Berreta 92s problems

[Ramson222]

I have a Berreta 92s that leads up, the bore slugs .356-.357. Typically I shoot powder coated .002 oversize bullets bhn 11-12. I also use NOE expanders that is oversized by .001 when expanding cases. NOE does not have a .359 expander, however they do have a .360 x .356. Would this work to fix my leading issue? I'm afraid of swaging the bullets base down and causing leading. Maybe I'm doing something wrong and jumping the gun.

[lotech]

.358" (or the largest diameter bullet that will allow a cartridge to chamber freely) works best. I use a conventional SAECO lubrisizer; don't know anything about powder coated bullets.

[Petrol & Powder]

The Beretta barrels seems to run around .357" I think a .358" bullet should work, if it will chamber.

I can't speak to powder coating and I don't know why you're getting leading.

[sigep1764]

Ramson,
Has a boolit been pulled from an assembled cartridge to check for swaging down of the base? I was said there was fear of it, but has it been investigated?

[Ramson222]

Bullet bases get swaged to .357 after seating. This is why I think I need a .359 expander. If I use the .356 I will be sizing the base down to far when seating. unfortunately i cant find a .359 expander on NOE page.

[sigep1764]

Are you on a single stage or a Dillon? Lathesmith makes excellent expanders for Dillon machines. If on a single stage, call Al at NOE. He will make the 359 for you. Take him 5 minutes on the lathe.

[Piedmont]

Bullet bases get swaged to .357 after seating.
There are a couple of work-arounds I can think of. You could make your bullet harder so it doesn't swage the base down or you could kick it in the seat of the pants more (load a higher-pressure load, one that will bump up the base).

[Ramson222]

Are you on a single stage or a Dillon? Lathesmith makes excellent expanders for Dillon machines. If on a single stage, call Al at NOE. He will make the 359 for you. Take him 5 minutes on the lathe.
Single stage press, I did not know that NOE made custom expanders. I will be sending him a email.

[wonderwolf]

I've run into a similar issue, do you factory crimp your completed rounds by chance?


Another thing I have noticed is that some cases have thicker walls than others and even some have a bit of a shelf on the inside of the case for self defense rounds that get rechambered often so the bullets don't set back. I shoot heavier bullets in my set up but like you I think a purposed expander will help. Curious as to your results.

[lotech]

I've had very good results with cast 9mm handloads using Winchester brass and Redding dies. Never had a problem with bullet diameter being affected in seating.

[Ramson222]

If your alloy is softer like mine 10-12bhn bullet bases do get sized down sometimes. Yes I have noticed that mixed brass has issues with different wall thickness. NOE has not gotten back to me about the expander.

[sigep1764]

For 6.50, I'd try the 360 expander. Brass does spring back a little.

[gwpercle]

I solved my leading problems with
NOE mould 358 - 124- - TC - GC applying that gas check , sizing to .357 or .358 depending on your barrel , cast of 50/50 wheel weights and soft lead , air cooled boolits and lubing with Lithium beeswax lube . Sized .358 they can loaded in 357 magnum and driven to 1200 fps .

I know some would rather take a beating with a large stick than use a gas check ...but in the pesky 9mm they work like a charm . Protects the base from being squeezed down and puts the brakes on lead . But don't believe me...I don't know nuttin about boolits .
Gary

[Ramson222]

I'm using a plain base mold and just bought some plain base checks. However I currently playing around with my 450 bushmaster and haven't got around to the 9mm.

[rintinglen]

I use the expander die from a LEE 38 S&W die set (not 38 special) which I bought from Titan Reloading, one of our vendor sponsors, to prevent the boolit from being re-sized by an undersized case.

[whisler]

+1 38 S & W expander from Lee works for me too

[Idz]

I too had leading problems in my Beretta and Glock 17. I made a special M-die that would expand deep into the case, powder coated and sized Lee 356-125-2R bullets to .357 and even chamfered the case mouth. I discovered my biggest difficulty was the Lee seat/crimp die was sizing down the case before seating the bullet which caused PC and lead shaving and squished the bullet down to .356. By backing the die out so it didn't mess up the case the shaving problems went away and then I could crimp using the Lee factory Crimp die. Apparently the Lee seat die is meant for jacketed .356 bullets only. I just fired 200 rounds of my 9mm in my guns with zero malfunctions and no leading! Chronograph results show no velocity loss from my deep expander plug and the standard deviation is better than factory ammo.