So, I am Having a Problem...

[donliv]

I have been loading 9mm for almost a year now. I started out with 124gr. LRN, loaded about 1k, and never had a problem with a single one. I found some 115gr. FMJ at a York show, and now the problems pop up.

Everything goes smooth until i get to the crimping (Lee Dies). Seems every couple rounds that come out of the crimp has a loose projectile. To the point that it takes very little pressure to push it into the powder; others come out perfect.

I have tried less crimp, more crimp, and it keeps doing the same thing....i was hoping someone with more experience than i could steer me in the right direction.

BTW, i do not use the expanding die for the simple fact that it seems no matter how much i adjust it, it gives the cases too much of a bell, or doesnt do anything, so i am seating bullets on an unexpanded case.

Thanks.

 

[JavaDan]

I'm not anything close to an expert, but I've done a fair amount of pistol reloading. I once ran into a similar issue years ago when I bought some .38 bullets to load in my .357 mag cases.

I had bought a bulk bag of bullets at a gun show in Greenbelt. When I had the same thing happening, I put a caliper on the bullets that were loose. They were a little narrower than they should be. I put a caliper on all the rest of the bullets in the lot and ended up trashing about 5% of the lot. I never bought bulk packaged bullets like that at a show again.

I'm just guessing here, but I suspect the guy at the show who sold me the bullets put together a bag from who-knows-where.

So, the only thing I can suggest is to put a caliper on the loose ones and see if they are a smidge off spec.

Mabey somebody else has other suggestions.

 

[donliv]

That's a great idea, actually. I will grab my micrometer from work and see if that's the case.

They are in a Remington marked box though, so i would hope they would have some sort of quality control.

 

[lx1x]

resize the brass again..noticed that myself.. and one or two will be loose.. if you already done that.. you may have bad brass... in that case.. toss it in the trash.

 

[Rockzilla]

All good suggestions

Mic Bullets first they may not be correct (reboxed)

Brass may be bad and did you use this same brass to reloads
with the other bullets? but it sounds like bullet issues

I use taper crimp dies 9mm, 45acp

-Rock

 

[Biggfoot44]

9mm brass from various makers worldwide has lots of variation. Could be a mismatch of particularily thin necks and bullets right at minium diameter.
You "could" try different sizing and or crimp dies, but otherwise shrug, and use different bullets with that brass, and/or different brass with those bullets.

 

[Cowboy T]

Sounds like your 115gr bullets might be too skinny. How do they mic out?

 

[j8064]

I'm no "expert" either so take my .02 for what it's worth. I've loaded many a 9mm round in my time (along with many other calibers).

I'd check the diameter of the bullets and I'd inspect the cases you're using. As Biggfoot44 says there is likely a lot of variation in brass thickness in your cases. As others said, you probably have differences in bullet diameters.

For range reloads I started using Lee's Factory Crimp Dies on several straight-walled calibers. They've worked well for me and I've gotten consistent crimps with them:
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=557190

(Added info): And I make sure all my 9mm cases are trimmed to the same and correct length. (9mm headspaces on the case mouth so short cases are not reloaded on my bench.) Inconsistency in case length can also produce loose bullets when crimped with many dies. Deep-set bullets can dramatically raise pressures in 9mm rounds.

I never have and never will shoot any of my hand loads that have loose projectiles in them. Hope that helps

 

[tjdreams]

Sounds like you need to check (mic) and sort both your brass by Case Length and the bullets by size.

My guess is that not all of your brass is the same length.

Assuming you have your die set to give the proper crimp for a 0.750 length case and you try to load a case that is shorter than 0.750 it will not go into the die as far resulting in a case that is not properly crimped leaving the projectile loose. the opposite is true of a case that is longer it will go deeper into the die result in a tighter crimp.

Try sorting your cases and adjusting the seat-er/crimp die or dies accordingly.

 

[Fustercluck]

Everything goes smooth until i get to the crimping (Lee Dies). Seems every couple rounds that come out of the crimp has a loose projectile. To the point that it takes very little pressure to push it into the powder; others come out perfect.

