1st time reloading 9mm question

[Woodythedog]

Hi..I have never reloaded before....Today I set up my new Lee Challenger press. carefully following instructions...Written, youtube, Lee book...I sized, flared, seated a bullet and crimped. The minimum OAL was at 1.142 before I tried a round(no primer or powder) in my CZ SP01. when I released the slide slowly, it did not close all the way, so I set the slide lock and dropped the slide and it closed. Now that round is 1.131. What happened and if I continue, will this be OK?

[DRM6000]

You'l need to seat the bullet deeper. Try 1.12 or so.

[ysr_racer]

Hi..I have never reloaded before....Today I set up my new Lee Challenger press. carefully following instructions...Written, youtube, Lee book...I sized, flared, seated a bullet and crimped. The minimum OAL was at 1.142 before I tried a round(no primer or powder) in my CZ SP01. when I released the slide slowly, it did not close all the way, so I set the slide lock and dropped the slide and it closed. Now that round is 1.131. What happened and if I continue, will this be OK?

Stop, look, listen.

Load one round at 1.110, one at 1.120, one at 1.130, one at 1.140 and one at 1.150.

See which one passes the plunk test. Take out your barrel and drop in rounds (after they've been crimped) and see which one chambers without the bullet hitting the lands in the barrel.

Then subtract .010, that's your OAL.

When you drop the slide on a round, it may crash into the feed ramp, and push the bullet into the case.

[LateForDinner]

STOP. You need to figure out why this happened. There are a few reasons why it could happen. If you did everything correctly the bullet should not be set back in the case further when the slide goes into full battery. I would make another without powder or primer and remove the barrel from the gun and do the plunk test. The cartridge should fall into the barrel without interference. Your OAL seems reasonable but you don't share what projectiles you are using. There is a case length gauge that you may want to buy that will tell you if your load is not over standard length. Not enough crimp will sometimes not allow the cartridge to chamber correctly but wouldn't cause setback.

[Tommy Gun]

Means your bullet was seated too far out and when it went into battery it pushed the bullet back and now the projectile is sitting ON the lands (rifling). Might want to seat it a few thousandths. Also take the barrel out and do the plunk test to see if it sits flush.

[Sandspider500]

Do what ysr said

[bigbossman]

What everyone else said - seat the bullet a bit deeper, and do the "plunk" test in your barrel. If you were to fire the rounds that are jammed up in the lands, best case is that it may or may not cycle and you might get unreliable extractions - stovepipes. Worse case scenario is out of battery firing, or over-pressure and catastrophic barrel/gun failure - neither of which you want to experience.

Seat deeper, and make sure they "plunk". You need to get the resizing AND the bullet seating depth right, before you go touching off rounds.

[mr antsy]

I just started reloading this year and also ran into problems with the recommended OAL for the projectiles I purchased and my CZ pistol.

I found this post to be a great help in understanding the problem: https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=103620.0

I ended up using an OAL of 1.060 rather than the recommended 1.150 and have had no problems with my reloads.

Hope this helps.

[ysr_racer]

The bullet you're using has a lot to do with it to. Different weight and different manufacturers need different OAL due to the bullet having a different profile.

[hermosabeach]

We always kept 1 round in the box with the dies

When setting up for seating, you would take the round from the box an insert it into the shell carrier.

Then screw down the die and seating mechanism to fix the known round.

Remove it
Load one round and measure it vs the known Round. Make final adjustments as needed on crimp and seating depth and start loading

[JoyfulJoker]

I just started reloading 9mm myself. I also am loading for an SP-01. The Dillon 9mm Seating die doesn't really support the 9mm tapered brass case and I got a bulge that got stuck in my case gauge at the same spot regardless of the OAL. It wasn't the OAL. It was the tapered case bulging during the seating.
I bought a Redding Competition Seating die which supports the tapered case down to the spot it was bulging and the problem went away. With a very light crimp it dropped both into the case gauge and plunked into the barrel. I already tested my loads and am moving forward. I set it for 1.125 but asking the master shooters at my club about the variance in OAL , they said it was completely normal to have a plus or minus 10% variance in OAL even with factory ammo and they were correct. I stopped sweating it and everything has been shooting fine. I checked my factory ammo ( S&B, Magtech, Federal, Hornady, Winchester and there were indeed OAL variances). It's thousandths of an inch.

As a backup I got the LEE Factory Crimp Die in 9mm which is supposed to restore the shape of the tapered 9mm case to Factory spec. by ironing out bulges. It wasn't necessary but it may be a cheaper alternative than the Redding Die which cost more than my entire Dillon Set. They have them on Amazon for $25 bucks and it took about 10 days to arrive.

[JoyfulJoker]

There is also this thread which didn’t help me at all but a lot of people find https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=103620.0

[tawadc95]

More possibilities here than a bullet seated to far out.
Do you have a set of digital calipers, they are as essential to reloading as a press or powder.
What diameter did your finished taper crimp come to? An improperly reduced flair will cause a round to not want to seat, sometimes an "almost enough" crimp will go in the second time. Did you ride the slide down?
Bullet set back can be the result of an excessive crimp distorting a bullet and causing it to fit loosely in the finished case or an improperly made sizing die which isn't out of the question, I've had more than one die manufactured to incorrect tolerances or an improperly purchased bullet. I always measure a handful of bullets from each purchase to confirm it is the diameter I ordered.
To much crimp can cause a bulge in a case below the bullet base, as well, range brass fired from some, not all Glocks.
Welcome to reloading, don't force things, pay attention to safe reloading habits, get a Lyman manual and never assume, know why you are doing something.

[robledor]

Stop stop. I had the exact same problem with my CZ SP01. It has a notorious short throat. You need to send it back to CZ. Trust me!!!! Don't mess with the bullets anymore its the gun!!

[robledor]

I had the exact same issue. Even took it to someone who makes ammo for a living...he could not tell me what it was... after I did a quick google search I realized what was going on.. Google "CZ SHORT THROAT" multiple threads will come up. I'm glad I'm able to tell you from experience and save you a headache, CZ is very good only took 5 weeks turn around time lol