9mm Full-Length Resizing Die

[Duane Thomas]

Is anyone aware of a 9mm resizing die that full-length – and I mean full-length – resizes the casings? I am attempting to press into service a bunch of range pickup brass, much of which has been seriously expanded, and I find the Dillon and Redding dies don’t come down low enough to totally get rid of the bulge at the bottom, which can prevent chambering in my Glocks.

I am morally certain, BTW, those casings have been fired in SIGs. Because the SIGs impress people as being such quality, well-made guns – and they are – a lot of people seem to assume they have really tight chambers. Untrue. I have never seen any chamber dimensions as sloppy as in SIG 9mms. Drop a round of 9mm down the barrel of a SIG P220-series 9mm, it rattles around like a pea down a manhole. And that’s fine if all you ever fire is SIGs. For those who then want to reload that seriously expanded brass and fire it in guns with tighter chambers, however, it’s then into “trying to find a full-length resizing die” time.

[BeerBaron]

not really. there are 2 problems. one 9mm is a rimmed case. two, 9mm is a tapered case. so not being straight all the way means you can't really have a die size the whole case.

the only thing really that can do it is a roll sizer like case-pro.

http://www.casepro100.com/

[Duane Thomas]

Just did a bit more research - which obviously I should have done before posting - and both the Lee die and the EGW undersized 9mm die strike me as superior alternatives. Anything to prefer between them from people who have tried both?

[Matt1]

The EGW is made by Lee to EGW's specs (it even comes in a Lee box). I have one and it works well for me with range pickup brass in my open gun.

[JaeOne3345]

I think the Undersized dies from Lee/EGW are over kill.

I think the standard Lee sizer is perfect. I use and swear by them in 9 and 40. Factory glock barrels, KKM glock barrels, STI barrels, SVI barrels, whatever. My ammo runs.

[Sarge]

The EGW is made by Lee to EGW's specs (it even comes in a Lee box). I have one and it works well for me with range pickup brass in my open gun.

there are lot's of threads on the U die. I thought there is still a difference between the LEE and EGW. I thought the consensus was that the EGW had more turned off of the bottom so it got a tad lower than the stock LEE U die.

Make sure you lube with good case lube if you go with either as they make the press slightly harder to operate. And severely bulged brass will tend to crease at the base when they are loaded dry

[Olivers_AR]

Bought a Lee U die, works great if you have enough lube.

[lcs]

The Lee U or EGW U will give you 100% confidence in your rounds. An added benefit is the increase in bicep muscle from cramming the cases in the dies. As Sarge said, Case Lube is a must.

Either one really does work. I have not chamber check'd a 9 Major round in years.

[McCringleberry]

The EGW UDie is a great die but some like it, some don't. I prefer it and use it a lot. The only other alternatives are the case-pro to roll them or there is a push through setup for the 9mm case. I can't remember the name but I can find it again if you are interested. It's in the $300-400 range I believe.

[Todd7446]

Same as others, I use the EGW U-die. Since I've been using it, the only rounds that have failed case gauge were where I wrinkled the case mouth at the top (~1 or 2 of 4K) and one or two where a grain of powder was on the OUTSIDE of the case and it didn't drop in. Wipe that off and it fell right in. But I'm still case gauging...

[RiggerJJ]

Case Pro roll sizing first, and then U-die with lots of lube! tumble lube off after loading (don't lube before roll sizing).

jj

[DWFAN]

+1 on the U-die, +100 on the lots of lube.

I had issues with the U-die creating a ridge at the base of the case (pic attached) on some extremely bulged brass. Now I run a Hornady size die in station 1, and the U-die without decapper in station 2. It considerably smoothed out the press and eliminated the ridge at the base of the case.

Im sure a case pro would also fix the bulges.

Edited February 3, 2014 by DWFAN

[anachronism]

I seek out and buy older RCBS or Hornady carbide die sets. The ones manufactured prior to the age of the progressive press all seem to have minimal chamfers at the entry to the sizing die. All purchased brass, new or used goes through these dies for initial sizing. I used to get belts just above the extractor groove with some dies, the old dies take that away. Old steel dies should work okay too, but I pefer carbide. This also works for 45 ACP, and other calibers too.

[Sandbagger123]

Lee dies plus the FCD will take care of any issues that come up.

[JaeOne3345]

In my experience, the FCD is a waste of time if you already have a Lee die (standard or U) doing the job first. If it is getting to the crimp station while still not being in spec, that to me says there is an issue at station 1.

When I got my standard Lee die, the FCD went bye bye.

[dskinsler83]

Lee dies size down the absolute furthest down the case as far as factory dies go. never had and issue with any brass in any caliber

[al503]

I took the guts out of a FCD and put it in station 5 barely touching the shellplate in the 1050. It sizes down the case to about +.001" wider at the very widest point than a new factory 9mm bullet.

I sold my casepro after I found that out.

[SWThomas]

I've sized thousands of 9MM range pick ups in a wide variety of headstamps. All with a Dillon 9MM die. I have yet to have one not feed or go bang.

[Duane Thomas]

The EGW is made by Lee to EGW's specs (it even comes in a Lee box). I have one and it works well for me with range pickup brass in my open gun.

there are lot's of threads on the U die. I thought there is still a difference between the LEE and EGW. I thought the consensus was that the EGW had more turned off of the bottom so it got a tad lower than the stock LEE U die.

Make sure you lube with good case lube if you go with either as they make the press slightly harder to operate. And severely bulged brass will tend to crease at the base when they are loaded dry

Good advice though I already use RCBS case lube.

[Duane Thomas]

The EGW UDie is a great die but some like it, some don't. I prefer it and use it a lot. The only other alternatives are the case-pro to roll them or there is a push through setup for the 9mm case. I can't remember the name but I can find it again if you are interested. It's in the $300-400 range I believe.

I am interested, just to have the information. Though I would have thought that a push-through system wouldn't work with a tapered casing.

[Duane Thomas]

I seek out and buy older RCBS or Hornady carbide die sets. The ones manufactured prior to the age of the progressive press all seem to have minimal chamfers at the entry to the sizing die. All purchased brass, new or used goes through these dies for initial sizing. I used to get belts just above the extractor groove with some dies, the old dies take that away. Old steel dies should work okay too, but I pefer carbide. This also works for 45 ACP, and other calibers too.

I'm using a Square Deal, and sadly no one but Dillon makes dies that will fit into a Square Deal - which I have always found more than a little incredible, frankly - so I got a Lee single-stage press to do initial sizing, myself. I will say it makes operating the progressive machine during actually loading considerably easier.

[Duane Thomas]

So the general consensus here seems to be that Lee, either the standard Lee die or the Lee-produced EGW U-die, is the way to go, with the standard Lee doing a more than acceptable job and the EGW U-die maybe evan a bit better than that?

[Sarge]

Pretty much. I never tried a stock LEE but have heard they typically do the job well. I went with the EGW because I ran into some thin case walls that were not creating enough neck tension. It kind of boiled down to this: I HEARD the LEE would be fine but I was SURE the EGW would work.

[Duane Thomas]

Nicely phrased.

[lcs]

The Lee U die is the same as the EGW U.

SDB is less expensive, but you are locked into Dillon's dies. I have never had good results with 100% Dillon dies. I have 100K on a 650 (90% open) and Lee are the only dies for me. I can't rememeber that last time I case gauged an open round. OAL is always in specs and Lee U die spits out nice little coke bottle shaped rounds.