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Originally Posted by mrerick
Your 9mm Luger round looks seated far shallow into the case. The bullet should never be actually in contact with the leade while chambered.
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It doesn't touch the lands or leade in any of my shooter Lugers which is the whole point of my post. Loaded to an OAL of 1.100" as seen in the picture, there is still a jump to the lands. OTOH, my more modern pistols require seating much deeper for the same jump: 1.035" OAL. The original Luger chambers are much more generous than newer guns. The same applies to my shooter .30 Lugers. The chambers are more generous than newer pistols.
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What reloading manual are you using, and which cartridge / bullet / powder / primer combination?
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I have more than half a dozen manuals by the major companies; Lyman, Hodgdon, Speer, Sierra, Nosler, Hornady and a few others.
The closest in design to the Berry's plated flat base flat nose bullet is Speer's 115 grain Gold Dot. Hodgdon calls for a maximum load of 5.9 grains of CFE Pistol Powder and an OAL of 1.125". I use 5.6 grains and an OAL of 1.100" and my load drops fully into the chamber and drops freely out of it. Berry's bullets are plated and are softer than the jacket material of the Gold Dot bullets. The load functions my Lugers reliably, is accurate and shows absolutely no signs of pressure.
Cases are whatever I have and primers are standard small pistol primers by Winchester, CCI or S&B. I currently have some Genex that work well.
If you have a modern 9mm handgun, the chances are that the chamber is cut differently than a vintage Luger. I listed three examples of modern handguns I have that require the same bullet to be seated .070" deeper than for my Lugers or they will not chamber because the bullet jams the lands. For them, I lower the powder charge to Hodgdon's starting load of 5.4 grains of CFE Pistol Powder. Again, they give reliable function and accuracy without any pressure signs.
I've been loading for Lugers since 1966; both .30 caliber and 9mm. I've used just about every possible powder and bullet available. Some of the powders like Winchester 730 worked great but isn't made any longer. AA #7 leaves too many powder grains. Unique works beautifully but doesn't work well through a measure. Blue Dot and Herco work but are dirty. Bullseye and 231 are good powders and meter well. The list goes on but CFE Pistol Powder has become my go-to powder for a wide range of pistol cartridges.