Bulge Busting 9mm

[Frost]

I need help from the collective brain trust here.

I have a good bit of pickup brass some of which has a bulge sufficient to create problems.
I bought a Lee 45acp bulge buster and highly recommend them.

But
I need the same for 9mm and Lee does not make one for 9mm because it's a tapered case.
Some people on the internet say to use a 9mm Makarov Lee factory crimp die.
Others say 9mm Parabellum will break the Mak die and Lee won't warranty it.

I also saw a roll sizer suggested but a manual roll sizer is pretty durn pricey and out of stock where i looked

 

[rotarymike]

I'd be leery of using bulged 9x19 brass. Max CIP = 35k; .45 max CIP = 19,900 or 21,000 depending on resource.

Stuff is cheap enough/common enough to discard/recycle and put that money into your new ammo fund.

But, if you must, you must. In that case I'd call Lee or RCBS and ask their tech advisors - I've had Lee techs especially be very helpful with 'nonstandard' questions.

 

[Frost]

The problem is unless I buy new brass I would not know if what I was buying was any better than what I have.
The manual roll sizer costs more than a Dillon XL 750 press. (press without options that is)

I would really like to see availability and price reach a point I didn't feel a need to reload 9mm.

 

[rotarymike]

What you need is a piece of scrap steel with a precise hole drilled in it - the size of a non-bulged fired case. If pickup brass fits through, Good to Go. If not, scrap it.

I've got 2-3 burst cases that popped at the bulge-line after 1 reload from new, and not hot reloads either. Just an old, worn-out pistol with a sloppy chamber.

 

[Frost]

I have a case gauge but sometimes pass fail are very close...

 

[rotarymike]

In the USAF if something squeaked by a go-nogo gauge that was a fail. Is saving $1 worth your life? But, maybe less applicable with range ammo... as long as you're not practicing CAR or other close-body shooting drills, a case rupture shouldn't do much besides scare you - if your gun is all metal and reliable.

Had some old reloads case head separate on firing in my M&P9L - detail stripped the gun (including pulling the sear block/rails out) so I could check for cracks with the spray magnaflux and a magnifying lamp. In my ruger... meh...