Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting .358 cast bullets for 9mm

I was curious if anybody has loaded any .358 cast bullets in 9mm. When I have bought cast bullets in the past for 9mm they have always been .356s. I have read posts in the past that said for a .38/.357 you can go up to a .360 bullet, and in fact the posters said it was preferable because there was less skidding in the barrel and less leading as a result. I have access to an unlimited supply of 125gr. case lead bullets in .358, so I was thinking I might try working up some loads for my 9mm as long as that extra .002 wasn't too much bullet for a 9mm to handle. Any thoughts?

I'd load a dummy round (no powder, no primer) and see if it will chamber. If it will I'd shoot them, should work just fine.

If not you can always buy a Lee push through sizer for about $10 for the size you'll need. (best slug the barrel before you just buy one)

Depends on the gun.

In my ruger P-89 I can size cast bullets .357" and they chamber and shoot just fine. As mentioned, make a dummy and make sure it chambers in your gun.

If the larger dia bullet doesn't chamber in your gun, you can get a lee push through sizer to size them to .357" or .356" via a reloading press.

I load a 125 gr. cast bullet for three different 9MM pistold
s. I size all my bullets to .358" diameter.
The suggestion to make up a dummy first is a good idea but I'm almost positive a 358" bullet will work just fine. One thing i noticed in my guns was accuracy was greatly improved and lading reduced to a very small mimimum.
You might want to slug your barrel as well. All of mine had .357" barrels, not the usually stated .356" in all the loading manuals.
Paul B.

definitely depends on your individual barrel.

I finally got around to making a dummy, and it chambered just fine. I have loaded a magazine's worth of rounds and will try them out on my next trip to the range. My only concern now is whether or not they will feed given that they are flat nosed, but I will find that out real fast when I fire that first magazine. If all works well then I will have a cheap source of bullets for target practice!

My ruger feeds the lee swc just fine.

My favorite 9mm cast bullet is also a Lee, the 356125-2R. Makes a perfect duplicate of typical RN bullets, feeds just like you'd suspect, too. Two and six cavity moulds.

FWIW, Browning Hi-Powers have a .3572" bore, most of them, anyway.

let us know how it does.

I load an Inglis Hi-Power. With the 122 gr. RCBS I usually lubri-size to .356. I have the RCBS .38-140-CB mould that I use for CAS. I tried some in the Hi-Power at .358, but they wouldn't chamber as the base of the bullet went down to the thickening portion of the case, bulging it out just enough to cause problems. Sizing this bullet to .355 -.356 made a beautiful round.