Wild Swedish girls in bikinis with crimping and seating questions---

[ChemistShooter]

---are NOT who is writing this post.

I am reloading 9mm on an RL550B for the first time and need some experienced opinions on if things are going well or not. My crimps don’t look uniform but the actual amount of variation is not significant---I think.

Right at the moment I am working on crimping, seating to a specific OAL, and removing the crimp.

Crimp: Everything I read says the flare for 9mm is strictly for seating the bullet and to keep the flare to the minimum possible, as excessive case flare shortens case life. I am using .355-inch bullets. I measured the case wall at the mouth as .001 inch. After much die-wiggling, I got a .002-inch flare on the case mouth. After seating and de-crimping three (unprimed so far) bullets, the case mouth diameter was .375 inches plus or minus about half a thousandth.

I pulled five rounds I have made so far plus one Blazer 9mm and compared the bullets. Please see attached picture.

The bullets I crimped don’t all look the same, alas. There is a visible crimp in some, but not all, of the bullets I made. The decrease in diameter at the crimp mark is less than a thousandth of an inch. The biggest deviation measured .0007 inch. At the base, every single bullet measures .355 inch. The Blazer---farthest to the right---has no visible crimp. Do I have a problem, or not?

Seating: I need to find a good seating depth. I measured the length of a Blazer, pulled it and measured the length of the case and the bullet, subtracted to get seating depth: .750 + .553-1.155=.148 inch.

I measured the Hornady bullets. Their dimensions match the Blazer bullet EXACTLY. The only difference is the Blazer has a copper jacket completely covering it while the Hornadys have an exposed lead bottom. FYI, the bullets with a visible crimp were about a thousandth longer.

I measured the OAL of three bullets I made. 1.160, 1.161, 1.161 inch. Good enough, or not? (I know max OAL for 9mm is 1.169 inch.)

I measured individual lengths for three bullets and cases and got seating depths of .140, .139 and 0.140 inch. Good enough, or not?

Question: What are the specs for the Dillon dies? (As in ¼-28.) I’d like to be able to calculate how many turns it will take to move a specific distance. I can’t find the specs anywhere and really don’t want to pull them out and measure since I’ve got everything set. I can’t get the calipers on the die turns properly to measure a good distance.

[RippinSVT]

I don't see a pic.

As it pertains to crimp with 9mm, you're basically removing the flare, and then adding slight case mouth tension on the bullet. Don't envision some heavy roll-crimp like you might use on 44mag. On my most accurate Bianchi loads, I end up with a few thousandths of a shiny ring right at the case mouth, but little/no visual indenting of the case mouth. This will vary with mixed range brass as case thickness, case length, and even brass "springiness" will slightly change the crimp from round to round. As OAL goes, it will dramatically depend on bullet shape. A heavily tapered FMJ might be 1.15-1.17" and chamber fine because the ogive is more rearward on the bullet, but an XTP at 1.12" might hit the lands and prevent chambering. Basically just load as long as you can that will freely enter/exit the mag, and then make sure that will pass the "plunk" test in your barrel with no snagging/friction. Once you've arrived at your OAL maximum, then you can try tuning it for accuracy if you are so inclined. Both crimp and OAL can dramatically affect 9mm accuracy. I think I gave you some Bullseye-quality load data in your "new guy" thread, I'd start there if you really wanna milk some ragged holes out of it. One thing of note is that while an FMJ can shoot well, a conical (XTP, Sierra Sportsmaster, etc) will shoot better 9/10 times. I save the roundnose stuff for USPSA hosing and the XTP's for Bianchi/Bullseye.

[ChemistShooter]

Well, DAMN, I tried. I punched enough "Upload this file" buttons. Okay, I'll hunt around in the FAQs and see how to upload a picture.

[hrh]

Question: What are the specs for the Dillon dies? (As in ¼-28.) I’d like to be able to calculate how many turns it will take to move a specific distance. I can’t find the specs anywhere and really don’t want to pull them out and measure since I’ve got everything set. I can’t get the calipers on the die turns properly to measure a good distance.

7/8-14.

[RippinSVT]

Well, DAMN, I tried. I punched enough "Upload this file" buttons. Okay, I'll hunt around in the FAQs and see how to upload a picture.

Try using Photobucket, then copy the link. It'll automatically show the pic. I've never had success with any forum pic uploader.

[missed it by that much]

I'm still looking for the Swedish girls

[ZackJones]

After you upload the file you have to click the "Attach This File" button. It's a two-step process.

[GrumpyOne]

And you need a certain amount of posts before you can post pictures...

BTW, you will need to flair/bell the case more than what you are, if you are using lead or coated bullets. The setup you have right now is fine for jacketed, but not the lead/coated bullets.

[TDA]

I’d like to be able to calculate how many turns it will take to move a specific distance.

.071" per turn.

[rdinga]

your variation in OAL is acceptable. If you take a box of factory ammo as a benchmark, you will see that you are producing loaded rounds with less deviation.

