Anyone using 9mm revolvers?

[Willie Miss 45]

Howdy Folks

i have a set of Blackhawks with 9mm cylinders and a couple thousand or so powder coated 120s that actually weigh about 126 grains that  I would like to use up. 
im looking at 3 grains or so of Titegroup but have some other powders on hand. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Willie

[Badlands Bob #61228]

I have a pair of .357 Blackhawks with the 9mm cylinders.  I found the 9mm cylinders to be very tight and unforgiving of slightly bulged cases.  They will work but you will need to make sure the rounds are fully seated in the cylinder and that the cylinder spins free.  You'll also get some strange looks at the loading table but that's to be expected.  The Lee bulge buster kit might be a useful addition to your reloading setup, depending on where you get your 9mm brass.

[High Spade Mikey Wilson]

I have a pair of Uberti 45 Colt with 45 ACP cylinders, and I have a friend who has a pair of 38-40 with 40 S&W cylinders, that work just fine. In my 45 ACP cylinders I just have to make sure I have a good crimp at the bullet, since that is where the cartridge seats in the cylinder, and the OAL is where it should be for 45 ACP and 230 grain round nose bullets. I found that out the hard way in my pistols with bullets that wouldn't seat all the way because I didn't have a good crimp and locked up the cylinder at the loading table. Once I figured out what I needed to do they work just fine.

[July Smith]

OP, if you want to load and shoot 9mm, that is totally legal for SASS.  Keep in mind the same bullet and powder can also be used in a 38 and probably be simpler to load, but to each their own.  I find the 9mm cases more tedious to handle vs 38 special on any given reloading press but again if you want to do this you can.

Edited April 8 by July Smith

[Three Foot Johnson]

I've got three 3-screw convertible Blackhawks I use now and then. My 9mm revolver load is 2.8 grains of Titegroup and a cast 124 grain bullet.

I never really planned on using 9mm for CAS, but a few years ago I had about 1500 9mm cases primed with '80's vintage CCI -450 primers I was using up in an AR9 rifle just to get rid of them. They inadvertently got mixed in with a bunch of other cases primed with Federal 100's. It didn't take long to find out CCI magnum small rifle primers fall well short of 100% reliability in my striker fired pistols, so that entire lot of cases got relegated to hammer guns. 

 

[Willie Miss 45]

Thank you for all the replies. They are much appreciated.
I tried 2.8 grains of trail boss and three grains of tight group under 120 grain TC powder coated bullet. The titegroup averaged 912 ft./s with a spread of 16 but was very snappy and I would have to lower the charge to make it usable for my skills anyway. The trail boss averaged 808 ft./s with the spread of 46. It seemed to be a little more accurate than the tight group. Once I got home and got the chance I looked at the barrel and cylinder and the barrel was leaded pretty bad. I don’t think I’ll be shooting much 9 mm out of these Blackhawks. I was truly just hoping to use up some bullets that I casted many years ago. 

[Willie Miss 45]

On 4/8/2026 at 6:40 PM, July Smith said:

OP, if you want to load and shoot 9mm, that is totally legal for SASS.  Keep in mind the same bullet and powder can also be used in a 38 and probably be simpler to load, but to each their own.  I find the 9mm cases more tedious to handle vs 38 special on any given reloading press but again if you want to do this you can.

My guess is trying to shoot a .356 bullet out of a 38 case would probably work out the same as the ones I shot today using a 9 mm cylinder. It’s not something I’m going to do. Leads the barrel too badly. Thank you for your reply.

["Big Boston"]

I have a BH with a 9mm cylinder, I have issues with the cartridges battering the fronts of the chamber in the cylinder, IOW, the metal in the cylinder is too soft to hold up. The front of each chamber is for headspacing and the constant battering eventually restricts the throats to the point that cartridges won't chamber.

 

That issue aside, you don't need much powder, I was as low as 1.9 gr of Clays with a 147. The powder chamber is small and you can load as long or as short as the case will allow, IF you don't shoot in anything other than a revolver. 

 

If a reamer wasn't  so expensive, I'd redo it to 38 S&W.

 

BB

[Willie Miss 45]

2 hours ago, "Big Boston" said:

I have a BH with a 9mm cylinder, I have issues with the cartridges battering the fronts of the chamber in the cylinder, IOW, the metal in the cylinder is too soft to hold up. The front of each chamber is for headspacing and the constant battering eventually restricts the throats to the point that cartridges won't chamber.

