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Posted: 9/24/2013 1:47:03 PM EDT
Ok, so the prices and availablity has drove me to yet another caliber. I had the brass, and the primer and a few pounds of Unique, figured I'd buy the dies and bullets and load the stuff.
Anyways, I already load .38 special, but that's all as far pistol ammo. I know 9mm is a bit different than 38 as it headspaces on the mouth of the cartridge, so I'm not exactly sure what I need to look at, with 9mm, case length, OAL, or ??? Someone give me a quick rundown of what to concentrate on.... I'm going to be loading it for my Star Model B, a XD, and a SIG I plan to buy here soon BTW |
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With straight wall auto pistol cases like 9mm, you never have to trim or worry about case length.
You do have to pay attention to proper sizing, so loads will chamber, crimp, and OAL of loaded round. For OAL follow your reloading mauual. Just match up bullet shape types. Most of my loads come out to 1.10 OAL. Trying sized case, dummy round (sized case, seated/crimped bullet, no primer or powder) in pistol barrel is a good idea. |
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With straight wall auto pistol cases like 9mm, you never have to trim or worry about case length. You do have to pay attention to proper sizing, so loads will chamber, crimp, and OAL of loaded round. For OAL follow your reloading mauual. Just match up bullet shape types. Most of my loads come out to 1.10 OAL. Trying sized case, dummy round (sized case, seated/crimped bullet, no primer or powder) in pistol barrel is a good idea. View Quote Got ya. I'm going to be loading some 115gr Winchester FMJ bullets at first, but will probably settle on the 115gr plated bullets from Rocky Mtn reloading, since they have such a good buy. I will make a mock up round to try in all the chambers per your advice as well, thanks!!! |
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Got ya. I'm going to be loading some 115gr Winchester FMJ bullets at first, but will probably settle on the 115gr plated bullets from Rocky Mtn reloading, since they have such a good buy. I will make a mock up round to try in all the chambers per your advice as well, thanks!!! View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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With straight wall auto pistol cases like 9mm, you never have to trim or worry about case length. You do have to pay attention to proper sizing, so loads will chamber, crimp, and OAL of loaded round. For OAL follow your reloading mauual. Just match up bullet shape types. Most of my loads come out to 1.10 OAL. Trying sized case, dummy round (sized case, seated/crimped bullet, no primer or powder) in pistol barrel is a good idea. Got ya. I'm going to be loading some 115gr Winchester FMJ bullets at first, but will probably settle on the 115gr plated bullets from Rocky Mtn reloading, since they have such a good buy. I will make a mock up round to try in all the chambers per your advice as well, thanks!!! make 2 or 3 and load a mag to check for feeding...as I was alway's taught. |
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With straight wall auto pistol cases like 9mm, you never have to trim or worry about case length. You do have to pay attention to proper sizing, so loads will chamber, crimp, and OAL of loaded round. For OAL follow your reloading mauual. Just match up bullet shape types. Most of my loads come out to 1.10 OAL. Trying sized case, dummy round (sized case, seated/crimped bullet, no primer or powder) in pistol barrel is a good idea. View Quote This and you'll be cranking it out. 9mm is not hard round to reload for that some make it out to be. |
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http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t249/GreenWolf70/9mmLugar-1.jpg You will find the case mouth after crimp should vary from .375 up to .380 (SAAMI spec .381 max shown). Use a taper crimp die to allow headspace on the case mouth. 115 gr RN will typically be 1.1" OAL. 124 gr or 147 gr will be longer, flat nose or HP bullets will vary in OAL, each per manufacturer. Max OAL for the cartridge is 1.169 (shown), that is very long. View Quote Awesome thank you all!!!! I have a Lee carbide 4 die set on the way from Midway, I believe it has the taper crimp die, so I'll be cranking rounds soon enough. So pretty much just try out some different charges and everything else stays the same once i verify that all loads and feed properly correct?? Also, with Unique I have found that to get it to burn completely you need to load to the medium high side of charges listed. Of course you couldn't really do a light load for fear of it not cycling the slide..... |
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Taper crimp or Lee Factory Crimp both work well.
I have loaded 5.2 gr of Unique with a 115 gr jacketed bullet with good results, 1154 fps average out of my Beretta Mod 92FS. |
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Your findings on Unique are right, you get unburned flakes and soot if the loads are too light.