Even though you did not ask, I hope you are lubing your 9mm cases.

[CZinZA]

I still feel cheated

Sent by Jedi mind control

[ChemistShooter]

Really solid information from everybody. Thanks, people.

I have made another attempt at uploading a file. I seem to have said the magic words in the right order this time.

Picture attached---I hope.

[ChemistShooter]

"I still feel cheated"

I lied to get attention.

I know, I'm going to Hell now.

Edited December 28, 2015 by ChemistShooter

[CZinZA]

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits

Sent by Jedi mind control

[UncleTK]

Question: What are the specs for the Dillon dies? (As in ¼-28.) I’d like to be able to calculate how many turns it will take to move a specific distance. I can’t find the specs anywhere and really don’t want to pull them out and measure since I’ve got everything set. I can’t get the calipers on the die turns properly to measure a good distance.

7/8-14.

Your Dies have hex lock rings

1/6 turn is 0.012 (Rounded)

[noylj]

Yes, using a minimum flare may save the case life (though I doubt it), but you sure as heck can ruin a lot of rounds by not flaring enough.

I flare my .38 Spl wadcutter loads so much they just barely enter the seating die and I haven't lost a case yet due to flare. I used to lose about 2 cases out of every 2-300 rounds and I currently am losing about 2 cases out of every 2-300 rounds.

For 9x19, using jacketed bullets, you can often not flare the case at all if:

1) you have lightly chamfered each case inside and out

and

2) your expander actually brings the case ID to 0.001-0.002" smaller than actual bullet diameter.

Personally, you are worrying about minutiae when you should be loading per your manuals and learning by shooting.

Since all you want from the taper crimp is to remove the casemouqth flare, you should have NO crimp marks on the bullets.

COL is what works in YOUR gun and isn't found in a manual or SAAMI specification. In general, "most" 9x19 loads have a COL of around 1.100". Depending on the bullet, mine are generally longer, but some are shorter.

Make a couple of inert dummy rounds, which you seem to be doing any way, and, starting at a "max" COL, drop them in the barrel and see if they seat (with a 1911, you adjust the COL until the case head is flush with the barrel hood). From there, shorten COL until the dummy rounds feed and chamber 100%.

[Jollymon32]

So I'm a noob as well, but in my initial 1000 rounds loaded, NONE have any crimp marks like that. On my 550, position 3 does nothing but seat the bullet. I put a Lee FCD die on position 4 putting as little as crimp as possible to achieve a 100% result through my Hundo case gauge.

[Southpaw]

That variation in crimp marks on the bullets doesn't look good; are you sure the lock ring on your crimp die is tightened down? When I crimp I leave no visible mark on the bullets. I crimp to .379" and bell to .383", this has worked for me for jacketed, plated, and coated lead bullets.

If using mixed brass you're going to get variations in OAL. I've found Winchester loads the longest and Federal the shorted, everything else seems to be in between.

And I also feel cheated

[ChemistShooter]

Still working on the crimp-mark mystery. It's only around half a thousandth and may not be significant. I discovered the bullet feed ramp was bumping the shell plate going up and going back down. I re-installed case tray plate behind the bullet tray plate and the bumping went away. I"m hoping that was somehow why.

I am sorting my brass by manufacturer.

Wimmin. What can you say.

[mlmiller1]

You had a whole list of things you measured but have you checked the length of the brass itself? If there is any variation, the shorter brass will definitely be crimped differently. Length of brass can & will change when resizing so one more issue to deal with if you are going to be that precise.

[ChemistShooter]

Didn't mention it, but yeah, I checked all the case lengths. All .0754.

Think I solved the crimp-mark mystery. The bullets are not all the exact same width. There's a deviation of about 0.0005". Enough to account for the crimp mark.

[mlmiller1]

Your precision measurements & consistency desire would be well suited for bench rest shooting. BR shooter I know spends 8 hours when he gets a new barrel getting 20 pcs of brass prepped. Not loaded just prepped. That brass lasts the entire life of the barrel he says. Would drive me crazy! I tumble, check for problem brass, reload, tumble off lube, case gauge & shoot. Then start over. Lol. Good luck finding your level of comfort reloading. Im at around 125k rds reloaded & Ive blown one primer. My fault completely on it, too. Had half dozen squibs before getting dillon loaders. Otherwise, pretty clear sailing.

[IDescribe]

Chen, the taper in the die is very gradual. If your cases aren't the same length, your crimps won't match, plain and simple.

[9x45]

"I still feel cheated"

I lied to get attention.

I know, I'm going to Hell now.

Oh, here they are... .They were up at SWPL at Gopher Flats years ago

With guns, nice watches

Without guns... Which looks better?

Edited December 31, 2015 by 9x45

[RippinSVT]

Now we're getting somewhere. More Swede wenches! ***slaps down mug of beer on table***