.

What was the resolution of this? Did you mic the bullets and see if they are .355"? Even without taper crimping your ammo, the bullet should not fall into the case with little pressure. This is especially true since you mentioned that you do not expand your case mouths before seating the bullet. I never use more than a 1/4 turn of taper crimp in 9mm. In your case, more crimp is not the proper solution to the problem. If your woe started with this bag of Remington bullets, go out and buy a box of 100 bullets (speer, hornady, etc) and see if the problem doesn't magically disappear.

Variations of 4-5 thousands of an inch in case length will not have a significant impact on the amount of taper crimp.

let us know, so we can resolve this thread. Others can learn from this.
/thanks,
Danny

 

[donliv]

I apologize for not replying sooner. I have been swamped at work (it's bike season). I will try to mic them by the end of the weekend.

Also, once the bullets are seated before crimping everything seems fine. I am using a lee factory crimp die and case length gauge.

 

[donliv]

Ok...bullet out of the box mic'd at .355. Bullet from a problem cartridge mic'd the same....

 

[j8064]

.355 is the right diameter. Are you sure you have your Lee factory crimp die set to give the rounds a firm enough crimp?

For example, let's say you build 100 rounds and only a few have loose bullets. In my mind it's likely those cases have slightly thinner walls at the case mouth than the rest of the batch. Re-setting the die for a little more crimp and running those cartridges through it a second time could very well solve the issue. I've done that myself.

You want the bullet held in place by the case as the round cycles through your gun, but not so tight that it raises pressure when it's fired. And you certainly don't want your gun's action to inadvertantly deep seat the bullet when it goes through the action. It's a fine line to balance.

Again, I'm no reloading guru. I know what works for me, my reloads and guns.

 

[Fustercluck]

.355 is the right diameter. Are you sure you have your Lee factory crimp die set to give the rounds a firm enough crimp?

For example, let's say you build 100 rounds and only a few have loose bullets. In my mind it's likely those cases have slightly thinner walls at the case mouth than the rest of the batch. Re-setting the die for a little more crimp and running those cartridges through it a second time could very well solve the issue. I've done that myself.

You want the bullet held in place by the case as the round cycles through your gun, but not so tight that it raises pressure when it's fired. And you certainly don't want your gun's action to inadvertantly deep seat the bullet when it goes through the action. It's a fine line to balance.

Again, I'm no reloading guru. I know what works for me, my reloads and guns.

+1

 

[guthook]

Did you try resizing the cases?

Might have missed resizing a few or picked up the wrong/mixed batch of cases?

I do not crimp 9mm. They've always held tightly without it in my experiences.

 

[Baumer]

I had a similar problem when switching from lead to plated bullets for 9mm. My problem was the adjustment of the sizing die. In my case I had to thread the die in a bit further. If you can push the bullet into the case (even just a bit) by hand after resizing, and without flaring the case, then something is wrong in the sizing process. I went through much the same process as you in trying to diagnose the problem. The bullets and brass were fine and adding additional crimp seemed to make things a bit better, but if I pushed firmly on the bullet, after loading, I could, in some cases, push the bullet back into the case. I ended up pulling about 100 bullets, then found the sizing issue. Since adjusting the die, I have not had any issues. I suspect die adjustment problem existed with the lead bullets but they tend to have more grip in the case than the slick copper jackets.

 

[Steven Dzupin]

You might just be over expanding the case mouth.

The expander plug maybe just too big ,or a bit too long for some of your Brass.

Regards,

Steve

 

[obiii]

Problem with seating

Hi,
I had this problem with several 30-06 rounds that I was reloading. I never identified the cause, but I did not resize the brass since it supposedly had already been done. (Won't make that mistake again). What I found to work is to run the "loose" ones through the Lee factory crimp die. Just make sure that the OAL is correct. That seemed to fix the problem, and have not noticed anything out of the ordinary with the round firing.

OB