new to handloading a have a question

L

litenite99

New member
ill start with i hope this topic hasn't been beat up to bad i looked around and couldnt find exactly the answer i was looking for so here is my question. I am new to handloading and i am loading my first few rounds in 9mm I purchased a pound of n320 mostly because it was all i could find here in louisiana at the moment. anyway my loading manuals have no data for 115gr 9mm in this powder so i pulled the load data from VV website for n320 and it says minimum load is 3.9grains with case length trimed to .748 and overall length at 1.142. i have no way to trim my brass at the moment so i wanted to load 3.9grains with a case length from .750-.752 and an overall length of 1.165 to match the winchester rounds i usually shoot. Does anyone think this will be a problem to start out with? Thanks in advance!
 
No great need to trim for pistol so much, so don't sweat the trimming. If you are new to reloading I would follow the vv data and set the oal what they recommend.
 
i have measured my bell and crimp during the process i bell my case out to .380 and taper crimp to .377 i am using berry RN 115 grain bullets which they say is .356. i have made dummy rounds to 1.165 and checked them in my barrel the spin easy and are not on the lands. so i gather from the respones that my brass length is fine but i should seat the bullets another .020 in or so to match VV specs. and i shouldnt have a problem starting with VV lowest powder load of 3.9grains.
 
In semi-auto pistol rounds like 9mm, .40 S&W and .45, almost nobody on the planet will ever, and I mean EVER trim a piece of brass. We will gather them, clean them, occasionally we will toss some out if they get a gouge in them and rarely, especially if it is a very, very old piece (more often in .45) and it ends up with a crack -- we will discard those. But we don't trim them. In semi-auto pistol rounds, the brass life usually ends when the piece is lost because it got chucked in tall grass, weeds, a mud puddle or forward of the firing line on a tightly controlled indoor range.

In revolver rounds like .38 Special, .357, .41 and .44 Magnum where we use a roll crimp, a small percent of folks will trim for length simply so they can get a consistent roll crimp and even then, it's typically only folks loading the heavy recoiling, full magnum stout loads, or the folks who choose to load in extreme detail.

Case trimming is an operation required for bottle neck rifle rounds simply because of the totally different nature of rifle handloading. For the most part and almost certainly in 9mm, it is simply not part of the equation.
 
i have made dummy rounds to 1.165 and checked them in my barrel the spin easy and are not on the lands…
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When starting out, what you are looking for the bullets are not touching the lands. Don't use the overall length of the Winchester rounds as the Berry's bullet is different. The profile of the bullet and its fit in YOUR barrel(s) should be the limiting parameters of overall length. Other limit would be fit of round in magazine. I like to get the bullet out close to the lands, when possible, but that's just me.

If your dummy rounds don’t put the bullet in contact with the lands, you should be good to go on OAL.

I recently thought some very bad thoughts about someone who had trimmed some pistol brass. What in Sam Hill is someone trimming 9mm pistol brass for?
 
Remember to just load a few before you test fire them.

While your mileage may vary, I didn't get good, consistent results with the exact same projectile and powder until I got up to 4.5 grains, with COL 1.14".
 
The only problem cpould be if someone else wants to shoot your reloads as Walther for example has to have a length of 1.12 for them to plunk test right in the newer PPKs. Since I reload for multiple people I set my OAL for 1.12 and use a FCD instead of a taper crimp.
 
hartcreek said:
The only problem cpould be if someone else wants to shoot your reloads as Walther for example has to have a length of 1.12 for them to plunk test right in the newer PPKs. Since I reload for multiple people I set my OAL for 1.12 and use a FCD instead of a taper crimp.
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Not necessarily. I have several Walthers. My 9mm I can run 1.169 oal. I don't but I can.

Each pistol, each firearm is different.

My go to 9mm load for my Walther with a RN plated and jacketed, both have an OAL of 1.150.
 
1.142 is your overall case length you must not lengthen your OACL the case is designed so that the case is held in its proper spot if the case for example slides back when fired and a small part of the case above the head is exposed the side of the casing will blow up and the 20 thousands or whatever gas pressure will com out the back of the gun towards the shooter or there hands chances of this happening are low unless the head space is affected but is you don't go to 1.165 you will build no case pressure and your gun will not have enough force to overcome the spring so it won't reload it may not eject the case the bullet nay get stuck in chamber because you need the smaller volume in your case it is a must after you gan experience you can lengthen you overall length but you must add more powder to keep your pressures up to sammi standards don't ruin your gun buy doing this the wrong way
 
Great response by Sevens (post #7) that should set to rest any questions that anyone might have towards trimming handgun brass. Strictly not necessary but I have to admit that once I did a very slight trim on .45 acp cases just for the purpose of squaring off knife edge ridges that were forming around the mouths of the csses. This was so slight that no inside or outside deburring was required. But as pointed out, trimming for rifle cases is a different matter.
 
What Sevens said above......

But, I do have the Lee Trimmer for everything we load, inexpensive (two pieces, one stud and cutter >$10 (used for all calibers) and a holder and gauge for each caliber > $8.
 
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