Roll sizing

[Superkaratemonkeyfighter]

Is roll sizing a must for a open gun ?

or is a proper size and crimp good enough. 

 

[Darqusoull13]

I used a roll sizer for 9, but with 38 SC neither myself or my shooting partner have seen the need. I'm running his reloading process and to be honest, since I'm just running my same 38 SC over and over, I haven't had a single loaded round fail a Hundo case gauge because it was out of spec. 4000 rounds in and I've had 1 upside down primer as a failure and that's it. 

 

For 9, especially loading mixed brass and range pickup, roll sizing is an absolute must. 

[MikeBurgess]

Not a must but it sure makes for less failures of your case gauge 

 

[zdali]

1 hour ago, Darqusoull13 said:

For 9, especially loading mixed brass and range pickup, roll sizing is an absolute must. 

 

This! 

[zzt]

3 hours ago, Superkaratemonkeyfighter said:

Is roll sizing a must for a open gun ?

or is a proper size and crimp good enough. 

 

 

9mm is a taped case. Crimp dies like the Lee FCD can only resize the top of the case while crimping.  You can go to an undersized Lee or EGW sizing die.  You can also grind the bottom of an undersize sizing die off so it resizes more of the case.  It is still not 100%.  I can't be bothered. 

 

I buy fully processed, once-fired, same head stamp brass from Kenny's Brass for 5 cents each.  They are inspected, cleaned, resized, decapped, primer pocket swaged, roll sized and polished.  Then they are sorted by head stamp.  All the good head stamps are made available in lots of 3000 for $170 now.  It used to be $150/3000.  All of the non-preferred head stamps are sold mixed for a lot less money.

 

9mm major IS high pressure, especially if you use fast powders like Autocomp or CFE.  It is worth it to me not to have to worry.  I take out the sizing die and they sail through my press without a hiccup.  Since press operation is smooth and the cases all the same, SDs are always single digit.  Loaded rounds drop into and out of the Shock Bottle case cage with no effort.

 

I leave them on the ground at matches.  For practice, I pick them up and use them for Open minor for steel or PCC.

 

That being said, our friend Bill C. uses range pickup brass.  He processes it and roll sizes all of his.  He also uses CFE , loads short and has no problems.  I'm not that daring.

[APL-G35]

I hardly think it's a requirement.  I load 9 major using a standard RCBS sizing die and have a case gage failure rate of less than 7 per 1k and thats using mixed range brass.  Once fired nickel case police range brass I'd guess 2 or 3 per 1k maybe.

[Kilrb]

It's probably not necessary, but with the issues I had with .40 even with the EGW "U" Die I bought dies for .40 and 9mm when I ordered my Roll Sizer. It solved a lot of the issues I was having randomly. I have a 38 Super Open Gun on the way, so I bought dies for that, doesn't take that long and rounds load smooth as well.

[zdali]

Some of things that people tend to miss about rollsizing 9mm

1. Rounds stack better in 170mm mags, which means more reliable feeding.
2. SD is significantly better
3. Reduces amount of failures when gauging
4. Eliminates need to sort by head stamp (IMHO, YMMV, IANAL, etc etc)

So... Don't need it if you use new brass, somebody else processes brass for you, or you don't care about above points 

[CalTeacher]

Roll sizing as absolutely not a must.  All other operations of the loading process, if dialed in correctly, will serve you perfectly fine.

 

Can you reduce your case gauge failure rate?  Yes, but you can do that by sorting headstamps, and even then you’re looking at a very minimal improvement.

 

Will your gun feed more reliably?  Likely not, but maybe there’s a chance?

How much expense and effort has to be put into 9major before 38SC becomes appealing?  
 

Yeah I know, it’s not one of those threads.

 

[clw42]

I don't think it's a must.  If I have a round that fails the hundo, 99.9% of the time it passes the dillon single case gauge and gets tossed in to the practice bin.  If it happens to fail the dillon gauge it's because it's cracked and I missed it during processing.  No round that's passed either of those gauges has failed to feed in either of my open guns. I use strictly range pick ups, and I don't sort anything by headstamp.  If it's a 9mm case, I process it, load it and shoot it.  My only requirement for major matches is that the round passes the hundo and slides out when dumping the rounds, if it sticks in the hundo, I toss it in the locals bin. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to roll size, but to me it's money that can be better spent elsewhere...especially with the price of primers still being what it is.

