I just started reloading 9mm. I resized and insured trim etc. I belled the case just enough to get bullet in. Then seated the 115 gr bullet. Using unique with 5.5. I did 4. All chambered and extracted fine. Primer looks good. I did notice some smut on each side of brass after shooting them. Any ideas why. Oh I’m not crimping either. The are in there good plus I read some do some Dont. It’s a semiautomatic Springfield pistol. Thanks. Maybe to much bell and gas escaping. Don’t know.
9mm reload
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I have been seeing this on a lot of my recent reloads and have made a few changes that some have stopped the carbon and some haven't. I tried a different powder with varying weights. That didn't help so then having never crimped any of my thousands of 9mm reloads I ordered a taper crimp die and crimped 50 rds. That didn't work but what worked like a charm was making 50 shorter. I am using hp-38 and 100 grn berry's due to lack of availability of 124. Anyway this was even with CFE-Pistol, but making them a little shorter worked the best.
JJFitch
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Not all powders burn at the same rate and cases react differently to pressures depending on case neck tension.
Your case is allowing gas to escape during firing. This is common at lower pressures.
Is your load at or near factory pressures? Unless you have laboratory test apparatus, who knows?
No worries!
Smiles,
Your case is allowing gas to escape during firing. This is common at lower pressures.
Is your load at or near factory pressures? Unless you have laboratory test apparatus, who knows?
No worries!
Smiles,
bluetopper
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If your gun is cycling and locking back after the last round and your not loading them over max I wouldn’t worry about it.
I personally wouldn’t go to the trouble of trimming 9mm. Life is too short for such. And I would put just a tad of crimp, just enough to feel it in the press.
I personally wouldn’t go to the trouble of trimming 9mm. Life is too short for such. And I would put just a tad of crimp, just enough to feel it in the press.
Normally the smut (aka soot) is from the case not completely sealing the chamber. Your 5.5 gr of unique sounds OK, not light, but double check the charge. Make sure the flare is removed (no crimp necessary), as flare may impede sealing at the case mouth. I have used a lot of Unique and Universal with 124 gr bullets with no soot, but haven't reloaded any 115 gr bullets. Perhaps the lighter bullets are adding to the "problem"...
But as blurtopper mentioned, as long as the gun is functioning OK, soot isn't a "major" problem. BTW; I have been reloading since 1969 and specifically 9mm since 1990 and never trimmed any handgun cases...
But as blurtopper mentioned, as long as the gun is functioning OK, soot isn't a "major" problem. BTW; I have been reloading since 1969 and specifically 9mm since 1990 and never trimmed any handgun cases...
great info. yeh it all shoots very good. cycling etc. just did not like the soot. i need to actually look at some factory ammo and compare. i did not crimp which is nice. they look real firm in the mouth. i might try like you said to insure that the flare is not to much. to me that would account for some of the soot. i think 6.2 or so is max. dont have that info in front of me. the case is pretty full. i was sort of surprised. that is interesting that 9mm cases dont last that long. hmmm. did not know that. i might play with that flare than. thanks guys for all the good info.
buba68
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What brand of reloading dies are you using?
Rcbs
buba68
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Have you done a plunk test on your cartridge yet? If they plunk ok then your crimp and COL should be ok.
I thought the same thing about my reloads, and then I looked at factory brass I've kept, and most of it has some smudge near the mouth from carbon. Maybe between 1/4 and 1/3 down one side of the case from my experience is normal.
My guess is as the case expands, it doesn't do so 100% perfectly every time, meaning it seals some of the chamber first, and can leave the part that seals last succeptible to a little gas sneaking back past the case mouth just before the cartridge finishes sealing - that area with the soot, sealed correctly, it just did not do so before a tiny little bit of powder burn entered that area. If it did not seal at all, I think the soot would go all the way down to the base of the cartridge, and it would be likely that the case would also be dented in.
My guess is as the case expands, it doesn't do so 100% perfectly every time, meaning it seals some of the chamber first, and can leave the part that seals last succeptible to a little gas sneaking back past the case mouth just before the cartridge finishes sealing - that area with the soot, sealed correctly, it just did not do so before a tiny little bit of powder burn entered that area. If it did not seal at all, I think the soot would go all the way down to the base of the cartridge, and it would be likely that the case would also be dented in.
I found that by seating deeper the black carbon went away. The carbon was all the way down one side to the bottom. Crimping didn't help or minimal loads or near max loads. I ran three tests.
cool. that would make sense, no? with the bullet seated a little deeper, you're gaining a few nano seconds for the case to expand more before the bullet exits.
My intention was to create a bit more pressure. Maybe I was wrong but it seemed to work.
go with what works
I load 9mm with Unique as well. I have found that it tends to burn a bit dirtier than others ESPECIALLY at low to midrange loads. It cleans up considerably near max and the cases don’t soot as much. That said...if your loads are cycling the action and shooting accurately then you can learn to live with a little soot. Its easier on you, the gun, and the brass.
Telum Pisces
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Jus something I will point out that I don't do. I am not a competition shooter. So I have never trimmed a 9mm case in my life!
lordpaxman
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You weren’t wrong, for a given load, shortening COL increases pressure. Shortening COL below published data puts you in the realm of loading over MAX charge. If you’re loading a fast spiky powder it may produce results you don’t want. I’m not saying don’t do it, just be aware and load with care. Good luck!
lordpaxman
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I do shoot competition and have never trimmed a 9mm case. Ever. If I thought it would help in any way, I would.
Dudedog
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What, trim 9mm brass? Nope, I have plenty of .223 that needs to be trimmed!
Never trimmed any of the 60K 9mm I have reloaded and they all worked fine.
brewer12345
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I lhave two loads for 45 ACP using the same bullet. The light target load is 4.5 grains of bullseye, the full power load is 7 grains of Unique. Other than the powder charge, everything I do with them is identical. When I shoot them, the outside of the light load cases are sooty while the full power load cases are pretty much shiny on the outside. I think it is just a matter of the brass not fully expanding with the light load and some of the powder residue ending up on the outside of the case. Seems to make basically no difference in accuracy, etc. so I don't worry about it.
packetloss
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The soot is generally from not enough pressure to expand the case before the gasses start to expel from the case. For 9mm, I get a ton of soot if I use CFE Pistol (at any charge, but I don't go over max). That same CFE pistol in 357 sig and 40 s&w produced no soot (at min or near max loads). With Shooters World Clean Shot in 9mm even at low loads, I don't get any soot. It's a faster powder more suitable to lower pressure rounds.
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