9mm Reloading Questions

[Maryland_Shooter]

Success! I fired the first batch of ammo I have ever reloaded and all went well. I tried 10 rounds of what I loaded using 115g Remington FMJ bullets, Unique powder and CCI primers. They cycled and shot fine in a Glock 17 and Suomi M31 carbine. Before shooting I checked all of them in a Lyman case gauge. I also loaded up some additional rounds but before I go hog wild and load up hundreds I had some questions to ask:

1. The Speer manual says for 115g FMJ/TMJ bullets the OAL that they tested or should be is 1.135. How much wiggle room do I have on either side of that measurement to be safe? Most rounds tested with the calipers were coming in at 1.1345 to 1.136 but a few were slightly longer and some shorter coming in around 1.129.

2. The manual listed Unique powder at 5.7g as a starting load. I noticed that filled up the case pretty well. Doing a google search in regards to Unique and 9mm that seems to be the case. The issue I had with my Lee "Perfect" Powder Measure and Hornady scale was variance in the throws. It's a flaky powder which I am not sure the powder measure likes. I was aiming for 5.7g but in constant testing was hitting 5.6 to 5.9 with a few around 6.0 and some as low as 5.0(which were very obvious). So is there a better powder out there to use? Bad throw technique with the handle? Powder measure sucks? Hornady scale sucks? Nothing to worry about? I'm thinking that more accurate throws would be better but maybe it's not a big deal?

3. Some of the brass came from Glock guns and of course has the bulge and before running it through the Lee Factory Crimp Die, some did not fit the case gauge until I used the crimp die and it seemed to taper the round fine and every round fit the case gauge fine. Comparing the rounds I made to Federal factory rounds, my crimp seemed about the same. Is it possible to screw up the crimp with this die? I backed out the adjustment knob after setting it up to Lee's instructions.

Before loading live rounds, I made some dummy rounds using resized and belled brass without primers and yes I uhhh screwed up a few, maybe more than a few.

I reload, but not 9mm; however, from what you posted I'd say you did a very thorough job of it. COAL is important as far as does it chamber in the firearm, I'm gonna guess you are not close to a max load, ergo .1 grain isn't a show stopper, crimping for me is a must to avoid setback when chambering which can be dangerous.

I never bell my cases unless loading lead. I've notice that almost all you PA guys do. Since I'm able to seat a bullet, I see it as a wasted step on anything but lead. Others may see it differently. Try it both ways. You can overcrimp, but just stay close to the diameter of the factory ammo and it should be good.

After crimping a loaded .45 auto, the dimension of the brass where the bullet is inside the case should be between .469 and .471 IIRC. Like I said, I don't load 9mm, so the numbers are not in my brain like the .45 dimensions.

Congratulations and BTW I also use dummy rounds. Take some advice and toss every one of them into a small container and pull them ASAP. You get an odd one mixed up with the loaded ones, it's trouble.

[Maryland_Shooter]

I reload more 9mm than any other pistol caliber. Can you solder? I soldered a spent .380 brass case (leaving the spent primer in the pocket) to a copper "handle". I then stuffed paper disks I had cut into the bottom until the dipper held the amount of powder I wanted.

I pour power into an aluminum cat food can to dip from. Dipping the dipper and giving it one tap on the edge of the can yields a sufficiently accurate, repeatable and reliable measurement for pistol.

I checked this method by weighing each dip on an Ohaus M-5 balance beam scale until I was convinced of the safety and accuracy of this method.

Since then, I just dip and pour using a funnel. I marked the dipper with the grains and powder type. Eventually, I made a few dippers for what I load.

Old school

I have a set of Lee Powder dippers and the sliding insert card for loads just in case technology fails.

OP, I forgot to mention: I use HP-38 (same as W-231) powder for 38 spl, 357 magnum, .40, .45 and using QuickLoad as well as real life experience, it is 100% burn rate, clean and meters very well. It's my standard pistol powder. Have a look and see if it's a powder useful for 9mm. Now, if I feel the need for speed, Power Pistol. Meters fine but a pretty big flash and maybe 75% burn rate.