9mm Major Pick-up Brass

[RickT]

Reloading on a 1050 with Mark 7.  We've run 100K rounds through our 9mm 1911s without issue using a dillon decapping die.  All of my rounds plunk in our barrel(s) and the guns feed flawlessly.  Recently I've switched to one of the zero-mileage backup guns and I've encountered some extraction issues.  Now the chamber may be tighter in this essentially new gun, but I suspect that I've encountered some brass that has been loaded to 9 major.  What I see after popping the brass out is a scuff mark just above the rim which is almost certainly where the brass is hanging up; I mean it's really stuck in there.

 

I've switched to a U-die I had on hand and that should address this issue, but I don't see how even a 9 major load can cause the case to swell beyond a normal chamber diameter.   Am I missing something?  I'm aware of the older Glocks in 40S&W which didn't have a fully supported chamber, but are there any firearms out there in 9mm that can produce this case?

Edited May 26, 2019 by RickT
spelling

[haiedras]

Rick, that's usually from the brass being overworked, so on sizing the excess brass is being pushed into the rim area. Usually fails case gauging. I've usually set those aside as practice rounds, now I roll size and that takes care of the issue.

[RickT]

Interesting.  Never encountered this and I know my brass can get loaded 15-20 times since we use a tarp when we practice.  None of the rounds I recently loaded using the U-die have shown this issue so until further notice I'll stick with that die and see how it goes.  I always gauge rounds before a match in any event.

[dansedgli]

Sig p320x5's are a bit bulgy.

 

I'd be checking your extractor though.

 

[Hi-Power Jack]

11 hours ago, RickT said:

 

 I don't see how even a 9 major load can cause the case to swell beyond a normal chamber diameter. 

 

I doubt that's the problem.   Your resizing die should solve that problem.

 

And, you must have had some 9mm Major brass in the past, which feeds thru your 1911's.

 

I'd suspect the extractor in the new gun, or the chamber - could it be just a little rougher -

needs to be smoothed out just a bit.

 

Or,  I wonder if the bullet is getting stuck in the lands of the barrel - just slightly

too long for that particular chamber.   Have you run The Plunk Test in your new gun ?

[lee blackman]

I used to irritate folks who picked up my 9Major brass.  It would crunch and not resize because the web was blown out to much.  Then the stuff that somehow did make it thru the sizing die and ended up a reloaded cartridge wouldn't pass a case gauge.

 

For future reference and simplicity sake, you could always buy off the shelf new brass and load a batch, just to eliminate that as a variable, but I'm almost certain that the brass is not your issue.  And if it passes a case gauge it should chamber in your gun.  

 

That said, 

 

The case head isn't going to "swell" outside of spec when you fire it an additional time and cause any type of extraction issue.  Extraction issues are often related to the extractor in a 1911... And we all know 9mm's, more so 9Majors are more sensitive on having the extractor tuned just right.  And if its an open gun with a sight mount covering the top of the ejection port while the slide is open, tuning the ejector is also critical.  There are a ton of forum posts about tuning extraction/ejection for 9 Major to reference.

 

 

[zzt]

Rick, there are lots of guns out there with unsupported 9mm chambers.  You see the problem even with factory ammo.   I buy fully processed once fired cases to avoid that problem.

 

When you check your extractor, make sure the nose is not touching the the brass.  The flat of the extractor is supposed to touch the outside of the rim.  By touch I mean just kiss.

 

Your backup gun needs to be shot for a couple thousand rounds before it will smooth out.  It was interesting to watch the process with my new gun.  At first, the brass just dribbled out at 168PF.  The gun is still in the white.  As I continued to shoot it, it ejected farther and farther.  After a while it would run 150PF, but dribble out the brass.  Now it ejects about a foot away.  It takes a while before everything smooths out, the recoil springs sets, etc.

[Smithcity]

Another vote for processing your brass with a case pro or roll sizer. It just isnt worth the headache to NOT roll my brass anymore. 100% of my brass is rolled before it touches my press. Passe rate through case gauge went from the low to mid 90's to 99% since i started rolling.

[RickT]

Great points all.  I'm good as far as  the OAL and not question the chamber may need some smoothing out .  Even the feed ramp which has been polished is not as smooth as its well-worn siblings.  I'm doing some testing with the U-die in place and I'll get a few rounds per hundred that I won't use in a match, but know would be ok for practice, but maybe 1 per hundred (based on a sample of 100) does seem to have a bulge that the U-die doesn't handle.

 

At my age and level I'm not going to do any additional process steps, but I'll continue to evaluate.  My wife, having switched to RFPO, has cut my reloading down by 60%, but now I'm dealing with the cursed Ruger 22/45 mags.

[zzt]

1 hour ago, RickT said:

now I'm dealing with the cursed Ruger 22/45 mags.

 

Polish the internals.  Deburr the slot the button rides in,  Spray everything with a Dry lube.  This will hold you for 18 months as long as you occasionally clean the gunk off the round\stud the mag spring fits into.  With Ruger mags, cleanliness is next to godliness.  After 18 months , replace the mags and start over.  That being said, you can pound the feed lips back into submission, but it's easier to start fresh.