Reloading Problem

[thebloodsonthewall]

So I am still working the bugs out with my 9mm reloads. I have a Dillon 550b and I'm using 3.3 gr Clays powder with 125 gr RN lead bullets. I have about 1000 rounds loaded and yesterday I went through them all and dropped them in my barrel. Out of the 1000, about 100 of them did not drop into the barrel correctly. So today I went to my press to do some problem solving. I narrowed it down to station one. I played around with the position of the die for at least an hour and I can't get it to consistently give me a casing that fits in the chamber. It will be good for a few casings and then it wont fit. What could be the reason for this? I don't understand why this is happening. If I don't touch the die, shouldn't it give me the same thing each time? I wrenched it down nice and tight too.

Is there anyone in Elk Grove or near by that could give me a hand getting all the bugs worked out?

[J-cat]

Did you screw the die all the way down to the shellplate? Maybe you need a "U" die.

[thebloodsonthewall]

Did you screw the die all the way down to the shellplate? Maybe you need a "U" die.

Yeah, I screwed the die all the way to the shell plate. What is a "U" die?

[f4tweet]

It is basically an "undersized" die that takes the Glock Bulge out of the brass. I think EGW has them made specially. I have one for .40 brass. Make sure your crimp setting is taking the flare out of the sized brass also.

[bohoki]

what is your oal cartridge length (are you seating the bullet to deep or not deep enough)

who makes your bullets? are they sized correctly?

[thebloodsonthewall]

what is your oal cartridge length (are you seating the bullet to deep or not deep enough)

who makes your bullets? are they sized correctly?

I buy my bullets from Stone Wall bullets. They seem to be of good quality. I have my oal at 1.125.

Previously I had a problem with the crimp but I gave it a better crimp and it solved that problem. It just started doing this.

[CSACANNONEER]

If you want me to stop by and try to help you, just let me know. How's that for customer service? (I sold him the used 550 in April and I live about 7 hours away.) As luck would have it, I'll be passing through this tuesday so, if you want me to stop by, I can. I'll PM you my phone number.

[f4tweet]

I have used certain bullets that even though I used a recipe, the profile of that bullet wouldn't work. Sometimes the shoulder is higher and hits the lands preventing you from using the written recipe.

[Turbinator]

Also, is your brass once fired or fired multiple times?

Turby

[J-cat]

If you crimp too much, you will bulge the brass and it won't chamber. Crimp just enough to remove the bell from the case mouth.

Cysle the ones you have through the gun to see if the rifling is engraving the bullet. If so, then seat the bullets a little deeper.

[buffybuster]

How many times has the brass been fired?

What kind of gun are you shooting these reloads in?

What eventually happens with 9mm cases after they have been reloaded and fired in a loose chamber is the casehead expands and a "belt" forms around the casehead where the resizing die cannot get far enough to resize it. There's no way to can get down that far with a progressive since the shellplate is thick enough to preclude that. Sometimes you can get down farther with a single stage, depending on whether your die has a radiused mouth or not. The only way to fully remove that "belt" is for them to be rolled sized which is what commercial reloaders have/use which swages the cases all the way down to the extractor groove removing the "belt".

If you have a pistol with a generous chamber you're good to go. But otherwise you'll have to chamber check them if you're shooting a match. Otherwise they are an inconvenience/PITA at the range.

Some years ago I had an HK and SIG that had tighter chambers and they wouldn't fully chamber these rounds. The Beretta's I have eat everything.

[Harbinger]

How many times has the brass been fired?

What kind of gun are you shooting these reloads in?

What eventually happens with 9mm cases after they have been reloaded and fired in a loose chamber is the casehead expands and a "belt" forms around the casehead where the resizing die cannot get far enough to resize it. There's no way to can get down that far with a progressive since the shellplate is thick enough to preclude that. Sometimes you can get down farther with a single stage, depending on whether your die has a radiused mouth or not. The only way to fully remove that "belt" is for them to be rolled sized which is what commercial reloaders have/use which swages the cases all the way down to the extractor groove removing the "belt".

If you have a pistol with a generous chamber you're good to go. But otherwise you'll have to chamber check them if you're shooting a match. Otherwise they are an inconvenience/PITA at the range.

Some years ago I had an HK and SIG that had tighter chambers and they wouldn't fully chamber these rounds. The Beretta's I have eat everything.

I have seen this and was wondering what was happening. I guess it's a good thing I have a Glock?

Thank you so much for your insight! The knowledge on this board continues to astound me. :D

Mike

[ar15barrels]

Whose barrel are you running in that Glock?
Let me guess, lone wolf?
Some of them have tight chambers and won't reliably chamber reloads.
I run a standard 9mm reamer into them and chambering problems are usually gone.

[J-cat]

I have seen this and was wondering what was happening. I guess it's a good thing I have a Glock?

Not really. Glock 9mm chambers are a full .002" tighter in diameter than Sig.

[thebloodsonthewall]

The brass is once or twice fired. I am using a Springfield XD with the factory barrel.

