Sizing 359 to 356

[Rick6538]

Hi all, I tried searching this topic but wasn't able to find any threads so hopefully can get some information here. I have a mold from NOE coming in (HTC359-129-TC-CD4 5 cavity PB) and wanted to know if I could resize them down to 356 for use in my 9mm. I believe it should be fine but just wanted to check here for the best information. Thank you.

[sigep1764]

My take some force but it can be done.

[higgins]

Slug your 9mm bore before you start sizing to .356. Mine is .358, and it's not that uncommon for a 9mm to run that large.

[Kraschenbirn]

You may not need to go all the way down to .356. Both of my 9mms...a Kahr CW9 and an old Smith 39...shoot .357s quite nicely. You'll need to slug your bore and check out some loaded rounds with the ol' 'plunk test.'

Btw: Welcome aboard. Drag up a rock and join the madness.

Bill

[Dieselhorses]

Yes slug it! I've had em as small as .355 all the way to .358!

[Conditor22]

Rick6538 welcome to Cast boolits

several questions before giving you a good answer

Like others have said you first need to know the bore diameter If you listed the make and model of the 9MM we would have a better idea of what you're dealing with.

what is the alloy/lead you are using? how hard is it? did you quench it?

one way to drop smaller boolits from a mold [NOE makes great molds] is to run the pot hotter. The hotter the lead is when you cast a boolit the more it will shrink (where talking thousandths)

even though the mold says .359 doesn't mean it will drop at .359. Different alloys will drop at different sizes the stated .359 is with the listed alloy.

Most 9MM shoot well sized to .357. -- depends on the bore of your gun.

[Rick6538]

Thanks. I will primarily shoot these through my G34 and G19. My primary lead is from RMR and they state it is usually Brinell 12. I do Quench it. I use Hi Tek coating. I run my pot around 750 degrees which is a little warm but will be making a PID system shortly. I will slug my barrel once my die comes in as I do not have anything but jacketed bullets and a few plated. These are primarily for plinking but if they are accurate as my cast 45 acp I may use them in competition. I shoot USPSA carry optics and currently shoot RMR 124 tc 9mm. Also thank you for the greeting. I am glad to be a part of the casting community and grateful for all the advice.

[Landshark9025]

Agree with the slugging the bore.

I didn’t see if you are going to Hi-tek coat these or powder coat or traditional lube. Hi-tek will add some thickness. PC more. I have a Lee 356-120 TC that drops at .360. By time they are powder coated they are .362-.363. I size them to .357 with no issues at all. Wouldn’t want to go much over .005.

A quick spray of One-shot makes any of them size easier but only use this AFTER they have been coated.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

If you do need to size down significantly, polish your sizing die with Flitz and spray the coated boolits with Oneshot case lube as suggested.

[s mac]

I don't powder coat, but you state you water drop, and powder coat as well. There is no need to water drop, bakeing to cure the PC is undoing the hardness gained by water dropping unless you quench out of the oven. What I would do is air cool, size, then powder coat and quench at that time. Water dropping will make the effort to size greater.

[Dapaki]

9mm are testy to begin with so as others say, slug the bore, size to the appropriate diameter, coat and plunk test. My LEE 356-125 2R will NOT plunk test unless they are seated too far back so as to not load properly in my CZ if powder coated but the LEE TL356-124-TC will take three coats of PC if sized after and will plunk perfectly.

I will LLA the 2R if I have to but prefer the TC for accuracy.

[ioon44]

As others have slug your barrel, I run Hi-Tek coated .359" bullets in several different 9 mm's with out any leading or feeding problems.

[mdi]

Yep, slug first and if necessary size down .003" (more than likely not). You will only be reducing the bullet walls by .0015" so there will probably be little distortion. I too have 9mm pistols that have groove diameters from .355" to .358"...

[Cosmic_Charlie]

9mm are testy to begin with so as others say, slug the bore, size to the appropriate diameter, coat and plunk test. My LEE 356-125 2R will NOT plunk test unless they are seated too far back so as to not load properly in my CZ if powder coated but the LEE TL356-124-TC will take three coats of PC if sized after and will plunk perfectly.

I will LLA the 2R if I have to but prefer the TC for accuracy.

I have the same mold. The nose profile on those boolits is a bit chubby. Sent my M&P 2 barrel off to member DougGuy to have the throat eased. Waiting on an NOE .357 size bushing and an expander plug. Boolits are powder coated and waiting.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Yep, slug first and if necessary size down .003" (more than likely not). You will only be reducing the bullet walls by .0015" so there will probably be little distortion. I too have 9mm pistols that have groove diameters from .355" to .358"...

Wonder why so much variation? I had a SA 9mm Range Officer that would not group with jacketed. Was not casting then for 9mm so I sold it. Bet the bore was oversize......

[onelight]

Yes slug it! I've had em as small as .355 all the way to .358!

Me to , what I shoot now are .356 .357 Hi-Tek I get little to no leading but I keep my loads on the the light to medium end of the scale and they will all shoot through a piece of paper

[cstrickland]

I have the same mold. The nose profile on those boolits is a bit chubby. Sent my M&P 2 barrel off to member DougGuy to have the throat eased. Waiting on an NOE .357 size bushing and an expander plug. Boolits are powder coated and waiting.

Charlie,

can I ask when you sent that to doug ?? He throated my M&P 1.0 so I could extend the COAL on a 9mm with the Lee 358-158-RF some years ago. I got a new M&P 2.0 last year and contacted him. He said he was not doing anymore. I wold like to have my 2.0 also .

I can shoot the 358-158 but I just have to load them shorter than I want .

sorry not trying to derail the thread

[cstrickland]

Hi all, I tried searching this topic but wasn't able to find any threads so hopefully can get some information here. I have a mold from NOE coming in (HTC359-129-TC-CD4 5 cavity PB) and wanted to know if I could resize them down to 356 for use in my 9mm. I believe it should be fine but just wanted to check here for the best information. Thank you.

I have done 358-158-RF that dropped at .359 down to .356 with no issues. I cast , quench , powder-coat then size, with a lee .356 sizing die on my Lee classic turret press. not hard at all.

All three of my M&Ps ( two 1.0 & one 2.0) all slugged at .3545, and I size at .356 after powder-coating and have not had any leading issues.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

PM'd him just last week. Mailed the stuff to him Tuesday. Maybe he got the tooling to handle the nitride barrels now. He charges a bit more for them.

[gwpercle]

Before you go to all the trouble of downsizing try a few 9mm loads at .358 and .357 .
I have 4 handguns , 3 like .357 and a WWII Walther P-38 likes .358.
Much easier to size boolits as least as possible ... Too small = leading .
You want as large a boolit as will pass the plunk test...bigger is better !
Most of my problems went away when I started using .357 and .358 boolits in the 9mm Luger .

NOE neck expander plugs are the best thing since sliced bread ...makes boolit seating a breeze.

Gary