m&p 9 shield problem

[292]

Resized my brass, belled the mouth and seated a boolit to make a dummy round. Dummy round will not drop into the chamber at 1.125 OAL. Lee 358-125-RF sized to .357 lubed with LLA. If I close the slide slowly on factory ammo it does not close all the way. Pull the slide back and let it go and it will close even at 1.125. No rifleing marks on boolit. Barrel slugged at .3555. Too much LLA? Tight chamber? Need a different bollit? I'm just looking for a problem? Help me ole great boolit gurus.

[rintinglen]

Most likely, your cartridge is a hair on the snug side for your chamber. Might be a tight chamber, might be thick brass, the boolit may be a smidge on the large size (not all .357 dies are the same), might be that you haven't quite removed the bell while crimping, or it might be that the boolit is lightly pre-engraving on the lands. Take a close look at the boolit with a magnifying glass or a jewelers loup and confirm that the boolit is not hitting the throat of the barrel. Verify the diameter of your boolit. Clean the chamber thoroughly. Check the over-all length of the cartridge. Moving it back .003 might make enough difference to get you where you want to be. I have about 800 9MMs that I need to break down because they are too long for every 9mm I have except my Luger.
Measure the diameter of your dummy at the neck and confirm it is under or equal to .380. That may suggest that you need to taper crimp a bit more or use a .356 boolit.

[ku4hx]

Assuming ammunition and gun are both clean, in my experience, this problem has two basic causes needing two separate fixes: boolit impinging on rifling and neck diameter too large.

You've solved impinging on the rifling so next consider neck size. We can discuss and cuss actual neck diameter all day but the solution is just enough taper crimp to allow a loaded round to drop fully into the chamber with a satisfying "ka-plunk" and then fall freely out of the chamber when the barrel is inverted.

[mdi]

I second the answer on adding a bit of taper crimp. I would clean the alox off the finshed round and blacken the bullet and case with a magic marker and try chambering the round. You gotta find out where the cartridge is too big. The black rubbed off will tell you where the cartridge is hitting, too big...

[292]

I had 2 problems, my factory crimp die fixed the oversized case. Bollit is definitely hitting the barrel throat. Blackening the dummy and taking that closer look did the trick. I reslugged my barrel, .355 using the wrap a feeler guage around the slug method. The boolits measure .358I guess I need to order a .356 sizer die? I'm frustrated but it's nothing a tall cold dos equis at my local mexican resturant won't take care of.

[292]

The beer and the fajias helped with my frustration, but I still need to get my new gun to shoot boolits. The boolit still hits the throat even at way under minimum OAL. Will a smaller diameter boolit fix my problem? Please help.

[Mohavedog]

I've never heard of "wrapping a feeler gauge around the slug" method of slugging the bore. Are you sure you're measuring the groove dia and not the bore dia? Groove dia is what you're looking for.
As for the boolit hitting the lands, you will have to shorten the oal .005" at a time until it drops right in. Depending on how short you go you would be wise to lower your starting load and work up. I don't have that particular mould but my Lee 356-120TC needs oal of 1.051" to clear the lands on a P94. Again, I don't have that mould but 1.125" sounds long to me. Maybe someone will chime in on their oal on that slug. Good Luck, Dog

[ku4hx]

The bullet you've chosen may not be compatible with your gun. I load three cast 9mm bullets: one Lyman truncated cone, one Lee of the same design and one Lee round nose. TC overall cartridge length is 1.075" and the RN's are 1.125". When neck is taper crimped to provide just enough crimp to prevent sticking in the chamber, all rounds drop fully into the chamber and fall freely out. And that's from one BHP, four factory Glock barrels (models 26, Gen3 19, Gen4 19 and 17) and one Lone Wolf barrel for the 19s and 26. All my guns do well with .357" boolits.

I have no experience with your chosen boolit, but from what MidwayUSA has to say, it's primarily a 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 38 Colt New Police (358 Diameter) 125 Grain Flat Nose. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/916523/lee-6-cavity-bullet-mold-358-125-rf-38-special-357-magnum-38-colt-new-police-358-diameter-125-grain-flat-nose Assuming the picture on the MidwayUSA page is accurate, I can tell you from my experience, I don't think that boolit profile would work well in any 9mm gun or barrel I have. But admittedly, that's just an "educated" guess.

And like Mohavedog, I've never heard of the "wrapping a feeler gauge around the slug" method of slugging the bore.

