What is the consensus on reloading with lead bullets?(9mm and .40)

I am looking for a cheap practice ammo for my 9mm and 40. Lead bullets are half the price of jacketed. I think it would work ok, just more cleaning.

Has anyone tried it?

I have used wheel weights to mold them (I have 300 lbs of them)

Glocks shouldn't shoot lead, btw.

No pistol with polygonal rifling should shoot unjacketed bullets. You can do it but you will be cleaning lead out of the barrel every 50-100 rounds to keep it from blowing up.

Anyway if you get an aftermarket barrel with traditional cut rifling(or have a pistol with standard rifling to begin with) you can shoot lead to your heart's content.

I guess my next question is, how is the rifling cut in my barrels?

I have an xd and an M&P that I would be loading for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygonal_rifling

Looks like traditional cut rifling in the xd and m&p, as well as my sigma, bersa, and 1911.

I shot thousands of cast 9mm out of a fairly hot 9x21 with no problems, and a lot of hardcast .357 as well. Hardcast being the key word. You have to find a bullet that works for you, I used to buy them from a guy in Fremont,CA but I think he is out of business.

I was thinking oregon trail, round nose. Not sure if swc's will feed in a semi.

Semi-wadcutters will feed in most semi-autos.

I was thinking oregon trail, round nose. Not sure if swc's will feed in a semi.

If the ramp and throat are polished and angled properly, they will feed anything. Even an empty case. As for the bullets, if you stay with the heavier bullets and keep the velocities from getting too far above 1000FPS, you should be ok. Most of the 9mm loads are 115grs at about 1100FPS. A couple run as fast as 1300. Most of the .40 loads run in the 1100's. As someone mentioned, look for hard cast. Swedged and soft (Wheel weight)cast bullets will leave a lot behind in your rifling if you push them over 1000FPS. If you're casting them yourself, get a lead hardness tester so you can test your alloy. Also look for a supplier thats close. Shipping bullets any distance gets expensive.

I was thinking oregon trail, round nose. Not sure if swc's will feed in a semi.

If your looking for practice bullets check out the copper clad type`s such as made by Berry`s bullets. They really aren`t that much more in cost compared to traditional hard cast type`s. I was looking at Oregons trail`s web site and H@ly $hit their prices have gone up. :eek: They are running at least 35% more than the last time I bought them (which has been a while). Check out this seller on ebay (tjconvera), he sells the Berry`s and he`s VERY reasonable on shipping. I`ve been buying most of my bullets from him.

Oregon Trail Laser Cast bullets can handle some good velocity. I load their .357 180gr FP's for my leveraction rifle - put it out at 1830FPS with no leading.

I would not shoot this load out of my revolver though.:eek:

[QUOTE=Fisheadgib;As for the bullets, if you stay with the heavier bullets and keep the velocities from getting too far above 1000FPS, you should be ok. Most of the 9mm loads are 115grs at about 1100FPS. A couple run as fast as 1300. Most of the .40 loads run in the 1100's. As someone mentioned, look for hard cast. Swedged and soft (Wheel weight)cast bullets will leave a lot behind in your rifling if you push them over 1000FPS. [/QUOTE]

Velocity is the biggest factor of lead fouling, soft bullets is the second.
Keep you velocities down and it won't lead.
Talk to someone that is shooting lead in those calibers and get their recipe.
I have to shoot all lead in SASS matches, but my recipes won't help you (45LC with blackpowder).

the biggest cause of leading is to small a bullet,.451 in a .452 grove,the problem is most bullet makers dont know this.try beartoothbullets,good stuff.i shoot a alloy softer than wheelwieghts to 1400 fps with no leading,bullet is .001 over grove.

www.bearcreeksupply.com

These wont lead like the generic soft cast, and they shoot alot better then crappy hard cast like Meister/lazer/silver stuff.

Not to mention the owner is a great guy.