9mm crimp problem

jed

jed

Regular
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
125   0   0
Location
BC
I need some help from the experts. I recently picked up 5000 124 gr plated bullets. Same weight and brand as I have used before. I ran 100 through my press (square deal) and none would chamber. In fact they would only go about 3/4ths of the way into the barrel. (I use the barrel out of the gun as a chamber checker). The same brass the same die settings as before what gives?

I don't trim my handgun brass but it is all between .747 to .749

These new bullets however are from .561 to .578 is that to much variance?

I spend an hour measuring bullet lengths and loaded 20 that were all the same length in my single stage rcbs. 80 % would slide 7/8ths of the way into the chamber 20 % were back to the 3/4ths fit.

I have been reloading for about 10 years and never run into this problem before. Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated thanks Jed
 
Isn't 9mm bullet supposed to be .355? Frontier plated bullets I use measure around .353...
Bullet lenght shouldn't be an issue as long as you seat it to the right OAL.
 
I assume the .561-.578 is the length of the bare bullet, not the diameter?

The symptoms you describe sound like an oversize case. The question is what's causing the oversize dimention.

I would go back to basics.

Is the sizer die screwed down tight to the shellplate? (I know the SDB is different, but I assume the sizer die can be adjusted, and by extention come out of adjustment.

Is the belling excessive, or just enough to allow the base of the bullet to start in the case?

Is the crimping adequate, or excessive? The brass should be returned to just barely flush with the bullet, not crushed in, nor belled out.

What is the diameter of the case just ahead of the extractor groove? Is the brass bulged (Glocked)?

How about the gun itself?

How clean is the chamber and feed ramp? How about the breech face and barrel hood? Is the extractor intact and still tensioned properly?
 
ceezer yes the bullet dia is .353

The length of the bullet from the base to the tip of the round nose is .561 to .578

Evil dezel the overall length is the same as always. 1.115

canuck 223 yes the brass is oversized at the base that is why it won't chamber. The breech face, barrel hood and extractor are not the issue cause the barrel is not in the gun and the rounds still won't drop into the chamber. The feed ramp and barrel are very clean. The sizing die is screwed down as tight as it will go in the dillon and rounds that I have sized in the rcbs still won't chamber. Can't be that.
The belling is not excessive in the dillon and even less in the rcbs and still nothing chambers can't be that.
The dia of the case just ahead of the extractor groove is .328 it should be about .325.
The crimp looks good but still the case is bulged I can't figure out why
 
If the brass is bulged ahead of the extractor groove, you might benefit from the use of a friends press and a Lee Factory Crimp die.

Either your math is off, your caliper is off, or your components suck.

The bullets shouldn't be more than .355-.356 max. Just ahead of the extractor groove the case should be somewhere from .385-.395, but anything over .390 is suspect. The case mouth should be not less than .378

Bullets, particularly double struck plated bullets will have some variability from tip to base. It's a cast lump of lead pressed through two sets of sizing dies, so it's going to stretch a bit. What counts is the consistant average OAL of the loaded round.
 
my typing sucks. The dia ahead of the extractor on the rounds that chamber is .388 and the dia of the rounds that won't chamber is .392.
 
Here's a silly thought. Can you chamber sized cases without bullets?

Ya, it sounds dumb, but I was curious about removing bullets from the equation.
 
Schick that's an excellent thought however resized cases drop right in. When I went back to the old bullet I was using before the rounds fit beautifully. I don't understand how a new bullet can cause so much trouble.
 
At least we narrowed it down to something related to the bullets. Sorry I don't have a quick answer for ya. As a matter of fact I use Frontier bullets myself, but for a different cartridge (44 mag) and in a revolver.

Are these bullets a very different shape or something?

I am just curious... If you were to experiemnt and seat bullets in a non-primed, empty case at different depths, would the cartridge fit in chamber at any point? What would that O.A.L. be?

O.A.L. is something like 1.169 isn't it? You quoted 1.115 so that seems safe. I'm not sure what the safe minimum is.

What about the ogive? Sometimes the bullet ogive is more relevant than the actual O.A.L.


 
I think it is your resizing die..... I had a simular problem when reloading 9mm.

If I went too "deep" on the re-sizing/powder stroke and caused a larger than neccissary bell on the end of the case when I loaded & seated bullets I would get a slight bulge in the case just after where the bullet ends in the cases.

I found that if I just back off the "belling die" a bit it will not bell quite as much, but enough to properly place the bullet in the throat of the shell, and problems went away.

FYI, I too use a SDB to load 9mm & .45ACP, I load both Cast and Frontier CMJ ammo. I have only ever had this problem with Cast bullets never with the frontiers.

If that is the problem it is an easy fix, just back out the die a 1/8 turn..... If that isn't the problem....... I have no frikkin Idea!
 
by chance were u at the ipsc bc provincals and by chance are these the bullets that were being sold there, if so contact them i heard that there really good at taking care of problems, apparently really good customer service, if not then, try reloading a jacketed bullet and then a plateded one and chamber cheack them both,if your jacketed one works and if your plated one doesnt chamber check then it wasnt made correctly and call the company that you got them from.
 
could you possibly be over-crimping and bulging the bullets? plated bullets will be softer than jacketed ones, so its probably easier to deform them.

will they drop freely into the barrel without a crimp?
 
I thought it was an overcrimp but when I backed the crimping die off 1/8th of a turn at a time it seemed to make difference. I backed it off all the way until there was no crimp period.

I was not at the provincials but got the bullets from a guy at the Cranbrook qualifiers. I suspect it's the same guy. If backing off the belling die doesn't work I guess I'll be calling him.
 
proutfoo sorry man it was a good idea but backing off the belling die didn't make a difference either thanks anyways
 
I was not at the provincials but got the bullets from a guy at the Cranbrook qualifiers. I suspect it's the same guy. If backing off the belling die doesn't work I guess I'll be calling him.
Click to expand...

yep i'm sure its the same guy, I was talking to him the other day and he said that always if any problems, to call him.

i did'nt buy any bullets but i got his card for when i want to try them..
i'm not sure if i want to at the moment i'm really happy with my load right now.
 
I recently started reloading with 124 gr plated bullets and had to seat alot deeper than with the Montana Gold or 3 other brand 115 gr bullets. In order to get them to drop into the bbl I seat to 1.095. Anything longer and they hang up. I think it is the shape of the bullet as these are not any longer than the 115 gr.
 
Foxhound said:
I recently started reloading with 124 gr plated bullets and had to seat alot deeper than with the Montana Gold or 3 other brand 115 gr bullets. In order to get them to drop into the bbl I seat to 1.095. Anything longer and they hang up. I think it is the shape of the bullet as these are not any longer than the 115 gr.
Click to expand...

I am leaning this way too. As I mentioned earlier, trials at different depths might give good results.
 
seems like 1.090ish is the way to go. I screwed around a bit last night and managed to get 2 of five to chamber. Thanks for all the help guys. Now i just have to hope that they'll feed reliably being so short.

Hmmm Might have to buy a sig just to use up all the bad bullets
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom