9 mm brass will not fully resize

[tightgroup tiger]

Borrow a 9mm resizing die off of someone and try this brass in it. I'm wondering if you got a 9x18 sizing die that is marked 9x19.
As short as a lot of brass is now a days from what it is supposed to be, I can see some of the 9x19 actually going into a 9x18 die.

I have some 9mm brass that is as short as .730". Either way something has to be wrong with your sizing die.

I resize thousands and thousands of 9mm brass of all mfgs and have never heard of what you are experiencing.

I use .FC. brass constantly and have never had an issue with it.

Borrow someone else's resizing die and try these same brass in it. I'll bet you won't have the problem in it.

If they still won't resize in another die then something has happened to the brass, like someone blew out the base of the case from overloading them.
It could be the brass is damaged beyond resizing also.
But trying them in another die will tell you volumes.

 

[APR]

If there is a space between shell holder and die that's greater than a few 1000th's, it is NOT adjusted correctly.

David, The die is adjusted to where The shell holder is touching the bottom of the die , when the ram is all the way up .

 

[APR]

Without getting your fingers pinched, try wriggling or re indexing the problem cases as they go into the die and shell holder. Sometimes a flash hole will be just slightly off center with the decapping pin for various reasons. It could be flaws around the extraction groove interfering with the brass seating completely into the shell holder.

gamestalker , I tried all that . I even removed the decapping pin . I have a lot of brass with the head stamp .FC. and none of it will run all the way up into the sizing die . None of the Blazer brass will work either . I also have a few pieces of mixed head stamps that won't work as well . All the other brass resizes just fine .

 

[rsrocket1]

I don't think I missed it, but what press are you using?

 

[APR]

Borrow a 9mm resizing die off of someone and try this brass in it. I'm wondering if you got a 9x18 sizing die that is marked 9x19.
As short as a lot of brass is now a days from what it is supposed to be, I can see some of the 9x19 actually going into a 9x18 die.

I have some 9mm brass that is as short as .730". Either way something has to be wrong with your sizing die.

I resize thousands and thousands of 9mm brass of all mfgs and have never heard of what you are experiencing.

I use .FC. brass constantly and have never had an issue with it.

Borrow someone else's resizing die and try these same brass in it. I'll bet you won't have the problem in it.

If they still won't resize in another die then something has happened to the brass, like someone blew out the base of the case from overloading them.
It could be the brass is damaged beyond resizing also.
But trying them in another die will tell you volumes.

Thank you for your help . I will try a get a different sizing die , and see what happens .

 

[David E]

David, The die is adjusted to where The shell holder is touching the bottom of the die , when the ram is all the way up .

Then how could the cases physically not go all the way in? Do these cases cause the ram to stop short? If so, then it could be a 9x18 die that's mismarked, as suggested.

If not, then I don't understand what you're saying.

Regardless, try a different brand die.

 

[APR]

Then how could the cases physically not go all the way in? Do these cases cause the ram to stop short? If so, then it could be a 9x18 die that's mismarked, as suggested.

If not, then I don't understand what you're saying.

Regardless, try a different brand die.

Yes , the cases cause the ram to stop short .

 

[David E]

Yes , the cases cause the ram to stop short .

That bit of info is key! I didn't see you posting it before.

Something is seriously wrong with the die or press.

 

[rsrocket1]

That's why I asked about the press. If it's a cheap Lee "C" press, there might be too much flex in it. You should have more than enough leverage to get that shell all the way into the die unless there is something obstructing it.

 

[LiveLife]

But OP posted that most other 9mm cases fully resized. Only some .FC. head stamp cases failed to resize fully.

So if that's true, the problem lies with the cases and not with the dies/press.

If OP would send me the cases, I would gladly try to resize them on my Lee carbide dies.

 

[Jim Watson]

I rummaged through the present crop of mixed brass and ran an assortment through the Dillon.
I had:
FC
FC.
.FC.
FC NT
83 FC

All sized, decapped, expanded, and loaded normally.
So I found some more and measured them. The inside depth was the same in all within a few thousandths.

I dunno, man. Maybe if you mailed some of the oddballs to bds and others for trial in other dies.

 

[David E]

But OP posted that most other 9mm cases fully resized. Only some .FC. head stamp cases failed to resize fully.

So if that's true, the problem lies with the cases and not with the dies/press.

The "problem" might be exacerbated with the FC cases, but the problem must be in the die (most likely) or the press. (Less likely)

 

[tightgroup tiger]

That's why I asked about the press. If it's a cheap Lee "C" press, there might be too much flex in it. You should have more than enough leverage to get that shell all the way into the die unless there is something obstructing it.

I agree with you about the flex in the press, but wouldn't it show a scrub mark on the side of the case from running out of alignment?

Look at the linkage on the bottom of the press handle and see if something isn't catching against something else. I'm not familiar with the cheap c-frame Lee presses but I had an old c-frame Redding that the linkage wore out on and the pin would move sideways and started catching on some other part of the frame and would bind it up.

this doesn't really sound like your problem but just trying to cover the bases of possibilities. But it is something to look at.

