9mm Slight Bulge Fix With Lee FCD

[razorback2003]

I pick up random brass at the range for reloading 9mm. Most of my reloaded cartridges will easily drop into the barrel of my pistol. I use my barrel as a test gauge.

Would it be ok to run the already loaded cartridges that have a slight bulge at the bottom through a Lee FActory crimp die? Or would that mess up the cartridge by crimping it twice?

 

[jim243]

When reloading any pistol cartrage, I always run them in the FCD as a last step. With the adjuster backed out of the way the carbide ring on the bottom of the die will resize the case and take any bulge out of the case. Yes you can do it to already reloaded cases, just be sure you back out the crimping stem.

Jim

 

[Sam1911]

The FCD is the 4th station for all my autopistol cartridges. The whole reason being to act as a kind of check-gauge and final sizing station. I've never had a cartridge (with the bullet's seating depth set right) fail the "plunk" test after going through the FCD.

Just piece of mind.

 

[razorback2003]

So just take out the unscrew crimping feature of the die and run the cartridges through that don't easily drop in the barrel?

I have to make an order with Midway and will try to get that Lee FCD within the week.

 

[greyling22]

Depends on how far down the bulge is. the FCD will only size down about as far as the regular sizing die. If you're bulging blow that you're out of luck.

If you have to have one and midway won't come through drop me a line. I stopped using my 9mm FCD when I realized it was swagging down my lead bullets and causing leading and accuracy problems. (I run an oversized lead bullet in my 9)



Edit: 9mm fcd is sold.

 

[Lost Sheep]

You can't crimp a bullet twice. Once crimped, running it into the die again and again, the crimping is simply repeated to precisely the same extent.

It's kind of like seating a bullet. You can run an assembled cartridge into the seating die any number of times and the bullet will not seat any deeper than it did the first time (assuming you did not change the adjustment).

Now, if you apply MORE crimp, yes, you can think of it as applying a second crimp, but that would be inaccurate. It is not a second, identical crimp, but a new, tighter crimp.

Lost Sheep

 

[Lost Sheep]

I pick up random brass at the range for reloading 9mm. Most of my reloaded cartridges will easily drop into the barrel of my pistol. I use my barrel as a test gauge.

Would it be ok to run the already loaded cartridges that have a slight bulge at the bottom through a Lee FActory crimp die? Or would that mess up the cartridge by crimping it twice?

Bulge at the bottom? That sounds like the infamous "guppy belly" that sometimes occurs when brass flows into the area of the chamber communicating with the feed ramp. (Sometimes such brass is referred to as "Glocked brass" because Glocks seem to do it more than other pistols, but any pistol with an unsupported chamber can do it.)

There are dies (specially made just for the purpose of fixing Glocked brass) that will size the entire length of a cartridge case. This is done by pushing the (usually empty) brass all the way through a sizing die (of course, this cannot be done with any rimmed cases), in the bottom and all the way out the top.

Could this be what you need?

Lost Sheep

p.s. In post #25 Gloob asserts (and I cannot refute) that the push-through sizing die cannot do the 9mm case (because the case actually has a slight taper). It wouldn't stop me from asking Lee, Lyman, RCBS, Hornady or Redding if it were possible.

 

[razorback2003]

Can expanding the case mouth cause a slight bulge? The mouth of the case is flared just enough to put a bullet in it. After resizing my brass, I can drop all my empty brass into my pistol barrel, but that same brass after expanding, seating a bullet and crimping, will be tight to drop in the barrel.

I am using a Lyman carbide 3 die set that seats and crimps in one die. I just have an old 3 station Lee turret press.

 

[ranger335v]

"I pick up random brass at the range for reloading 9mm. ... ok to run the already loaded cartridges that have a slight bulge at the bottom through a Lee FActory crimp die?"

We really don't need to crimp most autoloader cartridges like the 9mm at all, just squeeze the case mouth enough to straighten the flare is plenty.

 

[Scuba_Steve]

Have you checked specifically which brass is bulging? I had a similar issue and after much analysis I discovered every case that was bulging was CBC brass, and doing so at about a 50% rate.

I now sort out the CBC brass and have absolutely no issues with 9mm bulging. I don't have trouble with this brass in any other caliber.

 

[mljdeckard]

I chuck the ones with bulges. there aren't that many, why mess with them?

 

[Lost Sheep]

Can expanding the case mouth cause a slight bulge? The mouth of the case is flared just enough to put a bullet in it. After resizing my brass, I can drop all my empty brass into my pistol barrel, but that same brass after expanding, seating a bullet and crimping, will be tight to drop in the barrel.

I am using a Lyman carbide 3 die set that seats and crimps in one die. I just have an old 3 station Lee turret press.

