Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Can someone recommend the same boolit design for both the .38 special and 9mm?

Does anyone cast a boolit design for both the .38 special and 9mm?

I'm looking for a boolit design that casts a 125 grain projectile or thereabouts, that can be used in both the .38 Special and 9mm.

A couple of NEI's designs look like they'd work, and maybe even something from Saeco.

I hope to use wheelweights (with or without gas check), and would size according to the cartridge I am reloading, .355/.356 for 9mm's, and .358 or similar for .38's. Maybe even a few .357's.

Any brand of mold will be considered including old designs no longer made. Cost is no obstacle for sake of this thread.

Thanks ahead of time

That's a loaded question, lol! What 38 special gun are you using? Revolver? Does it have fixed sights? If it does it may not shoot to point of aim with a 125 grain bullet. The 38 may need a crimp groove too, something the 9mm may not. Round nose? Hollow point?

Thanks .270W,

Boolit I'm looking for would be (I hope) "swage-able" or sizeable in the lubrisizer ..... to the correct caliber for any of several HG's. Revolvers include a M27 S&W and Ruger Service six. 9mm's >> Glocks with aftermarket barrels and M92.

Some designs I like are rounded with a meplat, or truncated with their 'built-in' meplat or flat top surface (somewhat like a Remington .22LR Copperhead or Yellowjacket without the hollow point).

Maybe what I should have asked is "How do-able or easy is it to size a .358 caliber booit to .356? And not damage (or too severely) the boolit?

And whether I use a slight roll crip or a Lee criper, won't enough of the case mouth-edge "crimp" onto the boolit to do the job?

But am I better off just buying a 9mm mold? And a dedicated .38/.357 mold? I already have a Lyman 156/159grain LSWGC mold, but wanted to be able to have a mold that produced 125-130 grain 9mm boolits that would also work in the revolvers.

Thanks for any advice or comments.

FWIW, a gunsmith once gave me a whole 500 box of Speer 125 grain swaged RN bullets for 9mm. The box had been water damaged so he couldn't sell it anyway.

They are .356" in diameter. Not having a 9mm I loaded them in .38 Special cases and they worked just fine from my S&W 586 .357. IIRC I used a Lee dipper of Bullseye.

Now I doubt they would stand up to high velocity without leading in a .357 bore, but they were accurate enough to cut soda straws in half at 15 yards and roll tin cans out as far as I could have hit them with a proper sized .357 bullet.

Lots of people make a RN or truncated cone design, I suspect any of them would work as well, particularly if the as cast diameter was close to .356. Lee makes a couple of 6 cavity molds like that which can really crank out some high volume blasting ammo.

It's easy enough, with a lubrisizor, to size down from .358 to .356, probably without messing up the bullets too much when sizing. The problem would be, as I see it, getting the alloy hardness right. Using the NEI mould you mentioned, you'd HAVE to get it cut for .358 bullets, or alter your alloy to make it smaller in diameter (diameter will vary with the alloy used), for 9mm, or harder, for a larger diameter .358 bullet.

The whole alloy thing is what would give me pause. Trying to get that right for both guns might be a headache.

It's easy enough, with a lubrisizor, to size down from .358 to .356, probably without messing up the bullets too much when sizing. The problem would be, as I see it, getting the alloy hardness right. Using the NEI mould you mentioned, you'd HAVE to get it cut for .358 bullets, or alter your alloy to make it smaller in diameter (diameter will vary with the alloy used), for 9mm, or harder, for a larger diameter .358 bullet.

The whole alloy thing is what would give me pause. Trying to get that right for both guns might be a headache.

For a dedicated 9mm bullet, Lee's .356-125-2R LRN bullet is awfully hard to beat, and it shoots wonderfully well, and it's as reliable as hardball in ANY 9mm pistol. Cast it out of wheelweights and you won't get much leading, either.

I never fooled with 125 weight .358" bullets, since I sorta figured that was 150-160gr. territory.

I DO have an NEI mould, on loan to a friend, that looks like a smaller H&G #68 .45 bullet, it's for 9mm(125). Nice mould, casts well and easily, etc, etc, but it's NEVER shot as well as the LEE mould mentioned above. That LEE mould is a peach of a design.

Whatever you end up with will be a compromise for one caliber, and much better for the other. You need to slug your barrels & revolver throats to determine your sizing diameters anyway. The 9mm probably isn't .356, and .358 might not be correct for the 38 spl. The ain't no free lunch with cast bullet sizing, you have to do your research or just learn to accept mediocre (at best) results.

Here are the molds that we use for both 9mm/358,
These have work well for our semi and revolvers.
Phil
Lyman 358345 & 356406

Thanks fellas. I'll definitely look up those Lyman numbers, but I think from the comments my best plan is to have a dedicated 9mm mold I might sometimes use for occassional .38 boolits .....

The comment about .38/.357 boolits usually weighing in the 150-160-170 grain range is well made.

When loading for the 9mm I don't want that fodder to be anything but the best I can make. Same with .38's or .357's.

I reload for several reasons (the hobby within the shooting hobby), save "some" money, make custom loads, sheer enjoyment, etc.), but in the back of my mind to always have ammo to help guarentee my access to the 2nd Amendment.

Something I read from Marshall/Sanow is that rounded bullets/booltis tend to deflect more than truncated bullet designs, that bullets with sharp corners tend to "bite" into flesh instead of partially glancing off (target). The .357 designs I like most reflect that idea as well.

Part of my choice for a truncated 9mm boolit is "How well would it serve as a defensive or combat boolit in a SHTF scenario?" Of course HOPE it would never come to that, but thats one of the reason my family believes in firearms.

However for making high numbers of reloadable boolits, I'll also look at the Lee designs. In a custom mold I'd also be willing to shoot a 130 grain weight in the 9mm as well.

Thanks for everyone's input.

The only reason one would want to make do with a single mold for both .38 and 9mm would be for dire economic reasons. What is correct for one is a compromise for the other. Spend the few extra bucks for another Lee mold and sizing die and you'll properly feed both guns. I can't imagine an earthly need in this day and age to limit oneself so drastically as you describe. Sit down and cast 5-10,000 for each one, salt them away and you're good to go for a long time if the "SHTF". (More than likely your grandson will have fun shooting them up long after you're gone.) Just my opinion, others may vary.

I have a 6 cavity Lee mould for a 158 grain flatnose truncated radius. I bought it for use in a 9mm AR, and have fired some in a Star B Super, sized .358 because I haven't gotten around to buying a .356 die yet. It fed, functioned and shot fine, except for the occasional failure to go fully into battery, which a bump from the heel of my hand to the rear of the slide fixed. I think it will work great, properly sized.
Of course, the same bullet works well in .38/.357, since that is what it was designed for.