9mm, Speer 115gr tmj...I think I blew it with the OAL

[Bassguy]

Hello all,

It's been quite a long time since I've posted at THR and in the interim have inherited a Dillon press. So, it's time to learn how to reload. I've got the Speer Manual #13, the proper dies, the proper components, etc. Here's the mix:

Speer 115gr tmj
Win 9mm brass
Hodgdon Clays Universal at 4.7gr
CCI small pistol primers

Again, I'm new to this so if I've forgotten to mention something let me know. At any rate, here's where I blew it: I got so caught up in the idea of not seating the bullet too deeply (after reading about 9mm issues with too much pressure building up in the cartridge upon ignition) and ended up seating the bullets too shallow (not deep enough)...I'd say overall length is 1.174, though I'd also done a handful at 1.169. I see that the max COL according to Speer/SAAMI is 1.168 for 9mm Luger, and I see here that folks are seating deep enough to create an OAL of 1.108 (archived link: http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-29949.html ). So, I feel like a dummy.

Can anyone recommend the best way to go about pulling 60 bullets, dumping the charge, reshaping, and doing it over? Should I just get a kinetic puller like the hammer-looking puller, do the pulling, uncharge, and then treat the brass as primed brass (ie: pop it in the press AFTER the deprimer so that the powder funnel flares the mouth, charges it, and then continues as normal)?

Thanks in advance for your help, patience and understanding .

Paul

 

[gun4funtime]

what a bummer, been there

Well, you only need to go a few hundredth , so if your crimp is not to tight, you may be able to set your seating stem a little lower and just push the bullet into the correct depth.

If your crimp is to tight you may bend or buldge a case, so you would need to pull the bullets then.

good luck
be safe, have fun

 

[D. Manley]

The taper crimp used on a 9MM should have only removed the belling of the case...the bullet is actually "held" by case tension from resizing. Adjust your seating die down a bit to shorten the OAL, run a round or two through to check & adjust your new setting as you want it then, run the rest through the seater again & re-crimp. They'll be fine. On that style of bullet around 1.14 to 1.16 runs in most guns but you can go a bit shorter if you need to.

BTW, go ahead and buy that bullet puller...sooner or later, you're gonna' need it. This time you don't.

 

[lgbloader]

Hey BassGuy,

If your crimp isn't too tight, I agree with gun4fun but if you do pull the bullets, I would resize the entire lot. I do this with primed brass by taking the depriming rod/pin out of the sizing die. Inspect. Then, bell and charge with powder, seat your bullet to the corrected OAL and then you can use your crimp die to take the flare out of your case. Then you can do your final inspection.

 

[ranger335v]

Bass, will your ammo feed through the magazine and chamber reliably?

If so, shoot them.

If not, seat them deep enough that they will function and shoot them.

You already see that OAL changes a good bit between sources. That's because it's really not critical if the cartridges feed properly so don't let it get you in a knot.

 

[Bassguy]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I did create a dummy round (bullet seated/crimped without charge/primer) to make sure the round would fit the magazine, chamber from the mag, and eject by racking the slide (Sig Sauer p226). It did all three successfully.

If I were to take a few of these rounds out to the range and fire them off, what are the risks? I seem to remember reading that if the bullet's OAL is too long and the bullet starts making contact with the rifling, it may lead to issues (bad firing, slow bullets, even squibbed if the charge is off for some reason). Is this accurate? I'd rather go through the hassle of pulling the bullets and redoing the batch if there's a safety concern.

 

[Sunray]

"...do the pulling, uncharge..." That's what the kinetic puller does. You will have to resize again though. No big deal. Take out the decapping pin and carry on. 60 rounds isn't that many.
1.169" is the max OAL. That'll do nicely.
"...I'd say overall length is 1.174..." Measured? Is the die and seating plug locked?

 

[glocksrfugly]

My Lee book Modern Reloading lists different minimum OALs for a large amount of 9mm Parabellum loads, typically they are from 1.125 to 1.142 for 115 FMJ or TMJ bullets. 124 grain bullets are right around the same minimum OALs.
What I have done is settled on 1.143 as my standard OAL for all of 115 and 124 grain reloads. This gives me reliable feeding on my CZ75 and my son's Beretta Cougar. Loading to the max OAL of 1.169 may give less reliable feeding on some finicky guns.

Here are the average OALs of some factory ammo that I have measured:
S&B 115gn. FMJ 1.156 OAL
Blazer Brass 115gn. FMJ 1.159 OAL
Winchester NATO 124gn. 1.153
Remington UMC 115gn. MC(FMJ) 1.112 OAL

As you can see none of these factory loads are loaded to that Max of 1.169 and the Remmy loads are a lot shorter. I think you could safely go down to at least around 1.153 to 1.159 OAL and still not risk over pressure loads as long as your not loading to max or over max powder charges. Starting or mid level charges should be fine. My 1.143 standard has not given me any signs of problems with three different kinds of powder and a lot of rounds downrange.
You will also be getting more case contact around the bullet and and more F.P.S. out of a given load.

 

[DWARREN123]

Should be able to seat them deeper without pulling the bullets. If you have a "good" OAL cartridge use that to set you die, do one and measure for the length and go from there.
You are not the first to do this!

 

[ranger335v]

"If I were to take a few of these rounds out to the range and fire them off, what are the risks? "

There are no risks.

 

[Bassguy]

Again, thanks for the help guys !

I'll check the crimp and gauge my comfort level with doing a slight press to seat them further in. Otherwise, it's pullin' time.

 

[RustyFN]

I agree with the others. If it's not a heavy crimp and they are jacketed bullets then just seat them a little deeper. I have been there and done that and it's not a problem.
Rusty

 

[Bassguy]

I popped them back into the press today and set them all to 1.138: worked like a charm!

Thanks guys