Shaving lead when reloading 9mm

Terry Schultz

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I am loading 9mm on a Dillon 650 using starline brass, lead powder coated semi-wadcutter bullets and using a mr. bullet feeder. About 10% of my cartridges wind up with just a little shaved lead at the mouth of the casing that prevents them from dropping into my chamber checker like they should. Sometimes I can take a wire brush and remove the lead and then the cartridge will fit in the chamber checker, but not always. I run these cartridges in my Glock 34 pistol and my Ruger PCC 9 carbine. The Ruger will swallow all I make even the ones that did not fit properly in the chamber checker but the Glock is a lot more picky and will only cycle and chamber a perfect round.
I suspect that the Mr. bullet feeder is not dropping the bullet straight onto the brass and it will allow some lead to be shaved off the bullet. I do watch the to see if the bullet is straight in the case but I don't think I am being finicky enough and some are tilted just enough that I don't realize it and don't try to adjust it. I am using the Dillon powder funnel and have tried lowering it to bell the mouth more but this didn't work. I am going to get the powder funnel from Double Alpha and see if this cures the problem.
Has anyone here had this same problem and was the use of the DA powder funnel the cure?
 
Has anyone here had this same problem and was the use of the DA powder funnel the cure?

Run some cases through and put a set of calipers to the lead.
Lead heads should be .356? Its not uncommon to get a batch of oversized. You're not running Black Bullets Intl by chance?
Measure the inside of the cases, run about 10 through the powder drop. Case mouth should be greater than the lead. .357-.358?
Thats where a lot of the shavings I got came from.
 
i've never run a dillon so i don't know how they are set up...but, on my rcbs & hornady set ups i'd be checking first, is my seating die screwed down too much a turn or two, to the point where it's closing the case mouth before the bullet is seated to the proper depth and/or i'd make sure the case mouth is belled enough to accept the bullet.
 
I have a 650, no bullet dropper.

I load mostly plated, some lead. I chamber check every round, and I have the same problem occasionally.
When I started reloading, I had it more frequently, and that was because I wasn't belling the case sufficiently.
When it happens now, it's because I've screwed up the placement of the bullet in the case.

Check the bell of the brass first, if that's good, then it's either the bullet feeder that has to be tweaked, or as @TrashcanDan said, your bullets may be oversized.
 
Ive also run into this with powder coated bullets . Try something else coated with hitek coating and see if the results are the same.
 
You said starline brass, is it new?
My experience with new starline 38 supercomp brass is that the mouth edges are sharp. No way I'm spending time chamfering pistol brass, but 30 minutes in the corncob media tumbler is enough to break that sharp edge.

Also, the DAA / Mr bullet feeder expander die is superior to the Dillon. It's basically a different shape, to accept the bullet from the feeder die and hold it vertical until seating.

I hope you are not seating and crimping in one station...
 
I try to stick to one thing at a time, I don’t recommend shaving your head while reloading.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I will try to answer all your questions.
I am seating at one station and then crimping at the next.
The flair on the end of the case is very definite, more than I use on other calibers.
After looking at the head stamps on my brass I apparently have more of a mix than I had thought.
The outside of a casing that has been de-primed and sized is .373 and the inside is .349
The outside of the case after belling is .419 with a very distinct bell and the inside (as best as I could measure it) is .379
The size of my coated bullets is .356 at the base.
The outside of the case of a finished cartridge that drops easily into the chamber checker is .366
I am hoping that the new powder funnel from DA will cure the problem. It is on order from Midway and should be here by the end of the week.
 
Just took a look at the DA powder funnel - that should fix your problem with bullets not dropping straight.
I turn a similar powder through expander for my Lee dies - works great and I can customize it for the exact seating depth of my bullets so there is no chance of setback or swaging a soft bullet base.
 
I got the new powder funnel from DA and it definitely helped but did on solve the problem. I have to look over each cartridge to see if there is any lead around the mouth. Many times there is lead. I have a wire brush about the size and shape of a tooth brush and this can usually take any excess lead away from the case mouth but it is a chore. I may try setting the DA powder funnel deeper. The funnel sticks a little now but I am afraid that the funnel may stick more and make the upstroke more difficult if I lower it.
On on the bright side. When a bullet does not stay on the case when the shell plate rotates or it is tilted most of the time it is because the case has a crack in it and I can remove the case before I seat and crimp a bullet in it.
 
I got the new powder funnel from DA and it definitely helped but did on solve the problem. I have to look over each cartridge to see if there is any lead around the mouth. Many times there is lead. I have a wire brush about the size and shape of a tooth brush and this can usually take any excess lead away from the case mouth but it is a chore. I may try setting the DA powder funnel deeper. The funnel sticks a little now but I am afraid that the funnel may stick more and make the upstroke more difficult if I lower it.
On on the bright side. When a bullet does not stay on the case when the shell plate rotates or it is tilted most of the time it is because the case has a crack in it and I can remove the case before I seat and crimp a bullet in it.
Don’t know da funnel, for dillon funnel - polish with fine grit. Possibly light oil on funnel.
 
Most of the powder through expanders are designed for jacketed bullets.
Cast bullets require an oversized expander.
 
You might find an answer or similar problem here-


Did a quick search but ran out of time.
Forgot to suggest using a 38 expander - not certain if it is possible on a Dillon and I usually make them for my Lee powder drops myself.

look here - notice the sizes. you need to use a micrometer to measure the size of your bullets and your expander to see if the two are compatible.
 
O P here
I was still having problems with lead shaving on the case rim so I went to the DA web site and found a video about the subject and discovered that I was not using the powder funnel properly. I did not have it going into the case far enough. I was only expanding the case to accept the bullet but did not put a flair on the mouth of the case. I lowered my powder die down to let the funnel flair the case just a small amount and that seamed to be the solution. I still get the occasional lead shaving but it is now down to an acceptable level. The worry I had about the funnel sticking in the case and making the upstroke difficult turned out to not be much of an issue. It does stick a little in the case and make the up stroke a little harder but not enough to seriously impede loading. I tried putting some case lube on the nose of the powder funnel but that just made the powder stick on the funnel and didn't seam to help much with the sticking issue. Thank you to all that posted.
 
I have a 650, no bullet dropper.

I load mostly plated, some lead. I chamber check every round, and I have the same problem occasionally.
When I started reloading, I had it more frequently, and that was because I wasn't belling the case sufficiently.
When it happens now, it's because I've screwed up the placement of the bullet in the case.

Check the bell of the brass first, if that's good, then it's either the bullet feeder that has to be tweaked, or as @TrashcanDan said, your bullets may be oversized.
It is not oversized bullets. I load .358 in 9mm that I resize with an U undersize die, no issues.

I use a Dillon, but in my opinion the powder expander s*cks balls. So I backed out the powder and I have a separate die for the expander, followed by a seating die, followed by a crimp die.
 
There are 'alternate' funnels like the DAA MBF or the Uniquetek (PhotoEscape) one.

To solve the stickiness on the funnel, I throw a couple of handfuls into a box, jiggle them so many are standing up, spritz quickly w OneShot Case Lube or BrassJuice and let them dry.
 
I've a 650 and load jacketed,lead and powder coated lead never had any problems but I do sort my brass by head stamp. Bullet diameter. 356-.358 depending on the pistol I'm using.
 
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