I don't think it is the crimp or anything else. Eventually I stopped loading the complete rounds and was just doing the first station and then dropping just the casing into the barrel. Sometimes I would adjust it and the casing would fit correctly in the barrel and then not even changing anything, the next casing wouldn't fit in the barrel. There was no pattern or anything, some of them just didn't fit. What could be causing this? I am using Dillon dies and they are only a few months old.

Thanks for everyone's input thus far. :)

[rayra]

Are you consistent in the manner you operate the press? I mean are you working the op handle to the full entension? Is it possible you aren't getting a full-length sizing on some strokes, thus leaving the aforementioned bulge at the base of the case and thus cause the failure to chamber?



And you should spend $22 and get a case (chamber) gauge, instead of making a practice of chamber-checking in a firearm. Can't have an ND if there's no firing pin around.

[CSACANNONEER]

It sounds like he is chamber checking by using his barrel after he has removed it from his gun.

thebloodsonthewall,
Did you get my PM?

[buffybuster]

The brass is once or twice fired. I am using a Springfield XD with the factory barrel.

I don't think it is the crimp or anything else. Eventually I stopped loading the complete rounds and was just doing the first station and then dropping just the casing into the barrel. Sometimes I would adjust it and the casing would fit correctly in the barrel and then not even changing anything, the next casing wouldn't fit in the barrel. There was no pattern or anything, some of them just didn't fit. What could be causing this? I am using Dillon dies and they are only a few months old.

Thanks for everyone's input thus far. :)


Kind of sounds like what I described in my first post.

Has nothing to do with how new or old your dies are. It takes millions of reloaded rounds to wear out a carbide die. However, make sure you are running full strokes both up and down in a nice smooth rhythm.

[CSACANNONEER]

Has nothing to do with how new or old your dies are. ............... However, make sure you are running full strokes both up and down in a nice smooth rhythm.

Here's a sig line for someone.

[ar15barrels]

Here's a sig line for someone.

No, here is a sigline...

"Gentlemen, do you know what color your balls are?"
Spoken by Timberwolf today on a sniper golf stage where there are 5 different colored balls and each shooter takes a different color.

[buffybuster]

No, here is a sigline...

"Gentlemen, do you know what color your balls are?"
Spoken by Timberwolf today on a sniper golf stage where there are 5 different colored balls and each shooter takes a different color.

Randall,

Weren't yours blue or was that someone else?

[Turbinator]

The brass is once or twice fired. I am using a Springfield XD with the factory barrel.

I don't think it is the crimp or anything else. Eventually I stopped loading the complete rounds and was just doing the first station and then dropping just the casing into the barrel. Sometimes I would adjust it and the casing would fit correctly in the barrel and then not even changing anything, the next casing wouldn't fit in the barrel. There was no pattern or anything, some of them just didn't fit. What could be causing this? I am using Dillon dies and they are only a few months old.

Thanks for everyone's input thus far. :)

People have already pointed out why you are seeing what you are (the brass isn't getting fully resized due to the way the progressive press works).

I would suggest you pick up a set of case gauges, available from Midway or Dillon. I bought some and case gauge every single piece of brass I am about to load. If the brass doesn't pass the case gauge test, I pitch it into the trash. No sense in risking my health and safety on a piece of brass I probably picked up for free somewhere.

However, I personally find it hard to believe that once or twice fired brass would have the case bulge problem already - I normally see this phenomenon in brass that has been fired more times than that. It could be that the brass was run through a gun with a very generously sized chamber, originally..

Turby

[thebloodsonthewall]

It sounds like he is chamber checking by using his barrel after he has removed it from his gun.

thebloodsonthewall,
Did you get my PM?

I got your PM. I just haven't had a chance to give you a call yet. I'll call you sometime today. Thank you.

[ar15barrels]

Randall,

Weren't yours blue or was that someone else?

Mine was bright orange.

[eaglemike]

The brass is once or twice fired. I am using a Springfield XD with the factory barrel.

I don't think it is the crimp or anything else. Eventually I stopped loading the complete rounds and was just doing the first station and then dropping just the casing into the barrel. Sometimes I would adjust it and the casing would fit correctly in the barrel and then not even changing anything, the next casing wouldn't fit in the barrel. There was no pattern or anything, some of them just didn't fit. What could be causing this? I am using Dillon dies and they are only a few months old.

Thanks for everyone's input thus far. :)
In my experience, Dillon dies have a larger chamfer into the sizing ring than most other makes. Try a Lee sizing die, and see if the problem goes away. A lot of the 175 major .38 super shooters needed to do this in the bad old days. On the 550, you might need to put the adjustment lock nut on the bottom of the tool head instead of the top when using the Lee dies.

all the best,

Mike

[J-cat]

Maybe you should mark the round with a Sharpee to see where it's binding?

[ar15barrels]

Maybe you should mark the round with a Sharpee to see where it's binding?

9 times out of 10, it's the bullet diameter.
Cast 9mm bullets are usually 0.356" while condom bullets measure 0.355" and many chambers were designed for 0.355" bullets.

[J-cat]

In the case of the 9mm, most factory chambers have .358" on up freebore diameter.

It could be lead shaving build-up at the case mouth.