reloading 9mm

[romex2121]

Posted - Jul 15 2009 : 09:23:58
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my new RCBS dies in 9mm just came in,, ive got 100 new cases (wins) plus about 300 once fired,, what do i have to do with the new cases to get them ready to run thru the dies??? they seem to be longer than the once fired,, any tips or advise on setting up the dies ???
im gonna use the 124gr hornady hp and bluedot powder

 

[Val]

I run new brass through my sizer die before using and I measure them to insure they are in the recommended length arena.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Run them through your sizer to true them up and ensure the mouths are round.
If your die isn`t carbide be sure to use a bit of lube when you do it. Trim the brass to the shortest cases lenght to square the mouths if you want, I normally don`t, and load away.

 

[Bob in TX]

I'm not sure if you are new to hand loading or not and I am not trying to be a smart alec, but read and follow the directions included with your dies. If they are not carbide, sell them now and get a set of carbide dies.

Bob

 

[.405]

I have all the stuff to load the 9mm, but I don't think I can psychologically
deal with loading those little cartridges on a single stage press.I may have to buy the stuff from Dillion to load them on my progressive,although I hardly ever shoot the 9mm.I have no real interest in it.

 

[romex2121]

I'm not sure if you are new to hand loading or not and I am not trying to be a smart alec, but read and follow the directions included with your dies. If they are not carbide, sell them now and get a set of carbide dies.

Bob

fairly new :wink: ive got the rifle down pretty well , the dies are carbide of course :grin: ,, the instructions that came with the dies are a bit lacking in the easy to follow department :roll: they speak mostly of bottle neck cases,,,, do you crimp your staight wall cases????

 

[.405]

Bob[/quote]

do you crimp your staight wall cases????[/quote]

Not on 9mm or .45 ACP , 10mm .40S&W ,.380 or any other non rimmed pistol case. They headspace on the mouth of the case. It should be a tapered crimp seating die if it is RCBS

 

[romex2121]

Im gonna run some numbers by you if you dont mind,,, first of all thank you very much for taking time to point me in the right direction with the 9mm i feel better getting a second opinion before i do something wrong[]ok i got my dies cleand and set up my cases are in spec to hornadys specs 0.746 all are trimed to the same length, my OAL is 1.060(tip to base)now heres what im not sure about[:I]how much tapper crimp should i have?? heres what i have now on a test round the bottom of the base is 0.385 the top of the case is 0.376 im wondering if its to much crimp??? i measured some factory rounds and it looks like im ok ,, last but not least how much do i need to expand the case mouth?? i got the bullet ( hornady 124gr hp/xtp)to set but when i chamberd the round in the firearm (ruger SR-9)its putting some groves in the case about a 1/4'' from the mouth round ways,, could this be to much expanding?? i know this is a lot of ??s but i want to make sure im doing it right before i prime and charge the cases

 

[Ol` Joe]

With taper crimps on semi-auto ammo like your 9mm, or a 45acp, all you want is to iron out the "bell" or "flare" on your case mouth. The bullet should be held by neck tension not the crimp. Too much crimp will bulge the case behind the bullet and cause feed problems, and can actually cause the bullet to be loose. Too little and the edge of the mouth will catch and hinder feeding.

edited to add; when you expand the case mouth to accept the bullet do it just enough to allow the bullet to set square on the case mouth. I like the Lyman "M" dies for this. They are a "step" shaped expander not a "cone" and only go so deep. The Lyman expands the case about 0.5" deep in the case and only opens it to a hair larger then the bullet diameter, they almost appear to have no expansion. it takes very little expansion to allow the bullet to seat.

 

[romex2121]

i bet to much flaring of the case mouth is my problem,, i expanded about a 1/4'' in to the case ,, can i run the cases back thru the sizing die and start over???? or did i ruin 50 new cases???

 

[.405]

i bet to much flaring of the case mouth is my problem,, i expanded about a 1/4'' in to the case ,, can i run the cases back thru the sizing die and start over???? or did i ruin 50 new cases???

If you can get them to fit back in the sizing die that will work.Feed each one carefully into the sizer by hand.If the bell is too large then case will just crush.You don't need to flare the case out very much with jacketed bullets.
Just enough to accept the base of the bullet.

 

[romex2121]

i got it figuerd out ,, in fact i shot ten rounds yesterday,124 hornady gr hp/xtp,, 6.2 gns blue dot,oal 1.060,, i must say i was impressed with the acuracy of the loads compared to the factory ammo i have ,, i also was able to find one of the xtp's in the dirt bank and the way it mushroomed is PERFECT!!! :shock:
i may up the bluedot a bit 6.4gns