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Posted: 5/18/2008 4:59:18 PM EDT
| How do I set the case flaring die? Do I close the outter die all the way? How deep to I flare the case? |
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The second die is your flaring die. Put a case in the ram and run it up. Screw the die down until you contact the case. Lower ram, screw die in about 1/8th turn more, lock it down and run the case up into it. If you see a very pronounced flare then you have too much. All you need is just the very smallest amount so the edges of the bullet don't hang up on the way in. Or at least that's how I do it. 
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I screw my expander down bit by bit and trial fit the bullet I intend to use until the bullet will barely sit on the case by itself. You don't want to overwork the brass any more than you have to. Try making a few dummy rounds just to get the feel for it. While you are making dummy rounds, you can also get a feel for how much taper crimp you want to apply. Without enough crimp, and you may have failure to feed/chamber. Don't over-do it though. Be safe and have fun! Dan |
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Re-loading Die Adjustments www.chuckhawks.com/adjust_reloading_dies.htm Aloha, Mark |
If you have carbide dies (likely for a pistol caliber) you do NOT want the die to contact the shellholder--but just a paper thickness or so of daylight. The carbide can break if it touches as it's very brittle. To the OP--as above, flare as little as possible, in order to get the bullet to just enter without shaving jacket material. The more you flare the more you "work" the brass, which makes it brittle, which makes it crack sooner. Oh, here's a trick that allows one to flare a tad less--chamfer the case mouth of all your pistol brass. You don't trim them so you only have to do it once. I'm the only one in my pistol club who does this so it's easy to tell my brass from that of others--just rub a finger on the mouth of the fired/dirty brass and the chamfer shows up plainly. I've never told them why I do it, so no one else has begun doing it. Now you guys know. 
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That is a great tip! Thank you for posting it. Is there a good place to go for FMJ bullets? I bought some Hornandy 230 grn. XTP's for my first set of loads. I have to pick a powder and primer combo by this weekend. I would like a powder that is very versatile for may different applications. I have some Winchester WST powder on hand because a guy at the gun show recommended it. From what I have seen of the loading data on Hogdon's website for Winchester, this powder would be better used with lead bullets. I will probably pick some up for practice loads at the next gun show. What would be a good load for FMJ? |
This sounds like a good way to be able to tell that you did enough. Thanks. Another question! Is there anything more economical than loading lead bullets for plinking ammo? I plan on shooting my XD until it falls apart this year so I need to make some reasonably cheap rounds. I don't mind scrubbing after every 500 rds. or so. |
My reloading manual was bragging up Unique and HS-6 as good choices for heavy bullets. Are these also versatile? I will look into the W 231 this week when I get home from Dallas. |
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You shouldn't need to do much actual scrubbing if you have the right alloy and powder charge. Be sure to clean all of the copper out of the barrel before shooting cast bullets. Accuracy should be a little better, and you should get less leading. |
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I usually scrub after each outing to try to minimize leading. That way I don't have to spend a monstrous amount of time later. While we are on the subject of .45, and this should be helpful for the OP as well. How long does a typical .45 brass case last? I have been shooting a minimum load out of my XD to get used to it and im going to be on the 3rd loading of my cases soon. What are the warning signs for .45 case failure? /hijack |
Next time..........at the end of the day of shooting lead bullets, try shooting a mag full of FMJ (or other jacketed) bullets. It will help, with the cleaning chore to come. Hey, it works for ME.  YMWV.
