Bulge in case, to use or not to use?

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CCWdownrangeP2

CCWdownrangeP2

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Picked up a bunch of PMC 40 S&W brass at the range yesterday and while sorting through the day's treasure I noticed a very consistent bulge at the base of the body of the cases, just above the head (sort of shaped like the cuticle on your little finger, arc pointed up toward the mouth of the case). They appeared to be once fired. wasn't sure about them so they just were tossed into the recycle bucket, too bad 'cause I like the PMC brass. Anyone have any idea on the cause of the defect? Safe to resize and reload?
 
That there is what's commonly referred to as glocked brass. Most common in .40 but I've also seen a few pieces of it come from 9mm Glocks. Lee makes a "bulge buster" die that supposedly fixes the problem but I imagine even if you "fix" it, it's still more likely to fail at that spot in the future.
 
I would only toss brass that has an actual pimple, not a bulge. IMHO virtually all of the .40 SW stuff should be preprocessed to "uniform" the case. A push through rig like the Bulge Buster or Redding G-Rx is the only thing that will process the entire length.
 
There are a number of new push through dies and machines that have been around a long time like Magma's Case Master that size the part of the case that is untouched by the normal sizing process.

There are other machines called roll sizers that will resize the base of the case and iron out any imperfections in the extractor groove as well (something a push through sizer cannot do). The Scharch is no longer made but the Casepro is.

This photo shows one of the dies in the casepro machine.
DSC02110.jpg


This is a video of one of mine that I automated so it doesn't add any work for me in the process.
th_casepro.jpg
 
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That there is what's commonly referred to as glocked brass. Most common in .40 but I've also seen a few pieces of it come from 9mm Glocks. Lee makes a "bulge buster" die that supposedly fixes the problem but I imagine even if you "fix" it, it's still more likely to fail at that spot in the future.
Click to expand...

The bulge buster dies are not intended to fix this kind of bulge. They are designed to "fix" brass normally expanded in oversized chambers as this brass is difficult to resize completely.

What the OP describes is brass flowing down the feedramp. Those cases are unsafe to reload.
 
I've run across a good deal of it too over the years. If it doesn't chamber after being risized I toss it. I've never had a problem thus far using it, and I load full pressure jacketed loads, just make sure it will fit the chamber before loading it. After I finish resizing, I take the barrel out of the gun and hand chamber each one as I fill the load tray.

GS
 
As long as the load is useable in a given gun (ogive and such) they will all pass the "plunk" test using only the barrel.

The barrel doesn't check the round in the area that these machines are made to address. A case gauge, on the other hand will. FWIW many rounds that fail a case gauge will run in most guns most often.

DSC02128.jpg


Like most, I never went beyond the "plunk" and it worked for decades. It was not until I had "mystery malfunctions" in timed competition that I decided that I needed case gauges and a method to fix the problem.

Note that the barrel tests above would "pass" a case that could fail the case gauge and also hang up as it entered the breech face or entering the extractor itself.

DSC02130.jpg
 
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But? But? But?

I've owned and shot a Glock .40 since 1995.

And have never needed a 'Bulge Buster' die yet to reload anything that ever came out of the ejection port!

Re-sized with a standard RCBS carbide die set of the same time period.

.40 S&W Glock bulge is not a given.

Unless you try to make a 10mm out of it when you reload for it!

rc
 
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Is this what you people are suggesting is reloadable with the aid of a bulge buster die?



glock-brass.jpg
 
918v said:
Is this what you people are suggesting is reloadable with the aid of a bulge buster die?



glock-brass.jpg
Click to expand...
Oh no, no, no.... That brass is trash and was trash before it hit the ground. I'm not sure what the others think but I was talking about small bulges that just about interfere with the proper seating of the case in the barrel. Nothing more... (wow, that is the worst case i have seen in a very long time)
 
Is this what you people are suggesting is reloadable with the aid of a bulge buster die?
Click to expand...

Negative, that is scrap.

However, there is a LOT of brass that will fail a case gauge that can be fixed with the methods we are talking about.
 
On a side note, I have in my collection a case that is a 9mm that looks as it was fired out of a 40 or 45, rebated rim for sure and out of round. Wouldn't reload that one either.
 
Because that is what the OP is describing:

bulge at the base of the body of the cases, just above the head (sort of shaped like the cuticle on your little finger, arc pointed up toward the mouth of the case).
Click to expand...
 
Sorry, didn't see his photo until tonight and yep that is scrap brass.
 
BIL has ran some of those "guppy belly" brass through his Lee Bulge Buster. Even ones that didn't look as bad as the above pictured one, didn't iron out evenly. Just thought I'd throw that bit of info in.
 
But? But? But?

I've owned and shot a Glock .40 since 1995.

And have never needed a 'Bulge Buster' die yet to reload anything that ever came out of the ejection port!

Re-sized with a standard RCBS carbide die set of the same time period.

.40 S&W Glock bulge is not a given.

Unless you try to make a 10mm out of it when you reload for it!

rc
Click to expand...

But that's just nice for you, usually retrieving your own brass. If you have any range rat stuff, quality unknown, there is no more handling to simply run everything through the full length sizer.
 
BIL has ran some of those "guppy belly" brass through his Lee Bulge Buster. Even ones that didn't look as bad as the above pictured one, didn't iron out evenly. Just thought I'd throw that bit of info in.
Click to expand...

But the actual goal is to make the brass reliably usable again, not necessarily indistinguishable from new.
 
918v,

I'm just curious . Is that a .45 acp case ? It appears to be. Is it Federal ? The reason I ask is several years ago a gun shop owner friend showed me a .45acp case that was fired from a local LEO's G21 . I can't recall for sure the make of the case but I think it was a Federal . What he showed me was an exact duplicate of the one you shared. It was new ammo, not a reload . If some of you remember, Federal had an issue with their brass years ago with certain lot numbers in a couple handgun calibers.

Ironically, I have never seen a .40 brass guppied like that / that badly fired from a Glock or any other make . I'm sure not saying they don't however. I just haven't seen one myself.

I have owned 3 Glock 22's ( one Gen 2 , 2 Gen 3 ) , still have one Gen 3 and knock on wood have never seen them distort brass upon firing beyond a very subtle & slight bulge above the head ( no more so that found on .45acp cases fired from a 1911 ) all with new factory ammo only in those Glocks . I choose not to reload for or shoot reloads in my Glock 22 .
 
918V, The picture you posted is very similar to what I found,your example is just more pronounced. I've not posted a picture, although I did save a few cases to try to get a good picture and figure out how to post pix on this forum. Haven't had the time to attempt the process yet. I did scrap the pieces found (except for the four I've retained for pictures). Abnormalities such as was found on these PMC cases are not worth the potential failure and I don' try to load 'em. I was just curious what caused such a bulge, and if a reload attempt should be considered. I'm thinking......Nah. Be safe. P2
 
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