[Just swapped my 9mm dillon die with a Lees die and ..........]

As much as I hate to compare Lee to Dillon I must admit I have found this to be true also. I get better consistency using the Lee seating die. To look at the Lee die with its plastic adjustment plug and the el cheapo rubber o-ring locking nut you would think it was junk compared to the Dillon stuff but the bullet seating die works better for me also.

Don't see any plastic plug on mine all steel and aluminum.

Plastic Adjustment Plug? Parts on the Lee seating die are Aluminum and steel. I find the Lee seating dies and sizing dies to be better then all the others I have tried. I do take the seating stem out, put it in the chuck of a drill and spin it while I polish it with some very fine wet dry paper. I also shoot lead so I had a friend put the stem in a Lath and drill a hole down the center so the wax has a place to go before it changes OAL. I also drilled a hole in the top adjuster so it also vents. That last bit is probably a total waste but who cares. The hole in the stem is totally worth it.

Heck out of the box its good for me but I may polish it next time I readjust it for heck of it to.

[Just swapped my 9mm dillon die with a Lees die and ..........]

parade...

rain...

call me little cloud.

you will find that the seating dies are quite variable.

the ogives of the bullets and seats if the dies can cause a lot of variation.

I find the the PD bullets I have are good in a RCBS seating die

and the plated ones were much happier with the Lee.

keep the dillon seating die. The Lee ain't always the best.

The precision target rifle guys have seating dies for each type of bullet they seat.

... well it is what they say...

your mileage may vary.

miranda

Agreed I will keep the Dilon dies incase they work better in other bullets.

Just with these plated ones lee works best.

[Just swapped my 9mm dillon die with a Lees die and ..........]

now all my bullet C.O.A.L are withing 5 thousands of each other and I am happy. Before with the dillon die I was lucky to be within 10 to 15 thousands up or down on my 650.

The $22 bucks its well worth that investment.

Thanks to Calls Shots who suggested it in another thread.

[RMR PLATED BULLETS IN STOCK!]

Me too just ordered 2k thanks op

[OAL is all over the place....]

Spent quite a bit of time with OAL problems in 9mm minor last summer. Cure was a Lee die set. Really like Lee's first stage sizing die, out standing punch design and it sizes closer to the extractor grove than other brands. Lee's seating die has a small adjustment knob that's easy for fine adjustments. The cure for a few bucks Lee will cut an insert that fits your bullet shape. That tighten things up but I use several bullet designs and weights. Had a local machinist make a flat insert that pushes on just the tip of the bullet. That and making sure I had enough bell solved the OAL problem for me. Loading on Dillon 650.

If your not lubing cases give that a try.

Per chance would you have the part # for the lee die set ?

I seem to be having same issues.

Made sure I had a full plate and still varies quite a few thousands with 124 grain Extreme plated.

Anywhere from 0.120 to 0.130 give or take.

Even loaded them with out powder and still varies.

[What do you all think is acceptable tolerances when dealing with ...]

I get about 5 thousands on a 650 loading 9 with mixed brass. It doesn't bother me for USPSA use.

I use a dillon 650 to so I am close to you.

Mixed brass here to

[What do you all think is acceptable tolerances when dealing with ...]

C.O.L in 9mm using HP-38 and berrys 0.356 RN projectiles?

Like a few thousands 1 to 3 ?

Never had any issues really just wondering what others end up with.

I try to stay as close to 0.125 but never fails there are always some that range between 0.123 and some at 0.127.

I guess kinda like powder a little it seems to vary within a grain on the digital scale and very close on a beam scale.

Now crimps I can get 0.376 to 0.377 everytime

[Load Recommendation 9mm with Titegroup (Hodgdon), 115 Grain CP Round]

Here is some good data on that

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

It says 3.6 to 4.0 so.........

[Considering the shortage of supplies what ...]

minor/major power factor is a term used in uspsa (& some other) competitions. It is a number arrived at by multiplying bullet weight times velocity then dividing by 1000. It affects scoring. If you shoot major power loads, you get more points for less than perfect hits on the target. This works with the assumption that major power loads have more recoil, thus being harder to control, meaning they slow you down somewhat. Common with uspsa scoring major power factor is 165(this could be arrived at with a 165gr bullet going at least 1000fps). Anything 165 or higher is major power factor. Minor power factor is 125 minimum to 164.999.

Does that make a little sense?

______________________________________________________________________________________

Yes it does.

Ahh ok then Minor power factor is my goal with IDPA.

[Considering the shortage of supplies what ...]

Not exactly sure of what you ask but , I just shoot IDPA and for fun.

