Trouble with Bullet Alignment

2. More Flare. I will have to go back and give this another try. My experience has been simply that I get good rounds and then all of a sudden, a bad one. So, in the past when I give it more flare, then the bullet just falls into the case with a little push of my thumb. I don't think I can get this to work but will try again.
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That is the classic sign you need more flare! Cases vary in length and thickness. If a short case or thin case comes through your process, blam you will have a tilted round. Add some more flare and then those cases will have enough flare.

Too much flare is a case life issue....well, you pick them up off the ground for free likely, so you might lose a couple to flare...who cares!

It could be over sizing. I that case an M die has a real expander and could help as it will loosen the neck up a bit.
 
Try sorting your brass by headstamp. Different brands have different wall thicknesses, so you could try running one brand at a time, and adjust flare and crimp when you change headstamps.
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Good advice that will give you more accurate ammunition.

I'll add that most 9mm carbide dies will resize the case to a single dia., virtually eliminating the original taper to some extent. This results in a finished round that has a "waist", just above the canelure, in the case head area. In my experience, this does not affect case life, nor weaken the case assuming you're loading to normal pressures. Over the years, I've used RCBS, Redding, & Dillon carbide 9mm dies, and they all resize as described above.

Lastly, I'll 2nd the advice to use a bit more flare when seating your bullets. Then, when crimping, the goal is to iron out the flare, to a straight case appearance and no more, as the case mouth abutting against the barrel chamber forward edge is critical to correct headspace.

HTH's Rod
 
Aguila Blanca, I'm going to assume that relates to a massive increase upon ignition because there is less/no room for case expansion.-?

At times, I find the round doesn't complete battery but it will if I push the back end of the slide forward. I have not experienced any issue with that, but I'm talking about maybe 1/8th of an inch.

I can see a potential problem if you really try to jam a resistant cartridge into battery, then fire it off, based on the first paragraph.

What else might explain "Kaboom?"
 
I think he just means the bulge shows you are on the edge of excess pressure for the case. If you don't iron it out and instead hand feed the rounds in correct orientation to chamber, the bulge will grow at each firing until the case bursts.


jetblueshooter said:
…So, in the past when I give it more flare, then the bullet just falls into the case with a little push of my thumb. I don't think I can get this to work but will try again.
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That certainly shouldn't happen, but I've experienced the problem with Remington 45 Auto brass. It was very thin at the mouth and quickly got springy enough (about three firings) that it would not resize enough to hang onto the brass.
 
Unclenick said:
I think he just means the bulge shows you are on the edge of excess pressure for the case. If you don't iron it out and instead hand feed the rounds in correct orientation to chamber, the bulge will grow at each firing until the case bursts.
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Correct.

The "Glock bulge" is the result of insufficient support for the lower half of the case web at the throat of the barrel. If you manage to get a reloaded, bulged case to chamber in more or less the same orientation, the unsupported area will still be unsupported, so it won't take many firings to result in a "kaboom." There's a reason why "kaboom" has become virtually synonymous with Glock.
 
I use RCBS carbide dies for 9x19 Luger, these dies have coarse threads with too much tolerance so when the die is locked down it is not in line. So I take up the slop with teflon tape which helps a lot. I flare the case mouth enough so I can set the bullet in proper alignment before seating.
 
I've run into the same problem and found not all 9 mm brass cases are the same. Next time it happens look at the head stamp and every time it happens again look at the head stamp. I'm willing to bet you will find it to be 1 or 2 head
stamps causing the issue
 
I have one set of .45acp dies that i used "O" rings under the expander and seating stems to improve bullet alignment
 
Your flare has nothing to do with bullets dropping into the case with a push.

Ergo, there is something wrong. You are not getting the size right, dies are set wrong and or ????????????????

9mm is pain in the whazoo as its small, finicky, tapered. I single press it but Ii don't shoot a log (and I guy cheap shooting ammo - though that is gone right now)

I never was able to get better accuracy with my hand loads.

The best accuracy was the Remington Golden Sabre with that bore rider bullet!

Real conundrum as the progressives are picking on settings and you have a pick round.
 
Update: Thank you again to everyone for your help. I "think" that the bullet alignment issue has been fixed, but now I have a new problem I can start under a new thread I suppose. So, here's how the bullet alignment problem was fixed.

- I replaced my RCBS expander die with the redding expander premium die. I noticed right away that it created a FLARE at the case mouth that I was unable to duplicate with the RCBS expander.

- I was able to dial in the accuracy of the case mount flare much more precisely. So, what ended up happening was that a visible FLARE pretty much ended up being too big and the bullet would just slide down the case. I dialed it in, to the point where you would need a magnifying glass to see the flare.

- Now, the bullet will seat easily and I am able to dial it in very accurately. SO... the "bullet alignment" issue is fixed. Thanks to you guys.

Ok... ahem... ha... I now have a NEW problem. On to the next problem! I will end this point and create a new one with the new problem.

Thanks everyone.
 
jetblueshooter said:
Now, the bullet will seat easily and I am able to dial it in very accurately.
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IMHO, bullets should not seat "easily." But that's a relative term. The bullet should be a press fit or slight interference fit, so the tension on the case wall grips and retains the bullet.
 
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