Please help with 40sw loading problem

[Corbin Dallas]

In the first one - is there some shaved plating sitting on the case mouth? Or is that just an artifact of the photo?


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This is very interesting...

Can we get a really high resolution image of the case / projectile?

[Oceanbob]

Ah but after plunking the base of the round is sitting up higher than it should be.
]

Not seating may indicate a slight bulge.....maybe a full length resizing die
would standardize your used brass.....?

[NeilMo]

I noticed a few things from those last pictures you posted. First, it appears that those rounds have a substantial variation in OAL, one has the bullet shoulder almost flush with case mouth and the other well above it. Not that that would be the reason for not dropping into the case gauge, but definitely may prevent some from chambering fully into the barrel.

Next, it looks like the bullet may be seated slightly crooked, indicated by the scuff mark at the base bulge(yellow arrow). The scuff is made where it is sticking in your case gauge.

This is not uncommon with Hornady dies. I'm not overly impressed with their expander dies and why I went to a Lee universal expander die and NOE expander plugs for all my calibers. Hornady seating stems, other than the flat one, leave a lot to be desired also and why I switched to RCBS.

Regardless of the internet folklore and misinformation with the Lee FCD, it will more than likely correct your issue of not dropping into the case gauge. As for the barrel plunk, you may also have to seat the bullets more consistently to correct that. The FCD won't swage the entire diameter of the .401" bullet like some say it does, but will iron out that problematic bulge.

[aguynamedbryan]

In the first one - is there some shaved plating sitting on the case mouth? Or is that just an artifact of the photo?

There is some shaved plating on the case mouth. In my efforts to trouble shoot I tried increasing and decreasing crimp amount and bell amount to see what I ended up with. Since I'm dumb and didn't do it in a scientific way, I couldn't tell you what I did with that particular one. I went through my 200 rounds and case gauged each then put the ones that blatantly didn't pass off to the side. The ones that just barely sat high I figured were OK because they passed the plunk test, though some were sitting a hair high in the barrel (see newly added picture "Misc. Round C - Slightly high? - No go?" on my updated imgur link (https://imgur.com/a/ayh4NKB)

Are you using a full length resize die? or a Lee undersize die?

Does an empty case fit the case gauge after resize?

I'm using a standard resizing die that came with the hornady set... Once I resize they pass the case gauge with no problems at all.

This is very interesting...

Can we get a really high resolution image of the case / projectile?

I zoomed in and saved the picture and added it to that imgur album (https://imgur.com/a/ayh4NKB) and then realized it looks like you already did that, lol. Not sure if mine ended up being any higher quality than yours.

Not seating may indicate a slight bulge.....maybe a full length resizing die
would standardize your used brass.....?

Since the resized case works well in the case gauge I don't think this would help unfortunately... but maybe I'm wrong?

I noticed a few things from those last pictures you posted. First, it appears that those rounds have a substantial variation in OAL, one has the bullet shoulder almost flush with case mouth and the other well above it. Not that that would be the reason for not dropping into the case gauge, but definitely may prevent some from chambering fully into the barrel.

Next, it looks like the bullet may be seated slightly crooked, indicated by the scuff mark at the base bulge(yellow arrow). The scuff is made where it is sticking in your case gauge.

This is not uncommon with Hornady dies. I'm not overly impressed with their expander dies and why I went to a Lee universal expander die and NOE expander plugs for all my calibers. Hornady seating stems, other than the flat one, leave a lot to be desired also and why I switched to RCBS.

Regardless of the internet folklore and misinformation with the Lee FCD, it will more than likely correct your issue of not dropping into the case gauge. As for the barrel plunk, you may also have to seat the bullets more consistently to correct that. The FCD won't swage the entire diameter of the .401" bullet like some say it does, but will iron out that problematic bulge.

Like I mentioned above I was really dumb when I did this and couldn't tell you which rounds are which anymore... So that might explain the OAL discrepancy.

For the slightly crooked and scuff mark - I added some more pictures to my imgur album (https://imgur.com/a/ayh4NKB) where I marked up a round and scuffed it up inside the case gauge. I come up with a scuff mark on one side at about the same depth as the bullet is seated. Could this be a sign of a bullet that isn't seated square?

Edit - Sorry, I didn't see your picture and misread your post before responding - it looks like we're talking about the same spot... and it's just on one side of the case.

[Sandspider500]

Looks like a ring of plating around the case mouth. Start crimping separately.

[croue]

[croue]

Reminds me of when I got really frustrated troubleshooting an engine problem. 99.9% of the time it was one of the basic 3 issues: Fuel, air, spark. When i just stepped back and calmed myself, stopped overthinking things and focused on each one of those things in turn and one at a time the engine would always start to run again.


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[sofbak]

Looks like a ring of plating around the case mouth. Start crimping separately.

Clearly visible. Seat/crimp die is not properly adjusted.

Also in the second bullet picture, near where it meets the case mouth you can see what appears to be a radial score mark on the left side, about .025"(? ) above the case mouth.

Indicates his OAL is too long? OP what oal are you loading to?

[NeilMo]

Now that you marked the round with the sharpie it's easy to see that a Lee FDC would fix your problem. Seat with the Hornady die and crimp with a FCD and you're in business. Also, if I'm seeing a mark from the rifling then it appears you need to shorten the OAL another .010".

[sofbak]

^^^
He doesn't need a separate roll crimp/FCD die if he will take the time to properly adjust his current die. And .010" is prolly not enuff on reduction of OAL from his pics.

But...thankyou Captain Obvious for chiming in!

[croue]

[croue]

Tried to get the same approximate perspective on one of my rounds that chambers and shoots well.


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[sofbak]

^^^^

Ding Ding Ding!

Here is what the finished product should look like!

From photos and text, it is obvious that the OP has a mal-adjusted seat/crimp die issue and an OAL excess as well.

[swruger]

Agree on the seat crimp die not being set properly. I have reloaded thousands of 40s with both RCBS and Lee dies, and seat and crimp in the same/one step.

Crimp is set to “deep” is my guess. Needs to be backed off.

[divingin]

Start troubleshooting by verifying each step.

Size a few unprimed (for safety) cases, and drop them into your pistols chamber. They should freely drop completely in (and stop with a bit of a plunk, hence the test name.)

Flare the cases (if you flare and dump at the same time, empty the powder hopper to avoid making a mess.)

Back your seat die out so you get no crimp, then seat a bullet to the depth you want (the seater stem will be way deeper in the die, but that's OK for now.) Check the bullet for shaving or other deformation above the case mouth. If you have deformation increase the flare a bit and try again. Take note of any bulging where the bullet is seated into the case (usually at the base of the bullet; not much you can do about it - this is to make sure it's not appearing during the crimp stage.)

Back your seater off, and progressively lower the crimp part of your seating die down, and repeat the plunk test for each setting. You're looking for the point where the flare is removed to the point that it stops dragging in the chamber. If it passes that test, you can decide if you want a tad more crimp, or call it good to go. If it never passes, you likely have either a bullet diameter problem or a case thickness problem.

Once that's done, lock the die body, and lower the seating stem to make contact with the bullet that was correctly seated and crimped. Load a few more and repeat plunk test.