Powders that work well include W231, HS-6, Bullseye and others. Are using once fired brass, virgin brass, or range pick up? |
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You'll find that Winchester 115 and 124 grain FMJ bullets have a longer tapered point than most other FMJ bullets. Both 115 and 124 gr. Winchester 9MM factory loads are around 1.160" oal. Other 9MM FMJ factory loads are from as short as 1.110" depending on the manufacturer. Some 9MM FMJ bullets have a blunt round tip and oal's are shorter with them. No need to trim 9MM cases.
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And get yourself case gauges. I have one that is for 9, 40, 45 and 38sp.
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I'll be using all once fired brass I have shot over the past few years, guess it was a good thing I kept it all!
Yeah, as far as unique in my 38 I always had to load it middle to hot to get it to burn, it seems to like high pressures. I'll keep that in mind with the winchester bullets as well. They always looked longer in their factory ammo, compared to others... |
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I've found that your OAL will generally be dictated by your magazines. Most rounds will load, feed, and chamber a lot longer than the magazine will accept. Figure out how long you can go to achieve proper function of the gun, and then dial it in until it fits in your mags.
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You guys are awesome, all of my question have been answered, and some I didn't think of
Oh, and about the taper crimp vs roll crimp, I load rifle, so i know what the difference is, hell, doing the roll crimp on .38 was a new one for me |
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You guys are awesome, all of my question have been answered, and some I didn't think of Oh, and about the taper crimp vs roll crimp, I load rifle, so i know what the difference is, hell, doing the roll crimp on .38 was a new one for me Just makin' sure No problem! |
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Keep in mind that your dummy loads will typically only be good for the same brand and type of bullet. I have found a difference in plated bullets by the same brand. I can't use unique and have a pound if you have something to trade if your close to Motown.
Remember, trades are not allowed in threads. Don't want to lock thread. dryflash3
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Keep in mind that your dummy loads will typically only be good for the same brand and type of bullet. I have found a difference in plated bullets by the same brand. I can't use unique and have a pound if you have something to trade if your close to Motown. View Quote I'm 2hrs away, down near Elkins, not planning on heading that way, until the Fairmont gun show. Not sure what I'd trade though |
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I got another question guys. I got to thinking with 5.2gr or so of Unique in a 9mm case, it's gonna end up compressing the powder when you seat a bullet, is this ok?? I've never messed with compressed loads, so i don't know if this is normal or not.
I know my Lyman manual calls for a start load of 4.6 and a max load of 5.8gr, so I know I'm in the good, Also I plan to start at 5-5.2gr as recommended above, just concerned about compressing the powder.... |
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Compressed loads that are backed up by published data are no problem.
Like in this case. |
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Ok, loaded up 4 dummy rounds, seated the Winchester FMJ bullets to about 1.16 OAL, since they are a tad long in the nose. Winchester factory ammo measures at 1.159-1.161, so I'm good there. I crimped to the measurements above, to about .375-.377, and tried the 4 rounds in my XD, and my Star model B, all fit the chambers fine, and hand cycled with no problems.
Everything sound ok so far?? I wrote all those measurements you guys gave me on a sticky note, and posted them at my bench Gonna eat dinner, and size a few hundred cases |
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This is a great thread, on Sat my dies should be in the mail box and I'm new to 9mm. I picked up 1000 cci's and a pound of tightgroup as the local shop has some stuff now. My brass is range as well.
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Quoted: Ok, loaded up 4 dummy rounds, seated the Winchester FMJ bullets to about 1.16 OAL, since they are a tad long in the nose. Winchester factory ammo measures at 1.159-1.161, so I'm good there. I crimped to the measurements above, to about .375-.377, and tried the 4 rounds in my XD, and my Star model B, all fit the chambers fine, and hand cycled with no problems. Everything sound ok so far?? I wrote all those measurements you guys gave me on a sticky note, and posted them at my bench Gonna eat dinner, and size a few hundred cases View Quote Sounds like you are on the right track.
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The dies are here, the bullets are here and the brass is a tumbling, time to read, read, read.
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I loaded 100rnds up last night before bed, probably go try them out tomarrow
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When you read, you suddenly realize that neither a #1 or #3 shellholder will do you any good, that ends the weekend 9mm fun.
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Don't feel bad I am going to be in the same boat here shortly and I am planning on starting on 9mm as well. Just need to get the move over with then I will be able to place the orders and get what I need to get started. I will be watching this for any pointers that come out in it.
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Quoted: Don't feel bad I am going to be in the same boat here shortly and I am planning on starting on 9mm as well. Just need to get the move over with then I will be able to place the orders and get what I need to get started. I will be watching this for any pointers that come out in it. View Quote Wet side here.
