Plunk test and 9MM CCB Brass Fail

Yeah, don't use CCB brass if it fails at that high of a percentage.

I thought it was an intelligent response. Ill put it in terms of baseball (love that game)....

If you have a batter that bats .910 (other brass) and a batter that bats .100 or 090 (CBC brass) and game is on the line, which batter do you want in a tough situation?

(1.000 is perfect batting average)

You'd want the batter that only fails 9-10% (batter with .900-.910 average) of the time. If I was faced with your situation, I'd throw the CBC brass in a scrap bucket, but that's just what I would do.

Scuba_Steve said:

marking the case with magic marker and doing so I found the cases that don't fit the case gauge were rubbing approximately .230 from the base.

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How about considering these?

1. Take some CBC cases and check them with the case gauge after being resized only (NO BULLET). They should all pass the case gauge but if they don't, they are not being full-length resized and you need to adjust the resizing die. When the resizing die is at the bottom of the ram cycle while resizing a case, do you see any daylight between the bottom of resizing die and the top of shell holder/plate? If you see daylight, you may need to lower the resizing die.

2. If the bottom of the resizing die is already "barely kissing" the top of the shell holder/plate when the case is being resized, and the resized cases still fail the cage gauge, then these CBC case bases were expanded too much to be resized and they should be tossed in the recycle bin.

3. Take resized cases that ALL passed the cage gauge and make some test rounds. If they all pass the case gauge, the problem was with the resizing step. If any don't pass the case gauge, paint the case with marker and check to see where it is rubbing.

Let us know what you find.

I think BDS is on the mark for troubleshooting when the problem occurrs. Assuming that the problem is occurring after loading instead of in the resizing step, the case may be bulging/buckling during crimping. Have you measured the length of the CBC brass and compared it to the length of the other brands. Also, are you using the Lee Factory Crimp Die, or something equivalent, that is designed to iron out any post crimp bulge? I haven't reloaded any CBC brass to date (haven't collected enough yet) but I appreciate the heads-up to check for similar problems.

I've used that brass before and didn't have any problems in numerous pistols. It doesn't last very long though. It sounds to me like you aren't getting the bullet seated deep enough to fit your chamber, or, you are not getting it comletely resized.

GS

Yes. So now adjust your seating and taper crimp dies with the CBC brass so the finished CBC rounds will pass the case gauge.

Once that's done, non-CBC brass should pass the case gauge as well.

Keep us posted.

Sounds like you may be over crimping.
That can crush the case in odd spots.

OR

Are these cases fired from your gun?
Is it a Glock?
Could be you need a "Buldge-Buster"

Just throwin out some things to check...

Good Luck!

Hondo 60 said:

Could be you need a "Buldge-Buster"

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Not the push-through Bulge Buster kit but the FCD may work to fix the finished rounds if the OP can't adjust the seating/taper crimp die so CBC rounds pass the cage gauge.

Lee does not make the push-through resizing "Bulge Buster" kit using the FCD for the 9mm because 9mm is a tapered round (case mouth diameter is smaller than case base rim diameter). They are only offered in 380 ACP, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, 45 Win Mag, 10 mm, 41 AE and 45 GAP.

This is a response from Lee Precision

From: John Lee <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Bulge Buster Die Kit
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 7:49 AM

... Because the 9mm [case] is tapered the standard Factory Crimp Die will not work as a push through die.

Sincerely

John Lee, President

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Scuba_Steve said:

Well, here is an updated. I seperated the CBC brass from the other brass. I loaded another 300 rounds of the non-cbc brass, no issues.

I then resized 60 CBC cases and everyone fit the case gauge fine. After this, I loaded 5 of them and 4 failed to fit in the case in the case gauge.

The only difference I can find between the CBC brass is thickness. The CBC brass is approximately .030 thick and my other brass is .040 thick. This one really has me baffled.

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Well, you've narrowed it down to one step of the process. Sized brass fits, bullet seated, case doesn't fit. Now, why doesn't if fit after bullet seating? Case walls thicker than other brass and bullet expanding case OD larger than chamber?

Trouble shooting reloading problems isn't magic, just common sense. Bottom line, a cartridge is a peg and a chamber is a hole. To get a peg (cartridge) to fit in a hole (chamber), it must be smaller than the hole (chamber). Is your peg larger in diameter than the hole? Is your peg longer than the hole? Is the tip of the peg hitting the bottom of the hole (bullet hitting rifling)? Does your peg have a ridge that's larger than the hole (too much flare remaining)? No offence, but it's as simple as that.

Try resizing a case, chamfer the inside of the mouth evenly so the bullet will seat straight and without shaving, and then seat a bullet without belling or crimping the case. This would eliminate the crimp or belling as the culprit.

I seat all my bullets in this manner.
GS

I place CBC brass where it belongs since I have had 2 failures with them. They belong in the trash.