Bulging 9mm brass Issue Solved (I hope)

[FISH4BUGS]

FYI:
For those of us that reload 9mm brass, and also have MACS and UZIS with generous chambers, or shoot Glocks that are unsupported chambers, the brass gets bulged when fired. Reloading it is a pain, for the brass does not always size down properly after the bullet is seated. It is too fat and won't chamber properly.
The LEE carbide factory crimp die has taken care of that issue for me. Put it in station #4 in the Dillon 550 and it allows the brass to be crimped back to factory specs. I have loaded 100 9mm subsonic 147 gr 9mm's, 3.7 gr 231, and they all fit in the Dillon case guage, and I will test them in the supressed UZI.
THANKS LEE!

[jmorris]

The FCD helps but I rollsize all of my 9 and 45 brass to get even our SMG brass inline as it ensures that the rim and extractor grove back to spec.

[FISH4BUGS]

Roll sizing was definitely an option. I looked at the prices of the roll sizers and they are way out of my budget. I have a friend that has one and he said he would let me use it. The LEE die was what....$16 plus shipping for Midway? Saved myself a ton of money and an hour's drive each way to get the roll sizer.
I think this will work. The proof is in the firing. Testing session coming soon.....hopefully this weekend but maybe not.
The full auto MACS will no longer ruin the brass by bulging it. YIPPEE!

[jmorris]

It is cost effective, mine might cost $16 a year just to power.

[FISH4BUGS]

....it is that initial investment that kills me. My friend raves about his roll sizer. He is a fellow sub machine gun shooter and also does his 9mm and 45. I might go over some weekend and supply the beer and do a bunch of 45's and see how it works.

[jmorris]

It's just money, you can't take it with you. Saves a bunch of time too. I automated one of them.


http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/reloading/casepro/DSC02028-1.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/reloading/casepro/th_casepro.jpg (http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/reloading/casepro/?action=view&current=casepro.mp4)

[noylj]

Try and order a custom 9mm Mak FCD from Lee and tell them you want to use it with their bulge buster kit to iron out 9x19s. They should be more than willing to help.
I would think that there is enough 9x19 brass in the world to make roll sizing anything but cost effective.

[jmorris]

9mm mak is larger than 9x19. I never roll sized or case gauged for that matter before I started shooting competitively. A malfunction while plinking is no big deal, one on the clock can make the difference between a win or loss.

[noylj]

9mm Mak and 9x19 have virtually the same head dimensions. The reason Lee doesn't have an FCD that could work in the bulge buster is because the 9x19 has so much taper. I have no idea why they can't simply open up the existing FCD to permit the web and head to be sized down. It would simply at an additional die and it might even work well enough as an FCD (except for being a few thousandths too large, but 9x19 chambers are usually fairly generous).
I think the Ruskies simply took a 9x19, removed the taper, and stuck in a larger bullet. This way, NATO couldn't use their ammo but they could, inaccurately, shoot NATO ammo.

[jmorris]

I'm not sure why but my brass sorter (sorts by diameter) drops 9 mak out after 9x19 but before 38 super. According to that chart it should be between 380 and 9x19.

[mtgrs737]

9mm Mak and 9x19 have virtually the same head dimensions. The reason Lee doesn't have an FCD that could work in the bulge buster is because the 9x19 has so much taper. I have no idea why they can't simply open up the existing FCD to permit the web and head to be sized down. It would simply at an additional die and it might even work well enough as an FCD (except for being a few thousandths too large, but 9x19 chambers are usually fairly generous).
I think the Ruskies simply took a 9x19, removed the taper, and stuck in a larger bullet. This way, NATO couldn't use their ammo but they could, inaccurately, shoot NATO ammo.

Most axis countries ammo was developed to do this, they can use our captured ammo but we can't fire theirs do to slight dimentional differences that would cause high pressure or not even chamber. Pretty smart if you ask me.

[casterofboolits]

I was under the impresion that the roll sizers (Case Pro?) were no longer in production.

I used a friend's to do 12,000 38 Super cases. But he passed on and his family sold his reloading gear before I could talk to Them.

