I am new to reloading so I have spent the past several months reading manuals, searching forums, watching videos and continually practicing making dummy rounds with my Lee Classic Turret and single stage presses. I had previously on Saturday prepped and primed 25 cases so I finally decided on Sunday that I was ready to load some live ammo. I worked up 25- 9mm cases in five (5) groups of five (5) each.
From reading the forums I found that Alliant BE-86 seemed to be a good powder for 9mm and happened to be one of the few powders that anyone had left in stock. I had already purchased 500
Speer 115gr CPRN bullets a few weeks back. Neither my Lyman 50'th or Lee 2'nd lists anything in 9mm using BE-86, but I was able to find recipes for both BE-86 and the exact Speer 115 CPRN's at both Alliant and Speer.
Both Alliant and Speer listed the OAL at 1.135". Alliant listed the max charge at 6.3gr. and Speer at 6.2gr. with Speer starting at 5.4gr. I found a really long 34 page post about BE-86 on THR and it seemed that the largest census was to start a 5.6gr and work up from there and being 5.6 is 10% of 6.2gr I felt comfortable with that charge. So I went about charging the cases as follows:
I used an Ohaus 505 beam scale, Gemini 20 and Bald Eagle digital scales. I had already purchased some verified check weights in 2, 4, 5 and 10gr. I zeroed and tared my pan on all three scales. Every batch of powder was within .01gr with the Ohaus beam and Gemini matching exactly each time.
I filled each of the 1'st five cases with 5.6gr. by using the small Lee dipper and funnel and trickling the last tiny bit. Checked the weight on the 3-scales and verified the level in each case with a bench mounted LED powered Magnifying Lamp. I did this as the case sat on the shell holder of my LEE CTP, before I pressed the bullet. I use the turret as a single stage for now.
If I haven't learned anything else on this forum from all you guys, it is to make absolutely certain that the powder level is verified to be both accurate and existing before placing a bullet in the case.
Believe me when I tell you that I have total respect for any type of explosive because I almost lost my hand at 13-years old to an M80, which had a fast fuse and blew up in my hand before I could let it go. Thank God for the Surgeon who happened to be visiting his mother at the hospital the night I went in the ER!!! Since that time I haven't taken any undue risks with any type of explosive and always practice safety to a tee. Sorry for getting off topic.
So I repeated the above with 5- cases each charged at 5.6gr, 5.7gr., 5.8gr, 5.9gr and 6.0gr.
My plan was to shoot each one, check for over pressure signs and gradually work up to the 6.0gr unless I saw an issue of any kind. Unfortunately when I got to the range on Monday to test my first go at live ammunition, things didn't go as planned.
I unloaded my truck, set up my Chrono and put my targets up. Loaded the first group of five (5.6gr.) in the magazine of my CZ P07, took aim, squeezed the trigger and CLICK!!!
At the exact moment in time when I pulled the trigger and only heard a click, a man came up behind me screaming to stop shooting. It wasn't because of the click, but because he was a range officer sent there to make everyone leave the range right now because the County just issued a shut down notice to all County facilities. Need less to say I was pissed because of everything I did leading up to that moment of being able to actually shoot my own home rolled bullets and now I had to leave. It wasn't until he walked away that I looked at my gun and realized that either fate or luck had intervened on my behalf. I had immediately put my gun on safe, dropped the magazine and ejected the round from the chamber when the man came up behind me. Unfortunately I couldn't find the round that I ejected because the dang sand is so thick and I believe that this man may have actually inadvertently stepped on it covering it up even more. I tried to find it, but he was super hyper about me and everyone else gathering our stuff and getting off the property so that he could pad lock the gate until supposedly May 1'st.
After clearing the pistol I looked into the chamber to be sure it was clear and to my amazement there was the bullet poking out of the chamber. It wasn't jammed into the rifling, but was tight enough that I couldn't pull it or bang it out and had to use my cleaning rod to push it out. I realized at that moment that I had just experienced the first squib of my 60-year old life and worst, I was the one who created it! I mentioned fate because even though I want to believe that I would have checked the chamber before racking another round, I'll never know for sure and if I would have and the next bullet would have pushed the squib far enough in to be able to go into battery........we all know what could have been the outcome.
Unfortunately since I couldn't find the spent case is there any definitive way to know exactly what may have gone wrong? The bullet definitely had soot on it, but when I field stripped the CZ I didn't see any signs of loose gun powder or loose soot anywhere.
I will say that I am 99.9999% positive that I charged all of the cases with the correct amount of powder because I wasn't doing anything else at the time but paying total attention to loading the powder. However I also realize that it appears that a no-charge or low charge almost has to be the culprit because of the location of the bullet since it makes sense that just the pressure of the primer would be able to move the bullet that little bit.
Can anyone else come up with another example of what the issue could have been? Could I have done something else wrong in the loading process? Is it be possible that a lack of neck tension or some other issue caused this?
I used the Lee 4- piece Deluxe Die set, but I didn't use the FCD because I have heard to much conflicting information on it's use. I checked each completed round with my Sheridan slotted ammo gauge and also did the plunk test on each one with my CZ barrel.
As I said I used an OAL of 1.135" (per Speer) and measured each round. The actual measurements were between 1.135 - 1.138" after seating the bullets. I also loaded them in the magazine and cycled the slide on each one and remeasured them. I didn't measure any differences which showed a sign of being set back.
Also just so you are aware, I had previously measured the chamber of my CZ and determined that the max OAL for this pistol is 1.165" so it doesn't appear that the OAL of 1.135" would create a problem would it? Does anyone have experience using BE-86 to know if a charge of 5.6gr could have been low enough to create this squib? I wouldn't think so based on a a max charge of 6.2 - 6.3 gr., but I am totally new to this so I will take any and all advise, help, criticism, etc. to help me solve and not make this same mistake again.
