CZ pistols. The 125 single lube groove Lee bullet proved to have an ogive that was slightly too wide to seat at a normal COAL in some older CZ pistols. The Scorpion doesn't mind it, only reason I still have that mold...somewhere.

[noylj]

That is typical. The thing is, have you TRIED not sizing them and simply tumble lubing them and shooting them? You might be surprised at the decreased group size.

[wags68]

I have used the Lee TL356-124-2R for all things 9mm with great results.  I powder coat and size to 356, seat to 1.15 OAL. My SP-01, Rami, scorpion, Tristar C-100 all loved these bullets and produced great groups with no FTFs.

[armoredman]

noylj, I powder coat - I tumble lube very rarely any more, only when I'm out of powder coating. I have shot sized and unsized, and sized works better for me and my firearms, for now. I do OK with the groups, rarely shoot from a rest any more, more on steel than paper when I can. So if my results are typical, then typical is AOK. I have had people tell me that they prefer .358 for 9mm, and it works for them, which is great. I size .38 Special to .358.

[noylj]

Well, at least you tried.
Thanks for reply.
I ran tests on .44 Mag, .45 Auto, and 9x19 and did not find that sized bullets gave me the same accuracy, so I stopped sizing.
Different things seem to work for different people.
I find that 0.356-0.357" jacketed and unsized (usually 0.357-0.358") lead seem best for my guns.

[M1A4ME]

Sizing probably does two things (and when I was casting bullets I always sized).

One is it compensates for inconsistencies in bullet mold quality/uniformity.  Some molds are probably just perfect.  Some most likely are not.

Two is that if can allow you to reduce bullet diameter if you find you have a gun that has a slightly tighter bore, or one that just seems to "need" a slightly smaller bullet diameter.

I only have Lee molds.  When I was casting I never tried to shoot them without running them through the sizer.  In those days the lube was melted in a small pan about the size of a boot wax can, the bullets set into the melted lube/wax base first and the lube allowed to cool before you used a special hollow "cutter" to remove the bullets from the lube.  Then you ran them through the sizer with a small mallet to pound the metal piece that pushed the bullet through the sizer.

I still have that stuff in a box out in the shed.

[armoredman]

When I hard lube, I have a setup a buddy made with home made cutters and lube in a repurposed sardine can. The Lee Push Through sizer is very easy to use, goes right on your press.

[bubbas4570]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I tumble lube, as it gives me better service than PC.  Also, I use the LEE sizing die system, much easier, faster, and just as good as the old RCBS style of system for me.

I also size large, just to clean up the boolits mostly.