First Cartridges

[killian6pk]

Well I finally reloaded my first 9mm cartridges. I used CFE Pistol and 124 grain jacketed round nose. Also used CFE Pistol and 147 grain jacketed round nose. I loaded 20 of each size bullet. Single stage press and I think I got everything correct. I guess I will find out when I shoot them. Couple of questions came to mind while doing this. First why is the C.O.L. 1.150" on the 124 grain but only 1.100" on the 147 grain? I would think that the heavier bullet would also be fractionally longer. Also why is the bullet diameter .356 on the 124 grain and .355 on the 147 grain? There again I would think it would be the other way around.

I used the Lee 4 die set to do this. Another question is that the instructions say to raise the ram to the top and screw the die down until it touches the shell holder. When doing this if I raised the ram all the way up and the ram lever (think it is called cammed) at the top and screwed the die down the ram would not go back down. It is because it rises a small amount before going down from that cammed position. Hope that makes sense. So the question is should the ram be raised to the top but not cammed over or was something I did wrong? I still think I got the bullets seated correctly and crimped and I know I got the overall length correct because I was using a digital caliper to check each finished round. I also weighed each charge and seated the primers with a hand primer. I have a new Auto Drum, but it would not work properly, so I talked to Lee and sent it back to them to figure out why. I used a dipper, trickler and digital scale for the powder in each case.

[RBHarter]

Presses are all just a little bit different .
I have an old Lyman that you can just see the ram move up then down out of cam .

I have a ancient Pacific Deluxe and it's cam over movement a blind guy could see with a 15' cane , it moves over .05 I suspect wear or a part reversed in the linkage . In it's OM it required an individual ram for each rim with no provisions of a changeable shell holder , it does have that ram now also .

My RockChucker has a definite cam over but virtually zero travel , the 008 Hornady/Pacific , and Partner are the same .

[GasGuzzler]

The 147 likely calls for a DIFFERENT powder therefore the space taken up can change.

[Ranch Dog]

Couple of questions came to mind while doing this. First, why is the C.O.L. 1.150" on the 124 grain but only 1.100" on the 147 grain? I would think that the heavier bullet would also be fractionally longer.

Those are probably two questions that only the bullet manufacturer could answer.

[horseman]

I used the Lee 4 die set to do this. Another question is that the instructions say to raise the ram to the top and screw the die down until it touches the shell holder. When doing this if I raised the ram all the way up and the ram lever (think it is called cammed) at the top and screwed the die down the ram would not go back down. It is because it rises a small amount before going down from that cammed position. Hope that makes sense. So the question is should the ram be raised to the top but not cammed over or was something I did wrong?e.

"Cam over", a lot of argument over that term goes on. I have owned ONE press (not that there aren't others) that actually was built to "cam over", a Pacific Power C press I bought in the 70's. You could actually see the ram reach TDC (top dead center) before the handle was completely at the bottom of the stroke, then as the handle was reaching the bottom of it's stroke the ram would lower a bit. It was built in to the press to do that and at that time in the reloading world was considered a good thing. This would resize your brass to SAMMI specs and was considered a more "repeatable" setup. That was before carbide dies, shoulder bumping, bump dies, etc; The instructions that tell you to lower the ram and add "1/4 more turn" isn't truly "cam over" but is to eliminate the "flex" that is in a press itself, linkage, press flex. It is considered not a good thing with carbide dies as it could be possible to "crack" the carbide "ring" of the die, and doesn't really do much of anything in pistol rounds anyway and "over sizes" your rifle brass for optimum chamber fit. (My opinion). Set your ram to TDC, screw your die in to "touch" at this point and you should be good. If a little cam over "feel" is there I wouldn't worry. I no longer own that old Pacific even though it was a very good press as I don't want a press that "cams over" these days. I "think" I've learned a better way through the years.

[killian6pk]

The 147 likely calls for a DIFFERENT powder therefore the space taken up can change.

I was using the Hodgdon reloading info and using CFE Pistol for both size bullets. The Lee info used exactly the same powder weight as Hodgdon's site. Just one of the things that make you go Hmm. Since I am so new at this I was just trying to learn, mostly to make sure I did not blow my face off.

[killian6pk]

That is what I finally decided, was what you said about top dead center. Like I said I think they all came out right in terms of length and crimp etc.

I used the Lee 4 die set to do this. Another question is that the instructions say to raise the ram to the top and screw the die down until it touches the shell holder. When doing this if I raised the ram all the way up and the ram lever (think it is called cammed) at the top and screwed the die down the ram would not go back down. It is because it rises a small amount before going down from that cammed position. Hope that makes sense. So the question is should the ram be raised to the top but not cammed over or was something I did wrong?e.

"Cam over", a lot of argument over that term goes on. I have owned ONE press (not that there aren't others) that actually was built to "cam over", a Pacific Power C press I bought in the 70's. You could actually see the ram reach TDC (top dead center) before the handle was completely at the bottom of the stroke, then as the handle was reaching the bottom of it's stroke the ram would lower a bit. It was built in to the press to do that and at that time in the reloading world was considered a good thing. This would resize your brass to SAMMI specs and was considered a more "repeatable" setup. That was before carbide dies, shoulder bumping, bump dies, etc; The instructions that tell you to lower the ram and add "1/4 more turn" isn't truly "cam over" but is to eliminate the "flex" that is in a press itself, linkage, press flex. It is considered not a good thing with carbide dies as it could be possible to "crack" the carbide "ring" of the die, and doesn't really do much of anything in pistol rounds anyway and "over sizes" your rifle brass for optimum chamber fit. (My opinion). Set your ram to TDC, screw your die in to "touch" at this point and you should be good. If a little cam over "feel" is there I wouldn't worry. I no longer own that old Pacific even though it was a very good press as I don't want a press that "cams over" these days. I "think" I've learned a better way through the years.

[killian6pk]

I started some 45 ACP rounds this morning. I originally bought a LoadMaster 45 ACP Kit. You all sugested that I start out using a single stage, so I found the Lyman Crusher II on closeout at Sportsman Warehouse. So I have been using that. I had to go into the LM kit to get the 45 ACP dies and it was only a 3 die set. No carbide crimping die include. Do 45 ACP rounds not have to be crimped?

[mikld]

Too much info already presented for me to add much. Think of "cam over" as in a car engine "over top dead center". The ram goes up so far and depending on the linkage, can start back down.

OAL is largely determined by bullet shape. Fatter ogive bullets need to be seated deeper than "skinny noses" bullets to fit in the chamber. The nose shape of your bullets are probably different enough to need different seating depth.

Most jacketed 9mm bullets run .355" and .356". Both acceptable and both within spec. Different manufacturers and/or different manufacturing equipment/processes can produce .001" larger bullet, No big deal.

Powder measure will vary charges depending on the type of powder, the type of measure and the methods used (but the high dollar, ultra precise "bench rest quality" measures will have a much smaller variation). I have powder measures that will hold less than .1 grain variations on some powders, but no better than .75 grains with others (ball powder vs extruded "log" powders). But I have been using these powder measure a very long time and do my best to have every action, throw of the handle to be the same every time, same force, same speed every throw.

Go slow, double check everything, and most important, have fun..

[killian6pk]

Thanks for the info. I am having fun. Learning new things has always been fun for me.