having problems with 200gr plated swc for 45acp

[mls204]

I'm using Berry's 200gr SWC to load up 45ACP and it seems that I am running into a lot of rounds that fail the case gage test. Granted, I don't have much experience loading but my previous batch of cartridges have been 124gr Montana Gold 9mm's and 158gr Remington JHP's in 357. Neither one of those calibers have had nearly as many case gage fails as these 45ACP's.

I've checked the resizing die and it's working correctly, even under a full shellplate. I've set the expander to give a pretty heavy bell of the case mouth to fit the slightly larger plated bullet (.452" vs .451"). Where I think I'm having problems is with the seating & crimping station. The cartridges that fail the case gage come out with a slight bulge from the seated bullet, and some even have a "wrinkle" in the brass itself. I believe that's what is causing them to fail. Just for clarification, the bulge is caused by the plated bullet itself, not due to not enough crimp. It's very inconsistent but it's an alarmingly high rate of failure; about 1 out of 5.

Would this be resolved if I just seat and crimp in separate stations? When I load for 9mm that's what I do and out of 500 loaded rounds I had only 3 or 4 that failed the case gage, but that was due to my bench not being sturdy enough and flexing.

[five.five-six]

I have the same problem with extreme plated 195 grain SWCs I don't case gauge, but probably 7:100 wouldn't pass and are bulged, 1:100 fail to go into battery, which sucks in timed events


just tagging along on your thread

[mls204]

I have the same problem with extreme plated 195 grain SWCs I don't case gauge, but probably 7:100 wouldn't pass and are bulged, 1:100 fail to go into battery, which sucks in timed events


just tagging along on your thread

i always case gage now after the 1st time I went to the range with high hopes and a box of my first loaded rounds. On firing the 7th round it got jammed in battery and took the range master 30 minutes to get out. i was humbled pretty quick that day and just left without firing any more.

hopefully someone out there has an answer for both of us.

[mpcoop]

I had the same problem with the case bulge and failure to feed using extreme 230gr. I purchased the lee factory crimp die with carbide sizing ring and all feeding issues solved. The die is less then $20 and works great.

[Les K]

I had the same problem with the case bulge and failure to feed using extreme 230gr. I purchased the lee factory crimp die with carbide sizing ring and all feeding issues solved. The die is less then $20 and works great.

+1 on this. I just had this problem last week loading plated bullets in .44 Mag. I didn't have an issue with Hornady XTP's though. I got the Lee factory crimp die because they claim that there can be no case bulging and that appears to be true. I can also say that the crimp is much nicer and more precise, although it does add an extra step to the reloading process. I would certainly get this die to eliminate your case bulging issues.

[Fyathyrio]

Pix would help, is it actually bulged, or is it just that you can see the shape of the bullet under the brass. Also, how does it fail the case gauge test? Won't chamber or goes in to far? How do they fit your barrel...the best case gauge you have? Have you used your calipers and compared to SAMI specs? Berry's 200 gr SWCs have worked great for me in my Springfield 1911.

[gotsig]

I'm using Berry's 200gr SWC to load up 45ACP and it seems that I am running into a lot of rounds that fail the case gage test. Granted, I don't have much experience loading but my previous batch of cartridges have been 124gr Montana Gold 9mm's and 158gr Remington JHP's in 357. Neither one of those calibers have had nearly as many case gage fails as these 45ACP's.

I've checked the resizing die and it's working correctly, even under a full shellplate. I've set the expander to give a pretty heavy bell of the case mouth to fit the slightly larger plated bullet (.452" vs .451"). Where I think I'm having problems is with the seating & crimping station. The cartridges that fail the case gage come out with a slight bulge from the seated bullet, and some even have a "wrinkle" in the brass itself. I believe that's what is causing them to fail. Just for clarification, the bulge is caused by the plated bullet itself, not due to not enough crimp. It's very inconsistent but it's an alarmingly high rate of failure; about 1 out of 5.

Would this be resolved if I just seat and crimp in separate stations? When I load for 9mm that's what I do and out of 500 loaded rounds I had only 3 or 4 that failed the case gage, but that was due to my bench not being sturdy enough and flexing.

My guess is your over belling the case.

[Southpaw45]

LEE FACTORY CRIMP DIE!!!! Problem solved.... P.S whats your C.O.L?