[PhotoRecon]

IMHO roll sizing is only necessary when brass fired in a larger chamber is then loaded for a chamber with tighter specs.

 

I bought the rollsizer mostly for the range brass I pickup but use it for all my own 9, 45 and 223/556.

[zombywoof]

I shoot 9 major, never roll size.

[jsoupene]

I shoot 9 major it is not a must but.....

 

I did not roll size for 3-4 years but I did have failures in the hundo. One I started have them roll sized I have not had a failed since. Plus they run smoother through the press. I would guess 15k with no failures. I have so much confidence in it that the only reason I use the hundo is to check primers.

Edited November 15, 2022 by jsoupene

[Superkaratemonkeyfighter]

I know guys that shoot checkmates that don’t roll size but that’s a cz. 
so who knows how that chamber compares to a 2011 chamber 

but also different barrel makers have different chambers. 
but it does sound like it’s just like any other reloading for competition. If it passes the gauge it’s good to go. 

 

[Superkaratemonkeyfighter]

It’s nice that it’s not a absolute must do. 
but I can see why it would add ton of piece of mind and headache with rounds not making it pass the case gauge. 

 

[Kilrb]

10 hours ago, jsoupene said:

I shoot 9 major it is not a must but.....

 

I did not roll size for 3-4 years but I did have failures in the hundo. One I started have them roll sized I have not had a failed since. Plus they run smoother through the press. I would guess 15k with no failures. I have so much confidence in it that the only reason I use the hundo is to check primers.

Same as me much smoother re-loading

[barry]

Been shooting USPSA for 30 years . don't think I know a single person who roll sizes. Shoot every week with several 9mm open shooters that don't roll size or sort brass.  Check ammo for matches if it doesn't fit gauge it goes in practice bag. Unless visible damage put aside. 99.9 percent of gauge rejected ammo runs fine. I do cut my chambers a bit oversized. will trade 10% accuracy (maybe) for 100% reliability.

[Brooke]

On 11/15/2022 at 8:08 AM, jsoupene said:

I shoot 9 major it is not a must but.....

 

I did not roll size for 3-4 years but I did have failures in the hundo. One I started have them roll sized I have not had a failed since. Plus they run smoother through the press. I would guess 15k with no failures. I have so much confidence in it that the only reason I use the hundo is to check primers.

I shoot 9 major for Open and 40 major for Limited.. Roll Sizing improves yield and makes the press run smoother and with less torque. essentially have zero gauge fallout in either caliber. I gauge every round in a 100 round Shockbottle gauge.  Roll sizing is well worth it to me.

 

I saw another comment that said sorting cases is not needed if you roll size.I don't think sorting is absolutely necessary in 40 but Id never load mixed brass for 9 major. You cannot control OAL or powder load well enough for such a sensitive situation for feeding or power factor. I expect every round to feed and power factor to have a single digit standard deviation in a 20 round test. That is easy to achieve in in sorted brass that is roll sized.

 

It costs a few bucks to get a roll sizer but you'll save that in scrap and gun feeding issues over time and be more confident in the function of your ammo. You only buy a roll sizer once...cheap versus the rest of shooting.

 

Sorting is time consuming. I hate it. Lately Ive been buying sorted head stamps. Cost a little more but a great time saver.

 

Both rolling and sorting are worth the effort. I make a combined 50-70K rounds per year soIm not dealing in small runs.

 

 

 

 

 

[HI5-O]

I CasePro my cases for the same reasons they said (above). Results show on match day when others have malfunctions mostly caused by ammo issues. 

[N7VY]

Rollsizing has made a huge difference to my reloading. Prior to Rollsizing I had 7 to 8 failures out of 100 to case gauge and with the cost of primers it’s made it a lot easier for me. I rollsize for several other shooters. 

[sc68cal]

With the cost of components, it is very annoying to end up with a round that is bulged at the base and have to take it apart and discard the primer (I don't feel comfortable de-priming live cases)

[IHMSA15151]

I’ve never rolled my 9 major brass, but I only use the same brand. I just sort out the Blaser cases from my range pickups. Size them in my RCBS sizer, but run them through a Lee crimp die with the carbide sizer ring in it. I’ve never had a feed issue yet. I use them once or maybe twice then dump them. I only use the Blaser brass for my 9 major loads, that way I don’t mistakenly use them in any other 9mm pistols by mistake.