[Considering the shortage of supplies what ...]

experiances have you guys had with Hodgdon longshot powder in 9mm's ?

Found some of this locally but never have used it.

I saw in the hodgdon reloading guide there was a recipe for it and considering buying some to get me by untill I can find some W231/hp-38 , universal clays or HS-6 which are my preferences.

Thanks for the advice

[Normal to see this amount of brass on wheel.........]

I load on a single stage press but I can say I had an issue with that using a lyman M expanding die, and a redding taper crimp die in .40 and though it was normal. The savings were definitely coming from the taper crimp step. I just started loading 9mm as well with a similar lyman M expanding die but with a hornady taper crimp die and i can put as much crimp as i want with out a single shaving coming off the brass. I contacted redding and they said i could send the die back to have it re finished, but I haven't done it yet. I could see excessive expansion on the powder drop stage causing the shavings to be worse, but with a good taper crimp die, I wouldn't think you should get any shavings. I have a 650 on the way, and have researched it a lot, but if there is something I don't know about it that makes my comment irrelevant, then just ignore it.

Besides cleaning the dies I polished the inside of the die and get rid of all the build up.

[Normal to see this amount of brass on wheel.........]

Too much crimp for sure. Set it for around .377 and you will have better accuracy...

DougC

Will do ( right @ .376/.377 now ) and I adjusted the funnel and cleaned the dies and MUCH less brass now thanks to everyone for the help.

[Normal to see this amount of brass on wheel.........]

Too much bell. Funnel going in too far. Adjust it out and this will go away.

I adjusted the funnel so the bell was slightly smaller now.

Chopps I meant without a bullet in there. I'm thinking too much belling.

I meant a side view right after the powder drop

Added a pic below to show what you asked.

do you use case lube ?

No I use to and might start again now.

Going to load another 200 rounds today and see what happens now.

[Normal to see this amount of brass on wheel.........]

UMMMM.......That's NOT normal. I would take my dies apart and see if they are REALLY dirty or something.

can you show us a side view of a belled case?

Yes I posted in in original post

I've never seen that us it from the bullet or the case?

I think its from the brass where it pushs the bullet to correct depth.

Is that new brass? If it is, you might get that much shaving after 400 rds. Try running the new stuff through your case cleaner or lube it to stop the friction that can occur with new brass.

No range brass

[Normal to see this amount of brass on wheel.........]

All of a sudden I am seeing alot more brass and allthough it may be right just wanted to check.

Berrys 115 gr bullet 1.100 Overall length.356 bullet diameter & .372/.373 crimp.

Thanks for the help and advice

Also this was after about 400 bullets loaded.

[Powder Shortage - OMG]

Yeah just got 5k ordered of the 9mm 124 gr from powder valley this am. I always check there site 1st thing in the am.

Tomorrow going to go to GA arms and get some primers and maybe powder to.

[Got another q for you guys is ....]

If I'm not mistaken I believe Hodgdon makes it for Winchester

I was told there is only one powder maker here in the US and they were in Fla but not sure about the validity of that either.

[Loading 9mm FMJ with HP-38 ?]

Dang lots of good info here I will load some up and try it in my M&P and see whats best.

[Got another q for you guys is ....]

See the other post " Loading HP-38 with 9mm fmj" -

It's officially confirmed - HP-38 IS WW231...

Ahh ok just saw it thanks

[Got another q for you guys is ....]

Winchester W231 and Hodgdon hp-38 just about identical ?

Have had alot of folks here say that and I have no reason to doubt them but always nice to get more opinions on it.

Thanks again.

[Loading 9mm FMJ with HP-38 ?]

Trust but verify..... Buy some loading manuals and look up the manufacturer's website to verify stuff, they have loading data on the web.

You should have asked for an OAL, and I should have posted it the first time......

Standard OAL is 1.110....but your gun may shoot better with a longer OAL, like 1.120.....1.135.....that is the fun part of reloading...

Have fun!

DougC

Oh I agreed Doug .

I have a newer sierra loading manual and always go to there site and verify.

Thanks

[Loading 9mm FMJ with HP-38 ?]

9mm rn fmj 115 grain FYI.

Doug and others thanks and will do as you say.

Pleasure to be here and trust what you guys tell me.

[Loading 9mm FMJ with HP-38 ?]

Hi fellas,

Normally I have used hodgdon universal but with all the 1st time buyers out there I could not find any so I picked up some Hodgdon HP-38 and wondered if anyone here used it previously for 9mm and what kind of results you have had ?

Thanks and glad to have found these forums considering I load with a 650XL.