So off to the range tonight for IPSC and took some of the lead with me. Started off firing some jacketed rounds then switched to lead for about 75 rounds or so. They seemed every bit as accurate as the jacketed 124, the only problem was they were quite smoky. When I got home took a good look at my barrel I concluded that what I thought was lead might have actually been some sort of residue from the smoke. I assume that this is the lube burning off?? And if so is there anything I could do different to not up a smoke screen when shooting inside. I was thinking of testing a bit lighter load to see if that makes any difference.
First cast 9mm - Question
- Thread starter misterzr
- Start date
The lube smokes when it burns. One of the drawbacks to using cast / lubed boolits. One alternative is powder coating. When done correctly (very easy but slightly time consuming) there is no lube smoke and generally no leading. Read the thread started by Spawn-Inc there is all the info you need in that thread to start powder coating.
You never want to shoot jacketed bullets and then switch to lead without cleaning your barrel first. Any copper fouling in the barrel tends to act like a magnet to attract lead fouling on top of it.
4.2gr Titegroup is pretty hot for 9mm cast boolits. Try starting at 3.1 or 3.2gr. They should still cycle, but leading should be minimal if your barrel isn't rough. On the other hand, reduced velocity may not be acceptable for your IPSC power factor.
Here is my updated testing with this. Since my initial efforts with lead I have worked out the kinks. I have started powder coating them with the piglet acetone method and the coating is very durable, cut the smoke way down and no leading at all. I have switched to a .358 truncated 125 g mold then powder coated and sized down to a perfect .357. I have cut the load down to 3.5gr of Titegroup. This combo has very nice results and no lead, little smoke, and accurate. Also started loading the same combo for .38 and the first tests look very good, going to give it a go with 158gr in 357 mag to see how that will work. I will bump up load in the 4.5-5 range
I have a Sub 2000 (Glock 9mm) that I did a chronograph test with. My cast bullets are 123gr RN sized to .358, 3.3 grain Tite group with CCI small pistol primers. The 10 shot average was 1115fps. My CZ 75 Shadowline 9mm 10 shot average was 920 fps. I'm keeping them subsonic. Between the two firearms I've gone through 1650 rounds and have had no issues whatsoever. I clean after every range trip and have had zero leading issues. Both are .356. Having well lubed .002 over and subsonic seems to work for me.
