having issues with my 38 super loads. every so often i 'll get a bullet that after seating i can push back into the case with light finger pressure.maybe 1 out of every 15 cases. thought maybe i was overexpanding the case mouth but eveything is set as per manufactures instructions, just enough case flaring to allow bullet alignment. wondering if the sizing die isn't properly sizing the case? i'm using lee dies, never had a problem with them in any other caliber brass is a mix of nickle plated and unplated winchester and remington. bullet is a nosler sporting .355 115gr HP. any ideas what the problem is?
38 Super frustration
- Thread starter kevin.303
- Start date
can you run the case up higher in to the seating die to give more of a crimp?
maybe some of you cases are shorter then others and therefor not getting as much crimp....
If it is not a crimping issue, I would say it is variation in the bullets.
maybe some of you cases are shorter then others and therefor not getting as much crimp....
If it is not a crimping issue, I would say it is variation in the bullets.
Rory McCanuck
CGN Regular
- Location
- Middle of Manitoba
Some of the brass is work hardened more than others.
That will effect how much "spring back" they have after being sized.
Separate the loose ones out, and you can either anneal them or toss them.
Annealing them takes a propane torch and a very little bit of time.
Or, fall off your wallet and buy new ones
I wouldn't imagine .38 being all that expensive.
That will effect how much "spring back" they have after being sized.
Separate the loose ones out, and you can either anneal them or toss them.
Annealing them takes a propane torch and a very little bit of time.
Or, fall off your wallet and buy new ones
I wouldn't imagine .38 being all that expensive.
Assuming it's not the die or sizer. 38 super is a straight walled case so short stroking the sizer a little won't affect bullet seating.
Is there a particular brand of case it's happening with? You mention a couple different brands/variations. Is there a pattern? (say all Remington plated or something like that? ).
I would also take a bunch of bullets and measure diameters to see if there is any variation.
Is there a particular brand of case it's happening with? You mention a couple different brands/variations. Is there a pattern? (say all Remington plated or something like that? ).
I would also take a bunch of bullets and measure diameters to see if there is any variation.
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^^^this^^^ start measuring. See if you can rule out bullets. if its cases find the pattern. if there's no pattern you can identify by measuring, are you doing anything different during you loading procedure??
What do your before and after crimp measurements look like????
Measured bullets they are all consistent. Gonna try the suggestions here tonight, now that I think about I believe they where all the unplated winchester, but i was ruling that out in my mind because that was a brand new bag of brass. Either way, gonna reset my dies resize all of it and see what happens then. Might just have to bite the bullet and order 500 new starline cases and be done with it.
I know it sounds anal but except for my plinking ammo I try to use brass from one manufacturer so that there is some consistency in case size, weight, etc. I don't favour any one brand but I try to make sure all the brass is at least the same headstamp eg. 9mm Federal, 45 Winchester, 40 S&W Remington, etc. When resizing mixed cases fired from the same gun with the same powder load and bullet I always observe that some cases take more effort to resize than others which indicates that they are dimensionally different. Cases with slightly thinner walls will not crimp as tightly as those with thicker walls in the crimp die as the thinner walls are squeezed less than the thick ones. It doesn't mean the thinner wall cases are bad. It just means that the crimp die has to be screwed in further when crimping those cases so that the crimp is tight enough to hold the bullet.
