9mm Loading What am I doing wrong?

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NineBear

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I've been struggling with this for a while so I hope to get some help.

Specs: 9mm loading, Hornady single stage LNL press (9 months old).
Hornady New Dimension Nitride taper crimp dies (9 months old).
Brass: Once fired Blazer, WCC, F.C., Win, cleaned and primed with CCI & Win.

I size and prime my brass, test it in a case length guage, fits just fine.
I then give it a little flare, dump powder and seat my bullet. Check for
length, looks good so I drop it back into the case guage and nope, it does NOT fit.
I don't think its length, but possibly a diameter issue???. I'm looking at 1.095 OAL
and sometimes shorter, just doesn't matter it won't fit in the guage or barrel.
Some come close to fitting, some stick out by 1/16". I do plunk test and it also
fails. This happens 90% of the time with high shoulder projectiles like Nosler and
Xtreme Hollow points and maybe 30% of time with Hornady XTP, HAP, Xtreme RN's, etc..

Here is the rub....
I pull the bullet and dump the powder. I then resize the case again, this time with
several pulls of the handle (out of frustration). Drop back in the case guage and it
fits again. Use same flare, re-powder, seat same bullet or a new one (doesn't matter).
Drop it in case guage again, and Wham it fits like a dream. 95% repeatable, its driving
me nuts....

Anyone have the same experience OR maybe shed some light on my experience?
 
The real test is in the barrel of your pistol. I have never used a case gauge. I don't reload 9mm but I do reload 45 and a number of other handgun and rifle ammo. kwg
 
Is the sizer adjusted all the way down when actually sizing a case to make up for any flex in the press?

Try checking sized cases in the gauge before seating a bullet. If they all pass prior to seating, then it's not the sizing.

Makes me wonder if the crimp part of the die isn't adjusted down far enough to remove the bell on the shortest cases.
 
Adjust your seating die / taper crimp setting so the case mouth measures .376" after seating & crimping.

If it's not that?

Color a round that won't chamber with a black marker.
Then force it to chamber.

Where the ink rubs off is what is too tight.

rc
 
It sound like you are not take the flare completely out with the seating/crimp die. If you have a set of calipers measure the mouth. It should me 0.001"-0.002" smaller than the body where the bullet sits. Back off the stem and lower the body 1/8 of turn and try again. Once it fits you can screw the seating stem back down.

Make sure when you set the sizing die that it's contacting the shell holder when the ram is full up. Normally this is 1/4 to 1/2 turn after the die contact the holder without brass present.
 
Taper Crimp??

I did not see it--Do you taper crimp your loads?
If so you need to JUST remove the 'flare' or 'bell' that you opened just before seating.

If you are under crimping the loads will not 'guage'. If you are over crimping you may?? swell the brass below the bullet enough to not 'guage'.

I think your problem is in the crimp process??..Bill.;)
 
I agree with the crimp

I use the gauge since I've already tested the gauge and my barrel, if it fits the gauge it fits my barrel. I found that I had issues until I used the FCD Lee crimper. Once I did that, it fit just fine.
 
I've never owned or used a gauge for anything I load. I've always used the barrel to determine the various dimensional requirements to obtain proper fit, and function.

From the sounds of it, you need to determine if the bullet is contacting the lands, you didn't seem to be sure if OAL was the cause. OAL is very much gun specific, plunk test them. Take the barrel out and push them in with your finger, then turn the barrel straight up, and they should fall right out.

Then check to see if you are removing the "bell" used to expand the mouth for seating. Also, make sure you are only using the very minimum of bell, then make sure your crimp is set up to only remove the bell, no more, over crimping will cause several problems.