I don't like that your having problems but I have to admit that it is refreshing to have a new problem to think about.

 

[rsrocket1]

I have nothing against Lee presses, but I would think that if a press failed to do its thing due to lack of strength, the Lee "C" press would be the first to fail. I have a cast iron Precision Reloaders "C" press, but it's built like a tank and weighs about as much.

Something is preventing some of APR's FC cases from going all the way into the die and the press with all it's leverage ought to provide enough force to resize any reasonably thick case without breaking something.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Yea, He needs to try a different die or better yet try his die on a different press or send them to bds.

Maybe APR should send his brass and his die to bds so he can try that same die and brass in one of his presses.

 

[hentown]

I've reloaded tens of thousands of 9mm and never have experienced what the OP is experiencing. AAMOF, I'm in the middle of a 10k-round loading session. I'm using cleaned and polished range brass that has every imaginable headstamp. The only thing that slows me down is the occasional crimped primer pocket, which is quickly fixed.

I'm using Lee dies on a 650, and I adjust the sizing die until it touches the shellplate. I'd suggest that the decapping rod/pin are installed too low?? Can't think of anything else, other than OCD, that might becausing the "problem."

 

[JoeDaddy]

As far as I know, the ".FC." Federal cases come from different plant than that produced the plain "FC" brass. Some have posted the .FC. cases are made in the same plant Speer/CCI/Blazer cases are made from.

I get quite a bit of .FC. 9mm/40S&W cases from the indoor range I shoot at along with 9mm/40S&W Blazer and 45Auto small primer Blazer brass all of which resize without issue.

Perhaps they were hot loads shot in loose chambers and had case bases expanded more than usual?

Try using the FCD first and then resizing the cases.

Here's a pic of (top) Blazer brass that I resized this morning with a brand new set of Redding dies. The bottom case is R-P. My guess is that the CCI/FC group of cases is so thin at the web that they are expanding substantially, and that may be what's at play, or at least some of the issue. There is a definite ridge on the Blazer brass case where the carbide sizer stopped. Both cases were fired out of my Ruger lc9.

 

[LiveLife]

JoeDaddy, what brand resizing die did you use on those cases?

 

[JoeDaddy]

Redding carbide. They are brand spanking new. These are the very first cases I've ran through them. Anything not Blazer sized up just fine, otherwise this was the result.

 

[kostyanj]

I had a similar issue on my lnl with lee, then rcbs, then hornady dies. I just put them in the refuse pile and moved on. I did discover some play in the bushing used on my sizing die and replaced it but those cases still won't size. I get the same bulge and they won't fit in my guns barell.

 

[LiveLife]

JoeDaddy, the OP is using Lee resizing die and the radius on the Lee carbide sizer won't leave a sharp mark on the case like your picture.

As kostyanj posted. if the case is overly bulged, the resizing die simply won't go all the way down leaving a gap between the bottom of the die and the shell holder. And the case will show a smooth transition between sized surface and non-sized surface instead of a sharp transition. The overly bulged 9mm cases that won't fully resize can't be push-through resize in the FCD due to the tapered case shape and needs to be tossed/recycled.

Since the OP was able to fully resize most of other 9mm cases that were not .FC. head stamp, I still think the problem is case related and not die/press.

when the ram is running up it comes to a hard stop , before the brass has fully run up into the sizing die . There is a space between the shell holder and the bottom of the sizing die.

 

[LiveLife]

Things that could bring a ram to a hard stop are crimped primer pockets or berdan primer cases but I have not come across a crimped 9mm .FC. case. And if a primer was really stuck in the case, it would just require a bit more effort to deprime.

Since the OP was able to fully resize other head stamp cases, I ruled out the shaft body of depriming pin hitting the flash hole.

I guess the OP could drill out the spent primer to remove primer related issue and see if the case could be fully resized without the spent primer in the pocket.

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

Try lubing the cases. I prefer Dillons lube myself. The sizer die will wipe it off so no cleaning is needed.

 

[gamestalker]

READ THIS
Spent primers being pushed out through the ram can stack up in the ram, and eventually lock the press up solid. When they are pushed out of the case they normally just drop through the center of the ram and fall out through the side hole in the ram. But when they jam and begin stacking up they will cause the ram to come to a sudden stop, and the worst part is it can happen intermittently, making it seem as though the die or brass are the culprit. I've had it happen to me once, and it baffled me for a good while before I identified the problem. Take a pipe cleaner and see if it goes all the way through the ram from top, to the drop out hole on the side of the ram.

GS

 

[caster]

Your FC cases are the issue.

Check the rim and measure carefully at several points. You will likely find the rim to be bent or warped just enough to cause the brass to be slightly off kilter when it goes in the die. Not enough to prevent the brass from entering, but when the brass goes in the die far enough to where the angle created by the rim not being square to the shell holder (or shell plate) is cumulative enough to cause the alignment to be off enough to prevent further travel into the die.

This is a symptom of too soft or improperly annealed brass.