Thank all of you who reads my post!
From reading the forums I found that Alliant BE-86 seemed to be a good powder for 9mm and happened to be one of the few powders that anyone had left in stock. I had already purchased 500
Speer 115gr CPRN bullets a few weeks back. Neither my Lyman 50'th or Lee 2'nd lists anything in 9mm using BE-86, but I was able to find recipes for both BE-86 and the exact Speer 115 CPRN's at both Alliant and Speer.
Both Alliant and Speer listed the OAL at 1.135". Alliant listed the max charge at 6.3gr. and Speer at 6.2gr. with Speer starting at 5.4gr. I found a really long 34 page post about BE-86 on THR and it seemed that the largest census was to start a 5.6gr and work up from there and being 5.6 is 10% of 6.2gr I felt comfortable with that charge. So I went about charging the cases as follows:
I used an Ohaus 505 beam scale, Gemini 20 and Bald Eagle digital scales. I had already purchased some verified check weights in 2, 4, 5 and 10gr. I zeroed and tared my pan on all three scales. Every batch of powder was within .01gr with the Ohaus beam and Gemini matching exactly each time.
I filled each of the 1'st five cases with 5.6gr. by using the small Lee dipper and funnel and trickling the last tiny bit. Checked the weight on the 3-scales and verified the level in each case with a bench mounted LED powered Magnifying Lamp. I did this as the case sat on the shell holder of my LEE CTP, before I pressed the bullet. I use the turret as a single stage for now.
If I haven't learned anything else on this forum from all you guys, it is to make absolutely certain that the powder level is verified to be both accurate and existing before placing a bullet in the case.
Believe me when I tell you that I have total respect for any type of explosive because I almost lost my hand at 13-years old to an M80, which had a fast fuse and blew up in my hand before I could let it go. Thank God for the Surgeon who happened to be visiting his mother at the hospital the night I went in the ER!!! Since that time I haven't taken any undue risks with any type of explosive and always practice safety to a tee. Sorry for getting off topic.
So I repeated the above with 5- cases each charged at 5.6gr, 5.7gr., 5.8gr, 5.9gr and 6.0gr.
My plan was to shoot each one, check for over pressure signs and gradually work up to the 6.0gr unless I saw an issue of any kind. Unfortunately when I got to the range on Monday to test my first go at live ammunition, things didn't go as planned.
I unloaded my truck, set up my Chrono and put my targets up. Loaded the first group of five (5.6gr.) in the magazine of my CZ P07, took aim, squeezed the trigger and CLICK!!!
At the exact moment in time when I pulled the trigger and only heard a click, a man came up behind me screaming to stop shooting. It wasn't because of the click, but because he was a range officer sent there to make everyone leave the range right now because the County just issued a shut down notice to all County facilities. Need less to say I was pissed because of everything I did leading up to that moment of being able to actually shoot my own home rolled bullets and now I had to leave. It wasn't until he walked away that I looked at my gun and realized that either fate or luck had intervened on my behalf. I had immediately put my gun on safe, dropped the magazine and ejected the round from the chamber when the man came up behind me. Unfortunately I couldn't find the round that I ejected because the dang sand is so thick and I believe that this man may have actually inadvertently stepped on it covering it up even more. I tried to find it, but he was super hyper about me and everyone else gathering our stuff and getting off the property so that he could pad lock the gate until supposedly May 1'st.
After clearing the pistol I looked into the chamber to be sure it was clear and to my amazement there was the bullet poking out of the chamber. It wasn't jammed into the rifling, but was tight enough that I couldn't pull it or bang it out and had to use my cleaning rod to push it out. I realized at that moment that I had just experienced the first squib of my 60-year old life and worst, I was the one who created it! I mentioned fate because even though I want to believe that I would have checked the chamber before racking another round, I'll never know for sure and if I would have and the next bullet would have pushed the squib far enough in to be able to go into battery........we all know what could have been the outcome.
Unfortunately since I couldn't find the spent case is there any definitive way to know exactly what may have gone wrong? The bullet definitely had soot on it, but when I field stripped the CZ I didn't see any signs of loose gun powder or loose soot anywhere.
I will say that I am 99.9999% positive that I charged all of the cases with the correct amount of powder because I wasn't doing anything else at the time but paying total attention to loading the powder. However I also realize that it appears that a no-charge or low charge almost has to be the culprit because of the location of the bullet since it makes sense that just the pressure of the primer would be able to move the bullet that little bit.
Can anyone else come up with another example of what the issue could have been? Could I have done something else wrong in the loading process? Is it be possible that a lack of neck tension or some other issue caused this?
I used the Lee 4- piece Deluxe Die set, but I didn't use the FCD because I have heard to much conflicting information on it's use. I checked each completed round with my Sheridan slotted ammo gauge and also did the plunk test on each one with my CZ barrel.
As I said I used an OAL of 1.135" (per Speer) and measured each round. The actual measurements were between 1.135 - 1.138" after seating the bullets. I also loaded them in the magazine and cycled the slide on each one and remeasured them. I didn't measure any differences which showed a sign of being set back.
Also just so you are aware, I had previously measured the chamber of my CZ and determined that the max OAL for this pistol is 1.165" so it doesn't appear that the OAL of 1.135" would create a problem would it? Does anyone have experience using BE-86 to know if a charge of 5.6gr could have been low enough to create this squib? I wouldn't think so based on a a max charge of 6.2 - 6.3 gr., but I am totally new to this so I will take any and all advise, help, criticism, etc. to help me solve and not make this same mistake again.
Thank all of you who reads my post!