Expanding the case mouth does expand the case. At the mouth, at least. If your expander plug is slightly oversized, it will expand the brass a little bit, too. If your brass has particularly thick walls, too. So, while the answer to your question is "Yes", the value of that answer is nil. What you want to know is if YOUR expanding/flaring/belling is causing a bulge.

Try this: Take your sized case, expand the case mouth as normal and try to drop it in your chamber before putting a bullet in it. There's your answer.

Put your calipers across the case, too and see the diameter at the case mouth, a few thousands down from the case mouth, halfway to the base and again right near the base. Do it in a few orientations to make sure your case is actually round. (Hey, it can happen, and even if it can't happen, multiple measurements give reassurance.)

Seat a bullet without any crimp. Make the same measurements. Also, see if you can tell from any case bulging where the base of the bullet is. Oversized bullets will have the "pig in a python" bulge.

Does this fit your chamber? If not, where is the binding?

Apply a little taper crimp. Try fitting into the chamber again. If it still doesn't fit, your bullets may be oversized or your chamber undersized. Measure them. Slug your bore while you are at it.

It will probably not get that involved.

Good luck.

 

[Blue68f100]

I have never found a need for the LFCD. Been reloading for 35+ yrs and still do not have one in my collection. Now if you have the hour glass shape that is normal for a 9mm. You may not be applying enough TC depending on what you find with your measurements.

 

[Walkalong]

If my sizer will not make a 9MM case fit my Wilson case gauge, I scrap it. I have too much 9MM range brass to fool with any that don't pass that test. It is around a 10% failure rate on range brass. Any case that passes my case gauge, will fit my tight chambered EMP after loading.

The FCD as a fourth step is another way to "check" rounds, but I prefer to gauge my sized brass.

 

[hentown]

I've loaded tens of thousands of rounds of 9mm for shooting through my Glocks. I've never seen a bulged piece of 9mm brass, and my reloads always feed and function fine.

I do seat and crimp separately, and I prefer crimping with the FCD, mostly because I like the way the crimp is applied and how it's adjusted.

Getting an RCBS bullet feeder soon. Hopefully, it'll work as well as the guy on YouTube shows.

 

[noylj]

I run all my 9x19, 9x21, and 9x23 brass through a 9mm Mak FCD and the Bulge Buster kit. This eliminates any bulge that could cause a failure-to-feed and squares up the case head.

 

[Lj1941]

My life got a lot easier loading 45ACPs after I bought and started using a Lee FCD.

 

[razorback2003]

I did drop 50 of the sized and deprimed cases into the barrel and they all seemed to slip in and out of the barrel ok.

I adjusted the case mouth expander to not expand the mouth but just barely and that seems to cut down on the bulge and allow the dummy rounds to slip into the barrel easier. We'll see what happens. I'll try to load fifty tonight and drop them in the barrel.

How hard is it to convert the 3 die Lee press to a 4 die? I basically use mine as a single stage press and say deprime and resize 100 cases at once, then expand 100, and so on.

 

[jrdavidson]

This. (#14 on Wilson case gages)

I test each and every reloaded pistol caliber round with an L.E. Wilson case gage. If it plunks there, it plunks in any SAAMI compliant chamber, which better be all I have. I've not had a single FTF with any reloaded round that passed the case gage test. Just keep the gage clean.

 

[razorback2003]

I ran the thirty rounds I had that would not chamber easily through my Lyman resize and decap die. I just took out the decapping pin so that it would just resize.

Is that OK to do if you do not have a Lee Factory crimp die? I'm guessing this would be the same as pulling out the crimp tool out of a Lee FCD?

 

[Blue68f100]

NO. The LFCD sizing ring is set to SAMMI Spec, where std resizer is undersize so it will hold the bullet. All you probably need to do was re adjust the TC/seating die to put more TC on.

 

[Motownfire]

Your rounds will turn out good running them through the Lee FCD. I have the Lee FCD in the 4th hole when loading my .40 cal rounds. I wouldn't load any of my auto pistol rounds without one. I am currently searching for a Lee FCD for my 9mm die set.

 

[razorback2003]

I just measured the case mouth diameter of the loaded rounds i ran through my lyman resizing die and it is .375 instead of the usual .380. Would it be bad to shoot these, such as pressure spikes, or just a loss of accuracy?

 

[david_r]

razorback,
You may have just resized your bullets and lost neck tension. Cycle some through your magazine a few times and measure OAL. Don't ride the slide, let it slingshot just like in real life.

 

[GLOOB]

+1. You are decreasing neck tension. So you may have big pressure spikes.... from setback rounds! And you might have poor accuracy.

There are dies (specially made just for the purpose of fixing Glocked brass) that will size the entire length of a cartridge case. This is done by pushing the (usually empty) brass all the way through a sizing die (of course, this cannot be done with any rimmed cases), in the bottom and all the way out the top.

Could this be what you need?

This can't be done with 9mm, due to the taper. The casehead is too big to fit through a push-thru die.