Anyone load 125grn FMJ .38 special bullets in 9mm?

[bigchinner]

I noticed the diameter of these were the same as the 125grn 9mm bullets. Are they interchangeable? If so, I'm glad, because now I have 1500 more
9mm to reload.

[rsrocket1]

Are you sure your measurements are right? Have you checked many of the samples in your pile?
38 special FMJ bullets should be 0.357"
9mm FMJ bullets should be 0.355"

While I would have no problems shooting 0.357" or even 0.358" cast lead bullets through a 9mm (so long as the loaded cartridges pass the plunk test), I would be a little leery about shooting 0.357" FMJ bullets through a 0.355" barreled 9mm gun. If you are shooting mid range loads, the pressure jump from a fat fmj bullet probably won't hurt the gun. If you are loading top end and the fmj bullets are actually fat for the barrel, you might be in bad territory.

[CEDaytonaRydr]

It's okay to use 9mm projectiles in a .38/.357 but not okay to use .38/.357 projectiles in 9mm (although accuracy might be less than stellar).

So no, they're not "interchangeable", per se.

[hemiguy55]

Weird. I have an old box from xtreme and it says 9mm with .357 under it.

[thenodnarb]

If you only have to size down from .357 to .355, you might be able to do it with a lee push through sizer. Its designed for lead but you can gently resize jacketed bullets as well.

[Ferrum]

Weird. I have an old box from xtreme and it says 9mm with .357 under it.

Lead or plated?

[Carcassonne]

I have loaded (Remington Bulk) 125 grain JHP 38/357 bullets in my 9mm. I sized them down with a Lee .356 push through sizing die. They need to be lubed with case lube before going through the sizer then they need to be wiped off. There was nothing special about the performance of the generic JHP in a 9mm. They worked, and that is it. I have also loaded cast 38/357 bullets in a 9mm, and 380.

http://leeprecision.com/new-lube-size-kit-.356.html

.

[hemiguy55]

Plated

[1979Standard]

I have loaded (Remington Bulk) 125 grain JHP 38/357 bullets in my 9mm. I sized them down with a Lee .356 push through sizing die. They need to be lubed with case lube before going through the sizer then they need to be wiped off. There was nothing special about the performance of the generic JHP in a 9mm. They worked, and that is it. I have also loaded cast 38/357 bullets in a 9mm, and 380.

http://leeprecision.com/new-lube-size-kit-.356.html

.

You didn't need to resize the cast 38/357, only the JHP's?

[Carcassonne]

You didn't need to resize the cast 38/357, only the JHP's?

Yes, I resized the Lead 38/357 also. Some of my castings are .362, so they have to be resized.

If you look at the 38/357 bullets, on the picture below, I have tried all these out of a 9mm:
358-105-SWC
358-125-RF
358-148-WC
TL358-158-SWC
TL358-158-2R
358-158-RF
C258-158-SWC without the gas check.

Not all of them function in every 9mm. The 358-105-SWC and the 358-125-RF are the only ones that I will reload more of.

[bigchinner]

These are plated/jacketed bullets. However, I measured with caliper for the 125grn .38 special stuff, and my caliper reads ..356. The 9mm is .355. I guess it could be dangerous and not worth the effort resizing them. I still have some 9mm; just thought I had more with the .38 special stuff. thanks
all

[J-cat]

It's not dangerous and the above posts to the contrary are wrong.

First of all, 9mm bores are seldom .355". They are all over the place, .354"-.357" in my experience. You don't know what you have until you slug it.

Second, the bullet is not a solid. It is lead with a very thin jacket. It will conform to the bore.

The thing to pay attention to is the OAL. Revolver bullets have a different nose that will hit the rifling sooner and require a shorter than normal OAL for that particular profile. You'll have to seat them deep and use data specific to short OAL bullets. If you don't understand why, you should not use them.

Otherwise you are GTG.

[ejor]

xtreme makes 147g in both .355 and .357 dia.

[noylj]

No, I load 125gn JHPs. Never FMJ.
Before the '80s, it was hard to find any 0.355-0.356" bullets, so most reloaders used .38 bullets (and, in many cases, have better accuracy also).

[noylj]

Also, lead bullets, if you must size them, are usually more accurate at 0.357" than 0.356".
There is NO problem shooting 0.357" jacketed in a 0.355" barrel. If you read your Hornady manual you'll see that all jacketed bullets from 121-125gn and 0.355-0.357" diameter all use the same load data.