S&W 500 bulging cases lee turrent & dies

[jemkeith]

I have a problem with bulging cases when I seat and crimp the bullets.
My load is 11gr titegroup, 350gr Hornady XTP. The cases I'm having problems with are CBC and cor-bon. The cases bulge so bad I can't chamber them in the revolver.
I tried expanding the case mouth more and tried, as seen in another post, screwing out the crimp die but screwing in the seat die. That helped a little, but it still bulges.
I also have some Hornady cases that don't have that problem.
The CBC and Cor-Bon cases have probably been loaded about 3 - 4 times, including the factory load.
I loaded about 300 loads and had probably 6 or 8 that wouldn't chamber in the revolver, and probably that many more that were just a little tight. I just chalked it up to me doing something wrong. Now out of 15 loads I have 5 that won't chamber.
I don't know if it is me or the cases. Maybe the Hornady cases are thicker because they are newer?
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jason

 

[Cheesemaker]

I don't have a definitive answer. In my experience I have encountered the same thing (.44mag and .454 Casull - not .500) occasionally. I deformed a couple of .44's today. My .44 dies are Lee, .454's are Hornady.
My thinking is that the crimp happens before the bullet is seated at the desired depth - attempting to seat the bullet more after crimping will produce the deformed case.
You say you have adjusted the seating/crimp die - have you cleaned it recently? I cleaned mine today and got a fair amount of brass dust/shavings out of it. I have not used it since I cleaned it.
Any chance of seating and crimping in 2 separate steps? I know the Lee die does both, but I think it could be used to do them separately.....

 

[jemkeith]

I've not thought about cleaning it. I'll try that. Lee does make a separate crimp die, but not for the 500. I could buy another seating/crimp die though.

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

Are your problem cases trimmed to the same length as the Hornady cases? Different (longer) brass can cause your problem while crimping; too short can cause a problem seating (by not letting the expander work enough).

I'm sure someone will come along and tell you that you need to crimp in a separate step, or even use a Carbide Factory Crimp Die. The former won't help much if your brass is not uniform length, and the latter will only iron out your bulges, covering up the real problem while weakening the brass.

Andy

 

[Cheesemaker]

Good point, Bigjakej1s.
I have been meaning to dig out my caliper to do exactly this.....I just can't find it. I am pretty sure it is my problem.
If you set the die for a longer case, then a shorter case's bullet will not seat deep enough - when you notice this you may adjust the seat plug down a touch. If the case/bullet is already crimped - the case could deform.

Plan for the day : find my caliper.

 

[jeepmor]

I'm sure someone will come along and tell you that you need to crimp in a separate step

beat me too it, check case length and wall thickness, you might have some thicker brass in the Corbon and CBC stocks if the lengths are indeed the same.

 

[Grumulkin]

I think the problem is that the 500 S&W cartridge operates at pretty high pressure and expands the case near the head where the shell holder is and where you can't resize with currently made dies. If a cartridge case was of less than robust construction, it would be more likely to bulge there.

I think your choices are to get higher quality brass and/or reduce your load.

Loading for the 460 & 500 S&W cartridges have given me a new outlook on straight walled cartridges. With the usual lower pressure cartridges, you essentially never have to stop reloading them until the mouth starts cracking from repeated crimping. If you're loading the 460 & 500 S&Ws to their full potentials, you'll find that other parts can fail as well (i.e., incipient case head separations) so check the cases well before reloading.

 

[jemkeith]

I've not checked the case length. I'll check that.
My load is REALLY light load. It's about the lightest load I could find for the 350 grain hollow points.
I have some of the Hornady brass that I've loaded as much as the others, and they don't give me any problems. Do you think I should just trash the other brands and buy some more Hornady brass?

 

[EddieCoyle]

I think the problem is that the 500 S&W cartridge operates at pretty high pressure and expands the case near the head where the shell holder is and where you can't resize with currently made dies. If a cartridge case was of less than robust construction, it would be more likely to bulge there.

I think your choices are to get higher quality brass and/or reduce your load.

His loads are minimum, barely cracking 23,000 psi (max is 60,000). It also sounds as if the bulging is occurring near the case mouth, not the head.

I agree with the posters that have recommended crimping separately. Redding makes an excellent crimp die for the .500 S&W.

You should also check the brass length, although if your brass is different lengths, you should be able to easily tell by looking at the loaded rounds to see where in the cannelure the top of the case ends up.

 

[jemkeith]

Well the crimped case seems to end up in just about the same place in the crimp grove. There is a little variation, but it has to be in the hundredths or thousandths of an inch.

 

[Grumulkin]

His loads are minimum, barely cracking 23,000 psi (max is 60,000). It also sounds as if the bulging is occurring near the case mouth, not the head.

I haven't used Titegroup so I wouldn't know about the pressure.

If the mouth of the case is too big, then it could be belled too much or more likely, not belled enough and causing the bullet to buckle the case a little when seating the bullet.

Since I have an Encore, I haven't had the problem described. I have a friend who has a 500 S&W revolver. He has the same problem with the cartridges not chambering easily and in his case, the bulge is toward the head of the case where it can't be resized with the available dies. He, by the way, also used Tightgroup.

 

[jemkeith]

My bulge is toward the mouth of the case, usually at the base of the bullet. It's only on one side kinda like the case is weak on that side.

 

[Master Blaster]

seat and crimp seperately, that should solve your problem, it sounds like you are seating some more after the bullet is firmly crimped, and its showing up in the cases that are slightly longer. Trimming all brass to the same length is also a good idea.