9mm luger die suggestion

[corey012778]

I am going to start handloading 9mm luger. looking for dies. pistol die confuse the hell out of me.

I like to keep it pretty cheap. so I was thinking lee die.

which one?

I know sounds stupid, but if you don't know just ask. :coffee:

[Le Loup Solitaire]

All brands of dies currently on the market do a good job of reloading, so outside of budget considerations or personal preferences, whatever your choice is, you'll get good ammo made. Some dies sometimes have a different feature or two, such as Lee for example. Their decapping die is set up with a system that doesn't allow you to break the decapping pin. The pin to start with is really a roller bearing and is extremely hard. It is held in a collet and if you run a case up in the die and the case for example is a Berdan type with no centered flash hole then when the pin has nowhere to go, it simply slides upward in the collet instead of breaking. You get the case out of there and reset the collet with a couple of small wrenches and you're good to go again. In 9mm you can run into cases, usually of foreign mfg, with sub-diameter flash holes and the above pin arrangement will keep you out of trouble there too. I also like the Lee locking rings on the dies; they work well for me although there are some folks that don't prefer them. One die that you may need in loading 9mm is a taper crimp die. The 9mm seats on the case mouth and you can't use a roll crimp as it will then tuck in the case mouth and the case itself will seat too deep in the gun chamber resulting in a "no fire" cause the primer is too far forward to be hit by the firing pin. Just meke sure that you get carbide dies as they don't require case lubrication and will last for a very long time, Carbide is very hard stuff; just don't drop it on the floor. Good luck with whatever you do choose. LLS

[Patrick L]

Can't really add much to the above. Back When I was loading 9mm I used a set of RCBS carbide dies. They were superb. If cost is really a factor, I'll bet Lee will be the cheapest. I have a few Lee rifle dies, and they load good ammo. I'm sure their pistol dies are just as good.

I'll second the suggestion that whatever brand you get, get carbide.

I also second the suggestion you get a taper crimp die. I think some manufacturers (Maybe Lyman or RCBS?) give you the option of a roll or taper crimp seater with auto calibers. If that's the case going that route may be cheaper in the long run than having to buy a separate taper crimp die. I'm not sure, its been a long time since I bought pistol stuff. Check out a well stocked supplier like Midway or Midsouth and compare prices.

[Down South]

I have several sets of the Lee carbide die sets with the FCD dies (9 mm included). For the price I would recommend the Lee Dies. They do a great job. I also have a stack of RCBS pistol dies but they aren’t carbide. For straight wall pistol cases, spend the few extra bucks and get carbide what ever brand you decide on getting.

[mtgrs737]

I too recomend the Carbide sizing die, I have them in all my pistol calibres. You are starting with one of the more difficult cartridges to reload IMHO. The 9mm is a small casing and you should watch the bullet seating depth as presures can rise sharply if the boolit is seated too deeply. I would also recomend that you get a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die in 9mm. The Lee CFCD is used to taper crimp only and also has a seperate carbide ring that will size the casing to maximum chamber dimisions so that the loaded cartridge will chamber in any SAMI spec chamber. Some 9mm casings that have been shot in a Glock or any other pistol without a well supported chamber will develop a slight bulge near the base that the normal sizer die will not remove, that is the reason for the Lee CFCD as it will remove the bulge. Another item I have and use is a midway cartridge gauge and I wouldn't reload for a simi-auto without it. The gauge will tell you if you have a dimensional problem with a cartridge, they are cheap and reliable. Another check I do is to push the loaded cartridge boolit first against the loading bench to make sure the boolit is tight and does not move back into the casing as this would raise chamber pressure and might happen during cycling in the pistol. I would get a Lee Carbide die set and the Lee Carbide factory Crimp Die and the Midway or Dillon Cartridge gauge, you should be turning out quality ammo in now time at all.

