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Posted: 3/6/2011 7:53:37 PM EDT
| I started reloading some .40 the other day. Sized, flared, and began reloading. I check some of the finished product out and was able to press the bullets down into the case. It was all mixed brass, so I began trying to figure out what went wrong. I thought it might have been that part of the brass was sized by the previous owner, but a total count was almost 160 where he had sized 136. Out of the brass, the CBC and Winchester Nickel have reloaded with no problems. Some of the Winchester and Federal brass have reloaded fine. The Remington, Independence, Speer, CCI, and a large part of the Winchester and Federal won't load correctly. I plan to run the primers back out of it and start from the beginning. Any clue of what went wrong? |
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You may need to set the die tighter, I'm guessing the Win and Fed brass are shorter by just enough that they aren't getting crimped enough. That why many of use seat and crimp separately and a lot of use use Lee's Factory Crimp Die to crimp ETA - you may be over flaring as well |
| I think you are right about the brass being shorter. When I checked the ID of the CBC it was .397 before seating. The other brass was .401-.402. If it was shorter, the die would flare these more than they would the CBC and this would be the result. I probably set it up with a piece of CBC brass and the set up was no good for the other stuff. I am glad I checked them before I got way too far into it. I only had to pull 21 of them. The rest I checked before trying to seat. Case length of the CBC is .840, Case Length of the other is .837. |
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Make sure you resize as far as possible, meaning the die is touching the shell holder.
Use minimal flairing, just enough to accept the new bullet and no more. Consider crimping in a second operation, do not crimp the case any more than is needed to get the flair removed. Most all semi-auto hanguns headspace off the case. If you crimp too much you dimish the abililty of the case to catch the edge of the chamber, you also squish the bullet unesessarily and possibly loosen it in the loaded round. If these changes don't fix the problem consider returning the die to the manufacturer for assesment/replacement or purchase Evolution Gun Works (EGW's) undersized die for 40 S&W. It's .001" smaller in diameter than standard. |
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bp
I don't pretend to be an expert and I'm on a learning curve here myself, but I've asked and I think found somewhat of an answer to the question regarding setback with .40 caliber jacketed bullets. I've had the same issues, in 10mm, using RCBS .40/10mm dies. And especially with mixed, used brass and jacketed bullets. As I'm sure you know setback can have serious consequences, but especially more so in a high pressure cartridge like the .40 or 10mm, personally I think the .40 is even less forgiving then the 10mm. http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=42&t=335435 I posted this thread a few weeks ago, at this time I don't think it was an extractor issue so you might want to skip down to my last post. I'm just beginning to understand this issue and come up with a solution. Which for now...is to load cast bullets only in my 1 time fired mixed brass. For jacketed bullets I'm going to use same lot new brass. Each loading session, make certain to load several dummies and vigourously cycle and test for setback. If I decide to load Jacketed bullets in fired brass I'm probably going to segragate it for the sizing, belling, seating and crimping routine. I seat and crimp in a separate operation. I started doing this a while back and now do it for all my loads. I purchased a Lee FCD, however I'm not entirely sold on it. If I do all of the above the RCBS seems to be working fine. It's not crimp that keeps a bullet in place, it's neck tension, and even a wee bit to much crimp is a bad thing, from my experience the bullet will actually setback easier, try it yourself with some dummies. I flare just enough to seat the bullet and crimp just enough to remove the flare, this is working best for me right now. But...each headstamp requires different adjustment. (No doubt different length cases here) I haven't tried a new sizer die yet, my 1990's RCBS die may or may not be sized properly, I have considered an EGW Undersized die, but haven't tried it yet. At this point I'm more inclined to think that in .40 and 10mm the brass itself varies in thickness and length, perhaps more so then say .45acp, which is giving these results. If you seat a short bullet like a 150 in a case which originally had a longer bullet like a 180 this may worsen the issue. So far my best results has been with Winchester brass, the worst offender is nickel plated, especially Remington. I recommend caution, I spent hours researching this and not only pulling bullets, but my hair out as well. Exercise your own due diligence, so take this with a grain of salt to determine what's going on in your given situation. Working with minimum start loads goes without saying. |
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Quoted:
If these changes don't fix the problem consider returning the die to the manufacturer for assesment/replacement or purchase Evolution Gun Works (EGW's) undersized die for 40 S&W. It's .001" smaller in diameter than standard. This was my solution years ago & I've never had any problem with my .40 reloads. OP - the condition you describe - bullets easily pushing into the case - will usually result in the bullets SETTING BACK into the case if you try to fire those rounds. Usually, a 'set back" in .40 will result in the case head being blown completely off the case. Too many people then try to blame it on a "double charge" / over charge, a weak case, or some other problem. I used to fire about 15,000 .40 rounds a year in USPSA (ipsc) IDPA, and 3 gun (then I got married & had kids). A single blown case head will ruin your match & often brakes parts. For safety's sake, I decided, "why risk it?" I've used the carbide EGW "U" die for years. I also use the leave-on case spray - the one featured right in Dillon's video, OneShot. I leave it on the case with no problems at all. YMMV. |
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What I did.
Purchased a Hornady Cam Lok bullet puller and pulled about 100+ bullets, 135 Noslers and 155 Hornady's. It's a good tool and beats the heck out of a kinetic puller if pulling more then a few. The bullets were trashed, out of frustration I over crimped and seriously mashed the bullet. Both with the RCBS taper crimp and the Lee FCD and to various degree's, it's informative to crimp and then pull the bullet...a little goes a long way. And as I stated earlier, overcrimping will make setback worse. I then pulled the decapping pin on my sizer and started over, topping off the cases with a 180 grain cast bullet load. The suggestion to go with the EGW might be the "best" solution for reloading jacketed bullets. I noted that many of the competition guys who shoot a lot go this route. Saw that over on the Brian Enos site. And I'd rather load and shoot then try to over anaylize what's going on, not to mention that segregating brass for a seperate loading routine is a PIA. Have to acknowledge that I have learned quite a few reloading basics from the experience though. |
| I've got the RCBS .40 dies and load for an XD. Have loaded Golden Sabers, Ranier plated and now mostly cast from a Lee 175SWC mold. I've had no issues. Like others have said, flair only enough to not shave lead/copper, crimp only enough to remove flair. I bought a Dillon seat die and use my RCBS to crimp in a seperate operation on my 550. This worked better than crimping and seating the cast bullets in one operation as that produced lead build up on case ends and failure to go into battery issues. The Raniers would work well in your glock and save some money. |
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