belling case mouths for pistol

[trickyasafox]

i hear a lot of people say you need to bell more for lead or bell less for jacketed, but im unsure how you gauge how much bell your applying? im getting ready to order my first set of pistol dies (9mm) and read a previous post about masterblaster bullets, they were a poly m coated bullet that required the same bell as lead. do i have to order a different size expander ball or can i just adjust the die?

 

[P95Carry]

You should be able to adjust the die to get required flare. Jackets do usually need less - really, just enough to 'get them started'. With lead tho - it is undesirable to get any ''shaving'' on insertion and so a slightly more generous flare usually good.

Main thing is a compromize - enough to get a clean start but not so much that unnecessary work hardening occurs. So, extending case life. Experiment, maybe sacrificing a case or two - until it is enough but not too much.

 

[308win]

Most belling dies are adjustable for the amount of flarel you put on the case mouth. Generally, the less the better so the brass doesn't get work brittle as quickly.

 

[Kamicosmos]

There's a fine line between a proper bell and a screwed up case. - Me.



You can adjust the belling. As has been said, you'll find the sweet spot where it makes it just right to start the bullet.

Honestly, I have more trouble adjusting crimp than I do belling.

 

[dmftoy1]

I was told to go .020 wider than the case body on .45acp and that seemed to work pretty good for me. When I did the same amount on my .50 S&W it was WAY WAY too much. FWIW.

Have a good one,
Dave

 

[JNewell]

For lead bullets, the best thing going is the Lyman Type M expander die, which is basically more like a two-step barrel expander rather than a cone-shaped expander. You can buy them individually from Midway or from Lyman in most handgun calibers.

 

[BluesBear]

I second the emotion on thre Lyman M die.
I have found nothing out there that works as good.

Unlike the RCBS it's very difficult to over expand when using the Lyman.

 

[brickeyee]

I do not know how lyman is making the M dies, but at one point they changed to an aluminum stem with a steel expaned that screwed on. The aluminum had a female thread and it did not stand up to the job. The aluminum threads stripped out under the force needed to pull the expander back out of the case.
I had to put a helicoil into the aluminum, and it has been OK now for a few years.

 

[Smokey Joe]

How much to bell the case mouth?

Getting back to the original question, I load nothing but lead for pistol rounds, and when I started I was told that the merest hint at belling was enough; just so the bullet could be started into the case by the press, without the 3 of them having an argument about it.

Thousands of rounds later, I have yet to have a case neck work-harden enough to split, and the few bullets which have argued about going meekly into the mouth of the case have been operator error (setting bullet on case mouth at too much of a tilt; they like to be just about straight).

As to working the case mouth, you also want to crimp the bullet only just enough. With light target rounds, this translates to "almost not at all," but with heavy hunting loads you want a heavy crimp. Still, even my hunting cases haven't split due to excessive working of the case mouth brass.

 

[SASS#23149]

I only shoot cast bullets..

and I only bell enough to just be able to feel it by fingers runing up the case.Just gotta be sure and 'guide' the bullet up into the seating die.
The best way is to seat and crimp in two steps,that way no shaved lead or lube gets into the die.A 1 step seat/crimp WILL shave lead/lube or jacket and foul the die over time.
ymmv