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I recommend against inside chamfering because that sharp shoulder is forced into the bullet, cutting a ring that greatly reduces set-back. When you adjust the expander, you should not be able to easily see the bell, only a slight feel. You need more for plated and cast bullets as they can be cut by the case mouth. Another kudo for Lee dies as they have a stepped expander and it is very difficult to get too much expansion. |
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I just picked up 1000 230 grn lead round nose Ultramax bullets. These are for plinking rounds so I don't care if they are super accurate, but that would be nice. I am going to use up the WST and then the WSF powder for these and then transfer over to tightgroup for the next batch. Deburring slightly seems like a good idea with the lead bullets. They will probably shave pretty easy! Any tips are welcome! |
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I would love to know what COL some of you guys are using for the Ultramax LRN bullets. I had lots of fun decapping and sizing my brass yesterday. The original capping pin was curved slightly so I was sure it wasn't going to last too long. Unfortunately, I dropped a spent primer into one of the cases, and then tried to deprime it. SNAP! Then I replaced the capping pin with another that was curved from the factory as well, but I didn't realize that the actual decapper was bent as well. I ended up snaping the 2nd of three that I had. I drove over to the machine shop and spent quite a while turning those tiny pins with the head on one end. I made them out of W-1, heat treated them, and tempered them properly. They are much straighter and of much better quality than the originals. I wish I had a store close that had them in stock!! I bent back the decapper and got going again. Thank God for my machine shop! ETA: I loaded up 50 rds of the LRN with 4.5 grns. of WST that I had on hand, and CCI primers. I used 1.230 COL. I was going to go with 1.200 that Winchester listed on their site, but I decided instead to seat it to the top of the band around the outside of the bullet. I saw C.O.L of 1.2", 1.22" and 1.230" and possibly a couple of other lengths for the LRN bullet. I will shoot it through my Chrono tomorrow as well as check the accuracy. If the velocity looks good, and the accuracy is decent, I will load some more up. If the velocity is low, should I seat the bullet deeper to get more compression? I don't know the implications of not using the right COL, especially when I don't have access to the right length for this load/bullet combo. |
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The dies are RCBS and the pins were bent from the heat treat. They had a mild curve to both of the ones that broke. The pins I made out of W-1 are dead straight. So far I have decapped and sized over 500 rds. without any further problems. The first time it was the primer that had fallen into the case. The second time it was the bent pin. When that one snapped, the actual part that holds the decapping pin bent as well. This is made of mild steel so I just bent it back to straight, and its been fine. I will buy a replacement for a spare next week. |
Your RCBS pins were not likely to have come NEW 'bent'. The heat treating did NOT do that to them bro...  You bent the pins yourself by either trying to go to fast with your sizing process or you had an off-center flashhole that caused you problems. Something in your process caused the pin to bend a slight bit and you kept on cranking until it broke... Either way, The RCBS pin is not to blame, It is your method and your process. If you had to manufacture a special pin because you could not keep the standard RCBS pin straight during your reloading then you got problems with your methods. FWIW, RCBS WILL send you replacement pins if you just call or email them and tell them what happened to your old one. Even if you 'fess up' and tell them that you actually broke the old one due to improper use, They will still replace your pin and get you back going again. (Ask me how I know this....  )
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If i had one that was curved due to poor heat treating practices that was not broken, I would send you one. The first one broke due to a primer that had fallen inside the case. Only one broke because it hit the side of the hole when I drove it home. This might have been due to a partly bent decapping rod. The bent pins were working fine for the .223 with the smaller primers. I did think it was wierd that the pins were bent brand new, but I had two of them before I ever started loading. One in my .223 die and the other in my 45 die. The only straight one I got is in my spare decapping rod that holds the pin. We are talking a good .010" of bend, not just a tiny bit for a .070" dia. rod. My new one is holding up really well so I really don't care anymore. When I get to the gun shop to pick up a package of new ones, I will check them over and see if I can find more bent ones. I would bet that they were using air hardening steel and didn't hit it evenly during the cooling process. I used W-1 and brought them up to cherry red and quenched them in salt water. Then a trip to the oven at 650 degrees for tempering. I was prepared to retemper them if they proved too brittle. I flared and cleaned primer pockets on over 1000 cases today. I primed around 1000 cases as well. I only loaded 220 rounds total, but I am still working up the load. |
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I just fired 250 rounds of my target load today. They shot really, really well. Right to the point of aim, and only a little high. At 10 yds. I was able to put 10 out of 13 rounds through a 1.5" hole. I have a really hard time telling where I am on the target much further than 15 yds. At that range I was shooting around 2.5". I haven't ran it through a chrono yet, but they have to be around 800 with the recoil. The WST is very dirty and smokey, but it really seems to shoot great. I won't be buying any more, but I am looking forward to shooting up the rest of it. The COL of 1.230" worked great, but should I be trying to load them longer? Would the accuracy be better if it jumps less to the rifling? |
I am not familiar with the bullet you are using. I load my 200 gr cast SWC's to 1.260. Max OAL is 1.275. |
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