belling 357sig cases

[shu]

I favor plated bullets (presently working on some 121gr Hornaday HAP). Reloading on single stage (Rockchucker). Having difficulty getting getting the bullets started straight in 357sig cases; also finding occassional 'fingernail clippings' skinned off the bullets during seating.

Believe I'll try some dummy (no primer, no powder) seatings after lightly touching the 357sig case mouths in the press with the 9mm RCBS belling die. Will see how well these pass a push test for bullet setback.

Any comments?

 

[caz223]

Yeah. It's hard to load 'em with a single stage.
It's much easier to use a progressive, seat and crimp in two different steps
and allows use of lee factory crimp die.
Don't overcrimp!

 

[shu]

tried it. don't like it. just not much neck on those 357sig to go messing with.

 

[Jake in TX]

What brand dies are you using?

Jake in TX

 

[Dave P]

My lee dies work fine, including opening the mouth for ranier bullets. I do not use the lee fcd. Neck tension is fine, but you definately need to keep on top of it!

Dave

 

[shu]

jake - rcbs

 

[Uncle Don]

Guess there are allot of ways to skin a cat. I don't bell at all and use the lfd and haven't had any hit of setback. I set it just deep enough that I can feel it do something at the top of the stroke. I think it would be easy to overcrimp.

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

I favor plated bullets (presently working on some 121gr Hornaday HAP). Reloading on single stage (Rockchucker). Having difficulty getting getting the bullets started straight in 357sig cases; also finding occassional 'fingernail clippings' skinned off the bullets during seating.

Believe I'll try some dummy (no primer, no powder) seatings after lightly touching the 357sig case mouths in the press with the 9mm RCBS belling die. Will see how well these pass a push test for bullet setback.

Any comments?

Does your die set expand the casemouth with the sizing die (using an expander button on the depriming stem, like on rifle die sets)? If so, they do not bell the casemouth, so that might cause a problem. I think you're on the right track with the 9mm belling die. If that does not work, you might try a Lyman M-die; I've heard good things about them.

There's nothing special about progressive vs single stage presses and separate crimping. There's nothing keeping you from crimping separately on a single stage press; it just takes an extra step (unlike a progressive). I like the crimp from my seating die just fine.

But I don't think this is a crimping issue.

Andy

 

[trueblue1776]

lucky, my sig barrel destroys those expensive little cases, can't reload mine

 

[Uncle Don]

lucky, my sig barrel destroys those expensive little cases, can't reload mine

What does it do to them?

 

[calaverasslim]

I favor plated bullets (presently working on some 121gr Hornaday HAP). Reloading on single stage (Rockchucker). Having difficulty getting getting the bullets started straight in 357sig cases; also finding occassional 'fingernail clippings' skinned off the bullets during seating.

Believe I'll try some dummy (no primer, no powder) seatings after lightly touching the 357sig case mouths in the press with the 9mm RCBS belling die. Will see how well these pass a push test for bullet setback.

Any comments?

You might consider trying the Lyman "M" die on the sig. It was designed with the cast bullet in mind and really, all the plated bullets are coated cast bullets. I have found that it works quite well with the jacketed bullets as well.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I've loaded around 12,000 of the 357 Sig rounds so far and the best way I've found to solve the problem you describe is to lightly chamfer the case mouths. Since the neck is so short on this round, any belling of the case mouth must be removed by a crimping die, once the bullet is seated, so I avoid belling this particular round.

I load mostly Berry's plated bullets in 357 Sig, and by chamfering the case mouths, I have done away with the seating problems and shaving of the soft copper jackets. You only have to chamfer one time and then they will be ready for the next time you load them. I've set up a process where I can hold five cases in my hand at a time and quickly chamfer them individually, then drop them into a bin and pick up five more, etc. I can go through about 1,500 in about half an hour, and it's worth the effort.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[JSM]

Camfer 357 Sig

Fred,

How much do you crimp them?

 

[ReloaderFred]

JSM.

I canellure my bullets that I use in the 357 Sig, and crimp into the canellure. It's not enough crimp to cut through the plating, but enough to firmly hold the bullet in place. I also use AA#9 powder, which fills up the case and is compressed when the bullet's seated. This also helps to prevent setback, which in this round can cause some serious problems, due to the high pressures it operates at.

Fred

 

[trueblue1776]

What does it do to them?

Reforms the shoulder of the case, quite sharply too. So I have the original gradual shoulder then the new really sharp one. They are completely useless after they go through that barrel.

 

[Rockstar]

You got a bad barrel.

 

[trueblue1776]

not a big deal to me, it doesn't appear to affect the ballistics or the safety of the gun, just a bummer I can't reload. I have no idea of the origin of the barrel, otherwise I might try to con a new one out of the company. No big deal though, I can still reload my .40s&w from the gun.

 

[Uncle Don]

not a big deal to me, it doesn't appear to affect the ballistics or the safety of the gun, just a bummer I can't reload. I have no idea of the origin of the barrel, otherwise I might try to con a new one out of the company. No big deal though, I can still reload my .40s&w from the gun.

That's my thought too. 40 cases are fairly plentiful and even though some say you shouldn't use them, I haven't had a hint of a problem in nearly 2500 rounds. No setback (from the shorter neck) because I use a FCD and no pressure signs. If you don't load them to smoke, you shouldn't have any problem.

 

[mrapathy2000]

I have had a pita of a time getting my 9mm bullets seated straight. 40sw has been much nicer.

have had good luck with using very little belling. chamfering has helped but I found that seating the bullet to tight case kneck does best.

you may want to look for a different bullet seating stem. seating a plated bullet to a tight case kneck probably wont work at all.

good luck

 

[shu]

thanks for the discussion. i'll play with a light chamfer.

lack of powder (i use blue dot, pretty much a full case) may have affected my disappointing press-tests with belling.

fwiw, tried some universal, 6.7 gr over the 121gr hornaday hap at 1.150 oal last batch and got 1356.5 average speed with a standard deviation of 5.08 amd spread of 16 fps for ten rounds. nice accuracy.