Bulged necks when loading...

[Flintlock Tom]

Can anyone tell my why I'm getting these bulged necks when loading .450 bushmaster?
New Starline brass, .452 Berry's Plated Bullets on a Lee single stage press, no lube.

[sofbak]

The o.d. of the brass is close to minimum, and the case wall is a little thick on starline because its quality stuff. So you get the "coke bottle bulge". I used to get that with starline and .45 colt loads. It will function normally-just looks funny.

I solved that problem by only neck sizing starline for the colt loads. I only resize the first 0.375" inch of the case. Made a gauge bar that fits between the shell holder and bittom of the sizing die to stop the ram from going too far.

[Flintlock Tom]

Thanks, if they shoot okay I won't worry about it. If the cartridges stick or don't feed smoothly I'll try resizing the brass.

[sunnysmarine]

you may not have expanded the mouth enough, I would just shoot it looks ok. I'm sure you know those berry's bullets need to fly slow to avoid leading

[Flintlock Tom]

you may not have expanded the mouth enough, I would just shoot it looks ok. I'm sure you know those berry's bullets need to fly slow to avoid leading

No, I didn't know that. Does the plating come off?

[sofbak]

^^^ Yes it can separate. Standard plated bullets are generally limited to 1200-1250 fps per manufacturer's recommendations.

Berry'or Xtreme offer a heavy plate option that gets a slightly higher velocity limit.

Check their websites for more info.

[Flintlock Tom]

Thank you, I'll watch for leading and plating coming off in the bore.

[pennstater]

I'm not all familiar with the .450 Bushmaster. Does it require a crimp? If so, you could run it thru a Lee Factory Crimp Die to remedy that.

[Flintlock Tom]

I'm not all familiar with the .450 Bushmaster. Does it require a crimp? If so, you could run it thru a Lee Factory Crimp Die to remedy that.

Thank you, the set comes with a factory crimp die. I'll see how they hold up in the magazine before I decide if I want to crimp.
The set also comes with an "expander" die, which I didn't use; perhaps I should...

[sofbak]

^^^
1. The Lee FCD isn't going to fix the coke bottle effect. It is the combination if small o.d. case and t hick-walled starline brass.

2. The expander die is only used to expand the case mouth enough to insert and seat the bullet without shaving material off the circumference of the bullet.

Like I mentioned, been there, done that wth .45 colt...

[Flintlock Tom]

^^^
1. The Lee FCD isn't going to fix the coke bottle effect. It is the combination if small o.d. case and t hick-walled starline brass.

2. The expander die is only used to expand the case mouth enough to insert and seat the bullet without shaving material off the circumference of the bullet.

Like I mentioned, been there, done that wth .45 colt...

Thank you. I only loaded a few like this, I'll run them through the gun and see how it goes. If they run okay I'll call it good and load a batch.

Thanks for all your help.

[hambam105]

For all our reloading friends who believe flaring and expansion are synonymous Reloading terms....https://youtu.be/pcc91NArteQ

Note: Both definitions are clearly stated in the first 90 seconds of the video.

[pennstater]

After reading a little about this .450 Bushmaster in the #50 Lyman book, it can require a light roll crimp. Maybe run 1-2 thru the Lee crimp die set properly JUST to see if there may be any difference. Just a thought.

[the86d]

I bought some 9mm 124gr defensive ammo that had the same visuals.
They chambered fine, and shot fine.

[Flintlock Tom]

For all our reloading friends who believe flaring and expansion are synonymous Reloading terms....https://youtu.be/pcc91NArteQ

Note: Both definitions are clearly stated in the first 90 seconds of the video.

Thank you, I watched the video; very informative.

Thank you to all who took the time to help me be a smarter loader!