Cases bulging after seating bullet

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ChetRomeo

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Hello all. I am new to reloading. I have just finished my first batch of .44 magnum rounds.
Two questions.
After seating acme .430 swc to the correct oal, I noticed the cases bulging. Almost like the case was too small for the round I seated. Is this normal?

Second. After crimping, I noticed a very fine brass shaving, about half thickness of a hair around the mouth of the cases. Is this normal?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience. I have not **** the rounds yet, as I want to make sure I don't damage my new gun, or myself for that matter.
 
may need to flar the mouth just a little more. can you post a pic? Reason i said this is i had 38spl that would bulge just a little bit on one side but they chambered fine so i ignored it. I opened the flare a hair more and it helped a little but i could be wrong so take it with a grain of salt.
 
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Two thoughts - 1) get a cartridge gauge that will catch crimp issues and 2) sounds like too much crimp. However, if they will fit your chambers, they should be okay as range fodder but not reloading craft.
 
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I'll be VERY Curious to see what is said, as I have had the same issues (Not Crimping). Issues with 9mm, 38Spec, 357Mag, 40S&W, 45 ACP, 45LC. All bulge and require the Bulge Buster, or running thru the Sizer without the Depriming Rod. Otherwise, they won't chamber.
 
Study the photos Walkalong posted, you can see where the bullet base resides in the case by the reflection. This example shows pretty near optimal tension on the bullet by the case wall, a little less than this is OK more would be pretty tight doable but over working the brass. The only thing that come to mind as a possibility if you have a significant bulge at the bottom of the bullet would be trying to over crimp with a roll crimp die, that will cause a definite bulge at that location.
 
I have the same problem with my .41 reloads... the sizer really sizes the cases down to where the bullet is a very tight fit an shows a bulge. The brass ring after crimping is... I'm assuming you are using the roll crimp in the seating die... normal after a very heavy roll crimp.
 
The bulge is present before crimping. Some of the bullets don't look like they seated properly. Not uniform around the mouth of the case. Ok to shoot?
 
Looks like it is seated crooked. Also looks like you didn't flare the case mouth, or didn't flare it enough. That would make it tougher to start straight.
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Thanks Walkalong. Your pic looked similar, I just wanted to verify. I thought I flared too much. The bottom of the Acme bullet is shaped in a way it's hard to get them exactly straight before I seat.
 
ChetRomeo said:
Thanks Walkalong. Your pic looked similar, I just wanted to verify. I thought I flared too much. The bottom of the Acme bullet is shaped in a way it's hard to get them exactly straight before I seat.
Click to expand...
Make sure you're not using a round nose seater plug, that can keep em skewed a little. Flat nose seater plug will help but not entirely eliminate the problem. My personal plugs are cut on a lathe to seat on the bullet shoulder that works pretty good.
 
Since I mainly only shoot LSWC I opened up my round nose seating plug to contact the shoulder on the bullet. This way it centers and is seated straight. I've had much better luck using the round nose seating stem vs the Flat. Most bullets are not flat on the top due to seams. The round nose stem seams to center the bullet better than the flat stem. The flat stem is what I use for a wad cutter bullet which is flat all the way across.
 
dgod said:
I'll be VERY Curious to see what is said, as I have had the same issues (Not Crimping). Issues with 9mm, 38Spec, 357Mag, 40S&W, 45 ACP, 45LC. All bulge and require the Bulge Buster, or running thru the Sizer without the Depriming Rod. Otherwise, they won't chamber.
Click to expand...
I found that to indicate too much crimp, wherein the bullet locks up before fully seated, so the remaining ram force deforms the case. I also load all lead bullets with any caliber available in RCBS Cowboy, which is larger diameter in all the dies, not just the expander. Lyman is second choice because it includes an M-die expander, which better provides for placing bevel-based lead bullets for seating straight. I found the very minimum flare works best, or the bullet will tip. This larger sizer and expander die set relieves the bullet impression showing through the case and gives me ammo that looks more like new factory rounds.
 
Thank you all, I will try to switch to the rounded bullet seat, to see if that fixes the crooked seating.
 
ChetRomeo said:
Thanks Walkalong. Your pic looked similar, I just wanted to verify. I thought I flared too much. The bottom of the Acme bullet is shaped in a way it's hard to get them exactly straight before I seat.
Click to expand...

Get rid of the notion that you can set a bullet on the mouth of a case with any kind of precision/accuracy. Human hands and eyes are not capable of starting a bullet straight. That's what the seater die is for. It supports the case while the seater plug aligns the bullet before it starts to push it into the case.

If there's slop in the case/die fit and the bullet doesn't get started straight because the seater plug doesn't fit the bullet, then you'll see an off center bulge after seating.
 
I did use the flat plug on these rounds thinking the top would be flat enough, but I'm going to try Realguns idea and use the rounded plug on my next 50 rounds. In all of your opinions, after looking at my pic, are these rounds safe to fire?
 
The flat plug is what you need for those. Try to get it started as straight as you can. Flare enough for a smooth start. Your round looks like the bullet is crooked. Looks like it at the case mouth and looks like it where the bulge is only on one side of the brass.

At least that is what it looks like. Photo angles can be deceiving.
 
I'll chime in just to agree with those who say that appears to be a bullet that is going in quite crooked, pushing out on the side of the case. As has already been stated, look at the belling and the seating stem, and also your technique for the initial seating of the bullet.

The post-sizing ring of a Lee Factory Crimp Die can sometimes iron out those bulges well enough for the round to chamber correctly, but the base of the bullet was likely deformed a bit in the process, and the FCD cannot fix that. The end result is unlikely to be especially accurate, although it would be safe and functional to fire.
 
Thank you all for your advice. Going in a couple of days to the range, and see what happens.
 
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