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I run 5.8 grains of Unique with 115 grain FMJ. My Speer manual 12 gives a range of 5.6 to 6.3 grains. They are accurate and function the action 100%. The 5.2 seems a little light to me for FMJ bullets.
Let us know how they turn out. |
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Ok, took the loads up to the old quarry on the mountain, and shot all 100. I used a xd sub compact, and my Star Model B. Accuracy with the Winchester FMJ's was fair, I'm no marksman with a handgun, but I could hold a 8" circle or so @ 15 yds with the xd, and the star was the normal dead on for the first 3 rounds or so then it opens up for some reason.
Recoil was minimal, and all rounds cycled, brass from the xd only dropped about two feet away in a nice pile. The star failed to go all the way in battery once, and I ejected the round, looked it over and loaded it back in and it fired. Not sure what the problem was, but that was the only hiccup. I might load some more rounds at 5.4gr and see if that helps a bit of the brass ejection from the star as it seemed kinda weak. Also, the unique seemed to be a bit smoky, but fouling looks normal or a bit lighter than factory ammo. I plan on ordering some plated bullets next, so I'll see where that goes. |
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Well done, you are hooked now.
The experimentation never ends. That's the fun or reloading for me. With more shooting, you will become a better shot.
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Well done, you are hooked now. The experimentation never ends. That's the fun or reloading for me. With more shooting, you will become a better shot. View Quote Funny thing is, shooting on cardboard I can't do for shit, but now when I switched over to my spin cycle steel target, I was hitting it every shot pretty much with the XD after I figured out where it was shooting. |
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Picked up some 115gr berry's bullets, gonna test those out now with 5.8 gr of Unique. Should do pretty good in my new Sig 226 MK25
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Sort of a thread hijack but still a question about 9mm reloading. I just got a 9mm and have 400 brass laying around and I'm gonna start reloading them. Is a 4 die set normal for pistol reloading? My 2 die set is all I need to reload .223 so I'm assuming since its a straight walled case that the other 2 dies will have something to do with flaring the mouth for seating and then a taper crimp die as well?
Anyways great thread and I've gotten most of my answers Ive needed from here so far! Reloading is definitely becoming my favorite part of the forums here! |
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Sort of a thread hijack but still a question about 9mm reloading. I just got a 9mm and have 400 brass laying around and I'm gonna start reloading them. Is a 4 die set normal for pistol reloading? My 2 die set is all I need to reload .223 so I'm assuming since its a straight walled case that the other 2 dies will have something to do with flaring the mouth for seating and then a taper crimp die as well? Anyways great thread and I've gotten most of my answers Ive needed from here so far! Reloading is definitely becoming my favorite part of the forums here! View Quote Yes, 4 die set for 9mm, and really any strait walled cases. You have sizing/decapping die, a flaring die, a seat die, and a crimp die. Strait walled cases need to be flared to fit the bullet in the case, hence the need for the flaring die, plus the LEE sets the flaring die is also a powder through die, so you save a step there, as you can flare, and add powder in one step. |
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Sort of a thread hijack but still a question about 9mm reloading. I just got a 9mm and have 400 brass laying around and I'm gonna start reloading them. Is a 4 die set normal for pistol reloading? My 2 die set is all I need to reload .223 so I'm assuming since its a straight walled case that the other 2 dies will have something to do with flaring the mouth for seating and then a taper crimp die as well? Anyways great thread and I've gotten most of my answers Ive needed from here so far! Reloading is definitely becoming my favorite part of the forums here! View Quote 3 Die sets are common as well, I started out on a Hornady 3 die set with no issues. Seat and taper crimp in the same step wasn't an issue. |
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With straight wall cases, 3 die sets can be made to work.
A separate seat and crimp dies is preferred and makes setting dies easier. All of my straight wall dies are 4 die sets.
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Quoted: With straight wall cases, 3 die sets can be made to work. View Quote A separate seat and crimp dies is preferred and makes setting dies easier. All of my straight wall dies are 4 die sets. I no longer have problems with my crimps since buying a separate crimping die.
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Quoted: A separate seat and crimp dies is preferred and makes setting dies easier. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: With straight wall cases, 3 die sets can be made to work. A separate seat and crimp dies is preferred and makes setting dies easier. All of my straight wall dies are 4 die sets. I no longer have problems with my crimps since buying a separate crimping die. |
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