Issues with 375 h&h

Deathrawt

Deathrawt

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I’m trying to reload some 375 h&h and am having a weird issue
The cases size fine with minimal effort but when I go to seat the bullet, the case opening is too small and the bullet bulges out the side of the neck before the shoulder making it difficult to chamber
I’ve tried a few different bullets (Speer, Sierra,Hornady) and all have the same issue
I’m thinking it’s the expander in the sizing die that is causing the issue
It’s a Lee die set and the expander measures .306 which I think is for a 308 and not a 375
The bullets obviously measure .375
With the expander out of the die and sticking it in the neck of the brass case it’s like trying to put a small d!ck ina big hole it just flops around in there so it obviously isn’t doing anythjng
What do you guys think?
 
Deathrawt said:
I’m trying to reload some 375 h&h and am having a weird issue
The cases size fine with minimal effort but when I go to seat the bullet, the case opening is too small and the bullet bulges out the side of the neck before the shoulder making it difficult to chamber
I’ve tried a few different bullets (Speer, Sierra,Hornady) and all have the same issue
I’m thinking it’s the expander in the sizing die that is causing the issue
It’s a Lee die set and the expander measures .306 which I think is for a 308 and not a 375
The bullets obviously measure .375
With the expander out of the die and sticking it in the neck of the brass case it’s like trying to put a small d!ck ina big hole it just flops around in there so it obviously isn’t doing anythjng
What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

I almost spat my coffee out :LOL:
 
Deathrawt said:
I’m trying to reload some 375 h&h and am having a weird issue
The cases size fine with minimal effort but when I go to seat the bullet, the case opening is too small and the bullet bulges out the side of the neck before the shoulder making it difficult to chamber
I’ve tried a few different bullets (Speer, Sierra,Hornady) and all have the same issue
I’m thinking it’s the expander in the sizing die that is causing the issue
It’s a Lee die set and the expander measures .306 which I think is for a 308 and not a 375
The bullets obviously measure .375
With the expander out of the die and sticking it in the neck of the brass case it’s like trying to put a small d!ck ina big hole it just flops around in there so it obviously isn’t doing anythjng
What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
As per Richard Lee book, "Modern Reloading - Second Edition" you want about 0.002" "squeeze" when you seat the bullet - so you want the sized hole to be 0.373" for a 0.375" bullet, as per him. Like you, I suspect 0.306" is WAY Too Small for a 0.375" bullet. I looked at the cartridge and chamber drawings on SAAMI website - they call out circa 0.402" for neck diameter on the cartridge with bullet in it. So that would be 0.375" for the bullet and 0.027" for BOTH cartridge neck walls - so neck wall about 0.0135" each.
 
Deathrawt said:
I’m trying to reload some 375 h&h and am having a weird issue
The cases size fine with minimal effort but when I go to seat the bullet, the case opening is too small and the bullet bulges out the side of the neck before the shoulder making it difficult to chamber
I’ve tried a few different bullets (Speer, Sierra,Hornady) and all have the same issue
I’m thinking it’s the expander in the sizing die that is causing the issue
It’s a Lee die set and the expander measures .306 which I think is for a 308 and not a 375
The bullets obviously measure .375
With the expander out of the die and sticking it in the neck of the brass case it’s like trying to put a small d!ck ina big hole it just flops around in there so it obviously isn’t doing anythjng
What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Its pretty obvious as you MEASURED it out to be ! Good Job ;)
 
I do not see how the expander die is causing the problem.

The die itself sizes the neck undersize. If there is no expander at all, seating the bullet would be a little more difficult because the neck would be so tight. A boattail bullet would insert and seat quite nicely but a flat base bullet could be a bit of a problem.

if youor decapper has a 308 sized button on it, it would not even touch the neck on the way up, so there's no way that's causing the problem.
 
The die is sizing the neck too small and yes the expander is not touching the neck at all on the way out
I am using flat based bullets unfortunately so that is compounding the issue
I have a Redding die now and it is working no problem except for me using too much sizing lube at the start and putting a dent or two in the case
Lee has since got back to me and confirmed the expander is wrong and is sending me the right one so thumbs up to them and their customer service
 
Maybe size a case without the expander ball in the die and measure the OD of the neck. You may have an mis-marked set of dies. Even without an expander ball in place the die shouldn’t make the case neck that tight, not ideal but you should be able to seat a boat-tailed bullet without bulging the neck significantly
 
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