Problems loading 230g RN berry 45 ACP during bullet seating

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Utryme

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I am running into some issues. This is a new caliber for me. I have new dies in my Dillon press. Went completely through the set up procedure TWICE and have tried loading with both once fired and new brass, both have a high reject rate and the same result..
The problem I am running into is that the bullet is not seating well and most times I end up with a deformed case. When I do not, most times it slices off the FMJ and it sticks to one side of the casing. It is RARE to have them load without a problem, like three in 30.
Any ideas? I have:
Checked diameter of the bullets, they are 45
Checked dies, they are 45 acp
Checked die positions and adjustments.

thanks.
 
When you talk about reject rate, are you talking about an ammo gauge or what?
Like Project355 said, you aren't using enough flare on your case and you may also want to check your seating die to see if the profile of the seating stem matches the profile of the nose on the bullet.
If your using a flat seating stem to load round nose bullets, you will have crooked bullets when your done.
You will see this by seeing a bulge on one side of the case and not seeing one on the other.
 
Setting the expander is art, not a science. I usually waste a case or two setting the proper flare. For that reason, I tend to load many bullets in one size/type bullet before changing to something else. I know people who buy extra expanders, just so they can set it and mark it for a particular bullet and can come back to it later in the year. You still have too tight of a mouth flare. When I seat pistol bullets, I can feel the bullet settling in on the mouth as I start the ram in motion and it will slip right in, otherwise more pressure is instantly felt and the bullet has titled and is cutting, or bulging the case or being shaved by the mouth.
 
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Check your expander and adjust as needed. I have loaded plenty of 230 grain plated bullets from Berry's and Rainier without issues. I have also used plenty of plated bullets from both companies in 380, 9mm, 9mm Largo, and 40S&W without issues.

One of the many reasons that I like the Lee turret press is that I have turrets for each caliber. I can set my dies for each caliber in their own turret and I won't have to readjust anything unless I change the type of bullets used.
 
Like others have said, it sounds like you dont have your powder die down low enough to expand the case mouth enough. I recently loaded up 500 extreme plated 230gr FMJ, zero issues.
 
What dies are you using, and are you seating and crimping in the same step/die?
 
My first guess runs along with most in that you are not opening the case mouth enough. My second guess runs with what seating plug you are using? You should have a seater plug for RN (Round Nose and one for FP (Flat Point. Using a FP plug with a RN bullet just is not going to work.

Ron
 
Utryme said:
I am running into some issues. This is a new caliber for me. I have new dies in my Dillon press.
Click to expand...
I’m a bit new to Dillon on my RL1100, but the three Dillon dies are “size/deprime”, “seat” and “crimp”. The expander is via the swage station and/or the powder measure (PTX). If your three dies are the same as mine (circa 2020), you’ll need to bell the case at the powder measure, and you’ll need the universal expander or a dedicated .45PTX for it. It will be trial and error to get the correct amount of bell so a bullet will set on the case mouth - it doesn’t have to be a huge amount of bell, but enough so you’re not scraping plating off the bullet. Good luck.
 
Utryme said:
once fired and new brass
Click to expand...
The bell/expander has to be adjusted for the shortest brass.

The 45 acp brass seems to get shorter with each firing. My old Dillon powder funnel expands ok, just bothers me that its a little oval shaped.

Dillon RL-450 full.jpg

I did have a problem with my RCBS 45ACP seating die. It removed the bell to soon. I opened the inside up, larger.
 
Another thought, if the brass thickness and bullet are to spec, and the flare is adequate on the short cases then I would question the dimensions and concentricity of the dies.
Check the press too, to make sure the ram is square with the die head.
 
Utryme said:
I am running into some issues. This is a new caliber for me. I have new dies in my Dillon press. Went completely through the set up procedure TWICE and have tried loading with both once fired and new brass, both have a high reject rate and the same result..
The problem I am running into is that the bullet is not seating well and most times I end up with a deformed case. When I do not, most times it slices off the FMJ and it sticks to one side of the casing. It is RARE to have them load without a problem, like three in 30.
Any ideas? I have:
Checked diameter of the bullets, they are 45
Checked dies, they are 45 acp
Checked die positions and adjustments.

thanks.
Click to expand...
All of you that directed me to adjust the expander...thank you. That was it.
 
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