9mm 125gr .358 LRN BHN 16 reloading opinions

[Wheeljack]

I've ordered these bullets and have been waiting for 11 weeks now. I haven't gotten into casting yet, but I get a lot of great info in this forum.
In anticipation, I have been getting my gear ready and taking measurements. My barrel slugs at .3565
Looking at my brass and its size, it seems to me that for a .358 boolit, I do not needed any resizing. The rim measures .377-.378 now and should be good for a .358 bullet. ??
I am going to use a Lee 38S&W expander with a little flare. The expander (is this also called the M die?) measures .357 so a little flare will be needed to seat the boolit without shaving.
I am going to set the COL without using the crimp that is in the seating die.
I was going to use the FCD for a taper crimp, but since the die is for a .355 boolit, I will use a very light crimp and then test for tightness.
So basically, I am trying to load a .358 boolit, using the Lee 9mm dies and a 38S&W expander.
Do you think I can do it this way?

[rsrocket1]

I would not use the FCD. You should try it on a case you size/expand/seat/crimp/pull.
Measure the diameter of the pulled bullet to ensure you did not swage the bullet down. If you use the FCD I have a feeling you will have swaged it down.

Flare the case with as little expansion as possible. If after seating the bullet, the case mouth is flared out, see if you can adjust the FCD to just "kiss" the top (mouth kiss?) to bring it back to vertical. Then do a plunk test to ensure the cartridge headspaces on the case mouth and doesn't hang up.

Good luck.

[Wheeljack]

I would not use the FCD. You should try it on a case you size/expand/seat/crimp/pull.
Measure the diameter of the pulled bullet to ensure you did not swage the bullet down. If you use the FCD I have a feeling you will have swaged it down.
Flare the case with as little expansion as possible. If after seating the bullet, the case mouth is flared out, see if you can adjust the FCD to just "kiss" the top (mouth kiss?) to bring it back to vertical. Then do a plunk test to ensure the cartridge headspaces on the case mouth and doesn't hang up. Good luck.

That sounds good. What I did do, without having the .358 bullets to test with, was run a shell thru the FCD without the crimper in it and the die did not size the shell too much and it fact if may just need that "kiss". All this is on paper until I get my delivery and an hoping it gets here next week for sure. Thanks

[Silverboolit]

The LEE seater die can be adjusted to taper crimp. You do not need the FCD to do this.

[Wheeljack]

Thanks guys. All good info. An important thing is making up some dummy rounds to check size and fit and then load only a small batch to try. A question on compressing the bullet. I read somewhere that the bullet needed to be squeezed about .002 for a good hold and I guess let obturation expand it again. But thinking about it again, the FCD would crimp too much of the shell and maybe I only want the very rim crimped to size. This is all on paper so far, but, a .358 bullet + .022 for wall thickness - .002 for taper = .378OD at the rim. So, am I right in saying that I can use a .378 crimp at the rim of the shell, but if I use the FCD it would crimp way down to the whole length of the bullet and that is too much. So, Silverbooit, right, the FCD would crimp way to much shell and the seater die is the way to go.

[fixerupper]

^ I dont like to seat and crimp lead boolits in the same step. For my 9s.... im doing everything your doing except I knocked the carbide sizer ring our of my FCD.

The 38 SW expander works very slick.

[Silverboolit]

Are you still waiting for bollits from Dardas??? Did you order 9mm bullets at a special diameter, or did you order stock sized .38/.357 bullets??

I just use the seating die and adjust the crimp to just iron out the casing and take out the flair that the expander puts on the mouth of the case. I don't worry about the size of the mouth. If it drops in the chamber, it is good to go. You will just have to try it with a dummy round and make adjustments from there.

[Silverboolit]

Rim = the rear of the cartridge, ie 'rimfire', where the extractor groove is
Mouth= front of case that the bullet goes into

[Wheeljack]

OK, the .358 bullets came in and I ran a few dummy/test cartridges.
1. The resizing die: I don't know why I even need it for the larger bullet. The mouth (thanks, Silverboolit) of the fired shells measures about .372 and I don't see why I would want to size it down, only to expand it more than the .372. So I set the die to the minimum resizing I could, .371, de-primed and re-primed (fired caps in these dummy rounds).
2. Expander: Because of the bullet size, I am using a .38S&W expander and set it to flare the mouth to .381. The bullet fits in a little (.005) so no shaving is expected.
3. Seating: I set the seating die to just remove the flare and resize the mouth to .380.
4. Crimping: The FCD without the crimper part in it, will size the bullet but leave .380 at the mouth. Not enough to hold the bullet firmly. So I use the taper crimper to set the mouth at about .3775 and this seems to hold the boolit tightly.
I don't see why all the talk about not using the FCD. Mine at least seem to work. If I full size the shell, it is not to small or even crimped. When I use the taper crimp, it does a much better job than the crimp in the seating die, which almost puts a roll crimp in the shell. Working with the .358 boolit this way, I have had no waist in the shell that is probably caused by the resizing die.
I be making up some loads and hope to get out to test them this week.

[GunFun]

+1

That's what I do. I have two 9mm lee die sets because of happen stance. Since I load on a progressive, (loadmaster) the first one seats and The second one taper crimps lightly. I am using .356 124 TC which are .358 in reality and estimated BHN of 14. They are more like 128 grains in weight. I could taper more than I do, but they shoot good oversize so I try to keep it light. My rounds have a slight bulge or hourglass shape, but who cares if they shoot well. So far they chamber in everything I have tried and don't lead. (except when I accidentally made a soft batch.) They worked fine seating and crimping with just one die too, but that shaved a little.

I don't think you need an FCD, but it did work for me with .380 ACP SWC loads that bulged a little too much to chamber every time., so there is a place for it.