Help with stuck 9mm cases

rayzorloo

rayzorloo

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Hi, new to reloading, I have a Lee Pro 1000. It has carbide dies as you all know. I'm loading 9mm and from what I've read 95% of people do not lube the cases prior to resizing and decapping. I have set up the die as per instructions and confirmed with what people are doing on YT as well. With the shell plate up, turn the die until it touches the plate. Then lower the plate a tad then turn in another 1/4 turn...then finger tighten the locking nut. This is in correctly right?

When I raise the plate all the way up the case gets stuck, I have to back the die up and the plate comes down so I can remove the case. So as a newbie what am I doing wrong?

Do I need to back the die up a bit?

Thanks
 
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The dies for a (mostly) straight walled cartridge, like the 9mm Parabellum, are best adjusted so the sizing die just (barely) touches the shellholder / shell plate.
The 9mm case has a bit of taper to it.

When using a carbide sizing die (does anybody stil make a plain steel handgun caliber sizing die?), no lube is required. However, I have found that dumping a bunch of 9mm brass into a 2L ice cram tube, spraying a bit of Lyman spray sizing lube into the tub, and swirling the cases around to distribute the lube makes resizing 9mm much easier.

Turning the die in a 1/4 turn past shell holder contact is a technique most commonly used with bottle-necked (rifle) cases to ensure full-length sizing.
 
^^^ Do this, plus check and clean any crud that may have accumulated in the dies, I had one that had a lot of old hardened lube in it and it would adjust properly. After taking a pick and removing the crud inside the dies they worked great again.
 
OldDude said:
The dies for a (mostly) straight walled cartridge, like the 9mm Parabellum, are best adjusted so the sizing die just (barely) touches the shellholder / shell plate.
The 9mm case has a bit of taper to it.

When using a carbide sizing die (does anybody stil make a plain steel handgun caliber sizing die?), no lube is required. However, I have found that dumping a bunch of 9mm brass into a 2L ice cram tube, spraying a bit of Lyman spray sizing lube into the tub, and swirling the cases around to distribute the lube makes resizing 9mm much easier.

Turning the die in a 1/4 turn past shell holder contact is a technique most commonly used with bottle-necked (rifle) cases to ensure full-length sizing.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks...so should I then back up the die a 1/4 turn instead after touching the shell plate and start there? Then fiddle until it doesn't stick anymore I guess?
 
For 9mm I find there is more resistance than I like with un-lubed cases. For this reason I always tumble the brass first, to make it nice and clean. Then I give the bucket of brass a quick spray of silicon lube (the cheap spray can from Canadian Tire - nothing fancy) and then shake the bucket to tumble the cases around to distribute the lube a bit.

This brass then sizes much easier. Then I tumble the brass for an hour, to remove the lube. This tumble can be the sized brass or the loaded ammo.
 
rayzorloo said:
Ok thanks...so should I then back up the die a 1/4 turn instead after touching the shell plate and start there?
Click to expand...

No, by doing so you go from one side of the problem to the other. Touch the shell plate, done. Also, lower the ram and loosen the hex bolt that holds the shellplate carrier to the ram. Place a case in station 1 and raise the ram so it inserts the case into the sizing die. Lower the ram slightly, just enough so that the shoulder is clear of the shellplate carrier. With the shoulder of the ram just touching the shellplate carrier tighten the hex bolt. This will ensure that the shellplate carrier is properly aligned.
 
I could be wrong but I thought my Pro 1000 manual says the sizing die should never touch the shell plate. I could be wrong. Turning the die in till it touches and then adding a 1/4 turn more is what I do for my single stage when I want a cam-over on my stroke. My die is adjusted to about .015" above the shell plate and I've never had a case that didn't get sized enough.

I lube all my 9mm brass in my progressive. I've torn two Pro 1000 carriers apart loading 9mm. The cast aluminum flange taking all the force when pulling the case out of the sizing die is only about 1/8" thick and cracks every few thousand rounds without lube in my experience. Since lubing my brass I haven't had an issue and my arm is a lot less fatigued too. I tumble the loaded ammo for 30min after to clean the lube off, slide them around on a rag to get the polishing dust off, and they're good to go.
 
