Cases not sizing consistently??

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rajb123

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I'm struggling trying to set up a Hornady L-N-L progressive press. I just loaded 20 cases and I have not changed any of the dies during this run.

Half of the cases will chamber in the barrel and half will not (factory barrel). There is a light crimp on the cases and the cases that will not chamber are tight at the base and not the crimp.

I thought these may be bulged cases from being shot in an unsupported barrrel chamber but I cannot detect any obvious bulges.

I'm using Hornady carbide dies.
 
Caliber? Try just sizing the the cases without expanding, powder, seating etc. and see if they chamber.
 
If you didn't trim the cases prior to setting up the crimp, it is possible that you set up the crimp on a short case and that longer cases are getting buckled during the crimp operation. Without having an idea of the cartridge we're talking about though, it's hard to say.
 
First things, first. Make sure the shell plate is actually hitting the bottom of the sizing die on every stroke of the press. If your die isn't adjusted right, it'll bottom out on some cases, but when the resistance is too high there will be a gap due to the press flexing. That case won't be sized all the way.
 
If you didn't trim the cases prior to setting up the crimp, it is possible that you set up the crimp on a short case and that longer cases are getting buckled during the crimp operation. Without having an idea of the cartridge we're talking about though, it's hard to say.
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It doesn't take much.

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Carbide dies, i doubt it is a rifle round.

Try running a few through with just resizing (no belling, no primer, no powder etc) and check to see if they chamber.

If they do, your problem is down the line. Too much mouth belling that does not get removed, too much roll crimp, if that is what your are doing, or too much variability in case length where some cases get crimped too much.

I hope this helps.
 
or .40 bulged concerns? Either can be fixed with a die set deeper or a little turned off the bottom of die to drop lower.
 
Is it mixed brass? I have had a few issues with my Wolf BBL and the only difference was the mixed brass. I know the OP was a factory bbl. Also are you checking the settings with all stations in play? It can change a bit than just setting it with one round at a time on the lnl. I have not had issues with that that but have read a few problems after setting with one case on the press station to station.
 
all brass is Speer - no mixed brass.
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Come on now! You have 11 post of guys trying to help you out and you still haven't told them what the hell you are loading for.

Is it a secret?

They cannot help if you do not answer the simple questions asked of you.
 
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....40 S&W....

dies are Hornady, brass is once fired "speer"

I have not used a caliper to check the lower part of the cases. They do not seem to have bulges from unsupported chambers, from a visual inspection, however.

I have re-checked the re-sizing die and it has been adjusted correctly to meet the shellplate at top of the stroke....

I'm having a MAJOR issue with the resizing die; it is ripping cases and the shell plate does not align with the die. I stretched the shell-plate spring and that helped some. I still need to use my fingers to get the case into the die. On another caliper 380 acp the sizing die (RCBS) is OK and all cases are sized with no alignment issue.

I assume this means the press indexing is OK.
 
How much reloading experience do you have? Is the progressive your first press? It's all in proper die adjustment. You need some precise way to measure the rounds, otherwise it's all just a guess. Measure the OD before each step, and after each step so you can see when the oversize/buldges happen...
 
rajb123 .......

There's a 99% chance that your .40 caliber brass has been Glocked. Probably as you said, "fired in an unsupported chamber". This happens with other handguns (especially .40 cal.), and it's not just Glocks - although Glocks are the worst.

You can't always detect a bulged case without measuring. However, you can easily measure it with your calipers at the transition to the case web. Be sure to use the wide part of your caliper blades.

I consider a case "drop gauge" to be a manditory tool for making handgun ammo.
 
I have a Redding X-sizer die and run all my "new" .40 brass through it.I don't load my reloads hot(plus I don't own any of the guns with an unsupported chamber) so it's a one time deal.It get rid of any bulges and puts the entire case back into spec. It's a good thing to have, but can be bad if someone "fixes" badly bulged brass that is streched to far and should be thrown out. Generally if I can easily see a bulge I throw it out, I have several thousand of them and it just doesn't pay to keep those.
Lee has a "bulge Buster" die also.
A person could make their standard die work by turning .065 or so off the bottom to be able to push the case farther up into the die,but you lose most of the radius that aids alignment.
 
...how can you "fix" Glocked cases?

I'm plopping completed cases in the chamber.....do I need a drop guage too?
 
..so the Lee bulge buster sizing die sizes the full case and eliminates bulges? So if you can see a bulge, the case is history? hmmmmmm

thx
 
It doesn't really "fix" it, more like smooths the case out and brings it back into more or less spec, so it will chamber like new brass.I'm not possitive on the Lee Bulge Buster(I don't have one),but I believe it is like My Redding where the case is pushed clean through the die and comes out the top so the entire case is sized down,hence "fixed". It works and is ok to do as long as the bulge isn't too big,where the brass is overly stretched, thus weakend.
I throw mine away (everybody has their own junk/usable tolerance) when I can easily see a bulge, some look for the"glock smile",or the impression of the unsupported area of the chamber that is imprinted on the case.Those are way beyond junk .
Any brass that "needs'' to be fixed ,I tend to use for more of my light loads.
For a case gage, well, some like to have one(not a bad idea),I never have gotten one,I use my barrels(it is after all where they end up) as the gage and check the first 5-10 then every 30-50. For competition I do them all.
 
You can use your barrel to test with. However, the drop gauge is a very inexpensive and handy tool. It helps you aviod fitting live ammo in your handgun when reloading.

I use a custom tool that's similar to the Lee Bulge Buster. Mine was made over 5 years before the Redding or Lee tools.
 
It doesn't really "fix" it, more like smooths the case out and brings it back into more or less spec, so it will chamber like new brass.I'm not possitive on the Lee Bulge Buster(I don't have one),but I believe it is like My Redding where the case is pushed clean through the die and comes out the top so the entire case is sized down,hence "fixed".
Click to expand...
Same here. Too much brass out there that has not been overly stressed. May be perfectly safe, and that brass may last as long as other brass, but I'll pass. If my regular sizer won't size it enough to chamber, I toss it. Very bulged brass gets culled before it ever gets sized.
 
Walkalong ...... +1

If you can see the bulge, toss it.

If you can't see the bulge, but you can measure it . . . . fix it.

The case drop gauge identifies all of the bad brass very quickly and easily.
 
fguffey, where are you geting the bell from? he is sizing , which is BEFORE any bell is done,right.
 
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