[corey012778]

man, I said pistol handloading confused me. lol

the shopping list I need for loading 9mm.

carbide dies (lee)
cfcd for 9mm (lee)
since I have a lee auto primer I will just buy the set for it
Cartridge gauge

[mj2evans]

I bought several RCBS pistol die sets (and some Dillon stuff) before I tried Lee .... all my pistol loading is done with Lee now (and a lot of rifle stuff too). Good products and fair price. The posting seating crimp/size is worth cost of the entire set by itself.

[corey012778]

I have a set of lee 30/06, right now it is the only round I load, right now. going to move to start 9mm because my area is starting have shortage and I have not found an factory that will shot out of my old feg p9rz

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/corey012778/HPIM0134.jpg

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

If you're interested, I have the Lee Deluxe 4-die set of 9MM dies, but I no longer own a 9MM, so I don't need them. They're yours for $30.00 shipped. PM me if you're interested.

[Down South]

There you are. This is just the set of dies that I would recommend and at a deal too.

[1hole]

For pistol loading I have found the expander design in Lyman's dies, and Redding's copy of them, to be the finest tools available.

[deboog93]

Saw you looking for some 9mm dies I have an older set of rcbs dies with shell holder I am looking to get rid of. I have a lee progressive press that I load 9's with now I would take 25 plus shipping for them.

boog93@hotmail.com if interested.

thanks

[RFWobbly]

Corey012778 -
The 9mm is, I agree, not an easy cartridge to start with. On top of all that, not all European 9mm manufacturers start their rifling as far from the chamber as those made in the USA. I found this out reloading for my CZ.

Therefore, you'll want to start with round nose bullets, because if your FEG falls into the same category as the CZ, the conical nose "target" type bullets protrude too far into the barrel. I found that many of their loads listed in reputable reloading manuals were simply too long and did not allow the slide to go into battery. For me to load any conicals, critical calculations had to be made. As was stated above, you can't simply seat the bullet deeper since case volume has a direct bearing on pressures. And things get really dangerous really fast with the 9mm when published seating depths are not observed.

Here's a link to a really good 9mm reloading paper on the CZ users forum: Click Here (http://czechpistols82792.yuku.com/topic/11027)

Hope this helps.

[corey012778]

I am finding that it may not be that good for me to start my pistol handloading with the 9mm, I think I may go buy a wheel gun, I been thinking of buying another pistol anyway, sad I got about 300 empties of 9mm I been saving [smilie=1:

[725]

Corey,
I don't think loading the nine is too big a deal. Go for it. Follow the book. Make a dummy (no powder/primer) to function test the cycle. All autos have the same limitations on crimping and the Lee FCD takes care of that. Start at the low end of powder amounts, like always, and have fun. I've loaded gazillons of nines and it's no big deal. Certainly not enough to shy away from. My biggest problem with the nine is my fat fingers and those little cases.
725

[corey012778]

thought the same when I started with the 06. I think I talked my self out loading about 10 times.lol

I am looking for another gun any way. :Fire:

[RustyFN]

I like Lee dies, very easy to adjust.
Rusty

[RFWobbly]

I am finding that it may not be that good for me to start my pistol handloading with the 9mm....

Corey -
If you'll start with round nose bullets, the minimum powder charge, and check the OA lengths you'll have absolutely no trouble with 9mm.

As suggested, build up a dummy cartridge to help you gauge the length. Choose a nice 115g or 124g RN FMJ bullet, and get some Win 231.... you'll do great. Just learn to walk before you try to run. Don't get mixed up with any wild bullet shapes or types. Just stick to the basics.

Forget 3-die sets, you'll want to get a 4-die set with a taper crimp. The Lee sets are probably the best place to start. If you run across an outrageous deal on a great 3-die set, then you can always buy the Lee taper crimp as a single die.

9mm is cheap to shoot and the brass is everywhere. You simply need to be aware that gun-to-gun differences do exist with the 9mm, that's all. I simply wouldn't borrow any of your Glock buddy's reloads to shoot in your gun.

:drinks: