First Reloads

C

Cactus

Regular
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Location
Thunder Bay ON
Hi all,

After gathering the parts I needed and picking up a lee cast press I made my first batch of 9mm reloads tonight.

I used a 115gr fmj, Fed primer, 6 grains of HS6 (min load reduced 10%) with an OAL of 1.146 to 1.148 and a bit of a taper crimp. I wanted to stay close to factory to start and the 115 gr factory I have was 1.153.

I have pulled the barrel from my Glock 17 and dropped the rounds in to check the headspace and it was fine with the rounds just falling out of the barrel when I turned it over.

My question, is there a way to test if there is enough of a crimp on the rounds. the guy at the shop where I bought the press told me to use light steady pressure when seating and crimping as 9mm doesn't need much.

When you're used to reloading shotgun slugs, a 9mm reload sure doesn't take much powder.

Thanks,
Cactus
 
Straight-walled (and in this case, slightly tapered) pistol cases only need a very slight crimp, just enough to straighten out the bell applied to the case mouth (if any) to facilitate bullet seating. You shouldn't be able to see your crimp with the naked eye.

Basically the only point of the crimp is to ensure proper chambering (which you've checked) and sufficient neck tension to prevent bullet set-back. Grab one of your rounds by the head, stick the bullet on a table-top and push hard. If the bullet stays put then you've crimped enough.
 
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