I have been trying not to flood this forum with dumb questions as I spend my first full week reloading and testing. Thanks to 1911ly for all of his help behind the scenes!!!
My latest set of 9mm cartridges seem to have a small bulge where the bullet sits in the cartridge. I am not sure if I noticed this or not on my earlier set of reloads. I also see this in my factory cartridges that I compared them to, although to a lesser degree. I want to make sure there is not something that I am doing wrong.
My nickname has always been "He who walks tall with huge bulge in pants" , but that is a completely different situation and a story for another time!!!
Background Info:
9mm Berry's Coated bullets, 124 gr
Mixed brass
Lee powder-through Flare die
Lee Factory Crimp Die
Does this bullet bulge look normal? I am talking about the case bulge just down to where the bullet is seated.
Here is how the case flare looks before seating the bullet (Lee powder-through flaring die):
I compared these to some factory rounds (Fiocchi and CCI Blazer), and although they have the same bulge, it is not as pronounced. This is definitely not the greatest picture, you can see the bulge easier in person. The Fiocchi is on the left and the CCI Blazer is on the right:
You can see more bulge with the Fiocchi round in the picture, but both cartridges have the bulge, just not as prominent as the ones on my reloads.
All of my reloads pass the plunk test without issues, and as you can see, fit into my Lyman case checker just fine. I know this is not a definitive result, but it is a data point nonetheless:
Am I OK here, or is there something that I need to adjust?
THANKS!!!
Here are some measurements for the numbers guys (as measured):
Berry's bullet diameter at the base = 0.3525"
Berry's bullet length = 0.5870"
Reloaded case O.D. after resize - no bullet (Lee FCD) = 0.371"
Reloaded case I.D. after resize - no bullet = 0.3515"
Reloaded case O.D. after flare = 0.3800"
Reloaded case I.D. after flare = 0.3595
Reloaded case mouth O.D. - bullet inserted = 0.3750"
Fiocchi case mouth O.D. - bullet inserted = 0.3740"
Blazer case mouth O.D. - bullet inserted = 0.3730"
(I know there are all different bullets from different manufacturers, and the factory rounds are FMJ not plated.)
My latest set of 9mm cartridges seem to have a small bulge where the bullet sits in the cartridge. I am not sure if I noticed this or not on my earlier set of reloads. I also see this in my factory cartridges that I compared them to, although to a lesser degree. I want to make sure there is not something that I am doing wrong.
My nickname has always been "He who walks tall with huge bulge in pants" , but that is a completely different situation and a story for another time!!!
Background Info:
9mm Berry's Coated bullets, 124 gr
Mixed brass
Lee powder-through Flare die
Lee Factory Crimp Die
Does this bullet bulge look normal? I am talking about the case bulge just down to where the bullet is seated.
Here is how the case flare looks before seating the bullet (Lee powder-through flaring die):
I compared these to some factory rounds (Fiocchi and CCI Blazer), and although they have the same bulge, it is not as pronounced. This is definitely not the greatest picture, you can see the bulge easier in person. The Fiocchi is on the left and the CCI Blazer is on the right:
You can see more bulge with the Fiocchi round in the picture, but both cartridges have the bulge, just not as prominent as the ones on my reloads.
All of my reloads pass the plunk test without issues, and as you can see, fit into my Lyman case checker just fine. I know this is not a definitive result, but it is a data point nonetheless:
Am I OK here, or is there something that I need to adjust?
THANKS!!!
Here are some measurements for the numbers guys (as measured):
Berry's bullet diameter at the base = 0.3525"
Berry's bullet length = 0.5870"
Reloaded case O.D. after resize - no bullet (Lee FCD) = 0.371"
Reloaded case I.D. after resize - no bullet = 0.3515"
Reloaded case O.D. after flare = 0.3800"
Reloaded case I.D. after flare = 0.3595
Reloaded case mouth O.D. - bullet inserted = 0.3750"
Fiocchi case mouth O.D. - bullet inserted = 0.3740"
Blazer case mouth O.D. - bullet inserted = 0.3730"
(I know there are all different bullets from different manufacturers, and the factory rounds are FMJ not plated.)