9mm loading heartache

[slackerisme]

I set up my press and fired off 20 or so 9mm rounds. The rounds jam in the barrel of my p11. Upon inspection it appears the rounds are coke bottle shaped. Belled at the bottom and there is a visible line at the base of the bullet.

I have adjusted the decapper so it barely deprimes the round through to the die hitting the shell plate. I have turned the powder die out so there is a barely visible bell. I have also ran the gambit with my crimp die.

Any suggestions?

 

[captpaul]

What does your bullet diameter measure? OAL is good I assume. Might want to try a EGW Udie if you cant get your dies to size down Undersize Reloading Die - $27.98 : Evolution Gun Works , World Class Precision Parts

 

[wolfman]

What design is your bullet, because I will bet it is causing OAL problems, and getting wedged into the rifling before the slide reaches full battery.

 

[Litlratt]

Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die 9mm Luger - MidwayUSA

 

[slow1911s]

You are running the decap/sizing die all the way down to the shell plate, yes? Have you taken the barrel out of the gun and tried dropping the loaded rounds into the barrel. Are they jammed b/c they are too big, or is the nose of the bullet catching on the barrel hood as it leaves the magazine lips, hitting the barrel ramp (if a P11 has one - I don't know)?

What OAL are you loading to? What style of bullet?

 

[Doug]

Are you loading 9 mm bullets (.355 inch) or 38/357 Magnum bullets (.357 inch)?

Doug

 

[rvb]

you WANT the coke-bottle shape. That shows the sizer is sizing under a couple thou which is good for tension to hold the bullet.

-run the sizer as low as you can go.
-I like 0.015-0.018" bell on my dillon.
-Then taper crimp to remove all bell, but no more.

Get yourself a case gauge. They are cheap.

Measure the diameter of the bullet (~0.355-0.356")and the thickness of your case. 2x case thickness + bullet dia should be your crimp. No more, no less. I prefer a less scientific method and hold the cartridge against a straight edge with a light behind it... you should see a nearly perfectly straight case wall along the bullet (below the bullet the case will "coke bottle" in a few thousandths).

what shape bullets? oal plays a big part here keeping the bullet off the rifling which could prevent chambering. If all the above seems ok, then take a sharpie and paint your bullet and try chambering it. Then look for marks on the bullet to see if it's hitting the rifling.

-rvb

ps. when you say "jam" .. do they fit in the chamber if you take the barel out of the gun? Or are they just not feeding from the mag. If the later is the problem then it's most likely a bullet shape or oal problem (ie some guns don't like wad cutters, and a too long or too short oal can affect feed angles and such). Best bet if you are new to 9mm is to load some fmj to the oal of wwb or other common factory load.

 

[Robert Richardson]

Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die 9mm Luger - MidwayUSA

 

[Dr Falken]

Read your info on decapping it tells you how to set you die depth. I believe that you bring up the shell holder, then screw down your die, till they meet, then back it off a 1/4 turn(?). And check your OAL for that bullet weight and type, I use a micrometer, maybe not the best, but it's good enough for government work...

 

[gunbunnies]

Just wondering.....

Does the reloaded rounds do the same thing in different firearms, different magazines ?

Can you function the same bullet/cartridge spec/design in a factory load through the firearm in question.

What is the load your using... powder, amount, bullet wieght, primer ?

and I'll probaly get flamed but -1 on the Lee dies....
Dillon, RCBS, Hornady, anything but Lee....

To the original poster, share some of the other particuliars and I'm sure one of us old time reloaders can help you with your issue...

 

[Dr Falken]

Just wondering.....

Does the reloaded rounds do the same thing in different firearms, different magazines ?

Can you function the same bullet/cartridge spec/design in a factory load through the firearm in question.

What is the load your using... powder, amount, bullet wieght, primer ?

and I'll probaly get flamed but -1 on the Lee dies....
Dillon, RCBS, Hornady, anything but Lee....

To the original poster, share some of the other particuliars and I'm sure one of us old time reloaders can help you with your issue...

What! are you crazy! Lee dies rock!, you must be outta your mind! There, you're pre-flamed...but seriously what is your insight into Lee dies? I do use them, but I'm always open to new/better info...

 

[slackerisme]

Thanks for all the tips! The O.A. L. for this round (Sierra 125gr. JHP) is 1.075.
I screwed up and was going by 1.090 for the FMJ bullet. After shedding the .015-.020 off the finished rounds they slipped right into the barrel all the way. Thanks a ton!

 

[gunbunnies]

Dr Falken, Sorry about the delay in posting again... been super busy as of late...

As far a Lee, it has been my experience that they can make good dies, but the three die sets that I purchased over the years all had the same problem... they were out of spec. Lee did fix the problem by replacing all 3 sets with new in spec dies, but I thought the fact that I had too go through the process with 3 sets of brand new dies was a little much...

They weren't all at the same time, and they were all different calibers... 308, 30.06, and 223... All die sets were lacking in spec with setting the shoulder to the right length. The replacement dies all fixed the problem... It was just enough that the cartridge would not quite chamber... in a bolt gun it would have to be cranked in by forcing the bolt home...

On the other foot, I have dies from some of the other manufacturers and didn't have the same experience... al beit the Hornady depriming dies have a nasty habit of pushing the depriming pin up into the sleeve from time to time...

Dillon on the other hand, well my hat's off to them...

Square D, over 20 years old, 30,000 plus reloads through the machine, started dropping irregular charges, and the priming system stopped feeding correctly... Called Dillon, and they said to send the Squared D in... they sent me a new machine, fully setup ready to go in the caliber I sent them it in... Can't beat that with a stick....

Lee experience, may just be my luck, maybe not... Going to figure it out though as I just got a bunch of reloading equipment used from someone and there's Lee dies in the mix... Gotta give them a try and see...

That's my story...