Anyone have any data with the combination of Hornady ELD match 73 grain bullets and StaBall?  I tried to do a reloading session starting with Hodgon's data on a 77 grain matchking.... and it went awry. Ended up with bulges on the neck/shoulder, rounds that wouldn't chamber, and pulling some bullets. I assumed this combo would work, but apparently it does not or i'm an idiot (probably both.).

Any suggestions appreciated.

Using Lee dies. Did full length resize, seated bullet to 2.25 and did a light crimp with the lee factory crimp die. I don't think the bulge came from the resizing as I did some additional case after and didn't cause a bulge.



(in good news, the first part of the reloading session with 6.5 creedmoor went fine.)

Bulges or dents? Sounds like too much lube on the shoulder.

Any chance you have the seating die turned in too far?  The only time I have ever bulged a case was when the roll crimp hit the case mouth during seating.

I can’t say for sure. I don’t think it was from the resize as I did another case after I noticed the issue with the die in the same place and didn’t see it… so I am guessing it happened during the bullet seating or crimping.

I wish I could post pictures. I am not sure bulge is the right word, it’s almost like the shoulder flattened out where it meets the straight wall of the case.

I haven’t found any data online for StaBall and this bullet, so maybe I shouldn’t have tried this in the first place.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/14008575/1/collapsed-case-shoulders

Yup… the pictures from the link are exactly what happened to my brass. I adjusted and was able to get some loads that fired properly. Initial velocity results weren’t great, but I may do some more work before going to a different powder.

Thank you everyone!

Honestly, I would skip the crimp as well. When I was loading and shooting a lot of 77’s I tested crimp vs no crimp. The differences were not statistically significant. I saved a lot of time by skipping that step.

I haven't used a crimp for high power rifle rounds in 35 years. As long as you have .0025" to .003" of neck tension you don't need any crimp. Match bullets don't have a crimping groove as a rule, no reason to damage the flight characteristics if you don't have to.

Measure your resized brass neck diameter then seated a bullet. Measure it again. as long as it's .0025" to .003" larger after seating the bullet I say go shoot.

To increase neck tension simply remove the expander ball and spin polish it smaller with wet/dry sandpaper. 600 grit to start. 1000/1500 if you want a mirror finish. .221" to .2215" is usually a good final dimension.

Yes, it was the seating die I had jacked up.

I do a crimp as I am exclusively loading for an AR, so the crimp gives me a little bit of reassurance with an auto loader. Plus, I am doing this on a lee turret press, so it’s just a quick turn to add the crimp. Extra time is negligible to me.

I was just able to score some CFE223, so will concentrate on that for now.