Crushed cases ????

358Scout

358Scout

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I have no idea whats going on. This has never happened to me.
I'm loading some 45 Colt's with new cast bullets I picked up from a guy.
All my cases are slightly crushing on one side and seams the bullets are not lining up and on some I'm getting a bulge on one side of the case.

I took my seating die apart and cant believe the wax build up inside.
Would this be causing the crushing?
 
Look up into the die and see if the seating plug is such that it would seat a "cocked" bullet, otherwise, as mentioned above, try crimping in a sep. operation, and flare those cases.
 
It sounds like your trying to over crimp the cartridge and buckling the case...
Assuming the bullet is correct for the cartridge try this;
-Back out the seating die considerably.
-Seat the bullet to the correct OAL you need.
-Now back off the bullet seating adjustment considerably.
-Now you can screw in the body of the die to attain the level of roll crimp you are looking for (without touching the bullet OAL), remember just do a little at a time.
-Once you have the desired level of crimp (with the ram all the way up) just screw in the bullet seating adjustment screw untill it just touches the bullet.
And your done, time to make ammo.
 
Some pictures of what you are talking about would be useful, as one persons crushed case may be another persons bulged case.
To me, a crushed case is one that has been rolled down by the bullet and is no longer usable, whereas a bulged case can often result from certain combinations of bullets, cases and seating dies.
The above advice is all good, but it might not be answering your problem.
 
"...cant believe the wax build up..." Lube and it could be causing it. More likely to be not enough belling/flaring though. That should be just enough to sit the bullet in the case mouth.
 
It has nothing to do with your seating die. It's because the cases aren't flared enough and the neck is too tight. Take the washer out of your expanding die and crank those puppies open enough for the problem to go away. Certain brands of brass are worse for this than others.

I'm going to bet that these are new remington or federal brass cases.

After you fire them once, they will have expanded a little that you won't see the bullet bulging out on one side. It's just that the factory brass is so small. When you resize these cases after firing, only resize them enough to get the neck tension you want. Make sure they cycle fine (a dummy round with no primer/powder is good to test this) and adjust your die accordingly. You can loosen the primer pin and lower it if you're having difficulties with primers not popping all the way out when you partially resize.
 
Isn't working with that nice thin brass fun.
Cast bullets generally need a bit more room than the comparable jacketed bullet, as they are a usually tad larger, to properly seal the bore, and get accuracy.
Couple that with thin brass typical of 45 colt, 44-40, 38-40 etc, and it can be a bit of a headache.
You need to expand the cases, the Lyman 'M' die works wonders for this, but most other companies now have comparable dies.
It allows you to to adjust the amount of flare. Works wonders on cast.
That lube build up, as long as it isn't hard, or really excessive likely isn't a big concern, unless, it's holding the bullet seater off to one side. Usually in this brass, that results in bullets not seating squarely, and a lump in the side of the case, showing where the bullet base is through the side of the neck.
Many cast bullets have no nice round heel like a jacketed, and are square, and sharp at the base. that means extra diligence in getting the bullet started square pays off. Easier to do with a properly flared case.

Flared, not chamfered.
A flare, is actually belling the case mouth, not just cutting a bit off at an angle with a chamfer tool to make a bevel edge.
 
I prefer to seat my bullets then crimp in a separate operation, applying only as much crimp as is necessary. You might find that the Lee Pistol Factory Crimp Die is worth while having. Your loading dies should be cleaned regularly. A pistol die set should include a die to bell the case mouth to ease seating the bullet. Setting the amount of bell is a trial and error process, but if you make small adjustments to the depth of the expander, you have reached the sweet spot when the base of the bullets just sits comfortably inside the case mouth. The amount of bell the case needs is dependent upon the style of the bullet, so be prepared to adjust the amount of bell when you change from one bullet type to another.

You appear to be observing two different problems occurring while loading. First, the bullet is not seating directly in the direct center of the case, resulting in a slight bulge on one side of the case. This is a minor sin, provided the cartridge can still be chambered in the gun without difficulty. Again, enter the Lee Factory Crimp dies which resizes the loaded cartridge and ensures it will chamber without effort. Having said that, a properly loaded pistol cartridge should be slightly hour glass shaped as the case mouth is expands to accept the bullet, and the web of the case changes little in diameter when resized.

Your second problem is over crimping as stated above, this is what causes cases to buckle. Take a cartridge with a seated bullet, place it on the ram, and run the ram to the top with the seating die unthreaded several turns. Raise the seating stem to the top of it's travel or remove it all together. Now with the cartridge on the ram and the ram all the way up, thread the seating/crimping die down until you feel it contact the cartridge. Now, every half turn, check the cartridge for the amount of crimp that has been applied. When you achieve the correct amount of crimp, lock the die in place and proceed to crimp the rest of your ammo, or if you prefer you can adjust the crimping die for each individual cartridge.
 
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