[Fastattack]

Bulging can occur at the base of the case because the entire case cannot feed into the sizer die. The Lee Bulge Buster pushes the case completely through the die removing the bulge. If your case won't completely fit into a case gauge that is probably your problem.

[mls204]

My OAL is between 1.125" and 1.135". I was planning on getting the Hornady 45acp taper crimp die but I didn't know that the Lee FCD actually prevented case bulge. It sounds like the FCD is what I need. On that note, I think I'm using the wrong terminology when I say "case bulge", I actually mean you can see the shape of the bullet under the brass.

I think what's happening is in the bullet seating station I place the bullets on the case but they don't sit perfect (i.e. slightly tilted). Then when its being seated in the die it gets pushed straight down at that tilted angle, causing the bulge and sometimes buckling of the case.

I've added some pics below to show what I'm talking about. It's kind of hard to show the type of bulging I was referring to. I think it's because I was case gaging them and after a while I started pushing them all the way in and that seemed to have removed the bulging. Go figure? Anyway, there's an obvious wrinkle/buckling in the 1st pic and in the 2nd pic you can see how badly it fails the gage. When I use the barrel (I'm loading for a Sig P220 Carry with a 3.9" barrel) most of them drop right in, even the ones that failed the case gage. The ones that don't will stop anywhere from 1/8" to 1/16".

[mls204]

btw those pics above are two different rounds, not the same one.

[mls204]

Bulging can occur at the base of the case because the entire case cannot feed into the sizer die. The Lee Bulge Buster pushes the case completely through the die removing the bulge. If your case won't completely fit into a case gauge that is probably your problem.

Hmm that's interesting but I don't think that's it. I've pulled several bullets that failed the case gauge, resized the brass, and tried them in the case gauge again (before actually loading it up) and they fit right in perfectly. Also, I don't feel enough resistance to indicate that it's not going all the way in, and the ram is being moved through it's full range of motion. thanks though, I didn't even know that was possible (to have a case not fully go into a sizer die)

[ojisan]

It's best to seat and crimp in seperate steps.

Seating and crimping at the same time causes problems because as the bullet nears its seating depth, the crimp is almost complete.
This means the bullet is progressively harder to push into the case as the case and mouth are squeezed down.
During that last few thousands of an inch of seating, the bullet really does not want to move down into the case anymore, yet the mechanical leverage of the press is so high that something has to give.
So, the case itself gets smashed shorter, causing bulges and wrinkles.

Seating the bullet only as the first step allows the bullet to smoothly slide into the case to the correct depth with little or no stress on the bullet, case or press.
The crimp die then comes along and squeezes the case down tight on the bullet.
This is much more consistent and precise.

I know it is an extra step to seat and crimp in separate dies, that single stage press users don't like.
But it is worth it for more consistent ammo with far fewer defects even for single stage loading.

[mls204]

It's best to seat and crimp in seperate steps.

Seating and crimping at the same time causes problems because as the bullet nears its seating depth, the crimp is almost complete.
This means the bullet is progressively harder to push into the case as the case and mouth are squeezed down.
During that last few thousands of an inch of seating, the bullet really does not want to move down into the case anymore, yet the mechanical leverage of the press is so high that something has to give.
So, the case itself gets smashed shorter, causing bulges and wrinkles.

Seating the bullet only as the first step allows the bullet to smoothly slide into the case to the correct depth with little or no stress on the bullet, case or press.
The crimp die then comes along and squeezes the case down tight on the bullet.
This is much more consistent and precise.

I know it is an extra step to seat and crimp in separate dies, that single stage press users don't like.
But it is worth it for more consistent ammo with far fewer defects even for single stage loading.

that was an excellent explanation. Yeah, I guess I knew this because I do seat and crimp in separate steps for 9mm. for 38/357 I've also experienced buckling & wrinkling but I just went slower and it seemed to have stopped. If I was to be completely honest I am probably just being a lazy cheapskate and not wanting to buy a taper crimp or factory crimp die for each pistol caliber i load.

Sigh, i knew there wasn't an easy way out. Let me tape back together my credit card and place the order

[ojisan]

At gun shows, I'm always on the lookout for old die sets that are incomplete and can be bought for $5-10.
I always get the seat / crimp dies so I can split them up to seperate operations.