Resizing

[billykaldrich]

hey guys a little help here. I load 9mm,38/357 and I find that when I use lead, or Oregon Trails (very tacky feel to the coating they use and it gunks up the dies) my finnished rounds do not drop in the barrel.Last night I set up a resize die on a single stage press and sized the 357 rounds and they drop right in the chamber.Is this common to have to do this extra step?No problems with 45 on the Dillon 550 press the resize,prime die works fine.

[Catfish]

If you're shooting brass that was fired from a Glock, and you're gun is not a Glock then the bottom of the case will have a slight bulge that Dillon dies don't remove.

I use a Lee crimp die at my last station on my 550 and that fixes about 95% of the problem cases. Other folks use other dies with similar or better success.

If you do a search on it, I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of good info.

[Sean Gaines]

You shouldn't have to go through all that trouble. You need a Lee undersizing die, or lee "U" die, but I dont see why it should be that much of a problem with the dies that you are using, unless you are getting brass from another source. Your shooting .38/357 through a revolver when the whole case is fully supported. Its not like you can shoot a .38 or .357magnum through a glock. Now you can shoot some .357 rounds through a desert Eagle, but I dont know the scoop, as far as the support issue. Also some lever action rifles have gone to using the .357 mag.You may want to play with the sizing die on your 550 where its sizes all the way down, or as far down as it can go, and maybe that will work, or just opt to buy the "u" die.?????????Sorry just winging it I hope some of the advice helps you out.

[billykaldrich]

If you're shooting brass that was fired from a Glock, and you're gun is not a Glock then the bottom of the case will have a slight bulge that Dillon dies don't remove.

I use a Lee crimp die at my last station on my 550 and that fixes about 95% of the problem cases. Other folks use other dies with similar or better success.

If you do a search on it, I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of good info.

thanks for the info catfish I think I have seen or heard a lot about the Lee crimping die before.I did not like some of there otherstuff but I may give that die a try.

[DougCarden]

If you shoot lead, you should probably have a Lee Factory taper crimp die for each calibern you load for. It has a carbide sizing ring in it that will "iron" out the "bulge" from some lead bullets you describe. Cheap insurance, and when set up properly, they will ALL feed unless something is drastically wrong! Good luck, DC

[billykaldrich]

If you shoot lead, you should probably have a Lee Factory taper crimp die for each calibern you load for. It has a carbide sizing ring in it that will "iron" out the "bulge" from some lead bullets you describe. Cheap insurance, and when set up properly, they will ALL feed unless something is drastically wrong! Good luck, DC

besides the bulge you discribe the Oregon Trails bullets have some sort of coating on them that really funk up the dies.I dont know if it is a lub or what . should I put the finnished bullets in the tumbler for a few hours or is there something to wipe it off with.

[Clay1]

Billy, I take it that your problem is with loading 9mm and not with the 357? With your Dillon dies make sure you set up the press with ammo in progress in each stage of the press. The sizing / decapping die should just touch the shellplate and then I back it off 1/4 turn and lock it down. If you have the sizing die so adjusted and are still having problems the Lee FCD (factory crimp die) is an inexpensive option that should get your 9mm brass back to specs.

What exact caliber are you having problems with and what gun is it going into? Is this once fired brass that you originally shot in the gun that you are loading for or is it range brass?

[billykaldrich]

Billy, I take it that your problem is with loading 9mm and not with the 357? With your Dillon dies make sure you set up the press with ammo in progress in each stage of the press. The sizing / decapping die should just touch the shellplate and then I back it off 1/4 turn and lock it down. If you have the sizing die so adjusted and are still having problems the Lee FCD (factory crimp die) is an inexpensive option that should get your 9mm brass back to specs.

What exact caliber are you having problems with and what gun is it going into? Is this once fired brass that you originally shot in the gun that you are loading for or is it range brass?

well 9mm is one problem in my Kahr K9 and MK9 and 38 special in my S&W M37 and S&W 686 also 357 cal in the 686.when I resize on a single stage press the rounds drop right in.I have tried to adjust the Dillon Decap/size die to no avail. Thanks for all the feed back you guys.