GS
 
It just has to be that you are not sizing the cases correctly and then not crimping correctly. You would of had fits with what I loaded up last night. A guy I know needs CCW rounds so I sized some Hornady XTP and Hornady hollow points 125 grains for .357 down to 9mm and then loaded them. Because of the shape I had to use Hornady specs which required 4.3 grains of Unique and crimping in the cannalure with a 9mm roll crimp which I have as it was standard with 9mm Luger die sets. The finished rounds sure look good even if I had to do the workaround to make them.
 
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The only thing I can think of other than what already been said is how much of what kind of powder are you using?

If you are trying to use powder like AA9 and compressing your load you could be bulging your case after seating.

I have to agree with the loading dies not being adjusted correctly though, but out of curiosity what powder are you using and how much?
 
It may be a long shot, but I've noticed my Hornady single stage has a fair amount of deflection in the bushing up top. The quick change is great, but allows for some slop. Might need to lower the die slightly to make up for the little bit of bushing slop.
 
Do a step by step.
re-size, then case gauge.
Flare, then case gauge.
Seat a dummy round, then case gauge.

If your problem goes away then you know it's the powder compressing.
If the cartridge fails after flaring and fails after seating, you know the flare is not being ironed out.

Another question, what's your bullet diameter?
 
I would guess that you have your Crimp feature on the seating die set wrong.

Either you are applying way to much crimp and buckling the case or you are not crimping enough and the remaining Flare is the issue.

Tell us how you set up your seating die. Might as well tell us about the sizing die set up also.
 
So many great ideas, thanks to all. I had to make a quick trip to Indianapolis so I can't try until Sunday or Monday.
I wouldn't be surprised if the final roll crimp is the problem. I have never adjusted it since day 1....
I have this problem with power pistol, titegroup, bullseye and unique. Both 115 and 124 grain bullets.

Thanks so much for troubleshooting. I will report my findings
 
Stay on top of your crimp..

"I wouldn't be surprised if the final roll crimp is the problem. I have never adjusted it since day 1...."

You NEED to know that EACH time you change your bullet brand/ weight/style/diameter, you NEED to re-adjust your seater depth AND your crimp..In the case of 9MM-Taper Crimp..Bill.;)
 
OAL of 1.095 seems like it may be a little short, depending on your bullet profile and barrel. 1.130" + works for my 9mm round nose bullets. Plunk test for the longest length that fits, or longest length that will fit your magazine if plunk test length is too long to fit the mags.
 
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+1 Vol46..

Yea, you are right in MOST cases..I know my CZ's have such a short lede, that the OAL NEEDS to be shorter than normal..Bill.:D
 
A few points to add. One is, I don't know what I was thinking when I said "roll crimp", jeez my bad, I taper crimp my 9mm.
I have been using a fairly short OAL lately because my new Walther PPQ M2 is crazy picky.
I can go 1.130 with round nose, but hollow points require 1.115 or less depending on the shoulder of the bullet.
 
That has to be your problem, you did not adjust your seating/crimp die.

Many reloaders do not like the Lee Factory Crimp die for revolvers but I don't know anyone who has a problem with it for semi-auto pistol ammo. The Lee FCD is not dependent on case length and will apply he proper TAPER crimp on your round...
 
You didnt say what gun you have. I have seen comments online that folks with Walther PPQs have had problems as the PPQs require a shorter OAL of 1.08.

AND 9mm can indeed be roll crimped. My RCBS 9mm luger dies only came with a roll crimp. I use that roll crimp with my carbide set for all my loads as they are +P to prevent set back. A taper crimp will not cut it. I have had to roll crimp factory loads that setback.
 
hartcreek said:
You didnt say what gun you have. I have seen comments online that folks with Walther PPQs have had problems as the PPQs require a shorter OAL of 1.08.

AND 9mm can indeed be roll crimped. My RCBS 9mm luger dies only came with a roll crimp. I use that roll crimp with my carbide set for all my loads as they are +P to prevent set back. A taper crimp will not cut it. I have had to roll crimp factory loads that setback.
Click to expand...
And you are not having head spacing problems with a roll crimp?
 
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