Reloading 9mm Brass - questions on brands and general advice.

[TacticalCanuck]

I recently switched out my Dillon crimp die for the Lee factory crimp unit. It deals with mixed headstamps very well. I don't sort.

The brass isn't being sized correctly if seated bullets are loose enough to rotate in the case. Your sizing die should be screwed all the way in and backed off just enough to not contact the shell plate when the ram is up. Brand of case should not matter for handgun reloading.

Thank you I will review the set up. The resize die also decaps as well, but the depth of the decapper is adjustable too.

 

[TacticalCanuck]

Overall some really great advice, and it seems to be consistent. I'll check my sizing decap die tonight when I get home and ensure its close to the shell plate. This alone could be the issue. I know its low enough to decap but it may not be going over the whole shell. My bell is very slight, i notice a little variance from case to case but generally it don't just fall into the case, i have to snug it in on the way up to the die.

As it turns out, I think I'm getting addicted to this. I managed to test fire my first 100 rounds yesterday, before making a few adjustments. I had one case that failed to eject and was caught in the chamber, i got it out with a little help and tossed it. the rest were fine (these were the cartridges that I could, with a little force, turn the bullet in the case). I had 2 that didn't fire, I figure bad primers. They indented fine, and when I broke them up at home they still had powder in them.

Overall Im pretty excited about reloading. I'm all set for 38 special and 357 mag I just need the shell plate and projectiles.

When I loaded my .45 I had to go to the range to test them out so I could reload some more

Think I found 'the' hobby

 

[TacticalCanuck]

After some tweaks from CGN I just pressed off 500 rounds without a single hitch. Took about 1:45 in total including set up and cleaning. Really happy with the press so far.

 

[Ganderite]

Is it necessary to size the entire case? or just slightly pass where the bullet seats?

In particular for tall cases like 357 I used to size the entire case but now only do the top half which is still several mm below where the bullet seats.

With rifle cases, I neck size.

With pistol cases, I size the entire case. It only takes one fat case to jam the gun.