[mdi]

"If I close the slide slowly on factory ammo it does not close all the way." Reread and noticed this. If the factory ammo is tight, then I'd say you have a tight chamber. Mebbe a chamber cast is needed?

[292]

The black marker is rubbed off of the boolit just passed the case. I do think the chamber is tight, but I think the boolit diameter is too big for this gun. I'm going to try my dummy round in my other 2 9's and see if it works in them. Maybe I should have gotten more experience before I tried casting and loading 9mm. .44 has gone so smoothly and now I feel like I've hit a wall.

[FergusonTO35]

How many round have you put through the gun? You may have some tool marks or the chamber and throat just need to smooth out with use. Does it shoot well with factory j-word ammo?

[292]

I've only shot it about 20 times, but it shoots better than me.

[popper]

Load a dummy real short, put it in the clip and see if goes into full battery. Manual cycling isn't the same as fire cycling. If manual, you may get dents from the feed ramp or bbl mouth. Does an empty sized case pass the plunk test? If empty does and loaded doesn't you have a tight or more tapered chamber. As you have 3 9s, I'd slug the bbls with pure cast and size for the largest bbl. Use a mic, not feeler gauge! Now, if loaded won't fit in other chambers, check into getting the others reamed. As fit is king, you probably don't want to separate loads as to which 9 they fit in. Another solution would be to choose 1 for cast and load for it.

[captaint]

292 - I think you need to get a boolit mold made for the 9mm and not the .357 or 38. I'd bet you'll have no trouble chambering the Lee, RCBS or Lyman 9mm boolits. They all have a truncated cone nose, and the shoulder is probably lower on the boolit. I think you merely have a wrong boolit problem. And don't get a .356 sizer. Use what ya got. enjoy Mike

[292]

As soon as I figure out which 1 I'll order it. Any suggestions?

[MtGun44]

Seat the boolit deeper until it does not hit the rifling or end of chamber.
I suggest the Lee 356-120-TC at .357 diam, seated with minimal full diam
shoulder out of the case. Set this as needed by your chamber design. Use the
dismounted bbl as a gage. Fingertip pressure only to seat round fully in chamber.

ALSO - you need a separate taper crimp die, and NOT a Lee Factory Crimp die. IMO
the Lee pistol FCD is a solution looking for a question and does nothing that a properly
made set of dies, adjusted and used properly will not do. Some have found it
sizing down their boolits in the case, ruining the rounds - the formerly properly
sized boolits are made undersized, leading and tumbling to follow.

The boolit is seated progressively deeper until the full diam portion is not stopping the dummy
from fully entering the chamber, and then the TC is increased until the round fully chambers.

This probaly will require several iterations of seating deeper, and increaseing TC, and a
NON- RN design because the TC has very little to interfere with a tight throat, whereas
many RN designs have a LOT of full diam out of the case. Fine in a revolver (usually)
but NOT fine in a semi-auto. Here are some useful pix. Note that I set the LOA (assuming
the chamber will accept it) so the corners of the TC are on the curve of the ogive of the
FMJ. Note that I have approximately the same amount of full diam boolit ahead of the
case as the factory FMJ.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=161&pictureid=4224

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=161&pictureid=4223

Bill

[292]

I'm ordering a 356-120-TC as we speak.

[mistermog]

I had the same exact issue with the LEE LRN and an M&P9. that bullet profile is horribly fat. You have to seat it crazy deep or it hits the lands.

I was seating at 1.10 and it still hit, and I mean jammed in there so tight a couple times when I racked it, I pulled the bullet! I just loaded up some of those 356-120 TCs and those chamber exactly as they should. Need to load at 1.075 so the lube groove isnt exposed.

[292]

Mine works at 1.07. I just need to know how much to reduce my powder charges.

[popper]

That's a .055 reduction, drop down to jacket start load.

[292]

How does this sound. 1.125"/1.070=.951. Starting load of Autocomp 4.3gr*.951=4.089. Round down and start at 4.0.

[Mohavedog]

Extrapolating powder loads on a percentage basis is not safe practice. The relationship between the amount of powder and the pressure produced is NOT linear. Some cartridges are more sensitive than others. The 9mm is one of the touchiest. So be careful and opt on the side of safety and do like any sensible reloading info will advise, and that is to start at minumum and work up gradually. It may turn out that your extrapolated starting load may be what you end up with, but also a good chance it may not. Mohavedog