Reloading .45 ACP expanding

[zalex820]

So as my venture into reloading continues I had tried reloading .45 acp and had a bit of a hard time setting up the dies. came to the conclusion that I didn't need to expand the straight wall casing to set and crimp the bullet? Is that ok or should I be expanding them for some reason?

 

[Reefinmike]

You will have a heck of time seating a bullet without flaring(expanding) the case mouth... Unless you have boat tail pistol bullets which ive never heard of. No "crimp" is needed on auto pistol bullets, you just need to remove any case flair as the round headspaces on the case mouth. Case mouth should measure .471-.472" after seating and "crimping".

Essentially, you dont want the case mouth digging into the bullet after "crimping". Case wall thickness on 45 is about .010". Double your case wall thickness(.02"), factor in the bullet(.451") and that is what the case mouth should measure. Any less and you are just damaging the bullet.

 

[zalex820]

You will have a heck of time seating a bullet without flaring(expanding) the case mouth... Unless you have boat tail pistol bullets which ive never heard of. No "crimp" is needed on auto pistol bullets, you just need to remove any case flair as the round headspaces on the case mouth. Case mouth should measure .471-.472" after seating and "crimping".

Essentially, you dont want the case mouth digging into the bullet after "crimping". Case wall thickness on 45 is about .010". Double your case wall thickness(.02"), factor in the bullet(.451") and that is what the case mouth should measure. Any less and you are just damaging the bullet.

Thanks for the numbers, I will check what mine ended up sitting at. But I made a few blanks last night to set the dies and i didnt need to expand to seat the bullet . It went in just fine without a problem. I wonder why this is.

 

[MEHavey]

Are you saying that you need only full-length resize the case,
...not use second expander die at all...
and still seat the bullet w/o undue force ?

 

[Reefinmike]

you may not need to expand as some- mostly plated 45 bullets are slightly rounded at the base, but you are likely going need to hold the bullet as you seat and are more prone to having bullets seated cockeyed. Its a simple die adjustment that will make seating your bullets much easier.

 

[zalex820]

Are you saying that you need only full-length resize the case,
...not use second expander die at all...
and still seat the bullet w/o undue force ?

exactly, I re-sized it with a full case die and did not have have to use second expander die what so ever. and no I did not have to "force" the bullet in.

 

[zalex820]

you may not need to expand as some- mostly plated 45 bullets are slightly rounded at the base, but you are likely going need to hold the bullet as you seat and are more prone to having bullets seated cockeyed. Its a simple die adjustment that will make seating your bullets much easier.

I thought of that as well and having loaded a hand full of blanks like this I didnt seen to have any issues with the bullet not sitting nice and straight.

 

[gamestalker]

I have been seating jacketed handgun bullets without belling the mouths for a very long time. If they seat ok, then you are good to go, if not, then a slight bell is in order. But if you don't bell, then you as well don't use any taper crimp, as there will be no reason to crimp.

I put a little chamfer on the inside of the mouths, it helps the bullet align and seat smoothly.

GS

 

[MEHavey]

have been seating jacketed handgun bullets without belling the mouths

That I can understand.

I just wanted to make sure I properly understood
that the OP was not using the expander die at all....

 

[Conservidave]

What bullets are you using?

 

[joem1945]

If you load cast you will have to bell the case.

 

[zalex820]

what bullets are you using?

 

[Sunray]

Expanding the straight wall case mouth and crimping the bullet is done in different dies. Both flaring and taper crimping are an 'as little as possible' thing.

 

[zalex820]

I don't mean to repeat myself but from what I understood is that if the bullet seats fine with excessive force then I'm fine without belling the case and not crimping it as long as the bullet does not move when applying force.

 

[mdi]

You will have a heck of time seating a bullet without flaring(expanding) the case mouth... Unless you have boat tail pistol bullets which ive never heard of. No "crimp" is needed on auto pistol bullets, you just need to remove any case flair as the round headspaces on the case mouth. Case mouth should measure .471-.472" after seating and "crimping".

Essentially, you dont want the case mouth digging into the bullet after "crimping". Case wall thickness on 45 is about .010". Double your case wall thickness(.02"), factor in the bullet(.451") and that is what the case mouth should measure. Any less and you are just damaging the bullet

.
Yep, Mike said it all. Some can get away without flaring the case mouth and seating bullets, but for a new reloader I would recommend flaring. You may be able to seat bullets without flaring, but it's a whole lot easier to get used to seating with a flare, and load straight seated bullets. With experience you can customize your reloading methods to what suits you and your needs, but for me and 30 years of reloading it's much easier to set a bullet into a slightly flared case than one that wobbles and needs to be guided all the way into the die. Some will talk about case life being shorter with flaring and deflaring the cases, but how much? 5 reloadings? 7 reloadings? It's much better to get good, shootable ammo now and worry about case life later. Brass is still available and easy to find...