9mm cast boolits - won't chamber

[rwebster71]

Hey everyone - long time since I replied and I wanted to thank everyone for their help. The problem turned out to be a VERY easy fix... as several folks recommended, I went and purchased a Lee push through sizer and sized them down to .356. All of them loaded up perfectly. They drop right into my case gauge, they fit into each of my pistols and they shoot just fine.

Thanks again, everyone!
Rick

 

[noylj]

This is how castboolits defined boolits vs bullets and they are all about hand cast lead bullets - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?40260-What-is-a-quot-Boolit-quot

"Boolits = as God laid it into the soil,,grand old Galena,the Silver Stream graciously hand poured into molds for our consumption.

Bullets = Machine made utilizing Full Length Gas Checks as to provide projectiles for the masses."
​

I sometimes prefer to use the term "projectile" to better clarify component instead of loaded round.

My projectiles are all clearly labeled as bullets and factory rounds are all clearly labeled cartridges. Projectile covers a wealth of things that aren't bullets.

 

[noelf2]

Projectile covers a wealth of things that aren't bullets.

I think casters call them proojectiles so people don't confuse them with arrows and cannonballs.

 

[Pottimus]

Go figure, I would have bet it was the crimp.

 

[Targa]

I don’t know about the Lee mold but I use the Lee factory crimp die with my MP mold and I can’t imagine it working any better. These bullets run through six 9mm pistols that I own reliably and accurately.

 

[Tilos]

I tried to carefully chamber them into my Springfield XD 9mm and Glock 19 9mm, and am finding that it appears to hang up on the cast boolit itself. In the pictures below, you can see where the lead is "shiny" where it's contacting the breach bore when it tries to go into battery.

I was thinking that I'm over taper crimping, but that shouldn't change how the cast boolit is hanging up in the breach/bore. Anyhow, I'm pulling my hair out (what little I have left). Any ideas here? Appreciate any help y'all can give me. Thank you!

View attachment 936207
View attachment 936208

First, I suggest you remove the barrels from the XD/Glock instead of "very carefully chamber"(ing) your reloads.
You can "PLUNK TEST" those reloads in just the barrel, much safer than chambering.
@hotshot357 posted a pic of his PLUNK TEST:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/9mm-cast-boolits-wont-chamber.873405/#post-11606267

And yes, I think you are over-crimping too.
Casting a bullet with a step that is seated flush with the case mouth will solve most all your problems here.

jmo,
.

 

[garandsrus]

As was mentioned, the sized case should hold the bullet in place with just neck tension. I don’t think your brass was sized enough. Just screw the die in some more and the neck tension should increase.

The seating depth of cast bullets is less forgiving than jacketed. The cast bullet is larger in diameter so can get hung up on the mouth of the chamber. Seating deeper solves the problem.

 

[BJung]

I'm curious to ask. Has anyone used a specific brand of brass to load with their boolits and avoid this bulgie? Some .38 brass has thicker walls than others so I'd assume there will be a difference in brass wall thickness between brands.

 

[garandsrus]

I use pretty much any brass and have loaded thousands of cast bullets in 9mm.

 

[joneb]

When you seat and crimp in one step, you get crud at the case mouth which causes feeding issues. Seating and crimping in separate steps will help to minimize this problem.
And yes you may be over crimping.

 

[lordpaxman]

Hey everyone - long time since I replied and I wanted to thank everyone for their help. The problem turned out to be a VERY easy fix... as several folks recommended, I went and purchased a Lee push through sizer and sized them down to .356. All of them loaded up perfectly. They drop right into my case gauge, they fit into each of my pistols and they shoot just fine.

Thanks again, everyone!
Rick

Glad to hear you have something that works now. You didn’t mention if you ever did do a plunk test to determine max and working COL for your guns. If you didn’t, I recommend you do as that’s a pretty critical step prior to reloading. Good luck.

 

[Kaldor]

I shoot lead or HiTek coated on a consistent basis. The Lee FCD in 9mm will not "size your bullets" as the 9mm is a tapered case, the head of the case is the only thing being touched by the carbide ring. That being said, on something with a straight wall like 45 ACP the FCD carbide ring will size your bullet, and I actually removed the carbide sizer ring from my Lee FCD for 45 ACP and just use it as a taper crimp die.

@rwebster71 Im assuming the bullet is sized correctly, so just seat a little deeper and back off the crimp a bit. Seat until you are just spinning the bullet on a "plunk" test. Then crimp just enough to remove any case flare. Also might be worth trying a Lyman M-die as an expander as it does seem to work much better with cast and coated bullets.

 

[rwebster71]

Glad to hear you have something that works now. You didn’t mention if you ever did do a plunk test to determine max and working COL for your guns. If you didn’t, I recommend you do as that’s a pretty critical step prior to reloading. Good luck.

What is a "plunk test"?

 

[rwebster71]

What is a "plunk test"?

Disregard... A quick Youtube search educated me. Great information - thanks all!

 

[Tilos]

I'm curious to ask. Has anyone used a specific brand of brass to load with their boolits and avoid this bulgie? Some .38 brass has thicker walls than others so I'd assume there will be a difference in brass wall thickness between brands.

I have found Winchester 9mm brass to have a thinner wall thickness than other brass.
I found this, might be relevant to this conversation:

Probably stolen from a Walkalong post
.

 

[Walkalong]

What is a "plunk test"?

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...rel-find-a-max-o-a-l-with-your-bullet.506678/

 

[Walkalong]

I have found Winchester 9mm brass to have a thinner wall thickness than other brass.
I found this, might be relevant to this conversation:
View attachment 1065219
Probably stolen from a Walkalong post
.

Not mine.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I have found Winchester 9mm brass to have a thinner wall thickness than other brass.
I found this, might be relevant to this conversation:
View attachment 1065219
Probably stolen from a Walkalong post
.

I use this method for finding the MAX COAL for any given chamber/bullet combo. It's not as complicated as it sounds. If math is not your friend, then never mind.