Problem loading revolver rounds... it's been a while

[Mauser lover]

Okay, here is the story, if you don't want to read it, skip to the next paragraph.

I was helping a friend reload some .357 mag yesterday, and it has been a while since either of us had done it. We both remember the basics, but we have forgotten some of the tricks we use. I'm sure some of you know how we felt. On his single stage press, we were using his RCBS dies, loading some pretty anemic .357 "mag" loads with hard cast semi-wadcutters. We would seat one bullet, and it would be perfect OAL, whatever it was he wanted, and after a while, we were getting cartridges that were .045 short! Well, after our very limited run, I took the seating portion out of his seating/crimping die (we were doing it in one step, and probably won't next time, just for the hassle), and there was probably .045 worth of lead built up on the seating screw. Funny how that number matches... Anyway, on to the question...

When we seated the bullets, a ring of lead (and probably grease) would form around the bullet, almost like the case was too tight and it was cutting a very thin ring of lead off the bullet. It stuck to the very bottom of the seater (it was a semi-wadcutter seater) and built up after probably a dozen cartridges to make a lead washer that was about .045 thick. How do we keep the lead from being cut like that? Did we need to bell the case mouth a little more? Or, barring the solution to the lead-cutting, can we keep the lead/grease from sticking to the seater?

Okay, thanks for the help! Or, if someone else already asked about this (surely I can't be the only one who has this problem) just give me a link to that thread, and I'll be happy.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Bell the case mouth more and the problem will go away. The bullet should sit on the belled case without tipping.

The proper seating depth for revolver bullets is determined by where the crimp groove is on the bullet, and whether or not it's too long for the cylinder.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[witchhunter]

Fred nailed it.

 

[Sunray]

Lead built up on the seating screw is normal. Clean your dies and add a bit more flare.

 

[9mmepiphany]

If extra flaring doesn't work for you, here are other things you can try:
1. Lyman M-die expander ( or the RCBS copy)...actually creates a "seat" for the bullet without over flaring
2. Trim you cases to a uniform length (38/357 cases vary a lot)...allows uniform expanding
3. Bevel the inside of the case mouths...smoother transition into the case for the base of the bullet

 

[Mauser lover]

Okay! Thanks all. We'll try that next time!
I don't know how clean the die was when we started, but I cleaned it when we finished, so it will be clean next time. It just seems inconvenient to pull apart a seating die every dozen rounds or so. Maybe every 100 or so is reasonable?

Belling the case mouth sounds like the problem. I was guiding the individual bullets into the die, so they definitely were tipping if I didn't hold them.

Oh, there was no crimp groove on these bullets, so we played with the OAL a bit. Other than how the die was playing with our OAL.

 

[ReloaderFred]

With no crimp groove, you can just crimp into the side of the bullet where you need to be. Just don't over crimp it. Add enough flare to the case mouth that the bullet will stand straight on it's own. You shouldn't have to clean out that die for at least 500 rounds, unless the bullets are tumble lubed in some greasy kid's stuff.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Mauser lover]

Greasy kid's stuff?

The greasiness was pretty bad. These bullets were probably thirty years old, so that might have had an influence on the grease.

 

[ReloaderFred]

It's probably a 50/50 Beeswax/Alox lube, and they can be pretty messy. It's good lube, so don't worry about that, and being 30 years old shouldn't hurt it any, either.

I'm headed out at zero dark thirty in the morning for the SHOT Show in Las Vegas, so some others will have to give you a hand if you have any further problems.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Mauser lover]

What was popular thirty years ago was more along the lines of what I was thinking by saying "that might have had an influence", rather than it degrading. That was worded badly, my apologies.

Have fun at SHOT!

 

[murf]

try polishing the seater plug. if that doesn't work, try the other plug.

murf