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05-28-2013, 02:08 PM
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Join Date: May 2013
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RCBS 9mm Carbide
I've just reloading through my first 2-3k rounds all in 9mm and I just have a little problem I can't seem to figure out. I have an RCBS 9mm carbide set with a de-primer/resizer, expander, and seater/crimp. My problem always comes with the 3rd die. In order to get a good crimp I make my bullets to short OAL, but if I set it up for the proper OAL it seems like there is virtually no crimp. However, even though it seems like the casing doesn't crimp flush with the bullet the bullet is firmly seated and does not spin/pull in and out or any combination. They are firmly seated in the casing even though they just do not seem it. Is this normal? They fire/cycle just like they are supposed to. The only problem I've found is that they do not slidelock my buddies brand new ppx, but I think the issue is with his grip not the reloads. Any advice would be welcomed.
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05-28-2013, 02:24 PM
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Nine MM Luger should be taper crimped, and that sounds like what you are doing. You do not want to roll the crimp into a cannelure because the round rest in the chamber on the case mouth (headspaces). Most failure to lock back issues I've seen have come from magazine issues.
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05-28-2013, 02:35 PM
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Basic Instructions
1. With the die body backed out to not crimp turn the seat steming down to make a small batch of bullets to your desired OAL.
2. Back the seating stem out so it doesn’t touch bullets then use your uncrimped test batch to set the die body to crimp correctly.
3. Turn the seating stem down tight against one of the correctly assembled cartridges.
4. Load a million.
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05-28-2013, 02:38 PM
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I taper crimp my 9mm as an extra step. Makes case length a lot less critical.
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05-28-2013, 02:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by k22fan
1. With the die body backed out to not crimp turn the seat steming down to make a small batch of bullets to your desired OAL.
2. Back the seating stem out so it doesn’t touch bullets then use your uncrimped test batch to set the die body to crimp correctly.
3. Turn the seating stem down tight against one of the correctly assembled cartridges.
4. Load a million.
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This is golden advice. I wish I would of thought this way sooner. Thank you. But one more questions I have now. How do I know when the die body is set to crimp correctly?
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05-28-2013, 02:57 PM
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You might try taking a factory FMJ round, back seating stem up all the way "up" and screw crimping portion of seating die "down" until it just touches the case (you don't want to crimp a properly loaded round), then adjust the seating stem to touch the nose of the bullet. Try one round (it could be a primer-less dummy) and see how they feed ect. Adjust as needed. On a progressive press I always make seating and crimping 2 different steps. Been using RCBS carbide die sets since before 1980 and other brands also but RCBS is king! On progressives the dies mouths need to be radised for alignment, most newer die sets are, but check before you buy. Ivan
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05-28-2013, 03:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cmm5350
They fire/cycle just like they are supposed to. The only problem I've found is that they do not slidelock my buddies brand new ppx, but I think the issue is with his grip not the reloads. Any advice would be welcomed.
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I'm having a hard time visualizing, without a picture I can't tell you, but based on the fact that they cycle its a non issue. Failure to lock back is not cause by your seating/crimp. It might be him, it might be that this is a light load for his pistols given recoil spring combo, etc.
Last edited by BlueOvalBandit; 05-28-2013 at 03:08 PM.
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05-28-2013, 06:02 PM
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The failure to lock the slide on empty is typically caused by a shooter riding the slide lock with his thumb, 99% of the time. The other 1% is due to worn out magazine springs and since you report this pistol is brand new you can eliminate magazine springs as a cause. If the pistol in question is set up for right handed use only a very quick way to prove it's a shooter related issue is to have the shooter use his left hand for a magazine or two.
As K22 points out correctly you have to set the taper crimp up independently from the bullet press. How much crimp is required isn't much at all. I use a set of calipers and will measure the crimp right at the forward edge of the casing. What I shoot for is a diameter 0.002 to 0.003 inch smaller than the diameter about 1/8 inch back from the edge of the casing. While this is not as much as you see with a lot of factory ammo I've actually tested for setback and bullet pull and found that this amount of crimp is perfectly suitable for range ammo. However, I've also found that this amount of crimp will allow setback to creep in after 10-15 reloads of the same cartridge so for carry ammunition you'll likely be wise to set your crimp to the .004-.005 range. BTW, I use a minimum crimp to extend case life because the more you work brass the faster it tends to harden up and crack.
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