bulged cases

[Topkat]

I am currently de-capping 45 acp brass. Every now and then I get one that's slightly 'bulged' toward the bottom. see attached pic. (case mikes out at .468 the bulge at .473) .005 difference
My de-capping die is set up as stated in the Lyman die info. ie a 'matchbook thickness from the bottom of the die and the shell holder.
The round fits perfectly into the case gage guide.
OAL of this one and all other 'good ones' is like .990
Any idea what's causing this?
Are they safe to load?
thanks as always
Tk

 

[moxie]

What is the headstamp on those cases?

 

[MEHavey]

de-capping die is set up as stated in the Lyman die info.
ie a 'matchbook thickness from the bottom of the die
and the shell holder.

`Never heard of that practice in my life. (wow)
(Can you post a pic of the part of the instructions?)

The decapping pin should be set up to protrude ~¼" from the bottom (just enuf to clear
the primer out), and screw the die all the way down to hard contact w/ the shellholder.

.

 

[Topkat]

8 out of about 150, 3 speers and 5 totally different ones including 1 steel

 

[moxie]

Here are the current Lyman instructions:

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/dies/pdf/dieInstructions.pdf

I wouldn't have a clue where I could find a matchbook anymore. Certainly not in my reloading room.

 

[MEHavey]

"Do not turn your T/C die to contact the top of the shellholder!
Carbide is extremely hard material which shatters easily if forced
against a hard surface, such as the shellholder..."

OK... carbide die. In that case just screw it down to contact and back off ⅛ turn (~0.008").

Personally, I just screw all my straight-wall T/C dies to contact (but not over that like
you can do on non T/C bottleneck.) Never had any issues over the years at all.

 

[nettlle]

Looks like Glocked brass. As long as it chambers alright these cases fix themselves the first time I shoot them after reloading.

 

[243winxb]

The carbide ring should have a bevel on the mouth. Try having the thickness of a nickel ( about 1/16") between the die & shell holder.

 

[MEHavey]

The carbide ring should have a bevel on the mouth.

I admit my pistol/carbide dies are all RCBS. Does the carbide ring
in the Lyman die actually protrude beyond the die's mouth?

 

[brickeyee]

Some older carbide dies DID protrude from the die enough to crack the ring if it touched the shell holder.

Most newer ones seem to be recessed a few thousandths to protect less than careful users.

The older ones sized that much further than the newer ones.

 

[345 DeSoto]

When I come across these, after I resize, I use a Lee Bulge Buster, to remove them. I don't find many...

 

[Topkat]

Glocked brass......wow, that's a new one on me. A lot of my brass has been shot from a Glock30......thanks guys.

 

[Topkat]

Here's the matchbook thing

 

[Walkalong]

Either the carbide ring doesn't have a smooth bevel on it, and the edge is doing that (Had one like that), or you have the sizer too far down, or both. Looks like both.

 

[nettlle]

I wouldn't throw your die away if you can't adjust it to get this bulge out.

 

[moxie]

First, throw the steel case away.

Your bulge is not Glocked brass, I don't think. Rather, it's an artifact of the case manufacturing process. I've seen the same thing many times with my ..45 ACP, especially old foreign stuff like TZZ. If you look close the case almost seems to be made from two parts, top and bottom. You'll also see that the "bulge" is mirrored by a concavity on the other side. At least that's what I've seen. They are odd but they work. Press on.

Can't believe they are using a matchbook cover as a measuring device. Just the one cardboard thickness or the two when folded over? Or the striker part with the staple through it.

Lyman's grammar and spelling are also neutrocious.

 

[MEHavey]

...or you have the sizer too far down...

A sizing die screwed down to just contact will size all the way into the extractor groove



That being the case (no pun intended), I don't understand how such a oversize ring as the OPs shows is left at the bottom of a re-sized case
(...unless the carbide ring has been displaced up into the die -- but then all cases would show some sort of ring)

 

[345 DeSoto]

On 99.5% of the .45 ACP cases I re-size, the sizing die (screwed down to the shell holder on the ram) removes all of the bulging on the cases...which seems to occur well above the rim. However, what MOXIE said about the inside of the cases being concave opposite the outside "ring", leads me to believe that whomever has reloaded these cases has overdone the charge...for whatever reason. That's the most obvious reason. This has only occurred on Range brass I've picked up, and never on my reloads or Factory brass...

 

[Topkat]

Is the inner ring supposed to be recessed as per pic? I've reloaded 1000's of these things and have never seen it, im up to about 15 out about 400. So weird.

 

[nettlle]

If you reload mixed range brass you are going to see these bulges every now and then. No matter what you do to your die.

 

[Topkat]

Nods at all the sage advise....most of the 'bulging ones' seem to be speer. could it be some have been reloaded too many times and the die is just 'mushing them down"

 

[243winxb]

Is the inner ring supposed to be recessed as per pic?

The newer dies have more taper/bevel to allow the case mouth to find the die opening on a progressive press. Your die looks like the transition is not smooth?? My old RCBS die, in photo above, is before dies were made with more taper/bevel. Maybe, just get rid of the problem brass?

 

[345 DeSoto]

TOPKAT - See where your sizing die has the taper on the Carbide ring? 99.5% of the time this will take the bulges out of the case...since the expansion in the cases occurs well above the tapered opening of the die. It's the few cases that APPEAR to have been re-loaded too hot, that seem to have expanded too far down into the web area...thus the ring that the die can't reach.

 

[Drail]

deleted

 

[Walkalong]

That being the case (no pun intended), I don't understand how such a oversize ring as the OPs shows is left at the bottom of a re-sized case

A die with a poorly shaped entrance to the carbide insert will grab and dig into the case, and it looks just like the case in the OP's pic. Adjusting the die up can help, but replacement is the cure.

I had a Redding .45 sizer that did this. Redding sent it back and told me I was sizing too far down. Adjusting it up still did it, just not as bad. I lost that argument, bought another brand .45 sizer, and Redding will suffer lost business from me. I have two RCBS .45 sizers, one very tight, and one very loose (Won't work with Remington cases), and a Lyman .45 sizer. I use the Lyman sizer. Works great. I had a Redding that worked great, until the carbide ring came out. Redding replaced it with the defective die.