I could use a little help figuring out what my problem is loading 147 gr 9mm rounds. My normal process is 2 passes though my LNL AP (all dies are Hornady except the FCD and lock out die). The first pass I resize, prime, and bell the mouth. The second pass, I drop the powder, check the powder, feed a bullet with a Hornady bullet feeder die and tubes, seat (with no crimp), and finally crimp with a Lee FCD. The original load is a Berry’s 147 gr FP with 4.3 gr of BE-86. While most of these passed the plunk test cleanly and slickly, between 10 and 20% would not. Of the ones that failed, some would seat all the way, while others wouldn’t. I tried coloring one of the worst with Sharpie, but see nothing definitive. There appeared to be minor rubbing towards the base of the round. This was all normally done with mixed brass and sometimes lead to a pistol that had was not fully in battery, but was locked up tight.
So, the troubleshooting began: I wanted a different bullet profile and tried Xtreme 147 gr HP. This produced at least a 10% failure rate. So, I sorted me some brass and am working with Remington brass at this point. I resized and primed 100 cases. They all passed the plunk test with zero resistance. I then belled the mouth. Then I set up the seating and crimping dies from scratch. Then, manually feeding the bullets, I made 100 rounds. The COAL is 1.08 and the mouth measures .376. The results were better, but I still had 4% fail.
When I use the original process above on 40 S&W, EVERYTHING passes the plunk test. At this point I don’t know what to do next and would love some suggestions and (hopefully) wisdom.
Thanks,
Art
So, the troubleshooting began: I wanted a different bullet profile and tried Xtreme 147 gr HP. This produced at least a 10% failure rate. So, I sorted me some brass and am working with Remington brass at this point. I resized and primed 100 cases. They all passed the plunk test with zero resistance. I then belled the mouth. Then I set up the seating and crimping dies from scratch. Then, manually feeding the bullets, I made 100 rounds. The COAL is 1.08 and the mouth measures .376. The results were better, but I still had 4% fail.
When I use the original process above on 40 S&W, EVERYTHING passes the plunk test. At this point I don’t know what to do next and would love some suggestions and (hopefully) wisdom.
Thanks,
Art