jgedmond

i should have said differently. Keep a case from that rifle that was fired and fairly warm (test case). (this case will be about .001 short of accual chamber head space) So if you set up your die to bump the shoulder of another few cases -.002 to -.003 from your test case. you might not bump a new case from it's as new dimension as it is likely shorter already. So counting the case spring back (the .001) if you size to -.003 from fired, you end up with .004 cartridge clearance. That's good for a gas gun. A bolt can go .002 total. powder finger, thanks for the detailed clarification - got it

I tried 7.2, 7.4, 7.6, and 7.8 gr Blue Dot under 124gr Rem FMJ vs. several other powders. These were some initial loads that I made, so no chrono at the time. Accuracy was OK, with snappy recoil, and lots of unburned powder around the bench. I think I loaded like 20 test rounds out of a pound and haven't touched it since. Too many other good powders for 9mm if you are not looking to make major. However, if I got 10# free, I'd find a way to use it. 9mm minor with 124gr bullets doesn't seem like the way in my limited experience - YMMV.

These were new, unfired cases. I'll see how this die setting works on some fired cases soon.

I think that the problem with the heads of my cases expanding was due to excessively screwing down on the full-size resizing die. I bought some brand new Lapua brass. I ran 50 cases fresh out of the box through a case gauge and all checked fine. I started resizing and re-checking each case. The third case would not fit into the gauge because the case head was enlarged! I crimped the mouth and tossed it. I then readjusted my dies per an article in Shooting Times November issue (reprinted from 1978). The author (Bob Milek) advocated starting with the die 0.10" above the shell holder, sizing, and checking how far down the neck resizing went. If not to the bottom of the neck then screw in some more and repeat until the whole neck has been resized. My die was not screwed in as far as before, so there was much less resistance when it cammed over. I did 48 additional cases and all gauged just fine.

Thanks for the tips and advice. I just found out about Scharch from another source earlier this evening. Definitely sounds like the way to go.

L E Wilson trimmer with primer pocket reamer works great for me.

I got my Supreme Pro-X 's with the gel pads from http://www.triadtactical.com/. I tried using passive muffs, but my hearing already sucks and I needed electronics. The Supreme Pro-X's are an extremely well-designed and rugged product that work perfectly. I put them on when exiting the truck and take them when getting back in. With other products, I was always wanting to take them off on the range and several times got blasted when someone shot close by. Absolutely no dead air when conversing while others are shooting close by - highly recommend.

I could definitely see that happening - I'm not leaving until I have the 50 pieces of brass that I came with!! On a serious note, I shot the loads I made using LC once-fired brass, Varget, and Hornady 55 gr. FMJ-BT with cannelure. I was very impressed with the accuracy and consistency, I think that I am gonna like this. After pulling the bullets from the PRVI brass, I put some WD-40 in the cases to kill the primers and several leaked through the primer to casing "seal". Damn glad I did not try to shoot those.

OK, I checked the case heads of all of my brass with the case gauge and crimped the mouth of those that did not pass. The rest I cleaned, resized and deprimed, and trimmed to 1.750". All of those cases looked good in the gauge. I loaded up ten each of 5 different loads of Varget in Lake City brass to chrono at the range tomorrow. In the meantime, I think I'll just order some Lapua brass and restart with that.

Jeff, thanks for the lube tip, I'll give it a try when I run out of One Shot. I think that I discovered the issue with the brass is that case heads grew when firing. If I insert the cases into the gauge upside down, they do not go in. If I Dremel the case head of the fired brass a little, they gauge properly, so the shoulder is good. I found out about this happening to another guy from a thread on the high road forum: http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-440962.html I am not sure why this is happening since the brass was shot in one of my AR's, not some military machine gun or loose chambered weapon. Maybe the loads were too hot or the brass was just under spec and grew out of spec? Guess that I need to go buy some brass and pitch most of this once-fired stuff.

Thanks to all for all of the help and tips. I'm going to go through my brass and sort by headstamp. Most of it is stuff that I shot: PRVI, Adcom, Lake City, maybe one or two others. My plan is to try resizing a few of each headstamp to see what works and what doesn't.

I have had no problems with the Hornady seating dies for 9mm and 223 and think that the sleeve is a great feature. For 9mm, I do not crimp, just remove the flare. For 223, I purchased a Lee factory crimp die and do not crimp while seating.

Yes, I resize then trim, but I am using 1.750" as trim length. FYI, I checked an unfired PRVI round and it fit in the gauge.

Well, I got the case gauge and an RCBS SB resizing die. The problem appears to be with the PRVI mil brass. Even after sizing with the RCBS, the head of the case protrudes a small amount above the case gauge. I tried some Adcom MIL brass using the same die it fit in the case gauge just fine! Any thoughts on the PRVI brass?

Thanks for the advice so far. I'll try screwing down on the resizer and get a case gauge tomorrow to see if that makes a difference. BTW, trimming case length to 1.750" per Hornady manual.