First Attempt at 9mm Reloading Progress

[RangeHot]

Just finished my first batch of 9mm handloads and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Using Hodgdon Titegroup and I managed to get the OAL just right. Anyone have tips on optimizing the crimp?

 

[Muzzlestuffer2012]

Just finished my first batch of 9mm handloads and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Using Hodgdon Titegroup and I managed to get the OAL just right. Anyone have tips on optimizing the crimp?

Get some case gauges preferably from Wilson tool and gauge they are great. Yes take your barrel out of your pistol and do a plunk test if your ammo plunks into the chamber the case should ideally be just below the hood. What's your measurement on the crimp ?

 

[tew3006]

If you have more than one 9mm, do a plunk test in each barrel. When I started loading for 9mm I bought a case gauge and made sure my ammo was in speck. I had one pistol that jammed every time, it has a short chamber. All it took to fix the problem was to seat the bullet a little deeper.

 

[Bottom Gun]

I shoot a variety of different 9MM brass in my plinking loads and I always seem to get some strange headstamp brass in my bucket. Some of these odd cases don't always drop into my case gauge.
A friend told me about the Lee Factory Crimp Die so I tried one. It appears to reform the case to factory specs instead of just crimping the case mouth. I discovered that approximately 90% of the loads that fail my case gauge will easily pass my gauge after a run through the Lee die. So, I started using the Lee Factory Crimp Die in the final stage of my Dillon and since then my rejection rate has dropped to nearly zero. I'm very pleased with this new Lee die.