Help with resizing

[hunter49]

I'm using a Lee 120 gr. TC six cavity mold and have been having issues over the last few days when resizing. I have been using coww and not experienced this problem in the past. I'm casting at approximately 650 degrees and air cooling projectiles.

After resizing there is a tail or what looks like flash on bottom of projectile and the mold is dropping at 125 gr.

Any suggestions or recommendations? Thank you125833
125835125834

[bangerjim]

What size is your drop?
What size is your sizing die?

You failed to tell us any of that important info.

The only time I see that is if I am trying to resize down more than 3-4 thou.

banger

[hunter49]

My apologies, dropping at .358 and the sizing die is a Lee .356

[dondiego]

Never had that happen. You probably don't even need to size those at all.

[243winxb]

Lube bullets before sizing. Align bullets straighter into the die.

[country gent]

Does the sizing appear even around the boolit? I have seen this when the blocks arnt fully closing and the boolit is slightly bigger in dia. The bevel base can be increasing this effect as the base full dia of bullet isnt supported the bevel is leaving room for it to form. If you can measure some as cast from this batch and see what size they are. Then look for lead specs burrs in the blocks holding them open. Im assuming this mould has been used before with good results so something has change since last use. Look it over good with magnification if possible.

[bangerjim]

I do that all the time. All the above suggestions.

I PC everyting and never have that problem anymore. PC is the lube!

Depending on your 9mm barrel, you may not need to size. Again....depends on YOUR gun.

banger

[454PB]

Looks like a lack of lube problem to me.

[11B-101ABN]

I have had boolits identical to your pics, I believe that is caused by too much sizing, the tails will probably go away with a larger sizing die. If you just want to remove the "tail" or "skirt", make a sanding block out of plywood and sandpaper, and clean it off by hand. I do that if there are only a few. They will be OK for "banging ammo", but will probably not be reliably accurate. If you are loading for 9mm, you should try sizing to .357, or .358 depending on what your weapon will reliably cycle. Look through the forum for other threads on sizing for 9mm and you will find a large number of suggestions to size to .358. There is a reason for that.....a lot of people have found that the larger boolits will eliminate leading in their 9mm weapons. I size my 9's to .358, same with my .38's and .357's, they ALL go through the same sizing die. One of the problems with casting projectiles is that alloy uniformity is hard to maintain, causing variations in boolit size and weight even though you only use 1 mold. A case gage for your finished ammo is important to maintain your consistency. Lacking that gage, dismantle your weapon and use the barrel as a gage. If your ammo will drop freely in your barrel, it should cycle through your weapon reliably. There are things like bulged cases, bent rims, and extractor marks, not always obvious to the naked eye that will show up by gaging your ammo, and they can cause stoppages. These can usually be corrected during case prep.

[hunter49]

Thank you for all your help. After further checking my Lee .356 resizing die is actually sizing to .355 and mold is dropping .358. I have cast 800 projectiles let air cool and using smoke4320 pc I bbdt and resize again without any issues. I have used this mold in the past without any problems.

[MT Chambers]

Bullet may be on the "soft" side and could use some lube goin' in.

[cs86]

Could the sizer be a little rough and dragging lead more. Maybe run some 600 grit paper on the inside and smooth it up. just a thought... I've squeezed some bullets through my lee sizer and you can feel the size difference without lubing the bullet, but didn't create the flashing like yours has. good luck.

[hunter49]

Thank you all for the recommendations. Happy New Year to all! Will be trying later today after recovery from to much libation.

[JWFilips]

What Are you shooting them in ? You really may not have to size if your alloy isn't too hard.
I don't think I would ever size a cast boolit down to .356"

[hunter49]

Shooting from a 9mm Springfield xdm, pc projectile sized to .356, 3.7gr titegroup and 1.110 col.
At 7 yards free hand holes touching on paper approximately 1.25" diameter grouping.

[hunter49]

Correction, sized to .355

[Silverboolit]

Try sizing to .358 AFTER pc'ing. I have this same mold, and it works great in my 9mm Ruger at .358. What does the barrel slug at??

[hunter49]

Life is good again problem solved! After trying several of your suggestions I found what worked for me. Thank you all fellow casters! For some reason still unknown to me if I immediately resize after casting I still get the lead tail flashing? I casted up another batch and pc'd then resized with no issues. My Lee .356 resizing die is still sizing to .355 which works for me.

[joesig]

Polish the inside of the die with some 600 grit on a dowel. Normally I would start with 320 or 400 but you don't want to open the die up too much. A smooth die will size much easier and fix the tail.

[hunter49]

Thank you joesig, I will most certainly give that a try.