Just Damn

[Air]

I purchased 500 bulk 115 Grain FMJ 9mm's off of Gunbroker about 6 months ago, and have just gotten around to loading them up. Long story short...

I set my seating die and loaded up a few to 1.14 and just ran the rest of the 50 through. Started running them through the Crimp die and noticed that some felt differently than others.

I always measure OAL before I box them up, and I would say about 50% of these came in at around 1.11, which is under Minimum OAL. What gives I ask myself?

Upon further inspection it appears that some of these bullets are not as long as others...In short, either shotty quality control, or two different types of bullets. I'll be able to use them, but I have a lot of pulling to do. Live and learn I guess, won't buy from that guy again!

[Air]

if you can remember the vendor.. report it on the feedback to warn others..

sucks.. sorry to hear that..

Yeah, I just looked at my Gunbroker feedback, and he never left anything. So I can't remember. I actually originally ordered 45's, but he sent me 9's instead. So the guy didn't have his stuff together from the get go. I'll just have to be more careful next time I guess. Not the end of the world or anything, it just creates a lot of extra work for me.

[goodlookin1]

Are you sure they are the bullets that are longer and shorter? Many times, it's the cases. Having the OAL .03" off isnt off all THAT much....definitely shootable. Furthermore, if it's the bullet that is shorter, the seating should take care of that so long as all of your cases are the same length.....the seater die just wont seat the bullet as far as the longer ones so that the OAL will match on all of them.

Just food for thought. Good luck!

[J-cat]

Having the OAL .03" off isnt off all THAT much....definitely shootable

but crappy.

We have a local bullet manufacturer who makes bullets like that, and out of round by .0015" to boot!

They're shootable, though, but so are wooden dowels.

[bearing01]

A longer or shorter bullet should not affect OAL. It will affect seating depth (how deep the bullet enters the case).

If you got a scale that measures up to 200gr then I'd check how accurate the bullet weights are.

[kmca]

A longer or shorter bullet should not affect OAL. It will affect seating depth (how deep the bullet enters the case).

If you got a scale that measures up to 200gr then I'd check how accurate the bullet weights are.

That's true, if the bullet geometry is the same or you're using a flat bullet seating plug.

[J-cat]

I'm suspecting these cheapo bullets are made on worn out dies. Each bullet is different in profile, therefore the OAL varies this much.

[Air]

I'm suspecting these cheapo bullets are made on worn out dies. Each bullet is different in profile, therefore the OAL varies this much.

Yeah, it's definitely the bullets. They are visibly different upon inspection.

[JamesY]

For my CZ Tac Sports, some of the lead I shoot has me seating the bullet really deep. I mean, the OAL is 0.98". Yes, less than an inch. Shoots great though and I've shot about 1k through the CZ and other guns I have chambered in 9mm. YMMV

[Air]

For my CZ Tac Sports, some of the lead I shoot has me seating the bullet really deep. I mean, the OAL is 0.98". Yes, less than an inch. Shoots great though and I've shot about 1k through the CZ and other guns I have chambered in 9mm. YMMV

Hmmm.

Creative solution. I just put the affected round(s) in my kinetic puller and gave them a few light taps...This put them all back to within published parameters. I'll just run them through the post sizer again just to be sure, but that saved me from charging the cases again...