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Posted: 9/8/2012 7:47:45 PM EDT
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Have been trying to figure out why my 38 Special loads have not been loading into any revolver.
I have taken apart the sizing/depriming die and the seating die, Cleaned both out and reset them. Still experiencing none of the reloaded cartridges will load into the cylinder. Some stick at the base, some at the nose. Have used this set-up sucessfully for years. Using lee dies in a Dillon RL550. Also, same tihng happening with Dillon dies 357 Mag. set-up |
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I've loaded somewhere in the range of 50 to 100,000 38 special loads on a Dillon 550 using Dillon dies, I've never had a cartridge that didn't fit properly in the cylinder of my revolver. Its only speculation but I doubt the equipment is at fault, its either components, adjustments or technique, its just a matter of figuring out which one. One potential trouble spot is if you are crimping and seating in the same die, mis adjustment of that die can really cause a lot of problems, that's one of the reasons why Dillon separates those processes, but even separate they can cause problems if they aren't properly adjusted. |
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Thanks for all your replys. i took your advice and measured everything i could bullet wise. The sized cases fit in the cylinder fine. the cast bullets were within tolerance. Obviously the case wouldn't fit after the powder drop expand stage. So after loading the bullet and it still won't fit in the chamber.
Could it be expanding too much or not crimping enough? the Case wall was .010 thick on average. |
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Quoted:
Thanks for all your replys. i took your advice and measured everything i could bullet wise. The sized cases fit in the cylinder fine. the cast bullets were within tolerance. Obviously the case wouldn't fit after the powder drop expand stage. So after loading the bullet and it still won't fit in the chamber. Could it be expanding too much or not crimping enough? the Case wall was .010 thick on average. What brass are you using? Do you have a good pic of one that won't fit? |
 45 ACP here, but 38 Special works the same way. Sized case on left, center belled case, right bullet will "just" sit on the belled case. If you are belling any more than this, you found your problem.  Some 357 loads, look at the crimp. You are seating to the crimp grove?
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Okay, more info. The brass is a mix of S&B and Winchester, once fired. Untrimmed they measured1.148 and 1.145 respectively. Loaded the S&B measured 1.454 and the Winchester 1.459.
The S&B stuck in the cylinder at approximately .953 from the rim with a diameter of the case at the cylinder being approx. .370 The Winchester stuck at approx..994 with a diameter of .375 Seating seems to be on the crimping groove. |
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Quoted: Are you seating and crimping at the same time or using a separate crimp die? If you're doing it at the same time, you could be bulging the case by applying to much crimp. And since you have different length cases, that's another problem unless you set dies for each length. I am not a fan of mixed case reloading without trimming. But this forum is full of posters who don't trim revolver cases. Doesn't always work.
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| Do you have the Lee 4 die set, or more specifically the Factory Crimp Die? If you have the FCD I'd back off the crimping of the seating die, especially for the longer brass, and run them through the FCD. |
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I agree with the others who suggest you are most likely crimping too much. I am one of those reloaders who has never trimmed a straight walled pistol case but I do measure at least a sample lot and set up my roll crimp on a long one. That way the shorter cases just get a little less crimp. I load on a single stage press and visually inspect every crimp while putting the loaded rounds into their storage boxes. I seat and crimp in one operation and can easily tell (feel) when the crimp is more or less.
If I was going to load for max accuracy then yes I would either length match my revolver brass or trim it to equal lengths for sure. BTW: I know this is not what FLICK-244 meant but the FCD was not made to fix your improperly loaded ammo. |
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Thanks again for all the suggestions. Between adjusting the seating depth and the crimp we finally got it figured out.
CKELLY to answer your question the main weapon they were being fired in is a S&W 586 but lead build up wasn't the problem. Previously the loaded cartridges would not load in any of 6 different weapons, 2 of which are 38 specials. Thanks again |
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