I have loaded precision rifle for quite a while. Im going to start shooting my pistol more. Anything special for loading a 9mm? Does case manufacturer or case prep matter as much? Crimp or no crimp? Loading on a dillon 550.
Reloading 9mm
- Thread starter Forward543
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Case prep is noting more than tumbling clean.
Always crimp. Just enough to get rid of the bell you put in to seat the bullet.
Always crimp. Just enough to get rid of the bell you put in to seat the bullet.
Nope. Always taper crimp to get rid of the bell and then just a touch more. Don't go crazy or accuracy will suffer in a hurry.
Case prep = clean to your liking and that’s it.
Find the bullet you want to use. Identify a safe COAL by doing a “plunk test” in your pistol’s chamber. You want to jump to the lands in pistols. Crimp = taper to remove the bell of the case mouth and a touch more. You don’t want to crimp enough to indent the bullets. Once again, make sure they slide in and out of your chamber easily.
Primers= cheapest
Powder= depends what bullet you choose but I use a lot of WSF currently. WST worked great also but you won’t find much load data on it.
Load in small increments in regards to charge weight. Many do 0.1gr intervals. I do 0.2gr initially and then 0.1gr to fine tune.
Find the bullet you want to use. Identify a safe COAL by doing a “plunk test” in your pistol’s chamber. You want to jump to the lands in pistols. Crimp = taper to remove the bell of the case mouth and a touch more. You don’t want to crimp enough to indent the bullets. Once again, make sure they slide in and out of your chamber easily.
Primers= cheapest
Powder= depends what bullet you choose but I use a lot of WSF currently. WST worked great also but you won’t find much load data on it.
Load in small increments in regards to charge weight. Many do 0.1gr intervals. I do 0.2gr initially and then 0.1gr to fine tune.
I just tumble and go at it with a Lee Classic Turret press, size - prime - powder drop/expand (bell) - seat - taper crimp. I don't like to use the bullet seater for crimping. I use Lee dies.
I like coated lead bullets from Acme or Black Bullets International (BBI) My go to loads are 147gr with WSF.
I agree with RR about the plunk test. Take the barrel out of your gun to check. Seat a bullet and crimp and then drop in the barrel to see if it plunks and spins without hitting the rifling. This will vary big time with different gun barrels and different bullets. My CZ75 is very short throated while my other 9's are not.
I like coated lead bullets from Acme or Black Bullets International (BBI) My go to loads are 147gr with WSF.
I agree with RR about the plunk test. Take the barrel out of your gun to check. Seat a bullet and crimp and then drop in the barrel to see if it plunks and spins without hitting the rifling. This will vary big time with different gun barrels and different bullets. My CZ75 is very short throated while my other 9's are not.
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I bell just enough to seat without shaving jacket and crimp just enough to remove the bell. 9mm spaces off the case mouth, so make sure you don't crimp too much. For an expaple, look at the different crimps on factory 9mm vs rimmed like 357. If loading lead, you'll need more bell than if loading jacketed.
Dont tumble pistol brass with your other brass.
For range shooting, hp 38 is a fairly good compromise between case fill and economy. For full power loads, try hs6 or ram shot silhouette with sp mag primers.
Dont tumble pistol brass with your other brass.
For range shooting, hp 38 is a fairly good compromise between case fill and economy. For full power loads, try hs6 or ram shot silhouette with sp mag primers.
