Heavy 9mm with W231?

[wlkjr]

I've had a Dillon 650 for about a month and haven't actually loaded anything yet. I bought it used and am still reading and absorbing before I jump in with both feet. I do have some Berry 147 RN plated bullets and some Xtreme 124 gr HP. The powders I have are HS6, HS7, and Titegroup. I'm also wanting something soft shooting for my Glocks. After I acquired the 147 plated Berrys, I had some tumbling from some factory reloads in 147gr subsonic. Was told they used Berrys and didn't work as well in Glocks because of the rifling. They did replace my order with some 115 grain that has worked flawlessly. Hoping I can use the 147s without problems.

 

[sexybeast]

Congrats on your 650. You will never have to buy another press again for the rest of your, and your childrens lives. I wish I had bought one and I wish I could afford one now.
I once bought factory "lead" reloads. They were cheap and at the time I did not care about accuracy because back then it was more about having fun. But I did put them on paper and they were terrible, fliers and keyholes out of my Hi-Power. You have no idea the load they are using or even the bullets.
Its been a while since I shot Berrys but I do remember them as being kind of soft lead with a copper plating. Rainier's are very soft, I could make quite a mark on the 150gr hollow base I used with my thumb nail. I load a plated bullet as I would load lead. Some here have written you can push them over 1200fps, and maybe you can, but if they are tumbling then you have to back off the powder.
I just got my 147 bullets and I also am going to be shooting them out of my glock. I'll be starting out at 3.3gr of 231 and going from there.

 

[Lee S. Forsberg]

Maybe I missed it but I didn't see any one using Unique for heavy bullets in 9mm. I tried the 158gr load listed in Lyman #45 for 9mm. It's a hand full but does work. If your going to try it start LOW AND WORK UP!!!!!!

 

[sexybeast]

I really like Unique [when I can find it]. But I have trouble accuratly dropping small amounts of it. It does not meter well out of my powder drop. If I was to use something in the "Unique" speed, it would be AA-7 which meters very well.

 

[Rushthezeppelin]

Well looks like I'm not quite done perfecting this load. After about 300 of the 150s fired I'm finally noticing some leading (just minor 1" streaks near the throat that came out with almost no effort from a new bore brush). This is leading me to believe that I am swaging these things a bit when seating. Not too much of a surprise as about 30% of em get a pretty pronounced bottlekneck towards where the bottom of the bullet is sitting in the case. They have no problems feeding even with some stuff that borders on bulging though. I was thinking since I have a decent amount of leeway on being out of spec but still loading, to try neck sizing only with my brass (i've heard of people doing this with pistol brass by backing the sizing die). I'll have to do some experimenting to find the minimum amount of sizing I can get away with while still having enough neck tension to prevent setback. I have a feeling setback would be REALLY bad on this load considering its only 1-3 hundredths from being compressed.

Should also allow me to back off my flaring die. Right now I have that thing maxed out on flare and it has started getting REALLY stick on some of those cases pulling them off. I'm guessing many of these are getting into 3 or 4 firings and are getting work hardened. I bet I start seeing my first split rims soon.

 

[sexybeast]

I have never heard of necksizing a pistol load. Since I don't get my brass back after a match [it all gets mixed together and then divided] its not a consideration. Since the 9mm is tapered and not bottlenecked I'm not sure it would work well anyway.
I am in the testing stages with the lead 147 bullets I recieved and I have also settled on 3.5gr of 231. I have not experienced any leading yet. We will see after a match and I shoot 2-300 rounds. So far they have been very accurate and soft. I like them.
I have been following this thread but I don't remember if you are opening up the case with simply the "powder through flare die" or if you are expanding the case with a "Lyman M die"? I have five stations and I even have a seperate station for an additonal taper crimp die. So far so good with these 147's

 

[Walkalong]

Ross Seyfried had an article in G&A many years ago about "neck sizing" revolver ammo looking for ultimate accuracy. I never tried it, and I tried a lot of things he wrote about.

 

[AZ Desertrat]

I also use AA#7 for my 9mm....meters great....fills the case. This powder, as I understand it, was designed for the Israeli military for 9mm sub guns.

 

[mstreddy]

Rush, since you seem to be having some inconsistencies, maybe try sorting your brass by headstamp as some brands are thicker/thinner than others. I've found when loading lead this helps me maintain some consistency in belling/expanding and then seating.

 

[Rushthezeppelin]

Well I tried backing sizing die out about a tenth of an inch to create less neck tension. Sure enough no coke bottling or bulging but still plenty of neck tension and no feed issues. Still not sure if this has solved my slight leading as I fired some of my previous batches with it at a 3 gun match. Will update on that issue once I get another 200 or so of those down the tube. If you have a really tight chamber this probably won't be an option for you but my chamber is loose enough for this to work just dandy.

 

[Walkalong]

Since the 9MM case is tapered, and most carbide sizer rings are not, sizing to far down can really give a bulged look down near the case head. As long as you are getting good neck tension, keeping the die up a little is easier on brass and certainly looks better.

but my chamber is loose enough for this to work just dandy.

As most are. I only have one tight chambered 9MM, and EMP. The rest will accept sloppy reloads or bulged brass easily. I now check all sized brass with a case gauge, since I never know which rounds might be fired in the EMP.