Why does one 9mm bullet plunk and the other sticks

[Imissedagain]

All cases are sorted, inspected, measured and trimmed if necessary.
From 380 to 458.
There are other steps to making the brass ready before priming.
Never in a hurry to make mistakes.
Seating and removing flare or crimp, in two steps.
Casings are for sausage making.

 

[tires2burn]

Here's a picture of two 9mm cartridges, reloaded in 2 different batches one day after the other.

The bullets are both Missouri Bullets 125 gr. SWC, both measure .356" dia.

The diameter of the case at the mouth is:

.3775" (red bullet) and .3775" (gold bullet)

The case length (best I can measure an assembled cartridge) is:

0.7430" (red bullet) and 0.7440" (gold bullet)

OK, given that info, both of the cartridges plunk well in my Shield barrel. If I press on the gold bullet cartridge, it bottoms out hard on the rim in the chamber and drops back out when inverted with a little shake. The red bullet cartridge however plunks well, but sticks a little and if I press on it it feels like it's engaging the rifling (a soft lead feeling) and then I have a lot of difficulty getting it out with my finger nails and I have to wiggle the cartridge to get it out of the chamber.

I've had this problem forever and have improved my technique to where I get consistent ammo that plunks reliably, but this problem is only on SOME rounds.

Can anybody enlighten me?

I just had an idea. I'm going to plunk a sample of bullets and measure the depth plunking by the cartridge weight alone, then press the bullets in to see if and how many aren't bottoming out hard metal on metal.

I will resize a case, and use my Dremel with a cut-off wheel and cut a slice 3/4 down from the case mouth and debur it. Insert a bullet by hand into the case and then put int in the chamber and push until it seats the headstamp even with the barrel hood. Carefully remove the cartridge and measure. You might have to push it out with a wood dowel from the muzzle end. Seat .015 shorter in a regular case and just take out the flare so the case is straight. Plunk it. A Lee FCD works very well to straighten out the case and they are priced very low for what they do. Hope this helps.

 

[rwsmith]

I will resize a case, and use my Dremel with a cut-off wheel and cut a slice 3/4 down from the case mouth and debur it. Insert a bullet by hand into the case and then put int in the chamber and push until it seats the headstamp even with the barrel hood. Carefully remove the cartridge and measure. You might have to push it out with a wood dowel from the muzzle end. Seat .015 shorter in a regular case and just take out the flare so the case is straight. Plunk it. A Lee FCD works very well to straighten out the case and they are priced very low for what they do. Hope this helps.

Interesting sollution.

 

[rwsmith]

'Bout time I ccame back here. After doing what ya'll suggested I've shot umpteen 9mm rounds and I don't think I had to eject a single round for bad chambering.

 

[Rick H.]

It' always amazing to me how a conversation can get carried away via a misunderstood comment or two. Lots of people here need to grow up a bit. To the point of this thread. I have loaded for 9mm for a long time and it's one of those rounds that can drive you nuts at times with your end results. Part of that problem is the case design of the 9mm and part of the problem is consistency in bullet manufacture. I have been surprised at the differences in case dimensions with 9mm's and there are cases I flat out refuse to use or buy. Even the case material composition can be problematic as some are hard and some are soft. Will soft brass stick in a chamber more than hard brass? Again I state some brass I just don't waste my time with and simply toss out . And at the end of the road we have tolerance stacking to contend with which can and does compound problems. You can check ten different bullets and get ten different results. I have yet to load any number of cartridges and get the same exact overall length on them. Sometimes it's much more beneficial to stop chasing a problem where none exists.

Rick H.

 

[judgecrater]

Here's a picture of two 9mm cartridges, reloaded in 2 different batches one day after the other.

The bullets are both Missouri Bullets 125 gr. SWC, both measure .356" dia.

The diameter of the case at the mouth is:

.3775" (red bullet) and .3775" (gold bullet)

The case length (best I can measure an assembled cartridge) is:

0.7430" (red bullet) and 0.7440" (gold bullet)

OK, given that info, both of the cartridges plunk well in my Shield barrel. If I press on the gold bullet cartridge, it bottoms out hard on the rim in the chamber and drops back out when inverted with a little shake. The red bullet cartridge however plunks well, but sticks a little and if I press on it it feels like it's engaging the rifling (a soft lead feeling) and then I have a lot of difficulty getting it out with my finger nails and I have to wiggle the cartridge to get it out of the chamber.

I've had this problem forever and have improved my technique to where I get consistent ammo that plunks reliably, but this problem is only on SOME rounds.

Can anybody enlighten me?

I just had an idea. I'm going to plunk a sample of bullets and measure the depth plunking by the cartridge weight alone, then press the bullets in to see if and how many aren't bottoming out hard metal on metal.

If you seat a little deeper I believe all will be well.

 

[glenwolde]

I've taken to segregating 9mm brass into "foreign" and "domestic". CBC (Magtech) brass seems to require separate handing. I can load it, but I half to reset the taper crimp. That stuff is stout. It makes great 9mm Makarov brass though.