OAL question with my press setup

[actionflies]

I have a Lee classic turret press with their carbide 3-Die sets for 9mm and I'm setting my OAL from 1.125"-1.130". Using the same brand of once fired brass, I'm still getting a few that are below 1.125" or above 1.130". Is this normal or do I need a case trimmer?

 

[cdrt]

I may be off base on this one, but OAL would not be affected by the length of your brass, since it's the seater die setting that accounts for the OAL. It might be you have some crud building up on the end of the seater plug (right term?) that is causing one bullet to seat deeper than another.

I was getting a variation on my Star because of some buildup in the taper crimp die on the last stage.

Does that make sense?

 

[Walkalong]

Case length is not the problem. It does not affect O.A.L.. I never trim auto brass. The bullet can make that much difference in O.A.L. That is not really a whole lot. Like cdrt said, check your seater die for crud though.

 

[Jim Watson]

It is probably due to mismatch between the bullet seating stem shape and the nose shape of the bullet, which can be aggravated by irregular bullets - cheap plated seem to be the worst. If you are loading cast bullets, it can be due to bullet lube accumulation in the die. It might be due to the combination seat-crimp die in a three die set.