[.357 mag]

Hey,

I'm trying to reload for my 9mm Sigma and I'm have some problems. The round gets stuck in the barrel and doesn't fully chamber.

I'm using Lee pistol dies w/ the factory crimp dies w/ .356 swc's.

All OAL are good. The gun is chambering maybe 1 out of 10 rounds. maybe. The rounds that do chamber do eject and bring another round up.

Ideas?

Thanks
.357 mag

 

[xtimberman]

If you disassemble your Sigma, remove the barrel, and drop a factory round into the chamber, does it drop all the way in with a kerplunk - and will the factory round slide right back out when you turn the barrel over? If it does, everything is probably OK with your chamber and something is wrong with your handloads.

If you over-crimp with the Lee FCD the dimensions can be altered to where the cartridge will stick in a "tight" chamber. The 9mm case is tapered - not straight-walled - and that Lee crimp die is very capable of buggering up that critical taper and can causing a cartridge to stick. All you need is a light crimp, ~ 1/4 turn on that Lee crimp die. Re-read the instructions and try to reset the crimp to only 1/4 turn. (Cartridges that have been overcrimped and bulged will need to be sized again - not re-crimped - in order to chamber.)

I bought a bunch of those Lee FCDs when they came out, and I'm not so much sold on them anymore for several reasons. I'm slowly phasing out my Lee FCDs and have found that a good taper crimp applied with Redding or RCBS dies seems to work much better for me when loading 9mm.

xtm

 

[.357 mag]

Yes, its not a factory load. I have 6000+ thousands rounds with zero FTF( with factory loads).

I will check out the crimp die and try again.

Thanks

.357 mag

 

[DougE]

You can also set up the lee FCD using a factory round. Screw the die out a ways, run a factory round up into the die and screw the die down til it bottoms out. It should crimp to the same dimension as a factory round now. I still measure the case mouths to make sure they match factory dimensions but setting the die up this way seems to have worked for me.

 

[xtimberman]

You can also set up the lee FCD using a factory round. Screw the die out a ways, run a factory round up into the die and screw the die down til it bottoms out. It should crimp to the same dimension as a factory round now. I still measure the case mouths to make sure they match factory dimensions but setting the die up this way seems to have worked for me.

Sounds like a good idea!

Are you saying to screw the whole die out and then back in to where it touches or are you referring to just the crimping plug? I have one set up in another caliber and tried this trick, but couldn't screw the whole die back in to the proper depth because of friction between the factory round and the carbide sizing ring on the bottom.

xtm

 

[DougE]

I kinda worded that wrong. I meant to say to screw the crimping plug out a ways, not the whole die. Then run the factory round into the die and screw the crimping plug in until it stops against the case.

 

[xtimberman]

OK, thanks for the clarification. I think that's a great shortcut. I wonder if it makes a difference whether or not you're crimping a bullet with a very different profile from the factory one? I don't have anything to experiment with to check that out.

xtm

 

[DougE]

The crimp diameter would have to be about the same no matter the bullet profile for cartridges that headspace on the case mouth.

 

[xtimberman]

I must have been thinking about the Lee seating plug on that die - which pushes somewhere along the ogive and not on the tip of the bullet.

xtm

 

[.357 mag]

You can also set up the lee FCD using a factory round. Screw the die out a ways, run a factory round up into the die and screw the die down til it bottoms out. It should crimp to the same dimension as a factory round now. I still measure the case mouths to make sure they match factory dimensions but setting the die up this way seems to have worked for me.

Thats a good idea! I will try.