Case gauge question

[Sarge]

53 minutes ago, zdog said:

I gave up using the Lee FCD after several bullet makers warned me against using it.  The probelm was that the Lee FCD would distort the bullet and cause problems with accuracy (repeatability).  Ed over at cameron's customs taught me to use the term Repeatbilty rather than accuracy. ? Also.....the FCD also does not touch case head/rim of the brass.

Most of us have the FCD adjusted to just crimp without sizing anything again. I only use it because it's so easy to adjust

[zdog]

3 minutes ago, Sarge said:

Most of us have the FCD adjusted to just crimp without sizing anything again. I only use it because it's so easy to adjust

"Most of us" is a bold statement

[GrumpyOne]

4 minutes ago, zdog said:

"Most of us" is a bold statement

I believe he meant "most that use an FCD die"...

[Sarge]

3 minutes ago, zdog said:

"Most of us" is a bold statement

Yes it is. Learned years ago that an FCD can be the best, or worst, addition to the press. 

Sure, there are those who use it as intended. If you are running dies that don't size enough in station one it's a great tool

[zdog]

5 hours ago, Chills1994 said:

I use the U-dies without any lube on the cases.

 

What I will do, however, is take a Q-tip and dip it in some WD40.  Then I will swirl it inside the decapping/resizing die.  That cleans a lot of dirt/crap out of the die.  I'll do that at the start of every reloading session.

 

I am going to go with extractor burrs  on this one.

I tried the WD40 trick using M-Pro5.  Could just be my imagination but after a 100 rounds it seemed to me that things were easier.    

I only had a out 5 rounds that went to the pratice bin instead of 20 or 30.

[Sandbagger123]

do an experiment.  lube all your cases with case lube  and then load them. then tell us how many are bad. i have found just lubing a case here and there in 9mm does not seem to be effective. i load 9/40/45 and 9mm is always the hardest to load when it comes to sticky cases. 

Edited December 8, 2016 by Sandbagger123

[MikieM]

Although many case gauges are all over the ballpark as to dimensions, try checking your crimp. 

The magic number for a 9mm crimp is .378.

[zdog]

16 minutes ago, MikieM said:

Although many case gauges are all over the ballpark as to dimensions, try checking your crimp. 

The magic number for a 9mm crimp is .378.

Thanks for the reply.  Sorry if I have not made this clear but the rim of the brass is for sure what is causing the round to hang up in the case gauge.  I am confident that the extra force to remove the brass from the sizing die caused by using a udie and not using case lube was causing the rim of the brass to deform therefore causing the round to hang up in the gauge. FWIW

THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK,

Zdog

 

 

[echotango]

Prior to a mark 7, I never used lube with a udie and didn't have issues. I think there is something else going on. 

Edited December 9, 2016 by echotango

[bandw1dth]

Problem solved.......

I have had to drill out 2 stuck cases in the last 2 days.  I called Dillon and talked the issue over with their tech.  We decided that the I was using so much force to get the case out of the sizing die that I was distorting the case rim.  I got rid of the Lee undersize 9mm die and went back to a standard size Lee die.  I did what I could to polish the sizing die with some 400 grit emory cloth spun with a drill till things got good and hot.  I know that was probably a wasted effort but it made me feel better. Anyhow things seem to be better now.  The next step will be to use some case lube on the brass before running it through the sizing die if the problem persists. Things were getting so bad I was probably rejecting %30 or more of the finished rounds.  FWIW

If your not using the undersize 9mm die anymore, would you be interested in getting rid of it?

[Uboofer]

2 questions.

First, Have you tried flipping the round so that the rim goes in first.  Does it fit?  Obviously it will not go in all the way down but it will tell you for sure if the rim is the issue or some other issue that you are not detecting. 

 

Secondly, have you tried your rounds in a different case gauge?  Maybe you have a bad case gauge?  Try a different vender.  Case gauges are typically SAAMI spec and are designed to fit a minimally sizes chamber.

 

on the lube topic, I feel that lube is always a good recommendation when loading. sparingly of course.