9mm bullet is not seating into case, what I am doing wrong

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Point_Taken

Point_Taken

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Here is a video to illustrate the problem. I've tried everything, I've blacked out every die and recalibrated them and nothing seems to work. When they come out, they are fine, but if I apply a moderate amount of pressure the bullet will sink into the case and stop at where the powder is.

 
Are you crimping it enough? You only need a slight amount of crimp, just enough to hold the bullet in place.

Or are you flaring the case mouth too much?
 
What brass are you using? Is the problem consistently with one headstamp?
Are those Hornady dies?
What diameter and weight are the bullets?

There are numerous potential culprits. The sizing die isn't resizing the brass for good enough neck tension. Or the expander die is expanding the brass too much. Or the crimp die can crimp the brass and bullet too much, and the brass springs back while the bullet remains the smaller. OR the bullets are just too small a diamter. Or probably other causes as well.

I've had that happen before with lead bullets and *FC* brass. The brass just wouldn't hold the bullets while using the exact same setup with WIN or BLAZER brass would have zero problems.
 
Back off your expander Die position #2. And the crimp die if you measure more than 0.001" different at the mouth. Are you using a PTX, too????? How are you using the powder dispenser? Normal case activated?
 
You have a neck tension/setback issue. As others have noted, there are several possible causes. You'll need to isolate some variables. Suggested order of working through the problems:
  1. Measure the bullets. Make sure they are not undersized. If they are .355 or above, proceed to step 2.
  2. Use a known good brass of a single headstamp type. Ideally, use some new brass. If the problem persists even with new, high-quality brass, proceed to step 3.
  3. Check the adjustment of your sizing die. Make sure that it is touching the shell plate. Resize a cartridge and see whether the resized cartridge (without bullet or, obviously, powder) will fit easily into a case gauge. If it fits into the gauge, proceed to step 4.
  4. Skipping powder and expansion/belling, seat a bullet. You will have to be delicate with this, but unless your bullet has a very square base, you should be able to do it. It may take a try or two. Once done, apply pressure to the bullet nose to check for setback. If it is solid, proceed to step 5.
  5. Back out your expander die until it is just dropping powder, then turn it back in the smallest amount you can get away with and still get bullets started without having to spend 30 seconds on every bullet. Check tension on a finished round as in #4.
  6. Repeat #5 with crimp die, remove just enough crimp to plunk in a case gauge.
The stage at which you hit a failure will let you know at least the first root cause of your trouble. It is possible, though not super likely, that you are doubling up on errors.
 
Size a few cases with the sizer. Seat some bullets. If the neck tension problem goes away (No more setback), then the expander is too large, or you are inserting it too far, or both. Polish it down and/or adjust it properly. If the problem persists, the sizer needs to be replaced, the carbide ring is too large in diameter. That said, make sure the sizer is adjusted all the way down, this is more critical with the tapered 9MM case. make sure the sizer just does touch the shell holder or plate when actually sizing a case to account for flex in the system.

Neck tension holds the bullet in auto calibers like 9MM, .40, .45 ACP etc. No amount of taper "crimp" can fix poor neck tension, and if overdone can hurt neck tension and interfere with the case headspacing on the case mouth. The taper "crimp" should be just enough to completely remove the bell on the shortest cases, which means the longest cases will get a hair of inward movement at the case mouth. Say .001/.0015.

Welcome to THR.
 
Seems like your either not resizing correctly or overworking the brass in the expanding die. Check stations one and two. Go through die instructions for setup carefully should take care of it for you.
 
Welcome to THR,
lots of great people here.

I have a couple sets of 9mm dies.
I my Lee 9mm sizer sizes the brass tighter than the Hornady I have.
Had issue with some brass and my Hornady die, I just use the Lee now.
Sent the Hornady 9mm die back to Hornady and they said it is in spec but it must be on the large size of what is in spec IMO.
Had neck tension issues with it that were solved just by using the Lee die.
Check things as mentioned above and hopefully you will get its solved.
 
Everyone has given you great advise. Start with their suggestions.

What bullet is this ? What is your OAL ? Is it possible you are seating too short and are past the ogive allowing it to push into the case too far ? I assume you checked with your chamber or a headspace gauge ? It's hard to tell from the video, but that it the only thing I have to add other than what has been said. Maybe they are too short, and try lengthening the OAL a little. As long as they pass your plunk test they will be fine.

-Jeff
 
ATLDave said:
You have a neck tension/setback issue. As others have noted, there are several possible causes. You'll need to isolate some variables. Suggested order of working through the problems:
  1. Measure the bullets. Make sure they are not undersized. If they are .355 or above, proceed to step 2.
  2. Use a known good brass of a single headstamp type. Ideally, use some new brass. If the problem persists even with new, high-quality brass, proceed to step 3.
  3. Check the adjustment of your sizing die. Make sure that it is touching the shell plate. Resize a cartridge and see whether the resized cartridge (without bullet or, obviously, powder) will fit easily into a case gauge. If it fits into the gauge, proceed to step 4.
  4. Skipping powder and expansion/belling, seat a bullet. You will have to be delicate with this, but unless your bullet has a very square base, you should be able to do it. It may take a try or two. Once done, apply pressure to the bullet nose to check for setback. If it is solid, proceed to step 5.
  5. Back out your expander die until it is just dropping powder, then turn it back in the smallest amount you can get away with and still get bullets started without having to spend 30 seconds on every bullet. Check tension on a finished round as in #4.
  6. Repeat #5 with crimp die, remove just enough crimp to plunk in a case gauge.
The stage at which you hit a failure will let you know at least the first root cause of your trouble. It is possible, though not super likely, that you are doubling up on errors.
Click to expand...


Looks like it was number 3, thanks for all the help guys, I've been lurking on here for awhile. I had done the mod where I added some shims to under the sub-plate to stop it from "jerking" so much when I indexed it. Anyways I completely forgot that I had backed out the sizing die a bit to compensate for this, but never came back down with it.
 
Remove the shims and adj the detents on the shell plates. They are just pressed in so you can use a punch to back them up some. You want the shell plate close to the base to keep things in alignment for the cartridge to enter the dies.
 
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