40sw bulge at bottom of case
- Thread starter dodo bird
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gamestalker
member
If they are feeding OK just keep an eye on them so you don't get a separation. Another solution would be to pick up a "Bulge Buster" die from Lee. The only problem is, once a case has developed a bulge it shouldn't really be fired out of an unsupported chamber for obvious reason.
GS
GS
Blue68f100
Member
Measure the very bottom of the brass (base) then measure the sizer die. The heavy section of the base should not be expanded. If it is the primer pockets may be loose. If a new set of dies they could be off.
Where these 40's fired in your gun or range pickup???
Where these 40's fired in your gun or range pickup???
cowtownup
Member
Were these factory rounds thatyou fired from your gun and then reloaded? Or did you buy this brass as once fired?
45lcshooter
Member
Do the paper clip test to see if it is head case seperation. Or it could be an unsupported chamber.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
You can't or don't need to do the 'paper-clip thest with a straiight wall pistol case.
That is for bottle-neck rifle cases you can't see inside of.
First, you can just look inside it and see if there is a stretch ring.
Second, there will never be a stretch ring to see, or feel with a paper-clip in a straight-wall pistol case.
rc
That is for bottle-neck rifle cases you can't see inside of.
First, you can just look inside it and see if there is a stretch ring.
Second, there will never be a stretch ring to see, or feel with a paper-clip in a straight-wall pistol case.
rc
gahunter12
Member
I also see alot of my .40s&w brass that has a slightly wider area near the base. Here's a Winchester once fired case from my friends XD 40 last weekend. I have already sized this case to take a pic.
If it passes the plunk test after sizing (twice if you have an unsupported chamber; rotate it 180 degrees and repeat), load and run with it.
40 S&W bulges more than most cartridges because it's high pressure and a goodly portion of 40 S&W barrels are not fully supported.
Make sure when you resize it, your die is adjusted fully down to the shell holder and locked in place solid so it doesn't move as you go through your cases. You want to resize as much of the case you can possibly get, without binding your press up!
40 S&W bulges more than most cartridges because it's high pressure and a goodly portion of 40 S&W barrels are not fully supported.
Make sure when you resize it, your die is adjusted fully down to the shell holder and locked in place solid so it doesn't move as you go through your cases. You want to resize as much of the case you can possibly get, without binding your press up!
Kayaker 1960
Member
bulged case
I remember when I bought my .40 cal Glock. People said that the not fully supported case was down right dangerous. I guess Glock isnt the only one. From my personal experience, not an issue. Just inspect when reloading.
I remember when I bought my .40 cal Glock. People said that the not fully supported case was down right dangerous. I guess Glock isnt the only one. From my personal experience, not an issue. Just inspect when reloading.
LiveLife
Member
Glock barrels will have less issues with bulged spent cases. It's the barrels with tighter chambers that will have issues with bulged cases that can't be full-length resized down to the case base.Trent said:
Yes. My Gen3 G22/G23/G27 barrels have comparable case base support compared to many other factory barrels and other factory barrels will also bulge the case base like these (these samples came from Glock barrels).Kayaker 1960 said:
GW Staar
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I hate to even mention it during this post election no stock no backorder Apocalypse, but if you have trouble with bulged brass going into battery, you can always order (backorder if you can) a Lee deluxe Factory Crimp Die and their "bulge buster" kit, and someday you can do away with bulges completely (without having to buy a case pro). You could even buy Redding GRX die that does the same thing (with lubed brass) or pay through the nose to get their Carbide version that's over $100. But alas unless you were born under a lucky star, you won't find any of these for sale before late summer maybe longer for the Reddings.
I have the original Redding GRX and it works, but that was before Lee trumped them with the bulge buster. I would have bought that.
WARNING: If you find really bulged brass as pictured below:
deformed even...throw them into the scrap brass bucket. Those are dangerous to reload.
If your picture is representative of your stash or bds's pictures
...they're safe...bulge bust them.
I have the original Redding GRX and it works, but that was before Lee trumped them with the bulge buster. I would have bought that.
WARNING: If you find really bulged brass as pictured below:
deformed even...throw them into the scrap brass bucket. Those are dangerous to reload.
If your picture is representative of your stash or bds's pictures
Last edited:
345 DeSoto
Member
BisleyBlackhawk45
Member
That top case in GW Staar's post looks like a Makarov fired case...or some other blow back pistol. That case needs to go away! On my .40 S&W cases from a Glock I shove the case through a gutted LEE Factory Crimp die using a .401 bullet punch for sizing my cast bullets...no more bulge. Now if I had a die I could force myself through 
....that would beat excersize!
....that would beat excersize!
Twmaster
Member
And the best part is the Lee bulge buster kit is less than $20. (When you can find them)
jmorris
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Yeah the price is the best part taking all the extra time is the thumbs down for me. As GW pointed out, an automated solution isn't needed but it seemed silly to me to invest in progressives to load on and do case prep manually on a single stage.
GW Staar
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Silly perhaps, but some of us can't have the super tools you have and don't have the skills and resources either....so we have to do the best we can.
Thinking like you, I handled my trimmer bottleneck, and others (bottlenecks of course exist to challenge us to conquer them), but this bottleneck hasn't aggravated me enough yet.
What does a case pro cost?.....of course YOUR case pro is a bit more automated than the stock one.
jmorris
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My first one was given to me to "see what I could do" the second was around $800 with the dies I ordered.
Certainly not for everyone or even your "average" reloader but if you have buckets of brass or mess with machineguns its worth it. Cost less than several presses I load on and doesn't take the extra time other methods do. All while saving $5000 on the cost of Magmas case master.
Kind of like the case annealer, that if you have yours put together yet saves quite a bit of time while giving a uniform end result.
Certainly not for everyone or even your "average" reloader but if you have buckets of brass or mess with machineguns its worth it. Cost less than several presses I load on and doesn't take the extra time other methods do. All while saving $5000 on the cost of Magmas case master.
Kind of like the case annealer, that if you have yours put together yet saves quite a bit of time while giving a uniform end result.
jmorris
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Guess I'll add before I had an efficient method I just culled problem cases, it wasn't until I had an overwhelming number of them did I even look into fixing them for use. Even machined a die so I could convert my auto bullet sizer but liked the idea of ironing out the extractor grove that only a rollsizer could do (not to mention tapered cases like 9mm) and the Scarch roll sizer made Magma's $6000 case master look cheap.
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