 

That issue aside, you don't need much powder, I was as low as 1.9 gr of Clays with a 147. The powder chamber is small and you can load as long or as short as the case will allow, IF you don't shoot in anything other than a revolver. 

 

If a reamer wasn't  so expensive, I'd redo it to 38 S&W.

 

BB

Mine won’t see much use. Thinking of trading them off and buying a pair of 5.5s without the extra cylinder.
I had to break out the chore boy to get the leading out of my barrel and had only fired 100 shots. Not something I’m in a hurry to repeat. 
I shot my 44s for the first time at West Point today. Most likely going to be my go to revolvers anyway. 
 

thank you for the reply

[Frederick Jackson Turner]

Just so you know; the .356 lead bullets will work just fine in a .38 case; just make sure you have a good crimp.  Several champion European shooters do this with no ill effects.  I tried it, too.  No problems at all, especially at typical CAS distances.

 

Cheers,

FJT

[Willie Miss 45]

1 minute ago, Frederick Jackson Turner said:

Just so you know; the .356 lead bullets will work just fine in a .38 case; just make sure you have a good crimp.  Several champion European shooters do this with no ill effects.  I tried it, too.  No problems at all, especially at typical CAS distances.

 

Cheers,

FJT

Thank you for the reply,
My issue is that bullet I was shooting leaded my barrel really really bad. I won’t be using it in that gun again. IMO It would not make any difference whether I fired it out of a 38 case or a 9 mm case it’s still the same bullet going through the same barrel.
The whole point of trying this was to get rid of close to 2000 bullets that I cast back in 2015. And to make the ones that I like to use in my 73 and revolvers last longer. 

I kind of look at it like I have 158s that I cast for those revolvers when I use the 357/38 cylinder, and they work great and do not lead the barrel. If I really wanted to shoot those guns, those are the bullets I would use now that I know the 9 mm bullets I have don't work that well. 

 

[Frederick Jackson Turner]

Understood.  3 grains of Titegroup in that sized case should be pretty hot; the velocities that the folks I know are running are about 710-125 fps. I'd guess you were getting over 1,000 fps, which is pretty close to where leading is gonna become an issue.

 

The tighter 9mm bores won't hurt!

 

Cheers,

FJT

[Willie Miss 45]

Not quite 1000fps... 912 using a Labradar. Still too hot for cowboy.. in my hands anyway. i came home to back off a little more and test but found the leading. That put the nail in this little project. The pic is from Hodgdon reloading center. I was well below minimum according to it. They were using a 4" barrel. mine is 4 5/8. not much difference there. The bullet weight is the closest they had to my actual bullet weight of 127 gr and still have a lead bullet to compare to. The searching i did on the internet turned up most people using 2.6 to 2.8. I was using them in a Glock with an after market barrel and a Ruger PC9 at 3.8 gr back when i casted them. They worked great and didnt lead either gun. Trouble is i dont shoot those guns much any more. The cowboy guns have had my attention for several years now.

Edited Monday at 10:38 AM by Willie Miss 45
spelling and info correction 3.8 not 3.2. My mistake

[Go West]

Since 9mm is a tapered case, I don't believe there is a bulge buster for them. If there is one, I would think it would only touch the case at the bottom where the problems lie. 

[Three Foot Johnson]

Exactly, the only place the bulge needs to be smoothed out is a very short area below the mouth of the sizer die. Buy Lee's push-through bulge buster kit and 9mm Makarov carbide die. It adds a step because you still have to size as usual in a standard 9mm Luger die. 

[Jimmy Reb, SASS #54804]

I have 2 BH's with conv calls.

1 have never used the 9mm cylinder.

The other I have put a few jacketed rounds through (never lead). The weird part is, is it seems to be slightly more accurate with the 9's.

[Willie Miss 45]

7 minutes ago, Jimmy Reb, SASS #54804 said:

I have 2 BH's with conv calls.

1 have never used the 9mm cylinder.

The other I have put a few jacketed rounds through (never lead). The weird part is, is it seems to be slightly more accurate with the 9's.

I have some 9mm rounds loaded with 124gr XTPs that shoot very well out of my Glocks and PC9. I’m thinking about trying them in the Blackhawks to see how they do. Maybe even labradar them. It would be kinda cool to know before I ditch them I guess. 
thank you for your reply.