This is an old issue that has been sitting on the back burner after two emails with no response(I waited until ~august to bother them because of panic mode).
I bought a 100 bag of 185gr montana gold 45 jhp bullets at a gun show around February to give em a try before buying a case at a time. I loaded up all 100 using mixed brass(mainly R-P, winchester, ppu and pmc). New bullet profile meant new die settings so I reduced the flair(was using .4525" cast) to barely hold the bullet up on the shortest sized case- enough to hold the bullet in place firmly on the majority of brass. Then I used the longest case I could find out of 20, sized, expanded and slowly adjusted the seating/"crimp" die down until any visible flair was gone... using calipers I double checked my work. basically I know how to set up a taper crimp die... just get any bell out of the case but nothing more.
Upon completion I did the ol push test and what do ya know? 60 of the 100 pushed right on in with ease. I pulled the offenders and what do ya know they measure in at .449. i finally called montana gold today after it was obvious they weren't going to reply to my emails. Despite explaining that Im fully aware of how to properly remove the case bell, the guy told me I screwed up, they sell millions of bullets a year and they are never wrong. I was put off by his attitude and unwillingness to listen so I dont think I will ever buy from them again.
Im using lee 3 die 45 set. A sized case body measures .466 fresh out from my sizing die. My understanding is that the taper crimp in the die just barley kisses the mouth of the case when properly expanded/crimped... nothing else contacts the case wall past the top say .03"... I know this because a loaded round will slide in and drop right out no problem. I did not use a factory crimp die. I just adjusted the die all the way down and threw a bullet in to prove myself right and yes, that certainly did swage down the bullet and was not pleasant feeling.
The bullets I pulled are consistently measuring .449" all the way down the bearing surface of the bullet. If I were to over crimp as I did in my little test a minute ago, only the offending portion of the bearing surface upwards towards the nose would be affected and the base of the bullet unaffected... exactly what happened.
I explained to the guy that I know what im doing and his only responses were "you are over crimping" and "We never mess up, every bullet is perfect" very off putting. Even if they make this right I doubt I will ever buy from them again. Two unresponded emails and a snarky phone conversation.
They are wrong, right?
I bought a 100 bag of 185gr montana gold 45 jhp bullets at a gun show around February to give em a try before buying a case at a time. I loaded up all 100 using mixed brass(mainly R-P, winchester, ppu and pmc). New bullet profile meant new die settings so I reduced the flair(was using .4525" cast) to barely hold the bullet up on the shortest sized case- enough to hold the bullet in place firmly on the majority of brass. Then I used the longest case I could find out of 20, sized, expanded and slowly adjusted the seating/"crimp" die down until any visible flair was gone... using calipers I double checked my work. basically I know how to set up a taper crimp die... just get any bell out of the case but nothing more.
Upon completion I did the ol push test and what do ya know? 60 of the 100 pushed right on in with ease. I pulled the offenders and what do ya know they measure in at .449. i finally called montana gold today after it was obvious they weren't going to reply to my emails. Despite explaining that Im fully aware of how to properly remove the case bell, the guy told me I screwed up, they sell millions of bullets a year and they are never wrong. I was put off by his attitude and unwillingness to listen so I dont think I will ever buy from them again.
Im using lee 3 die 45 set. A sized case body measures .466 fresh out from my sizing die. My understanding is that the taper crimp in the die just barley kisses the mouth of the case when properly expanded/crimped... nothing else contacts the case wall past the top say .03"... I know this because a loaded round will slide in and drop right out no problem. I did not use a factory crimp die. I just adjusted the die all the way down and threw a bullet in to prove myself right and yes, that certainly did swage down the bullet and was not pleasant feeling.
The bullets I pulled are consistently measuring .449" all the way down the bearing surface of the bullet. If I were to over crimp as I did in my little test a minute ago, only the offending portion of the bearing surface upwards towards the nose would be affected and the base of the bullet unaffected... exactly what happened.
I explained to the guy that I know what im doing and his only responses were "you are over crimping" and "We never mess up, every bullet is perfect" very off putting. Even if they make this right I doubt I will ever buy from them again. Two unresponded emails and a snarky phone conversation.
They are wrong, right?
