Reloading jacketed hollow point 9mm

[Ironwrx]

Hi. I haven’t been reloading all that long, and the 9mm Bullets I’ve used are my own cast lead Bullets. These reload nicely with my 9mm Lee die set. Now my son wanted to me to get some jacketed hollow point bullets to reload. Today I picked up some 124 grain Hornady jacketed hollow point bullets. Having used nothing but the truncated flat nose 120 grain bullets that I cast myself, I have no experience with hollow points. Do I need a different seating die for to use for these hollow point bullets? One you tube video I watched had someone’s “hack” for seating hollow points which was a little leather disc up inside the seating die to prevent the deformation of the hollow point. Is this a viable alternative to a special seating die?


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[Misery-Whip]

Lee dies should seat them fine. Sometimes the seating stem inside the die can be turned over. But if your cast tc are seating without deforming your jacketed hollowpoint should seat fine.

And j-words should seat fine without flaring as long as the case is deburred. I bell the cases for j-words because i expand and charge in the same operation, and dont adjust the dies except for oal.

Try just 1 with no primer or powder for a dummy round to test oal. I keep a can of dummy rounds to remind me of oal, and different designs ive tried.

[Winger Ed.]

Some dies come with a reversible seating stem, or more than one.
Even the flat one will work, but I'd do the crimp as a separate step out of habit as much as anything else.

[Ironwrx]

Lee dies should seat them fine. Sometimes the seating stem inside the die can be turned over. But if your cast tc are seating without deforming your jacketed hollowpoint should seat fine.

And j-words should seat fine without flaring as long as the case is deburred. I bell the cases for j-words because i expand and charge in the same operation, and dont adjust the dies except for oal.

Try just 1 with no primer or powder for a dummy round to test oal. I keep a can of dummy rounds to remind me of oal, and different designs ive tried.

Yes, the tc bullets seat fine. There is a very slight radius put on (I wouldn’t even call it a radius, I’d call it a “softening” of the top edge).
What is this “j-words” you speak of? Is this a technical term? Or a slang term?


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[Winger Ed.]

What is this “j-words” you speak of? Is this a technical term? Or a slang term?

They're what you use when, for whatever reason, you're not using real boolits.:bigsmyl2:

[Misery-Whip]

J-words=jacketed. Many here find creative ways to not say jacketed.

[mdi]

"Jacketed" is not banned, but not commonly used by those casting their own "boolits". I'v been using my Lee dies w/stock seater die for a few thousand 9mm loads with all sorts and sizes of bullets and boolits. I use Hornady XTP, RMR JHP, Nosler JHP, Berrys plated RN, Winchster FMJRN a few different cast and PCed, no major seating variations. I have some "Just In Case" loads stashed, maybe 800-1,000. I mostly used RMR 124 gr JHP and some Hornady 115 gr, XTP JHP (one gun loves this bullet). My plain old Lee die set, not using FCD!, has worked 100 %...

[AZ Pete]

"do I need a different seating die"? No, you don't.

[1hole]

Hi. I haven’t been reloading all that long, and the 9mm Bullets I’ve used are my own cast lead Bullets.

That's good.

Most of us use cast bullets for practice AND more serious work but quite a few folk do choose to use jacketed bullets for unscheduled social engagements. I fall into the first category; I think the 9mm is so marginal - at best - that spending a lot of money on costly bullets to "improve" it some tiny bit that such bullets are largely wasted.

However, I AM a stout proponent of the "double tap" finish to ANY gunfight so high tech jacketed bullets won't mean very much. And, in a defensive gun fight to the death, even a triple tap finish doesn't seem like excessive overkill to me! IF I ever have to explain myself in court I'll probably admit that I was so scared by the threat I really didn't know how many times I kept pulling the trigger. (I'm old and frighten easily so it'll probably be true! ;) )


I have no experience with hollow points. Do I need a different seating die for to use for these hollow point bullets?

Probably not. Hollow point or not, it's not uncommon for some seater stems to leave a visible ring near the end of some seated bullets but I've never seen one grooved deep enough to affect the ballistics.

[JimB..]

Yes, the tc bullets seat fine. There is a very slight radius put on (I wouldn’t even call it a radius, I’d call it a “softening” of the top edge).
What is this “j-words” you speak of? Is this a technical term? Or a slang term?


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That radius means that you’re probably using a round nose seating stem, try using the wadcutter or semi wadcutter seating stem.

Try this, take the seating stems you have and look inside at the shape of them, then use the one closest to your bullet nose profile.

[armoredman]

I've been loading Hornaday 124 gr XTPs in 9mm for many years with Lee dies. The only thing I do is I have to adjust the die to properly seat the bullet to the correct COAL, that's all. No issues whatsoever. I will say if you have your expander set to flare wider for cast boolits, you might have to set it back a notch or two for the jacketed bullets, being usually .355 diameter.

[BunkTheory]

umm on people getting multiple seating stems with LEE kits.... how did you manage it? everything i see in them is for a round nose bullet profile. cant flip them as they wont fit correctly anymore.

[JimB..]

umm on people getting multiple seating stems with LEE kits.... how did you manage it? everything i see in them is for a round nose bullet profile. cant flip them as they wont fit correctly anymore.
I don’t use many Lee dies, but don’t recall getting multiples in a set. However, they can be purchased.
https://support.leeprecision.net/en/knowledgebase/article/bullet-seating-plugs