Recently I started using Hornady One-Shot dry lube on 9mm cases. It has been night/day when resizing and great in the progressive as no need to remove the lube.

Stick a couple of hundred cases in a big ziplock, a couple of sprays with the One-Shot, seal bag and shake around a bit.
On my Dillon the die is adjusted so it just touches the shell plate and as per 4n2t0 tighten the die holder down with the resizer over a piece of brass to make sure the die is centred.
 
Below is from the Lee die instructions, the press instructions tell you to read the die instructions.

COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS FOR LEE PISTOL DIE SETS RELOADING DIES
Screw the full length sizer in until it touches the shell
holder and tighten the lock ring finger tight.

NOTE, the RCBS instructions for carbide dies is the same as the Lee dies and states to just touch the shell holder with no cam over.

When the die is set up this way on my RCBS Rockchucker press there is daylight between the die and shell holder at the top of the ram stroke. Meaning the force of sizing takes the slop out of the press linkage creating the air gap. And no damage can be done to the very hard brittle carbide ring. ;)

This is why on a bottle neck rifle case the instructions tell you to adjust the die 1/8 to 1/4 turn more after contact with the shell holder. This takes the slop out of the press and insures more uniform shoulder location when sizing rifle cases.
 
OldDude said:
The dies for a (mostly) straight walled cartridge, like the 9mm Parabellum, are best adjusted so the sizing die just (barely) touches the shellholder / shell plate.
The 9mm case has a bit of taper to it.

When using a carbide sizing die (does anybody stil make a plain steel handgun caliber sizing die?), no lube is required. However, I have found that dumping a bunch of 9mm brass into a 2L ice cram tube, spraying a bit of Lyman spray sizing lube into the tub, and swirling the cases around to distribute the lube makes resizing 9mm much easier.

Turning the die in a 1/4 turn past shell holder contact is a technique most commonly used with bottle-necked (rifle) cases to ensure full-length sizing.
Click to expand...

Hi, does the Lyman lube affect powder and primer? Or can it be left on like the Hornady One Shot?
 
Some people remove the lube after loading; some don't.
I don't. I used to use dillon case lube, but now use home-aid case lube.
It has never affected my loads whatsoever.
I do have to clean my resizing die every 5 or 6 thousand rounds.
But thats a good practice to get into.
 
I find with 9mm I too need to lube the brass. (45ACP doesn't need to at all for me)
I spray the sides of a large ziploc bag and then put the brass in the bag and shake it up. This keeps the lube from getting on the inside of the brass (vs spraying into the bag with brass already in it), and makes re-sizing a much smoother experience.
 
Are you saying the entire shell plate carrier assembly pulls off the ram? Are you missing your case slider/Z-bar assembly? Its a pretty obvious part and not shown on your carrier assembly. Hard to say what the problem is with that pic.
 
daBear said:
Are you saying the entire shell plate carrier assembly pulls off the ram? Are you missing your case slider/Z-bar assembly? Its a pretty obvious part and not shown on your carrier assembly. Hard to say what the problem is with that pic.
Click to expand...

Yes, when the case is stuck the carrier stays up and the "rod" separates from it, and yeah I removed the case feeder for now as I am feeding one at a time. This way, being new at it and all, I can take my time and get a true feel for it. LOL...I also had a hard time getting that damn Z-Bar to stay when I took things apart once.
 
rayzorloo said:
Yes, when the case is stuck the carrier stays up and the "rod" separates from it, and yeah I removed the case feeder for now as I am feeding one at a time. This way, being new at it and all, I can take my time and get a true feel for it. LOL...I also had a hard time getting that damn Z-Bar to stay when I took things apart once.
Click to expand...

It’s not supposed to do that. Extend the ram to its full upright position. Tighten the hex bolt on the shell carrier (located to the left of where the slider for the cas feeder goes) and you should be good. Don’t overtighten this hex bolt or it will strip.

The hex bolt is what secures the shell carrier to the ram and makes the two pieces function as a unit.
 
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