Reloading 7.62x25

[Hondo 60]

I'm having a problem reloading 7.62x25 Tokarev.

When I resize the brass, the outside of the neck measures .325 or so.
It drops into the barrel perfectly.

When I seat a bullet it expands the neck to .330+.
It doesn't want to fully seat in the chamber.

If I try to crimp it, it seems like it squishes just the very top of the neck in a downward position, so the neck becomes even larger yet. :banghead:

How can I get the ENTIRE neck portion to stay below .327 or so?

I've tried crimping with the seating die & also tried a Lee FCD.

This is the only "Pistol" round I reload that has a shoulder.
I also reload 9mm, 38spl, 357mag, 45 Colt, 45 ACP & 223 Remington.
No issues with any of those rounds.

 

[Sunray]

What bullet diameter are you using? It uses a .310" bullet. Did you chamfer the inside of the case mouth and deburr the outside?
I'm guessing the neck may be getting pushed down and expanding the shoulder a bit.
Check the case length, shoulder diameter and forget the crimp. Case mouth should be .334". Case length .984". Shoulder diameter .373".

 

[Duckdog]

I had issues as well, depending on the brass. I have 7 different guns on this caliber and some would chamber good and some would not. The Lee FCD is a godsend for those issues. Keep using it. You may have some brass that has thicker necks than the others. I run into that when using 223 brass that I reform into 7.62 TOK. An outside neck turner or inside reamer helps this.

Don't give up. Keep looking at the cases, the problem, and keep measuring and you'll figure it out.

 

[Clark]

CZ52 chambers are small enough to use the barrel a sizer die for some Tokarev barrels.

Some books call out a .307" bullet for the Tokarev round.

If the factory ammo is falling the chamber and your handloads are not, then it is your process. Shorter brass, tighter sizing, smaller bullet, or whatever it takes.

If the factory ammo is not falling into the chamber, then it is the chamber. It is easy to open the neck or throat.

Paint die chem on the cartridge and rub the cartridge in the chamber. Where the paint rubs off his where the interference is occurring. If you don't have Di-chem, use magic marker.

 

[Shadow 7D]

you REALLY need to slug your barrel, and even consider casting your chamber

Consider that .32 auto runs from .308 to .312

 

[Hondo 60]

To answer everyone's questions:

The bullets are .309"
I've used 2 types of Hornady - XTP 90 grain &110 Round nose And Berry's 110 gr.

Yes, I chamfered the inside & outside of the case mouth.
I think I might lower the powder die a smidge just to open the very top of the neck.
Maybe that'll let the bullet seat without squishing the neck.

I'm using nny brass (Privi Partizan) and I've also cut down some .223 brass.
The neck is fine before seating & too big after seating the bullet on both headstamps.

Factory ammo falls out very easily, mine does not.

I'm 99.9% sure it's the neck area that's the issue.

 

[Gik-tal]

Try this on a couple of your rounds and see if it helps, Load round and crimp just like you always do. then remove the decapping rod from your sizing die and run the finished round back thru one time. This will resize the shoulder area make them fit much better. If this works you might want to buy a new sizing die remove the decapping assembly and use it as a finishing die.

 

[Hondo 60]

That sounds like a great idea!

 

[Hondo 60]

Gik-tal:

I love you, man!!!!

I did a couple of rounds as you said & they feed & eject as smoothly as factory ammo.

Thanks to all who answered. This is exactly what make thr.com The High Road.

 

[Gik-tal]

Glad to help

 

[Hondo 60]

In my last post on this subject I said I made a few & they fed & ejected smoothly.

Well, I went to the range today & fired 5+ magazines.
Every single round (50) chambered & fired perfectly.

Thanks High Roaders!

 

[Hondo 60]

Just wanted to say thank you again to Gik-tal & others for the suggestion to run the Tokarev rounds through the sizing die again.

I bought another sizing die without a depriming stem ($12 from Lee)

I've run 5 or 6 boxes since your suggestions & it's worked perfectly!

 

[Twmaster]

Sweet. I ran into this issue today. I just got my hands on a die set and the ammo will not just drop in... a gentle push does it. Although they will chamber from a magazine.

Resizing did the trick! They just 'drop' in now! Loading Sierra 85 grain .309 FMJ's into Prvi cases.

You can see the shiny parts of the neck where the die crimped it down to size.

Thank you THR!!