Help! First time 9mm reloading, function issues

Armedsask

Armedsask

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I loaded up 100 rounds of 9mm the other day. I had only planned to load up 20 and then try them, but once I was setup, I went for it. I regret that. I had consistent failures to eject and stove pipes. Loaded with Hornady LNL progressive using RCBS carbide 3 die set. Fired from a Springfield XD9 that has never had an issue and had no issues with factory ammo.

Load as follows:
- Winchester new, unfired brass
- Winchester 115 grain hollow base FMJ
- Winchester WSP primers
- 3.6 grains of PB powder.

After checking some other reloading sources, I'm thinking my load is too light, hence the operation issues. However, most soruces seem to say a max of 4 grains of PB for this bullet weight. Is it really that tight of a window?

Anyone have some input?
 
According to Hodgdon, you're in the low end with your powder load but the light 115gr might be the issue. You can try loading up 10rnd with 3.8gr - 3.9gr loads and see if it makes a difference. Check your brass for over pressure signs. Try some 124gr pills if you can. Another option is maybe use a lighter recoil spring.
 
Have you shot factory 115's before without issues? My SR9 refuses to cycle them properly unless I load them hot... factory loads stove pipe and fte almost every 3rd round.

Load hotter, heavier pills or lighter recoil spring...

J
 
First time with 115 grain, all they had so I bought them. I never even thought of light bullets being the culprit.

When I read the Hodgdon data I was sure I was in the middle. Guess I'll jam them up higher. Didn't know it was going to be this touchy. Couple tenths of a grain seems to be all it takes, huh?

Crimped as per the die instructions. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell what is a proper crimp. Measure the diameter, I assume?

Thanks for the help guys. You've confirmed my suspicions. I'm new to this so wanted to do let check.
 
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Measure the crimp by taking you caliber and get it snug to the case as high as you can get it without go over the edge of the brass and over all length or oal is mesuring the case from bottom to the tip of the bullet get the caliper snug and always zero your caliper with the same amount of pressure your measuring with and zero it often
 
OAL is good. How much crimp do I want?

And thanks for the tips on using calipers. Although I'll skip the zeroing repeatedly as my expensive Mitutoyu calipers hold zero. I'm a machinist, by the way, measuring tools have never been the problem. ;) Also, you shouldn't use any force when zeroing or when measuring. Just snug it up.
 
Since the bullets your are using are jacketed, you can put a fairly heavy crimp, but for plated or lead bullets you want a light crimp.

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you can load 9mm OAL down to 1000 and will be safe still.
I had the same problem when I started loading 9mm, it is finicky but it is not really hard. The fact that you are always filling 1/2 the case makes it easier to see for double charges. I have been using WSF for the last couple years and it is a great powder for that.

As for crimping, the example below is useful although I would recommend sticking with taper crimps, they are less likely to over crimp than roll crimps which basically bites into the bullet, you don't want that.

OAL, like I said will depend on your pistol, not the load. 9mm mil has a minimum of 1000, some pistol will tolerate what the loading manual says 1196" which always way TOO long for most bullets and chambers.
Some pistols have bigger chamber, some smaller chambers, it will vary. I load all my 9mm to 1110 and it feeds into anything, I was running 1130 in my HK but had to reduce the OAL for a PPQ. I didn't see any changes maybe I gained a bit of speed.
always check that your bullet is not touching the lands//rifling. this will increase pressure.

It is not brain surgery really.

You are getting stove pipes and FTE, you load is a few grains below the min.

Cheers.
 
fullauto said:
A word of caution the firmer your crimp the greater the pressure will be so start with a lighter crimp and work your way up till you get a crimp your satisfied with
Click to expand...

Wouldnt a slightly tighter crimp increase pressure but then also maybe cure his cycling issue? Juat something I was once told when I first started reloading for my 9mm.
 
"I'm still trying to figure out how to tell what is a proper crimp."

9 mm head spaces on the case mouth of course. Another thing to check if you are new to reloading is to have the barrel of your pistol at the reloading bench. The loaded bullet should "drop in" to the barrel chamber easily. And it should end up flush or slightly below even with the chamber (check your reloading manual). If the cartridge seems a tight fit this may be a sign of under crimping (or significant over crimping).

Tight fitting cartridges will cause FTEs.

I would suspect this more than charge/bullet weight (assuming you are following a reloading manual).
 
I have not looked at the data for that powder however I can say this: When I started loading for 9mm I loaded on the low end of the data. The loaded ammo was often too light to fully work the recoil spring and cycle the gun, so there were often FTE's. If you are loading on the low end of the data, try a bit more powder (but stay within the published data) and see how that works for you.
 
Also, you don't really need to crimp 9mm too much. If you have sized the case then there will be a goodly amount of tension just from seating the bullet. If you do crimp, you only need to crimp enough to make sure that you don't have any issues with setback.
 
I have an XD in 45 GAP and it has about the heaviest factory recoil spring I have ever run into, far heavier than any of my 1911s, Glock 21 and Glock 20. If your 9mm XD recoil spring is anything like mine you're going to have to jack your loads up substantially or get a lighter recoil spring to get reliable function.
 
Armedsask said:
First time with 115 grain, all they had so I bought them. I never even thought of light bullets being the culprit.

When I read the Hodgdon data I was sure I was in the middle. Guess I'll jam them up higher. Didn't know it was going to be this touchy. Couple tenths of a grain seems to be all it takes, huh?
Click to expand...

You will find a fair bit of variation on Max Load across different loading manuals. If you get some older data you will discover that newer data is pretty conservative and we used to load a lot hotter back in the day. 9mm is fairly tolerant of serious abuse. You will get bulged cases long before the cases actually rupture.
 
stampede said:
"I'm still trying to figure out how to tell what is a proper crimp."

9 mm head spaces on the case mouth of course. Another thing to check if you are new to reloading is to have the barrel of your pistol at the reloading bench. The loaded bullet should "drop in" to the barrel chamber easily. And it should end up flush or slightly below even with the chamber (check your reloading manual). If the cartridge seems a tight fit this may be a sign of under crimping (or significant over crimping).

Tight fitting cartridges will cause FTEs.
Click to expand...

There is no need to crimp 9mm. I have loaded tens of thousands of rounds of 9mm and never crimped any of them.

If a loaded round will not drop into the chamber that would indicate a sizing issue and not lack of crimp. A tight fitting round will not cause a Failure To Extract because the pressure of the round going off will iron the case into the chamber making it a completely different proposition than it was when it was fed into the chamber.
 
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