9mm reloading?

[HWill]

Been lurking on here for a while and just started reloading.

Got the Lee Classic Turrent Press with the Lee Deluxe Dies.
I'm using a mix of 9mm brass I have been collecting that have been shot from my Glocks and XD.
New components are:
Remington 115gr FMJ bullets
CCI500 small pistol primers
Hodgdon Universal Clays

I cheaped out on a few items. I picked up a digital caliper from Harbor Freight and a Cabelas digital scale.

A few questions I had was about OAL....
My Lee Book stated a Min OAL of 1.125"
My test round came out to 1.1265" and I left it at that.
My questions might just be me being super anal!
I reloaded 30 rounds to test in all of my 9mm handguns. When I checked OAL it varied from 1.125" to 1.130"
From the eye you can't tell the difference.
Is this OK?

My other issue is when seating the bullet they seems to be a very slight bludge in the case. It could be my eyes and the way the light hits the case...
It chambers just fine in the Glock.
Here is a picture of one of the rounds I loaded.

Let me know what you think...

 

[Dewey 68]

I'm a fairly new reloader, but your OAL's are probably within manufactured ammo tolerances, and your rounds look great. Since 9mm is a tapered cartridge, reloaded ammo is going to have that "waspish waist" look to it as the resizing dies straighten out the side walls and takes some of the taper out.

I'm sure someone with more experience will comment shortly, but for your first reloads those look great! Have fun shooting them, and welcome to hobby/addiction.

 

[jcwit]

Looks good to me, the .005 isn't gonna make any difference one way or the other as long as they chamber all the way and the slide goes to full battery.

 

[Sunray]

You take a dandy picture. Just the right size for posting on forums.
"...and I left it at that..." 1 1/2 thou won't matter.
"...varied from 1.125" to 1.130"..." Usually caused by varying pressure on the press handle. Takes a bit of practice to be consistent.
"...From the eye you can't..." Hard to see 5 thou. A sheet of 28 lb bond paper is a tick thicker. Too long can be run through the seating die again if you want to. Bullets aren't always exactly the same weight either.
The wee bulge isn't unusual. The best test guage is the chamber of your pistol. You will have to work up the load for each pistol you have though. You might get lucky, but normally no 2 firearms will shoot the same ammo the same way.

 

[HWill]

Thanks for the replies.

It called for 4.5gr so I used the .49cc auto disk powder measure. It measured between 4.2gr and 4.4gr on the Cabelas scale. I did alot of weighing and comparing to try to get comfortable with the Pro Auto Disk Powder Measure.

I'll test them out on Monday.

 

[Sunray]

Kudo's for checking the weight, but throw anything that measures smokeless gun powder in CC's away. CC's are a unit of volume that have nothing to do with measuring smokeless gun powder. Why Lee uses 'em is a mystery.
Under minimum loads can be as dangerous as over max loads. Pressures get weird from the powder detonating instead burning. Don't panic though. Nothing horrible will happen. 3/10ths of a grain under minimum isn't enough to give you any grief. Just buy a proper powder thrower that works in grains. Don't panic about that either. Any thrower that goes on any regular press will be threaded 7/8-14 just like dies are.

 

[jeepmor]

The case swell at the bullet seating is normal. As long as you chamber fine, you are good to go. Enjoy.

 

[MrWesson]

Bullet looks good.

If I were you I would look into shooting lead bullets and maybe start casting my own. You really start seeing cost savings when going to lead. 9mm is one of those barely worth it(I know its not all about saving) and at $40 per 1000 rounds casting makes it wayy worth it.

You could at least shoot them through your XD and dump that ole glock .

 

[Walkalong]

it varied from 1.125" to 1.130"

A .005 spread is fine. The slight "bulge" or "wasp waist" is normal with a good tight sizer and shows good neck tension. Looks good.

 

[gamestalker]

Really good looking cartridge! Seating depth will vary due to the inconsistent olgive on the bullet. Just be sure your not up against the lands and you'll be OK. I do a drop in the barrel test with the barrel out of the gun of course. You should feel it spin freely indicating it's ot rubbing against the lands and it should have a clink sound when you drop it in, I refer to this as the bullet talking to me.

 

[LiveLife]

Good posts! The loaded round/pictures look great.

1.1265" and I left it at that.

Glock chamber will support OAL all the way out to 1.165" and only limited by the length of the magazine. If it fits and function checks (fed/chambered from magazine by manually releasing the slide) fine in your XD, it will work in the Glock.

My other issue is when seating the bullet they seems to be a very slight bludge in the case.

New 9mm case is tapered and narrower at the case neck. When we resize fired cases, the sizing die will reduce the case diameter down to the top 1/3 of the case. When you seat the bullet (especially the larger .356" diameter lead bullet), you'll see the bulge caused by the bullet. This is normal when using fired brass.

it varied from 1.125" to 1.130"

If you reload mixed headstamp/lot brass fired out of different pistols, you'll see variations in the resized case lengths. If you pickup range brass, you'll see more variations in case lengths and case wall thickness. Measure some resized case lengths and see how much they vary. Also, thinner walled cases may "collapse/bulge the case" ever so slightly during seating and will vary the OAL.