Where can I find info on the roll sizers?

[casterofboolits]

Never mind! Found the site. Expensive little booger! But it does an excellent job of refurbishing cases. My 38 Super cases are like new!

[Roundnoser]

I used to reload on a Lee Loadmaster. I was able to lower the Lee deprime/resize die on station #1 til it barely touched the shellplate. It was able to size down to the case webbing, 9and fixed my case bulge problems).

[FISH4BUGS]

Earlier posts questioned how to successfully size down bulged 9mm brass fired in a MAC, UZI or Glock (or more for that matter). I had been plagued by that for years, shooting my MACS S&W 76 and UZI subguns, all with generous chamber dimensions. When you resize the brass, it doesn't size all the way down, and if it does, then when you seat the bullet it bulges the brass and it won't fit into the case guage. It doesn't feed too well like that.
SOLVED! I bought a LEE carbide decapper and a factory crimp die, put it into station 1 and 4 in the Dillon 550, loaded up 100, and just popped off 100 rounds at the range....every one fed and fired with no FTF or anything.
I am impressed. Berry's 147gr plated 9mm, mixed commercial brass, 3.7 gr 231, 1.2" OAL. Every one fed and fired. With the CAC9 supressor it was whisper quiet. In fact, (I have always wanted to do this) I shot it without ear muffs. All you heard was the action.
The gun is a 5 year old Vector Arms semi auto Uzi SBR. Closed bolt firing makes all the difference in the world.
YAHOO! Victory is mine!

[jmorris]

My favorite suppressed 9mm load is 3.1 of VV N310 with berry’s 147 @ 1.160" very quite and the cleanest powder I have found by far.

[rugerglocker]

ummm... isn't max COAL for 9mm 1.169"?

[Az Rick]

There's a company called Evolution Gun Works, EGW. They take a Lee die and modify it so that it resizes further down the case and also slightly undersizes the case. I use one for my 9mm competition ammo, works like a charm. I shoot an XDM and it has a tight chamber. I get a few rejects now and then but use those for practice. I always plunk my ammo into the barrel itself, that's my case gauge. Nothing is worse when your trying to go fast than to have your gun tie up. I use Range brass exclusively and you never know what you're picking up. The downside is that it works the brass pretty hard, I'm sure shortening its life but it's free. They're also about $30.00, but they work.
Best, Rick

[FISH4BUGS]

ummm... isn't max COAL for 9mm 1.169"?

You may be correct about the OAL measurement. However, they feed and function just fine.
I think an UZI has a more generous chamber......which is the root cause of all these issues.

[9.3X62AL]

I think the Ruskies simply took a 9x19, removed the taper, and stuck in a larger bullet.

And trimmed it back to .710" from .750". I took this route to brass casings in 1992 when I got an East German Makarov. I still have a couple hundred of them laying around, sharing locker space with some Starlines.

9 x 19 Luger brass (and everything else) has some fairly wide spec variances. That's how they roll.

[jsheilm]

There's a company called Evolution Gun Works, EGW. They take a Lee die and modify it so that it resizes further down the case and also slightly undersizes the case. I use one for my 9mm competition ammo, works like a charm. I shoot an XDM and it has a tight chamber. I get a few rejects now and then but use those for practice. I always plunk my ammo into the barrel itself, that's my case gauge. Nothing is worse when your trying to go fast than to have your gun tie up. I use Range brass exclusively and you never know what you're picking up. The downside is that it works the brass pretty hard, I'm sure shortening its life but it's free. They're also about $30.00, but they work.
Best, Rick
Thanks for the recommendation on the EGW/Lee undersized die. It just arrived today - magic. Had a bunch of brass that refused to chamber in my bar-sto conversion barrel. A couple took a little more work than the rest, but they all fit now.

[Az Rick]

You're welcome.

As I said it seems to "work" the brass pretty hard. Might try and load a couple that have been shot thru the Bar-Sto and see if they are okay without the EGW die. I try and run my new picked up brass thru it and then limit it's use, sometimes it works.

Rick