Reloading 9mm Luger

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marine one

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heiio everyone,
I'm just getting into reloading and got my dies and press and most of all the other things .
I have a 9mm 1911 Springfield and want to start reloading have some questions,.
Do you discard your brass if it's below .005 or .006 of trim lenght ?
How much of a crimp is needed on bullet ?
Any help from eneybody would be helpful. Thanks
 
I used to trim pistol brass but no longer do so. Granted I don't load at the volume some here do but the cases I work with are generally of close enough uniformity it's unnecessary. If I do run across the occasional excessively long or short case I just toss it. Because I shoot all sorts of mixed brass including brand new and range pickups, it would consume too much time trying to sort and make sure they were all trimmed to whatever baseline length was chosen.
 
I load pretty much minimum power factor 9mm. I never measure cases and I reload them until primer pockets start getting loose or one in a while I get a split case. I use range pick up brass. I go with a light crimp, enough to take out the bell out of the mouth of the case. Been doing this for years without problems.
 
I never trim auto cases for pistol calibers. A lot of 9MM cases are shorter than SAMMI minimum, no big deal.

"Crimp"? All an auto caliber like 9MM need is enough taper "crimp" to remove the bell or a hair more, think .001 more. Neck tension does the work of holding the bullet. The "crimp" removes the bell for proper function.

9MM Loads # 89 & # 90.JPG
 
But just make sure you have that taper crimp set right or after the first shot, the rest in the magazine might have serious set back (don't ask me how I know when setting up a LnL)
 
Correct, but after loading for 35 years on a single stage, going to the LnL and using bushings meant spending time trying to finagle the die adjustments.
 
I don't and have never trimmed straight wall pistol cases. I recommend a Lee collet crimp die for consistent crimps on inconsistent length cases. I have reloaded 10's of thousands of 9mm rounds and have never had any issues with case length.

When I was new to reloading I had a tendency to over think things and try to make them more complex than need be... I think you are worrying about a non-issue.
 
I agree with no trim on 9mm and 45acp. I do trim 38/357 and 44 spl/mag because I use a roll crimp. If I change type of crimp on my rimmed pistol rounds I will re-evaluate the need.
 
Anudder vote for not trimming.
Heck I don't even measure them.

What I do is keep 'em separated by headstamp..
Win with other win, rp with other rp, etc.
That seems to work fine for me.

As far as "how much criimp"
Just remove the bell, and not much more.

Remember 9mm headspaces on the case mouth.
So you don't want to over-crimp.

Wondering if you're doin' it right??
Do the "plunk" test.
Drop a couple of finished rounds into the barrel's chamber.
You should hear a "plunk". You can also visually see if they're fitting right.
 
Not to sound like a broken record...

I do not check, measure or trim my 9x19 cases or any other semi auto pistol case.

I taper crimp enough to remove the mouth belling of the case. The crimp is enough to aid in preventing the bullet setting back in the case when feeding although the bullet tension from sizing is the major prevention of set back.

I toss cases when they fail. Generally body splits or case mouth spits.

I generally load 115 gr or 124 gr RN bullets to short of maximum levels for 9x19. Bullets could be cast, plated or jacketed. They seem to work well in all my 9x19 guns including an M1911.

A

Wondering if you're doin' it right??
Do the "plunk" test.
Drop a couple of finished rounds into the barrel's chamber.
You should hear a "plunk". You can also visually see if they're fitting right.

Good advice from Hondo 60.
 
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Well I'm late to the party and I'm not sure if this has been addressed yet, but case length is measured after sizing?
 
I don't trim any semi-auto pistol brass that uses a taper crimp. I do trim everything else in an effort to get more consistent accuracy. With revolver brass you only have to trim it once if your making heavy loads or loading for a rifle with a tube magazine and need to roll crimp.
 
Well there you have it, don't bother trimming straight walled cases..... I never have, and never even considered it, and never had a problem...

You have to trim 30 carbine and it's a SWC. That has to do with head space and in battery (bolt locking lug). That's the only SWC I can think of tho so you're 99% correct.;)
 
Lots of good information so far. I'll just add the following observations:
  • I load and shoot a significant volume of 9mm ammo these days. Some of it is relatively soft, minor-PF stuff, but a lot of it is is 9MM Major (over book, built for special USPSA race gun). With non-major loads, brass lasts a very, very long time - at least from the good headstamps. With major loads, 2-4 firings is all I get before the primer pocket gets loose or it stops gauging even after resizing because of expansion near the rim.
  • With 9mm's tapered case, it is critical that you get the die all the way down to the shell holder. If you have a tight-chambered gun, even a hair's breadth of clearance when the ram is all the way up has the potential to cause problems.
  • I don't ever measure cases, much less trim them. I do case gauge all loaded ammo - every round. Things that don't gauge with ease get marked as practice ammo - and I try not to re-collect that brass after shooting. Things that really don't gauge well get thrown away (this is rare).
  • I've never measured crimp. I crimp enough so the rounds will plunk. Like others, I like a nice coke-bottle shape on the sized brass such that I can see where the bullet base is - it's like a VPL for ammo!
 
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OK, I will admit I am bad but
I never trim 9mm brass,
I don't measure it either other than using a case quage to check my match ammo.

Walkalong,
how did the N105 load shoot?
I had to check VVs data because I didn't remember seeing anything for N105 in 9mm, but it is there hiding, just never noticed it:)
 
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