These variables will forever affect the OALs you will obtain when seating your bullets. 1.125" to 1.130" variation is not that bad and shouldn't affect your accuracy too much as there are variations in bullet weights (You think all of your bullets are 115 gr? Weigh some of them and you'll be surprised by how much they vary) and powder drop variations up to .1-.2 gr charge-to-charge that will affect your accuracy more.

throw anything that measures smokeless gun powder in CC's away. CC's are a unit of volume that have nothing to do with measuring smokeless gun powder. Why Lee uses 'em is a mystery.

Sunray, that is not too High Road. That's like telling someone who just got a Hornady LNL AP to upgrade to a Dillon 1050. The OP already has a Lee powder measure and is seeking information to make it more consistent. Telling him to lose the Pro Auto Disk and buy another powder measure won't solve his current problem. Also, there are many that will disagree with your statement. I will agree with checking the weights of the powder drops, as you should with any other powder measure, as they all use volumetric chamber (fixed or adjustable) to dispense powder charge.

It called for 4.5gr so I used the .49cc auto disk powder measure. It measured between 4.2gr and 4.4gr on the Cabelas scale. I did alot of weighing and comparing to try to get comfortable with the Pro Auto Disk Powder Measure.

Many people have experienced, including me, that actual dropped charges tend to weigh .1-.2 gr lighter than what the chart shows. I use the chart as a guide and use the actual weights indicated on the scale to determine/verify the charge. To get to the 4.5 gr start charge, you may need to use the larger .53 hole which may drop 4.5-4.7 gr. Change out the disk and see what the .53 drops for you. But before you do that, first make sure your Pro Auto Disk is properly lubed and broken-in.

Key point to remember about Auto Disk when changing disks or freshly filling the hopper with powder is to cycle the disk 3-4 times and dump the powder back in the hopper. This ensures that powder properly settles in the hopper/wiper chamber area for more consistent drops. I then weigh the subsequent drops until I get consistent weights.

The Pro Auto Disk has an elastomer wiper at the bottom of the hopper that contacts the top of the disk which slides back and forth. To break-in, some will use graphite powder, but you can finely shave some No. 2 pencil lead and rub the top of the disk and bottom of the wiper until they are black. Once lubed with some graphite that comes as coating on many powders, your Pro Auto Disk will slide better and drop more consistent charges. Also, make sure you are NOT tightening the thumb screws too tight, the disk should slide smoothly and not be jerky.

Small ball powders like W231/HP38/Titegroup/HS6 will meter better in the Pro Auto Disk with charge variance of less than .1 gr. Small flake powders like Universal/Bullseye/Green Dot will vary more, sometimes up to .1-.2 gr. So, using a new squeaky tight Pro Auto Disk and Universal powder varying .1-.2 gr is not that bad. As it gets better lubed and more broken in, powder drops will become more consistent.

Keep us posted on the range report!

 

[1SOW]

bds ++

One thing you will find following his good advice on using the Pro Auto Disc system, is it may drop a little leess powder than the chart says; but it is amazingly consistent with smaller sized powders.

I load light pistol loads and wouldn't switch from the Pro Powder Disc system.

Your classic "Cokebottle shape" is purrfect

 

[HWill]

Thanks again for the great advice..

Range report:

Went out this morning with 35 rounds a Glock26, Glock19 and the wifes xD.
It went great, all guns fired all rounds with no malfunctions at all.
Fired just like factory made ammo and I was on target with everything.

So I just reloaded over 300 rounds. Need to pick up 2000 9mm cases from my father and buy some more bullets.

Is it weird to want to stay where I'm at and not play with slightly hotter loads. I figured with just plinking ammo if it cycles and hits the target it is good.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[TheCracker]

Don't be afraid to try the .52 auto disk. For me it throws 4.8-4.9 grains of Universal every time. Both my 92f and Sr9c have slightly better accuracy with the higher charge.

Use a bench and test different charges .49 and .53 are the only 2 that will work with your powder combos.

If you really want to maximize your loads You can also make 5 for each gun at different oal's. It supprused me how changing the ial really made some groups tighten up. I would try 1.130, 1.140,1.150 and 1.160. Of course do these with the 2 different charges. This might seem like a lot of work but it's part of the fun of reloading to me. The extra accuracy really helps when you are shooting steel plates at 30,40,50&60 yards like me and my buddies do. If you are just shooting paper at 7 yards it's not going to really matter that much.

Not sure you would want to have 3 different loads for your 9's but you might get lucky and and find one they all like.

 

[TheCracker]

Also, forgot to say that your loads look exactly as mine do regarding the bulge in the middle. Really more of a hour glass shape. Sounds like you are using the exact set up I am.

One more tip, check out precision delta. They have 115 fmj' for $78 per thousand. They might add $4 if you dont order 2k at a time. But they shoot awesomely in my 9's and are not much more than cast lead you can buy.