[Clay1]

Doesn't sound like Glocked brass to me at this point. First thing that comes to mind is the shell plate holder on the 550. The holding bolt (the one that goes through the hole in the middle of the shell plate) should be snugged up and then backed off an 1/8th turn. Sometimes if you leave this too loose the dies touch the shell plate but the shell plate isn't down far enough so that you are not really sizing all the way down on the case.

Remember before you snug the holding bolt to loosen the set screw in the ram itself.

If that still doesn't do it Dillon has a great customer service department - let them earn their money and call those guys. They are seriously on top of their equipment and it is their job to make your life easier as far as the reloader goes. They will be more than happy to help.

Rick

[DougCarden]

Billy, try this. The 9x19 gave me fits for a long time until I learned how to load it... (if you are familar with this I apologize for the review )

First, adjust your sizing die all the way down the shellplate, touching but not intefering. Then size a case. measure the case with a dial caliper and write it down. Then adjust your case mouth bell so the bullet fits without too much bell. I think Dillon recommends .010. Then take the belled case and then run it through the crimp die. Adjust the crimp until the taper crimp equals the measurement you took on the resized case. You are now really close! Now size a case, bell it, seat the bullet, and then crimp. Now take a case mouth measurement. It should be close to the original "sized" measurement. Remember that with the 9x19 you are only taking the "bell" out of the case with the crimp, not holding the bullet in the case like a revolver round. I was over crimping the crap out of the case, which caused all my chambering problems. With adjusting my crimp like this and the LFCD for my Lead rounds I dont have any problems anymore in over 30K of 9x19....

As far as the .38/357 issue, I still think it is an issue of setting up the crimp die properly. Remember that the Roll crimp is different than the tapercrimp. It sounds like the single stage is set up properly, but for some reason the dies on the 550 arent. Just take some time and adjust the depth of your sizing and crimp die on your 550 and I bet your problems go away! We have all suffered through stuff like this. Good luck and I hope some of this helps! DougC

[LPatterson]

A recommendation for the 9X19 brass is to spray them lighty with Hornady One Shot (lots of post search for one shot) because the 9X19 is a tapered case.

The 38/357 needs more of a roll crimp than you might think necessary, you should be able to see a visible roll to the case mouth into the grove in the bullet.

[Rico567]

As noted above, make sure your shell plate bolt is adjusted properly. Before you do that, take the shell plate off and snug down the two large allen head screws that hold the shell plate carrier to the ram (I'm assuming the 550 uses a similar system to my 650). Those two screws on my 650 were NOT screwed down tight from the factory. Then put the shell plate back on and adjust as above (per specs in Dillon manual).

I load .223 and .45 ACP with Dillon Dies and .40 S&W with Lee dies. They all go into the case gauge properly.

[JimP]

Call Dillon cust service - but I think what they'll tell you is to run that resizing die right down to the shell plate holder. I don't think there is any reason to back it off - other than just jamming the die into the shell plate holder. I think that Dillon die is spring loaded - but it should still resize that case with no problem. I'm using Dillon dies in an XL 650 press but no problems resizing cases - and I'm sure I'm picking up some brass that has been cycled thru a Glock and others - before I run it thru my guns. The only problem I'm having is on Sellior & Belloit brass - the primers seem to seat a little too firmly - but in checking the primer pockets they are a little out of spec. Once I started pitching the S&B brass out of the mix - problem went away in 9mm luger.

[Josh Biondi]

Hy guys here is my suggestion....... use a Lee Factory crimp die unscrew the screw on the top of the die and remove the crimp ring. Now you have your factory die without the crimp..... well make go through totally the bullet into the factory die (in from the bottom and out from the top) .... so you have the finish bullet correctly sized totally also the bottom of the brass near the primer........ simple not???