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Pistol reloading question

jerm8352

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Asked a similar question about 45 a while ago where a few rounds wouldn’t chamber right and would give me a hard time trying to eject them. Anyways been at the bench a lot with all the covid and kind of ran into a similar situation with some 9mm. Picture below should show it pretty well but anyways some of the lead bullets seem to not be seating “straight” in the seater die causing some of the jacket to bunch up and mess with chambering. I try to keep the bullets semi straight while putting them through the seating die so I am not sure as to what is going on. Am I not flaring the case mouth enough before charging? Or is it something with the seating die? I’m really confused as I seem to be doing it now with two calibers and didn’t really have any issues before. Also is there any way to fix those up or should I just tear them apart and throw out the lead? Thanks for any help. 1A5C178B-801E-48B4-986A-7CFCCF02152F.jpeg
 
Nice
BB.jpg
 
More flare and spend the $13 on a Lee Factory crimp die. I have one for every caliber I load. They are cheap and worth every penny. They show up on Midway clearance often.

You need to flare plenty and be sure no cases have burrs at the mouth. I use a two step process. My seating die is set to ONLY seat the bullet to the correct depth,not do any crimping at all. The Lee Factory Crimp does the actual crimp in the next step.

The Lee CARBIDE factory crimp die will also iron out any bulges in the case around where the heel of the bullet would be. This makes finished rounds which look good, and feed good.

I don't know if you are using a progressive press or not. If you are not, charge all your cases, then hand start your bullets on the tray, then run them through the press. You will feel any bullets that don't want to start and seat right.
 
Thanks. I am using a progressive. I haven’t had any problems for years and now this starts showing up.
 
They’re really soft. Generous bell and don’t overcrimp. If you can seat and crimp in a separate station or step you’ll get better results with plated bullets. I’ve shot a lot of Xtreme plated bullets and they require a very minimal crimp for any sort of accuracy.
 
I've had them shed their jackets in the pistol. Chuck 'em. +1 on the crimp. Rainier bullets has verbiage on their website that overcrimping can slice the jackets trough.
 
I guess I won’t buy plated ever again. Should I even shoot the ones that seater ok? I mean I guess I could just pull em all and salvage the brass and some powder.
 
I’ve shot thousands of plated bullets. Millions are shot every year. They are a fine choice for target shooting. Adjust your dies and you will be fine.
Every weekend there are dozens of IDPA, USPSA, 3 Gun matches being shot all over the country. About 1/2 of those guys and gals are shooting plated or coated bullets that they loaded with no ill effects.
I would shoot the ones that will feed. The jacket on a plated bullet is electroplated to a lead core, Ive never seen one separate and I’m not sure it can. Ive shot them in 45ACP, 9mm, 40 S&W, and 38 Special without any issues. More flare, less crimp. It’s that simple.
 
I’ve shot thousands of plated bullets. Millions are shot every year. They are a fine choice for target shooting. Adjust your dies and you will be fine.
Every weekend there are dozens of IDPA, USPSA, 3 Gun matches being shot all over the country. About 1/2 of those guys and gals are shooting plated or coated bullets that they loaded with no ill effects.
I would shoot the ones that will feed. The jacket on a plated bullet is electroplated to a lead core, Ive never seen one separate and I’m not sure it can. Ive shot them in 45ACP, 9mm, 40 S&W, and 38 Special without any issues. More flare, less crimp. It’s that simple.

+1

Not all electroplates are created equally. I've loaded and shot a ton of them. They can be a lower cost solution for range time. They can peel, just like the nickel on cartridge cases can flake. The quality of the bond depends on the lead prep before the plating, the amount of current used in the plating process, etc. My absolute favorite defense bullet, the Speer Gold Dot, is an electroplate. The Speer process is "bulletproof" (Sorry :rolleyes:) . I have recovered Gold Dots that were as flat as a coin and their jackets were still bonded.
All Gold Dots start life as a TMJ and then they punch the HP cavity in them.

The plated bullets I have had separate can all be laid on my process. For revolvers, I custom roll the crimp groove where I want it, based on my desired seating depth. Plated bullets don't like being run through my cannelure machine. The ones that have failed have all been loaded above 30,000 psi in magnum revolvers. The copper ring left behind by the jacket shedding has been in the cylinder, not the barrel. It's always been the part behind where I crimped. It's always been a ring, meaning the base was still bonded to the lead and tore free of the shed.

Sorry, I run on when you hit my fave topics.

To back up @FLS, flare more crimp less. Price = quality in most cases. Gold Dots are expensive, Berrys' Rainier, and Xtreme are less. I will keep loading them and shooting them all.

You can always smash one with with hammer or squeeze one in your vise and see if it flakes.

As always, when shooting - if anything sounds or feels funny about a shot, cease fire and safety check your weapon.
 
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