downside to .357 in 9mm

[1006]

Just another opinion, my 2 cents worth: how much you like cleaning guns, washing your hands, and dealing with all of the other inconveniences of lead bullets has to be counted against the $200 dollar per year savings for shooting 7000 rounds. Your are only saving $16/month, and probably increasing your cost of cleaning, exposure to lead and chemicals, and reducing your available free time for other activities.

I shoot quite a bit of lead, but I do not think it is cheaper than plated bullets when all of the costs are added up. I can run a couple thousand plated bullets and clean burning powder through a 1911 without doing any cleaning, not even the barrel and there is no reason to, it shoots the same either way.

So, to each his own. If you want to save a little money and like holding your gun to clean it as much as shooting it, lead coated or waxed is the ticket.

If you shoot indoors, I recommend that your doctor check your blood’s lead level every few years. Mine got high enough that my doctor told me he would have to get it out of me if it got any higher. It went from 12 my second year of shooting to 15 and then 17 after ten years, total . I started shooting outside most of the time; it went down to 8 in about two years.

 

[jpm2953]

Your gun is telling you, in fact--it's screaming at you actually--that your bullets are too small or you have the worst bullet lube known to mankind or you have damaged the coating.
Lead bullets must fit and larger is often better.
For coated bullets, pull a bullet after seating and crimping and see if there is any damage to the coating. Crimp should just be enough to remove the case mouth flare. Seating and crimping in one step and using too much crimp can cut through the coating and leave lead exposed. It also helps if the case has been deburred inside and out at least once.
Sometimes, the coating has not been cured enough. Call the vendor and talk to them.
For me, the best coated bullets come from Precision Bullets in Texas. They are swaged for uniform weight and geometry and the coating has never failed me. They are very accurate and a really good deal. They are about 13 BHN, and plenty hard enough up to and including .44 Rem Mag hot loads.
Leaded barrel: buy REAL Chore-Boy all copper scrubbing pads (beware of copper-plated steel scrub pads), cut out a few long strands and wrap around a brass brush and you'll remove the leading very quickly.
When slugging a barrel, the slug must be well over-sized to get a real reading. 0.360 or larger for 9mm.
I only shoot 0.357-0.358" lead bullets in my 9x19s, without any leading. I also shoot 0.355-0.357" jacketed without any issues--and the larger bullets are often more accurate.
Soft is NOT the issue, fit is the issue. In fact, in my guns, I often need to move up about 0.001" with HARD (18-22 BHN) bullets to alleviate leading, where I get no leading with 10-13 BHN bullets.
Since you have bullets already, a great way to eliminate leading is to take them as they are and very lightly tumble lube them in Lee Liquid Alox or 45/45/10. I have successfully done this several times with commercial hard bullets that lead the barrel. Both are more of a coating than a lubricant and they really keep the lead away from the barrel steel.

Thanks for the reply. These are coated lead. Not bare lead. If you do research on Brazos bullets, you will see there are A LOT of complaints of leading due to them being soft. The manufacture even admits they are soft. Gallant also had a batch early this year that was way too soft. They also admitted this and offered a recall. Unfortunately I had already loaded all 3,000 of mine.
I’ve never had any issue with a properly hard coated lead bullet with .356”. I even tried some .357 Brazos and got leading with them.

Chore boy has become my new friend til I finish these up. I have also pulled bullets and I am not scraping off the coating. Or crimping too hard

 

[jpm2953]

Just another opinion, my 2 cents worth: how much you like cleaning guns, washing your hands, and dealing with all of the other inconveniences of lead bullets has to be counted against the $200 dollar per year savings for shooting 7000 rounds. Your are only saving $16/month, and probably increasing your cost of cleaning, exposure to lead and chemicals, and reducing your available free time for other activities.

I shoot quite a bit of lead, but I do not think it is cheaper than plated bullets when all of the costs are added up. I can run a couple thousand plated bullets and clean burning powder through a 1911 without doing any cleaning, not even the barrel and there is no reason to, it shoots the same either way.

So, to each his own. If you want to save a little money and like holding your gun to clean it as much as shooting it, lead coated or waxed is the ticket.

If you shoot indoors, I recommend that your doctor check your blood’s lead level every few years. Mine got high enough that my doctor told me he would have to get it out of me if it got any higher. It went from 12 my second year of shooting to 15 and then 17 after ten years, total . I started shooting outside most of the time; it went down to 8 in about two years.

7,000 is only about 5 months worth. I’m going through 15-18k a year which is more like 400 a year in savings.
This isn’t bare lead. It’s hi-tek coated. No exposed lead. Just like plated

 

[Moondog1]

7,000 is only about 5 months worth. I’m going through 15-18k a year which is more like 400 a year in savings.
This isn’t bare lead. It’s hi-tek coated. No exposed lead. Just like plated

I would LOVE to shoot that much!

 

[1006]

Still, depending on your income level and how you get paid, 32/month may not be much of a savings, if you can increase the income by 32/mth with the time saved.

 

[jpm2953]

Still, depending on your income level and how you get paid, 32/month may not be much of a savings, if you can increase the income by 32/mth with the time saved.

32 a month isn’t bad. But over the course of a few years, that adds up. Too poor!

 

[noylj]

Thanks for the reply. These are coated lead. Not bare lead. If you do research on Brazos bullets, you will see there are A LOT of complaints of leading due to them being soft. The manufacture even admits they are soft. Gallant also had a batch early this year that was way too soft. They also admitted this and offered a recall. Unfortunately I had already loaded all 3,000 of mine.
I’ve never had any issue with a properly hard coated lead bullet with .356”. I even tried some .357 Brazos and got leading with them.

Chore boy has become my new friend til I finish these up. I have also pulled bullets and I am not scraping off the coating. Or crimping too hard

Soft? The bullets? I doubt they are softer than 10-13 BHN and, with normal bullet lube, they should be good up to about 1500fps IF the FIT is right. That is the only hardness I case and it works for everything (I gas check my rifle rounds that are going even faster).
Now, the COATING could be soft or not cured properly, but the alloy is NOT the problem as the coating, if proper, will protect the barrel from the lead unless you damage the coating or it isn't mixed or cured right.
Try a larger bullet.
Other than that, try some Precision Bullets (Kemp, TX). They are swaged, 13 BHN, and I have NEVER had any leading, even in barrels where the groove diameter exceeds the bullet diameter.
Heck, best solution to leading, as I may have mentioned, is a very light tumble lube in Lee Liquid Alox.
Soft alloy is too often blamed for other problems. Heck, when I started casting, 13 BHN was considered HARD.

 

[wallacem]

One important thing to consider if you consider going to .357 dia bullets. They might be too big to chamber in a 9mm. Awhile back I had the idea too and bought a 1000 coated .357 dia 9mm bullets. Found that several of my pistols will not chamber with them. Others do and shoot great. If your pistol has a tight chamber it can be a problem. Good luck. Wallace

 

[jpm2953]

I fixed the problem by ordering .356 bullets from BBI. They are the correct hardness and don’t lead my barrel in any 9mm pistol I own. The Brazos are just too soft.

 

[noylj]

And yet, I can shoot 10BHN lead cast bullets all day without any leading--as long as they are 0.357" in ALL my 9x19s. If you can't, it may be a reloading issue and NOT a tight chamber.