As far as how many reloads you get compared to how much you size, you don't have to convince me. I know sizing contributes very little to brass hardening.
Lee Customer Service Issue
- Thread starter Vamike9
- Start date
Maybe if he measured them after sizing and after seating we would know for sure.
In my 308’s the necks expand to .346”, a FL die takes them down to .328”, and a loaded FGMM measures .338”. With 9mm you lose them in the dirt before they fail due to splits or primer pocket failure.
I've read some entertaining comments but does the cartridge chamber, perform accurately & eject as well or better than premium factory ammo? If so does appearance really matter. I've never seen beauty contests for cartridges. Size cases for decent tension, seat to bullet to manual COA and crimp with Lee Factory Crimp die and it will perform in every SAAMI Spec Pistol. I would suggest your attention level to your reloading be better spent on actual shooting.
I wonder if seating a bullet with very high neck tension could create alignment problems on an ongoing basis?
It could be a number of factors -
Bad sizing die (non-concentric)
Not enough case mouth flare (This would be as you think, causing alignment problems on a ongoing basis due to very high neck tension)
Die wobble (not tight on press)
Seating stem/plug profile incorrect for the bullet<-- this is what I think since in his pic, I see what appears to be right side bulge that is more prominent than the left side. Bullet axis tilting left. A flat seating plug might actually work better for the truncated bullet he's trying to load.
Better picture with the round sitting on top of a flat table (vertically) with white background from the OP would help as well as what the reloading steps took were. The picture would help rule out the perception of an out of spec axial misalignment caused by a mild taper case (9mm is not a straight wall case) plus a truncated bullet. People don't tend to notice crookedness on a fat bullet with a straight wall case. OP stated he only has experience loading straight wall pistol cartridges (38, 45acp, 357, 44mag - all straight wall).
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We have several things going on here first the carbide sizing ring in the die isn't tapered the 9mm case is tapered it can leave a ring. He is using mixed range brass and some my have been high pressure loads. I have 4 sets of 9mm dies my Dillon dies don't size the lower part of the case well due to the wide radius at the mouth of the case the RCBS dies give me bullet set back with mixed brass and my Lee sizing die and my Lee U-die leave a little ring. The answer I found is to use to use a Lee U-die with mixed brass and spray my cases with One Shot case lube lightly and you will hardly notice the ring. Even with our current shortages I'm still shooting and loading 1,200 / 1,500 rounds of 9mm per month on my Dillon XL750 and a little ring on a few cartridges hurts nothing. Oh ya two more things your other pistol and revolver cartridges are not tapered and only use a light kiss from your FCD to remove excess flare.
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According to SAAMI the 9mm luger is tapered.
Chamber dimensions listed are; Case mouth 0.3810.......Chamber web at 0.200 in = 0.3913
Chamber head entry = 0.3950
Cartridge mouth= 0.3800.....web at 0.200=0.3910.
I'd say that's tapered as it probably must be to extract efficiently.
Page 27 of SAAMI pistol & revolver cartridges section.
Regards.......Barelstroker
Fair enough.
For the the loaded cartridge to look like it does, it appears to me that it is the upper portion of the die that is under-size. I've always thought the carbide ring was there mainly for the web just above the solid case head.
Every rifle cartridge I've ever had stuck in die is always jammed at the web. The upper portion of the case usually conforms relatively easily compared to the web. I've never measured the carbide ring & thought it 's dimensions would be that of slightly under web dimension only.
Are you suggesting that the ring sizes the entire case?
Dillon dies in 9MM routinely have a bulge. Mine do and I drop everyone of them in a tight case gauge (Hundo) before shooting. Maybe 1 or 2 out of a 100 won't drop freely and they go into my practice tub, but they still shoot fine. The thicker the brass, the bigger the bulge.
Take a look inside a Dillon sizing die the carbide starts about 1/16" inside the mouth of the die after a small radius you have about 1/4" of carbide ring. Inside a Lee die the carbide ring is about twice as wide and in both dies the portion above the carbide is open. And yes due to brass spring back the case must be made undersize then seating a bullet leaves a slight ring at the base of the bullet it's the lesser of two evils. I had a 06 FFL license for over 20 years and always used Lee dies sizing to prevent any bullet set back when loading 9mm on a progressive machine.
Yeah ok. I've never really taken much notice of my pistol dies other than to notice the carbide ring. I had always assumed that the carbide ring sized only the web area.
The taper is about 0.100 by SAAMI. This kinda seems a lot if the ring sizes the entire case.
SAAMI states the web to be 0.3910 but, I've got some factory Win white box & the web on these measures at 0.384 & the case mouth comes in at 0.375 (measured below the mouth crimp). SAAMI is 0.380 for the cartridge case mouth.
I've just dug my Lee 9mm die out & there's only the ring with the rest of the die basically open on the side walls.
Maybe the bulge at the top is from running the case in too far, possibly exacerbated by a case with a larger dia solid web.
I've had my pistol dies settup in the die plate for years & never adjust them so, I can't recall exactly how I set them up. They need a good clean anyhow, so I'll pull em out, clean em &, set em up again to see if I can create the same situation as we see in the pic.
regards...........Barelstroker.
