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Old November 3, 2008, 04:19 PM   #1
rwt101
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Pics of the first rounds I loaded and fired. Need opinions.

These are pics of the first rounds I loaded with the lee turret press. They are 9x18 Makarov. Starline brass cci 500 primers and accurate #5 powder. They seem to be bulged to me. And there was a few dents in them. Just wanted some experienced eyes to look at them. Also there was some blow by on 2 of them.
Bob T
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Old November 3, 2008, 05:00 PM   #2
ShootingNut
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No claim to being the in house expert. But, I don't see anything to be overly concerned about. I load and shoot 9mm Luger, never used Starline Brass.
I load my 9's with Hodgdon Titegroup, and bigger Caliber's with AA#5 as you are using. I also load with Lee's Turret Press, and I would expect your casings to resize and take that "bulge" out with no problem.
Just watch your powder charges, I have to run my 9's in batches and light the group, as I do get a few light (squib) loads. You don't want them!:barf:
Regards,
SN
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Old November 3, 2008, 05:15 PM   #3
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Have you inspected brass that this gun as ejected before? I used to have a Smith and Wesson M&P .40 (full size) that beat up the brass a little bit during the ejection too. The resizer would take most of the dent out, but of course i can still find where it is/was. My new .40 (traded the M&P for a PX4 Storm) is much easier on brass on its way out.

What I'm trying to say, in my experience (admittidly still a noob in the reloading world) - dents "INWARD" in the case are more likely a result of post-ejection handling and not so much how the reload was made.
A "BULDGE" in the case (outword) obviously stems from the load. Are you putting any kind of crimp on the round or just seating the bullet and calling it good? I put a slight taper crimp on my 9mm but don't crimp my .40 loads at all.

The primers look like they are staying seated. A primer that gets pushed out is also another indication of too much pressure.
one last question: how many firings do you have on this brass?
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Old November 3, 2008, 05:34 PM   #4
rwt101
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This is the first time the brass has been loaded. I am putting a slight crimp on it. This is also the first time fireing the gun. It is a CZ82 9x18 Mak. I have a pic of the brass that i practiced the crimp on. It won't let me upload the pic. Anyway it is a very light crimp.
Bob T
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Old November 3, 2008, 06:01 PM   #5
ShootingNut
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MP40

Mine hasn't dented casings on ejection whatsoever, and I have reloaded the casings at least 6-10 times and upon inspection they still look great.
Personally, I have seen more .45 ACP really dented up from ejector's. I am a range rat picking up discarded brass, so don't know what gun they were spit out of.
SN
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Old November 3, 2008, 06:51 PM   #6
DarkMinds650
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If I'm seeing the bulging right, and not an effect of the lighting, Looks like you may have chamber problems...Primers have no indication at all of excessive, or even high pressure, but the pin strikes on them are moving around so much, it also indicates an oversize chamber....

I would get it checked before shooting it again..

Chris Tulloch
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Old November 3, 2008, 07:24 PM   #7
mrawesome22
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My first thought when I saw that brass was an excessively large chamber.
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Old November 3, 2008, 07:48 PM   #8
rwt101
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See if this makes any sense. A factory ammo in metal case by norinco measures .386, a starline new brass measures .385, when I run it through the sizing die it ends up .382? Also here is a pic of most of what I shot today other than what I reloaded. This is the norinco. Now there are about 8 rounds from another pistol in there but the primers look pretty consistant.
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Old November 3, 2008, 08:36 PM   #9
rwt101
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So I looked up what the specs should be on a 9x18 Mak.
Neck diameter .390
Base diameter .392
Rim diameter .392

And lee sizing die is making the brass .382
:barf:

Bob T
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Old November 3, 2008, 08:50 PM   #10
winchester243
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Assuming you are running it through a 9mm Makarov die rather than a 9MM luger die?

A 9mm luger is
Neck base diameter .3800
Base diameter .3926
Rim diameter .3940
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Old November 3, 2008, 08:54 PM   #11
rwt101
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The die is marked for a 9mm mak. This is getting way too complicated.
Bob T
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Old November 5, 2008, 10:05 PM   #12
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9mm case bulge.

Do not crimp the cases as it headspaces on the mouth. Also looks like
a large chamber. Some 9mm pistols do not take a light powder charge
well.




Mike Circle
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Old November 5, 2008, 11:08 PM   #13
rwt101
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Well at the moment I am at a dead end. I e-mailed Lee to check on the sizing die. I still feel that the die is making the brass too small. I have read what you say about not crimping. Also it was a light charge. Both my pistols that take the 9x18 Mak measure the same as far as the chamber goes. Since I am new to this I am not sure which chart to use. Everyone I look at is way different as far as the recipe. Thanks for the reply. With the money I spent on all the equipment and extras I could have bought a good amount of factory ammo.
Bob T
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Old November 6, 2008, 08:03 PM   #14
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Can anyone just mic some factory ammo and post dimensions? Would that help?
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Old November 6, 2008, 08:22 PM   #15
rwt101
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I have some factory ammo and have measured it and also shot it and it worked great. The factory ammo is .386. So I did finally get to talk to a tech at Lee. He said the Mak 9x18 chambers are larger in size because it is a blow back type pistal and has to be like that for chambering and extracting the round. It said if I wanted them to open up the die to .385 they would be glad to do it for me. But he suggested that I do not go any larger. He also recommended that I cut down regular 9mm brass and use that instead of the starline. So I reloaded some more with a different load and some changes and I will try that.
Bob T
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Old November 6, 2008, 08:48 PM   #16
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"...Do not crimp the cases..." Don't roll crimp. A bit of taper crimp is fine.
Any dings, dents, etc will be fixed by the sizing die.
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Old November 6, 2008, 08:49 PM   #17
rwt101
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Yes I did not crimp them on this batch. I will see how it works out.
Bob T
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