HollywoodShooter

Thanks - I was looking for this~!

I've been shooting Action Pistol @ Piru & WEGC for the last 6 months.... Haven't been to Norco, Prado, or SWPL...will have to look into that, thanks!

Ummm....I'm not lubing my straight wall cases (with carbide dies), and the brand new gage seems pretty clean, but I'll swab it out anyway. In that case try lubing the cases with some good lube (OneShot) and see if it helps. You might be scrunching the brass down without lube. I think you will find that the typical user of carbide dies still uses lube. Makes the press easily 30%+easier to operate and produces better results. How much difference is there between OneShot and Dillon Case Lube? I did get some DCL with my press (for when I start doing rifle), and will give it a try with the lube on my next run. Meanwhile, I've worked up 20 loads each with Titegroup with an OAL of 1.14 @ 3.4g, 3.6g, 3.9g, and 4.1g I'm off to the range to see what's doing what. If for some reason you all never hear from me again....well.... WAIT! Leave your address first so we can find your powder and primers! I'm back, and I survived.....and still have the same number of eyes, fingers, and toes that I went in with, so all good in that regard. There is definitely some satisfaction to be had firing your first reloads! .....and (almost) everything ran nearly without issue. I don't think the problems I had were related to the cases, because nothing got stuck in the chamber, -BUT - I did have some stove pipes with the lightest loads. I took 20 rounds each (using Titegroup) @ 3.4g, 3.6g, 3.9g, and 4.1g I had one ragged hole with my first 5 rounds @ 3.4g....but then my 2nd string with that load had the few stove pipes. The 3.6g and 3.9g loads had no feed/eject issues, the groups were pretty consistent, with anything outside the group surely being shooter error. The 4.1g loads were my best of the session in terms of tight grouping, but definitely had a bit more recoil. I'll be shooting steel in competition, so I wonder if I can get away with the 3.6g or will I need the hotter load? Obviously I don't have a chrono. I'm now terribly conflicted....

Ummm....I'm not lubing my straight wall cases (with carbide dies), and the brand new gage seems pretty clean, but I'll swab it out anyway. In that case try lubing the cases with some good lube (OneShot) and see if it helps. You might be scrunching the brass down without lube. I think you will find that the typical user of carbide dies still uses lube. Makes the press easily 30%+easier to operate and produces better results. How much difference is there between OneShot and Dillon Case Lube? I did get some DCL with my press (for when I start doing rifle), and will give it a try with the lube on my next run. Meanwhile, I've worked up 20 loads each with Titegroup with an OAL of 1.14 @ 3.4g, 3.6g, 3.9g, and 4.1g I'm off to the range to see what's doing what. If for some reason you all never hear from me again....well....

Ummm....I'm not lubing my straight wall cases (with carbide dies), and the brand new gage seems pretty clean, but I'll swab it out anyway.

There's nothing consistent about the cases not gageing. Other rounds with the same headstamp drop free of the gage without issue. Yes, I checked for set-back before (and after) the taper crimp (solid knocks on hardwood) and found no discernable difference in OAL. I've now checked the non-gageing rounds in all 3 of my 9mm barrels (X5 Competition, p226, and p239) and they drop free without issue.

So I'm reloading my first 9mm on a Dillon XL650, using range pick-up brass and X-treme 115g RN After getting my tool head set-up with Dillon dies, following the Dillon directions carefully, I thought I was in pretty good shape, with a nice (minimal) bell, a nice (minimal) taper crimp (I went too far at first, and then backed it off until I didn't see any scratches in the copper plating on a pulled bullet), and a moderate OAL of 1.14 Now after working up some test loads, some of the rounds (about 30%) fail to drop free of the Dillon 9mm case gage on their own. They do however have no problem falling out of my SIG barrel that I'll be shooting with. The brass are a mix of headstamps....including WIN, PMC, FC, GFL, & BLAZER....but I definitely seem to have more problems with the FC. I measured some factory Federal 9mm 115g FMJ for comparison, and of course as expected the factory loads drop cleanly out of the gage. Looking at some factory Federal FMJ 115g, I get: .3755 @ the mouth .3825 @ 1/2 way down the case .3885 @ the base just above the rim on a 2nd factory Federal FMJ 115g: .3760 @ the mouth .3800 @ 1/2 way down the case .3870 @ the base just above the rim On my reloads that didn't drop free I got: .3775 @ the mouth .3725 @ 1/2 way down the case .3855 @ the base just above the rim -and- .3800 @ the mouth .3730 @ 1/2 way down the case .3855 @ the base just above the rim So what does that mean? I have some 'coke bottle' shaped brass? Perhaps inconsistant diameters on the 115g bullets? Would you: A: Increase the Resize die ? B: Increase the Taper Crimp die ? C: Call it good since they seem fine in the barrel ? Thanks for your response!

Hi All, Longtime shooter, but brand new to reloading. Just working up my first 9mm loads on an XL650. Bought all my bits & pieces here from Brian, and couldn't be happier. I'm a big fan of SIG's....(p226, X-Five Competition, p239, p220 Combat, p220 Carry), as well as Noveske & LaRue Tactical AR's. I'm also active on AR15.com and CalGuns.net, and look forward to learning a lot in the forums here. Best wishes to all for a great 2014!~ Hollywood_