What to do, what to do?

[JSmith]

Last year I bought 100 new .44 magnum Remington-Peters cases. They were fine the first time I loaded them, but when I tried loading them a second time I discovered that the case walls are thinner than the Winchester cases I have.

These case walls are thin enough so that when they're passed through the resizing die (Lee carbide), the outside diameter is in spec while the inside is still large enough so I can press a bullet into it with my thumb.

Anyone know of a resizing die that's smaller than Lee? Do I really want to buy a new die just to keep from discarding 100 almost-new cases? Isn't that throwing good money after bad?

 

[rcmodel]

Did you use the Lee powder through expander after sizing but before discovering they are too loose??

If so, the new cases are softer then your old cases and being over-expanded.

And your powder-through expander is too big.

I would not want the part that enters the sized case to be any larger then .426" or so.

rc

 

[mdi]

Been reloading .44 Magnum for 20+ years and don't have the same problem. I use Lee dies with all kinds of brass and get good neck tension with all bullets, jacketed and cast. When you reloaded them the first time was there a problem? What bullets are you using? What are the measured diameters of your bullets (what your mics say not what's on the box)? The powder through die that I have is for flaring only, no case expansion, is yours different?

 

[rcmodel]

The powder through die that I have is for flaring only,

The stem enters the case & centers it before the flaring part gets there.

It will expand the case if it is too big.

Take it apart and measure it.

If it's .428" - .429" or more, it is expanding while it is belling.

rc

 

[JSmith]

Did you use the Lee powder through expander after sizing but before discovering they are too loose??

I took my expander die apart and checked it against a resized case. The inside case diameter was the same size as the expander pin - the pin slipped right into it.

(I want to restate that I haven't seen that happen with any brass other than this lot of R-P.)

 

[JSmith]

Measurements

Bullets (Berry's 220-gr PFP): .429 (10 measured. Very consistent.)

Lee expander plug: .4275 (flare to .437.)

Starline unfired brass (10 cases measured):

OD .45
ID .424 - .425
Wall thickness .013 - .014.​

Winchester "Super" twice-fired brass (10 cases measured):

OD .45
ID .424 - .425
Wall thickness .013 - .014.​

I can't seat a bullet in these first two cases using only thumb pressure at all.

Remington-Peters once-fired brass (10 cases measured):

OD .45
ID .428-.429
Wall thickness .011 - .012.​

I can seat a bullet in these pretty easily using only thumb pressure.

All 20 cases measured were run sequentially (10 Winchester, then 10 R-P) through the same Lee carbide resizing die.

 

[floydster]

Humm, I have reloaded many rounds for my 44 mag using RP, Starline, Hornady, and Win. brass and never encountered this prob using Lee dies and the Lee Pro Powder measure with expander. I use Zero, Berry's, Hornady and my own home cast bullets.
I sure would like to know the the outcome on this situation--can't offer any help.

 

[jr_roosa]

Remington pistol brass is thin, and I needed to get a smaller sizer for .38/357 mag to deal with the same problem. The RCBS carbide sizer fixed the problem, and I don't use remington for autoloaders.

-J.

 

[murf]

actually, rem brass neck wall thickness is .011", wins is .012", and i don't know what starlines is.

o.d. of sized brass using my rcbs dies is .450", so rem brass i.d. is .448" and win brass i.d. is .446".

buy wider bullets. but, don't get them any wider than .430". the lee "precision" bullet seater will squeeze bullets wider than .430" down to that size. or buy/use some other brass.

murf

 

[JSmith]

...I needed to get a smaller sizer for .38/357 mag to deal with the same problem. The RCBS carbide sizer fixed the problem...

That's what's bugging me. Do I really want to buy another die just to size 100 cases? Maybe I should sell 'em to the LGS and take the loss.

 

[rcmodel]

That's what I would do.

It's a known problem with Rem brass in several calibers anymore.

rc

 

[beatledog7]

I like to use RP pistol and revolver brass for lead bullets that are + .001-002 larger-for-caliber than a typical jacketed bullet. Good neck tension can be achieved almost every time such bullets, with only the tiniest hint of a flare before seating the bullets.

With true-to-caliber jacketed bullets it can be hard to achieve good tension in RP brass. If you're going to try jacketed bullets in RP brass, don't flare at all.

This trait of RP brass is a good reason to do what most reloaders say they don't do with handgun brass--sort by headstamp.

 

[BYJO4]

If they loaded fine the first time, what did you change? Are you using a different brand bullet or a different sizing die?

 

[rcmodel]

According to the first post, they were brand new Remington cases the first time he loaded them.

Remington's case manufacturing die takes care of thin brass the first time when they make it and load it.

SAAMI Spec reloading dies can't do that.

rc

 

[gamestalker]

Of all the situations I've encountered regarding thin brass, it has almost always been with RP. I would just trade them, or toss them, and move on if it were me.

GS

 

[dickttx]

I had the same problem with Starline 38 Super brass. The first time I loaded them, with Precision Delta 124gn FMJ, they worked fine. When I loaded the once fired brass with the same bullet the bullets would slide down into the case with only slight thumb pressure.
I have two sets of Lee dies and one set of RCBS in 38 Super. With all three the bullet would slide into the case with slight pressure after coming out of the sizing die--not even running them through the expander/flare die.
My solution was to use cast bullets only. No problem at all with the MBC IDP #6.

 

[floydster]

dickttx, are you sure you used .356 dia. bullets for the super.
Delta offers the same 124 gr. RN in .355 dia. also.
I have used many of the .356 dia. 124 gr. Delta's in my 38 Super using mixed brass and have never had a prob with bullet tension, including RP brass.
I use Lee dies.

 

[dickttx]

No, I used the .355 bullets I had for my 9mm. I did try a sample pack of the .356 and they worked fine. In the meantime I had loaded some of the IDP #6 and they worked so well, and were so much cheaper, that I have stayed with them.