Questions on loading 9mm

OverUnder725

OverUnder725

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I am have been doing some reading on loading for my 9mm. I am shooting some Winchester and Lawman to accumulate some brass and get some rounds through the gun. I have loaded for my .30-06 in the past but never for a pistol. The information I have read says there are two types of crimps that can be applied to the case, rolled and tapered. Lots of info says buy a separate taper die and go that way with 9mm. I would like your input from personal experience on this. I have also seen guys using their barrels a gauges to determine if enough tapper has been applied to the case. It shows them dropping the completed round in and having it fall out freely when the barrel is inverted. I am assuming not enough tapper and the round would have to be forced in and not fall from the barrel freely? Which leads me to my next question. The Winchester rounds I have been shooting when dropped into the barrel sit slightly lower than the barrel hood. The Lawman rounds sit perfectly flush with the barrel hood. I have seen a few videos where guys are feeling for this fit with their fingers. Is this a critical measurement to consider and how do you achieve this flush fit, case length or COAL? Long winded I know, thanks for reading!
 
OK - self loading pistol cartridges should receive a taper crimp, because the cartridge headspaces off the case mouth. You want to be able to see the full thickness of the case on a reloaded round, at the case mouth after reloading. There are dies out there that use a "hybrid roll" crimp and they can be fiddled with to get them to work - sorta. Your best bet is to get a Lee factory crimp die - it puts a proper taper crimp on the round, and can be adjusted to put a very firm taper crimp on small capacity rounds like 9mm. This is important because if the bullet sets back on it's way into the chamber, it's possible to end up with rifle level pressure spikes in your handgun. Additionally, the factory crimp die also contains a carbide sizer - you might notice that 9mm cases tend to look "bulgy" when loaded, this can cause feed issues. The factory crimp dies takes that out completely and leaves a properly shaped round. It does add an extra step, but I think it's well worth the effort. As far as OAL goes, I use a factory cartridge of the same weight and profile, put it into my seater (with the stem backed off) and tighten the stem until it just makes contact - then I do a dummy round for that profile and keep it separately with the bullet weight written on the side, the bullet profile is pretty obvious.
 
I'm not sure that you can even get roll crimp dies for 9mm. Any die set you are likely to find will taper crimp.

Adjust your crimping die such that the OD of the case mouth is around .375"-.378". You should be going only a little bit beyond removing the flaring of the case mouth left by the expander die. Using your pistol's barrel as a gauge as you described will tell you if the bullet seating depth will allow the round to fit entirely into the chamber.

The Factory Crimp die with its carbide insert will size the base a little further down than most sizing dies and get rid of any excessive bulging. The only downside is that they may undersize bullets if your pistol needs .357" cast bullets to shoot accurately without keyholing. If you are loading jacketed or plated bullets (or .355"-.356" lead bullets), this is a non-issue.
 
As enefgee stated get a factory round, back out the seating stem and start to screw the die down, when you feel resistance stop and try that as a starting point for your crimp on the reloads.

Which ever seating die you have just dont over do it with the crimp, use the barrel or a case gauge.
 
OverUnder725 said:
The information I have read says there are two types of crimps that can be applied to the case, rolled and tapered. Lots of info says buy a separate taper die and go that way with 9mm. I have also seen guys using their barrels a gauges to determine if enough tapper has been applied to the case. It shows them dropping the completed round in and having it fall out freely when the barrel is inverted. Is this a critical measurement to consider and how do you achieve this flush fit, case length or COAL? Long winded I know, thanks for reading!
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A 9mm case doesn't really need a taper crimp. You do need a taper crimp die to remove the case mouth belling and return the case mouth to flush. Too much crimp is a bad thing. Besides cracking the copper plating on plated bullets, you can bulge the round behind the crimp and cause the problem you were trying to avoid.

Using the barrel as your chamber checker is wise. If the round fits flush but not over the hood, and falls out with gravity it should be OK.
COAL is a good number to know. Some 9mm guns have a distinct preference for ammo loaded shorter.

In general, you want a measurement at the case mouth of .3795-.380 and an COAL of 1.115 to 1.150. (Flat tipped JHP or TC bullets tend to be shorter)
 
Canuck223 said:
A 9mm case doesn't really need a taper crimp. You do need a taper crimp die to remove the case mouth belling and return the case mouth to flush. Too much crimp is a bad thing. Besides cracking the copper plating on plated bullets, you can bulge the round behind the crimp and cause the problem you were trying to avoid.

Using the barrel as your chamber checker is wise. If the round fits flush but not over the hood, and falls out with gravity it should be OK.
COAL is a good number to know. Some 9mm guns have a distinct preference for ammo loaded shorter.

In general, you want a measurement at the case mouth of .3795-.380 and an COAL of 1.115 to 1.150. (Flat tipped JHP or TC bullets tend to be shorter)
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Great information, thank you. I will add it all to my notes as a starting point once I get all the components lined up in the next week or so.
 
tjhaile said:
I'm not sure that you can even get roll crimp dies for 9mm. Any die set you are likely to find will taper crimp.

Adjust your crimping die such that the OD of the case mouth is around .375"-.378". You should be going only a little bit beyond removing the flaring of the case mouth left by the expander die. Using your pistol's barrel as a gauge as you described will tell you if the bullet seating depth will allow the round to fit entirely into the chamber.

The Factory Crimp die with its carbide insert will size the base a little further down than most sizing dies and get rid of any excessive bulging. The only downside is that they may undersize bullets if your pistol needs .357" cast bullets to shoot accurately without keyholing. If you are loading jacketed or plated bullets (or .355"-.356" lead bullets), this is a non-issue.
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Thanks, tjhaile. I am planning on shooting jacketed bullets.
 
I'm new to pistol reloading and I did the chamber test with a piece of brass trimmed to proper OAL and with no bullet in the case it sits above the barrel hood..... I then loaded some dummy rounds with the same sized brass (9mm) same OAL and they load and extract fine....Will this be ok.... ( Sorry if it's a stupid question)
 
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mjn said:
I'm new to pistol reloading and I did the chamber test with a piece of brass trimmed to proper OAL and with no bullet in the case it sits above the barrel hood..... I then loaded some dummy rounds with the same sized brass (9mm) same OAL and they load and extract fine....Will this be ok.... ( Sorry if it's a stupid question)
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Was this a sized case???

Pistol brass virtually never needs to me trimmed. While rifle brass does grow in length with repeated firing and sizing, pistol brass tends to get progressively shorter. Brass tends to build up ahead of the extractor groove.
 
Suputin said:
Having loaded tens of thousands of rounds of 9mm for numerous different guns I have never needed nor used a crimp of any kind.
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Dezol said:
I have also reloaded and fired thousands of 9mm and have never crimped and have never had any problems. I have used jacketed and homemade lead and have never had an issue.
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Me too! I have loaded thousands of rounds of 9mm ammo on a lee turret press with no crimp die and no problems :)
 
It didn't need to be trimmed, I used wrong wording... Its case lenght was correct....I tried it both ways a once fired piece of brass and one that was run thru the sizing die and both were in spec as to the correct case lenght. Both were still above the barrel hood.... both chambered and extracted..... I keep reading where it's suppose to be flush or just below.
 
mjn said:
It didn't need to be trimmed, I used wrong wording... Its case lenght was correct....I tried it both ways a once fired piece of brass and one that was run thru the sizing die and both were in spec as to the correct case lenght. Both were still above the barrel hood.... both chambered and extracted..... I keep reading where it's suppose to be flush or just below.
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What gun?
 
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