9mm help?

A

axis223

New member
I just set up my lee 9mm dies and decided to deprime and flare them this way once funds become available for bullets and powder I can just seat the bullets.

I feel a little resistence in the depriming die but nothing at all in the flare die. I set them up to what lee's directions say.

decap die goes in and touches and 1/2 turn out and flare die touches and full turn out.

I see a slight ring maybe 1/8-1/4 way down the case. just want to make sure I'm doing this right.
 
You should see a visual difference after you flare the case mouth. After flaring the case mouth should be slightly curved outward to make it easier to seat the bullet.

Note 'slightly curved' you don't want to over-do it. At the same time it is a clearly visible difference so you should be able to tell by looking at the case whether it has been flared or not.
 
Until you have the actual bullets on hand, it could be a waste of time to flare the cases.
9mm bullets can vary in diameter quite a bit depending on whether they're lead, plated, jacketed and by barrel bore diameter if you have slugged yours.
Might not want to get too far ahead of yourself or there's a risk of doing it twice.
Just a thought.
 
I cannot visualize what the slight ring might be. Shouldn't be the result of the sizing die but perhaps from flaring that should smooth out after bullet seating. When you get to seating, it should be apparent if over flaring is being done. Not much is needed, especially with jacketed or plated bullets. The ring might just be from the bottom of the flaring die but not a problem.
 
"...nothing at all in the flare die..." Steel vs thin brass. You won't feel a thing.
There shouldn't be anything "1/8-1/4 way down the case" though. Like overthere says, you should see a small flaring(like a trumpet) on the case mouth only.
"...can vary in diameter quite a bit..." A whole 1 thou. .355" for a jacketed bullet. .356" for cast. Not enough to worry about. Get all your case ready for powder and bullet and store 'em in a coffee can.
 
Some expander dies will touch the shell and then have a small step that expandeds the case. Without the bullets on hand it's going to be difficult to tell if you have expanded the mouth enough.

If you want a handful of lead, plated bullets and/or jacketed bullets and you are willing to pay shipping feel free to PM me.
 
Think of the difference in feel between the two dies this way: With the resizing and depriming die, your are compressing the entire length of the case. With the flare die you are just bending out the very top rim ever so slightly. The difference you feel is appropriate.
 
A whole 1 thou. .355" for a jacketed bullet. .356" for cast. Not enough to worry about.
Click to expand...
Could be though.
My favorite bullet was the 147 grain truncated cone in .357.
Another fellow I know preferred an even heavier .358 round nose.
Both did a good job for 9mm on full sized poppers with excellent accuracy.
Flare before hand for an expected .355, then decide on something like above would require doing it over.
No fun, been there, done that.
Just saying it's possible, maybe more than.
 
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What bullets do you plan on using? For jacketed I use everglades fmj 115. I dont flare at all and they start easy. My cast 125s definitely need a flair.
 
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