Help Needed

Tjohnson

Tjohnson

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Hey guys, looking for some help/advice.

I'm new to reloading, bought and set up everything last year and loaded 100 rounds before realizing something wasn't right. My loaded rounds have an hour glass type of shape to the brass. I took some pictures and attached them below to try to show what they look like. I tried googling my issue and no matter how I typed it into google I could not find results that addressed my problem.

For reference, I'm loading Rainier 9mm 147 grain TRN on a Dillon 550 using Dillon carbide dies. Like I said, I'm new to the game so if I've left out some critical information that would help your evaluation let me know. I can also take more pictures if needed of the set up or anything else that may help.

IMG_8260.JPG IMG_8262.JPG IMG_8263.JPG
 
Do they fit in a case gauge? Or the chamber of your barrel?
 
Best to do that test with the barrel removed from the gun (the plunk test). They should just drop into the chamber without any urging from the slide/spring. A case gauge isn’t expensive and is easier (and for pistol, checks OAL as well).

Are you positive your sizer is adjusted properly? (According to the directions that came with it.) if it was too high it wouldn’t fully resize the base of the cases.

Is your brass random range pickups or your own from that gun? Glocks can bulge the base. I use a Lee Factory Crimp die instead of the Dillon because it includes a carbide sizer ring that goes all the way down as it crimps. In theory it should not be needed if everything else is right. In practice, well practice and theory often turn out not to be the same.

There could be some way to crush the cases that way maybe but I think you’d see other symptoms mixed in also if that were the case.
 
Charlie said:
That crimp seems to be somewhat excessive. Have you figured out exactly where the hang up is for those that do not chamber?
Click to expand...

True. Back way off on the crimp. Just take out the expansion and see if that fixes it. You may be crushing it during the crimp. If so, you can add a bit a crimp back if you feel the need.
 
Coke bottle shape on 9mm is not uncommon and normally isn't anything to worry about. Not being able to chamber is a problem, though.

Plunk test the rounds. While a case gauge will tell you if the case dimensions are ok, case gauges do not simulate the gun's chamber forward of the case mouth, in other words they won't tell you if the bullets will be jammed into the lands. There are some case gauges that are made by using a chamber reamer, but unless the barrel of YOUR gun was cut with the same reamer, they won't simulate YOUR barrel.

The main purpose of the plunk test is to tell you how deep you have to seat the bullet so that it isn't jammed into the lands. It is possible to seat the bullets too deep, though. In 9mm, the brass has tapered wall thickness, so if you seat the bullet too deep (a real problem with heavier bullets) then the walls will expand out too far.

If you have one or more rounds that won't pass the plunk test, you can color the round with a marker, press the round into the chamber and then remove, and then see where the interference is occurring.

Do you have mixed headstamp brass? If so, do you see some headstamps work fine while one or two headstamps seem to be the problem? The reason I ask, I've seen large variations in wall thicknesses between different headstamps. If the walls are thicker down the case where the base of the bullet rests, this could cause a problem. This problem will be worse with 147gn bullets since the base ends up further down the case than lighter bullets, causing the case wall to expand. This is what causes the bulge you see.

And I also agree that the round in the photo is over crimped.
 
Thanks for all of the replies and information last night. I’m pressed for time this morning but after work I’ll be rereading this thread and adjusting the dies accordingly.
 
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