Bullets not held in case

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I reloaded some 9mm with powder coated 95 grain RNFPs from the Lee mold. My son shot them in his S&W Shield. The weird thing is the bullets came out of the case from recoil! I have seen this with super heavy revolver loads bit that is a first with 9mm.

I recently began cleaning cases with SSpins and using wash-n-wax. Could this be from the inside of the case being too clean and slick? Or do I need to crank the Lee crimp die down some more?

[Hogdaddy]

Or do I need to crank the Lee crimp die down some more?

Would be my guess ; ) PS Taper crimp
H/D

[Dusty Bannister]

You may have accidentally changed the die settings. I doubt that just cleaning the cases made the difference. Check the bullet diameter with a micrometer as the first place to start looking. It also might just be that you forgot to full length size the cases now that they are nice and pretty. The bullet should be held in place by neck tension and just enough taper crimp applied to remove the case mouth flare.

[Winger Ed.]

I'd crimp a little more.
If you can't push the boolit down into the case with your thumb, they're usually good to go.

[Pablo 5959]

Sounds like your flare is to big for your projectile. What size, sizer are you using?

[reddog81]

Usually in a semi auto bullets with poor neck tension end up getting seated deeper when the slide slams them into the feed ramp.

How did you find the loose bullets? Were the bullets just falling out while still inside the magazine? If so that’s probably a combination of various issues like poor neck tension, too much expansion, not enough crimp, too small of bullets, etc.

[414gates]

It sounds like you're crimping too much with a taper crimp die.

You've already cranked the crimp too far in, and sized down the lead bullet in the case mouth.

Your case mouth should still be flared after bullet seating.

Set the crimp die to touch the case mouth that's flared, then take it in one eighth of a turn more.

This should be enough to remove the flare, but not to size the bullet down.

[mehavey]

^^^ CORRECT ^^^

Projectile is held by case friction, not "crimp"
In fact there should be no 'crimp' at all.

Simply remove the case flare req'd for seating.

[mdi]

Semi-auto bullets are held in place by neck tension, not a crimp. So, check bullet diameter, Measure if you can the case neck ID with sizing only or try to start a bullet into the case. You should not be able to start a bullet into the case without a flare. Bullets should be from .002" to .004" large than case mouth ID. Use a taper crimp die to just "deflare" enough for your handloads to "plunk", not "crimp".

I have been reloading semi-auto ammo (five different calibers) for about 30 years and I do not crimp any. I use a taper crimp die to just "deflare" the rounds enough for a good plunk test.

[45DUDE]

You may need a better sizing die. I flare just enough to seat and the die is adjusted just like the book to fit the chamber. I put a little liquid car wax in my media to make the handle smother when resizing and priming. You might check to see if the sizing die has the correct adjustment. It may need to be lower. I am shooting plated .355's from EXtreme.

[gwpercle]

I solved that problem by sizing 9mm boolits to .357" and properly adjusting the taper crimp die .
Test them on the edge of your bench , after crimping ... place nose on bench edge and press moderately hard ... if they hold ...you are good ... if the boolit can be pressed deeper into the case ... More Taper Crimp .
It's a balancing act of boolit diameter and taper crimping adjustment to hold .
Gary

[fredj338]

I reloaded some 9mm with powder coated 95 grain RNFPs from the Lee mold. My son shot them in his S&W Shield. The weird thing is the bullets came out of the case from recoil! I have seen this with super heavy revolver loads bit that is a first with 9mm.

I recently began cleaning cases with SSpins and using wash-n-wax. Could this be from the inside of the case being too clean and slick? Or do I need to crank the Lee crimp die down some more?

No, wet cleaning actually makes the cases so clean they are sticky. Its likely the expander is over sized & you are not getting a good press fit. The short bearing surface of a 95gr isn't helping. Try sizing 0.357". Also as noted, you may be over crimping. This causes the case to pull away from the bearing surface of the bullet.

[mehavey]

Don't 'crimp' at all.
Merely deflare the mouth (only) back to SAAMI 0.380"
Let normal case/neck tension retain the bullet.

[mdi]

Yep! :goodpost:

[Taterhead]

Cranking the crimp die down more will make the problem worse. It makes the bullet diameter smaller and the brass springs back away from the bullet, losing grip.

Process of elimination...

Quick experiment. Size and expand a few cases and seat a few bullets. Don't crimp. Then pull them. It should take a normal amount of effort. If it does, the issue is clearly excessive "crimp". If not the inside if the neck is too large relative to bullet diameter.

Check the diameter of the shank of the expander. It should be smaller than bullet diameter. Otherwise it is opening the ID if the neck too large such that there is no interference fit. If that checks out then the sizer is over sized. Might need a new sizer but could probably get ok results merely by sorting for thicker cases like R-P, depending on how far off the sizer is.

Very short bearing surface so if overdoing the flair, it is reducing the extent of purchase of the neck on bullet.

Recap. Use barely enough flair. Seat deeply enough to get good contact with bullet bearing surdace and case neck. Crimo just enough to remobe the bell.

[Taterhead]

I solved that problem by sizing 9mm boolits to .357" and properly adjusting the taper crimp die .
Test them on the edge of your bench , after crimping ... place nose on bench edge and press moderately hard ... if they hold ...you are good ... if the boolit can be pressed deeper into the case ... More Taper Crimp .
It's a balancing act of boolit diameter and taper crimping adjustment to hold .
Gary

Respectfully, I disagree. The bullets should not setback after seating under the nose press test, even without any crimp. If they do set back, it's better to solve the dimensional issues (neck ID vs bullet OD) that are causing insufficient interference fit. Taper crimp makes the bullet smaller and brass springs back. That exacerbates the issue in the OP where the bullet is creeping out of the cases.

[mdi]

FWIW; for any of my semi-auto handloads the only reason for a crimp die is to enable a good plunk test...

[Hanzy4200]

Make sure you're sizing die is down nice and tight on your empty shell holder. You can tighten up the crimp a bit, but it's a fine line before you start mashing the case mouth into the bullet.