.40cal lead bullets

Travel240z

Travel240z

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I just loaded up lead bullets for my .40cal for the first time. I have always used FMJ before but thought I would give lead a shot for the price.

Couple of questions;
When I seated the bullets the lead had scrapped along the case mouth. Will the built up lead cause head space issues since a .40 cal uses the case mouth to head space? I would think so and I will have to remove it.
Also, I am assuming that belling the case mouth with the expander die should stop this from happening next time?

Lead does require a bit more finesse than FMJ.
 
Yeah, you need to bell just enough that the bullets aren't shaved when you seat them. If you shave them a lot, your bullets might be reduced in size which might cause a greater chance of barrel leading. Watch your crimp too. You just want to remove the bell.

After loading a couple dummy rounds, pull the bullets and measure them with calipers or micrometer against a virgin bullet. They should be identical in diameter all along its length (provided of course that your bullets were of fairly consistent size to begin with). Otherwise, measure them before and after. Loading them should result in no measurable change in dimensions.
 
Thanks for the responses.

I had to reset both the case mouth expander die and the crimp/seating die. A little extra belling of the case mouth stopped the lead scrapping. The crimp may have caused a bit of the problem as well since it was slightly overcrimping and therefore I would guess that the bullet was still being seated after the crimp part of the die had already pushed the case mouth slightly into the lead.
 
Travel240z said:
Thanks for the responses.

I had to reset both the case mouth expander die and the crimp/seating die. A little extra belling of the case mouth stopped the lead scrapping. The crimp may have caused a bit of the problem as well since it was slightly overcrimping and therefore I would guess that the bullet was still being seated after the crimp part of the die had already pushed the case mouth slightly into the lead.
Click to expand...

Yes in addition when you over crimp you can actually end up loosening the tension on the bullet. The .40cal bullet is held in place by friction not by the crimp. By applying a roll crimp the case can expand behind the crimp which cause the loosening.

Take Care

Bob
 
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