Loading 9mm

[Glen72]

Do you all measure the case before it's put in the turret, I have a 650 progressive and ran into a some bloated finished loads when dropped in my checking die. I have several thousands empty brass,started checking a bunch and lots of them will not drop in the die? Used my vernier and yep there most are bigger then my book says they should be.
Can one of you enlighten this poor sole?

[Kosh]

I get a few rounds in my 550 that don't fit in the case gauge. I tried sticking the round in the crimping station again and then it fit the case gauge. Not sure why it didn't work the first time.

[OldmanFCSA]

Must be former Glock brass.

Roll-sizing is only fix for 9mm cases.

[Glen72]

Sorry, what is roll sizing?

[Glen72]

Wow, x:36 AM, old man your up before me and i'm pissing off the chickens waking them up..

[Glen72]

Never mind, did some checking and found so much info I didn't like to hear. When you start to think you know some thing, stupid starts showing up..
don't know what I'm going to do right now, may make something myself.

[rugersol]

EGW "U" die will fix yer issues!

[engnerdan]

Ok backing up

1. You said"I have several thousands empty brass,started checking a bunch and lots of them will not drop in the die? Used my vernier and yep there most are bigger then my book says they should be." When you say "empty brass" do you mean its been fired, cleaned and has not been run through the press since it was fired last time? If so do not expect to any of it to fit in a case gauge or to pass what the "book" says is acceptable. It has been fired and needs to be resized.

2. Make sure your sizing die is properly adjusted, most need to touch the shell plate/shell holder

3. Unless you are using a "Lee Factory Crimp Die" your crimp die the crimping station does not do any sizing of the body of the brass, it just removes the bell on the mouth used to help seat the bullet. An incomplete stroke on the press handle can cause this and your OAL to be longer then you set it.

4. Not bashing on the Oldman and the roll sizing but I doubt you "need" one. I have never roll sized and I have never had a piece of 9mm brass that would slide into my shell plate that did not fire from my gun. I have had some that get snug in the case gauge but they all worked. Back to the roll sizing, it is the cats meow for fixing the brass and making it near perfect. Yes there are pieces of range brass that are messed up and only can be fixed with a roll sizer. But you should not need one typically. I have loaded somewhere around 10,000 rounds of 9mm and never used one, and I know many USPSA shooters who load more then that in a summer and they do not use one. Most would not know what a roll sizer is.

5. Believe it or not. But not all case gauges are created equally. Between a couple friends we have noticed there is a noticeable difference between the Dillon and Lyman gauge gauges we have. What this means is for you to determine but I am just stating one of these is tighter (cant remember which right now). But even then every round we failed, using the case gauges, before a match last year still chamber checked fine in the gun barrels (not GLOCKs).

[Glen72]

Thanks, I needed that. I would have thought that but didn't know it and had nothing to base it on. Did that make any since? I think I picked up some bad brass at one of the gun shops. Once fired though it may be, I was treating as new. Learned point and no damage, great.
So as you have said you have loaded bunches of used brass, mine where not cleaned, just looked clean.
What do you use as a guide for good or bad?

Rugersol , I havent seen any thing they would have for 9MM?
Just call them and it's 8 to 10 week to get there dies in stock again, put my name on the list for now.

[engnerdan]

I always tumble in a corn cob media I buy from John at gunstop, 2 hours and they are clean enough, 4 hours and they are shiny (I use a digital timer and walk away).

As far as what is good to reload and what gets tossed.
-If it will not slide into my shell plate because of the head being mangled - Tossed
-If it is badly crushed Over 50%) - Tossed
-If the side wall is cracked - Tossed
-If the primer is crimped - Toss or set aside and fix later
-If it is slightly bent/smashed I will try to fix gently with a pliers and if it comes out I load it.

Check out this power point if you can open it, its not a definitive guide but it gets you a good idea. These are all things I have found while sorting or reloading.
http://www.dwmetalworks.com/forums/A%20GUIDE%20TO%20BAD%20BRASS.pptx


The "U" die mentioned is the "EGW undersize die". They work well, I am not using one but many people do.

[OldmanFCSA]

4. Not bashing on the Oldman and the roll sizing but I doubt you "need" one. I have never roll sized and I have never had a piece of 9mm brass that would slide into my shell plate that did not fire from my gun. I have had some that get snug in the case gauge but they all worked. Back to the roll sizing, it is the cats meow for fixing the brass and making it near perfect. Yes there are pieces of range brass that are messed up and only can be fixed with a roll sizer. But you should not need one typically. I have loaded somewhere around 10,000 rounds of 9mm and never used one, and I know many USPSA shooters who load more then that in a summer and they do not use one. Most would not know what a roll sizer is.

5. Believe it or not. But not all case gauges are created equally. Between a couple friends we have noticed there is a noticeable difference between the Dillon and Lyman gauge gauges we have. What this means is for you to determine but I am just stating one of these is tighter (cant remember which right now). But even then every round we failed, using the case gauges, before a match last year still chamber checked fine in the gun barrels (not GLOCKs).

Engerdan,
This is not bashing - you are explaining a quick comment I made before going back to bed (sleep is difficult with my pain issues). I too have never roll-sized a piece of brass. Its just that during this period of shortages, we tend to pick up brass to re-use that we normally would discard. Thus we get brass that is less than perfect, and these issues result.
Thanks for explaining better than I did.

And Glocks are not the only contributor to bad brass - but I like picking on them (no I don't own one).

[Glen72]

Hello gents, re did my sizing die and low and behold thing look good, the only thing hanging around is me not know what i was doing!
Sorry gents.

[OldmanFCSA]

Every day is a learning process.

Keep your eyes open and learn that regardless of your ability, someone can teach you a new trick.

[amerICANHELPer]

I always tumble in a corn cob media I buy from John at gunstop, 2 hours and they are clean enough, 4 hours and they are shiny (I use a digital timer and walk away).

As far as what is good to reload and what gets tossed.
-If it will not slide into my shell plate because of the head being mangled - Tossed
-If it is badly crushed Over 50%) - Tossed
-If the side wall is cracked - Tossed
-If the primer is crimped - Toss or set aside and fix later
-If it is slightly bent/smashed I will try to fix gently with a pliers and if it comes out I load it.

Check out this power point if you can open it, its not a definitive guide but it gets you a good idea. These are all things I have found while sorting or reloading.
http://www.dwmetalworks.com/forums/A%20GUIDE%20TO%20BAD%20BRASS.pptx


The "U" die mentioned is the "EGW undersize die". They work well, I am not using one but many people do.

Thanks for the link to your slides Dan, your pictures are worth a thousand words for folks without your experience. J