Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 31

Thread: Is it me, the press, or the brass? What is going wrong?

  1. #11
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Canton GA
    I am seeing issues with range pick up brass too. I use Lee dies because I found them to normally solve pick up brass issues. However, I am having one out of four 45ACP loads not passing my go/no-go gauge. Never had an issue with 45 loads before. Starting some searching and seeing posts about more people seeing these issues - speculation is that newer brass is "thinner" to save costs. Anyway, I ordered a LEE 45ACP undersized die that is due tomorrow - hope that will solve my 45ACP problems.

    Currently not having issues with 9mm but I load 124 Bayous. I wonder if your issue would go away if you were loading 115s or 124s? I did have issues with loading Bayou 135s when I ran into the 9mm cases with the "step" - the 135s hit that step and the loaded round was too fat to chamber.

  2. #12
    Site Supporter rdtompki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Treasure Valley, ID
    I used a Lee FCD for tens of thousands of rounds before I ran into a problem wih 147gr Bayou and CBC brass. The die was swaging down the base of the bullet, but the case was rebounding back somewhat leaving the bullet very loose in the case; some actually fell out

    I changed my setup over to a Lee Undersize die and a regular taper die in the last stage of my 1050. I can't complain about all the rounds I made using the FCD, but my current setup works just as well. I try to eliminate CBC brass, but I'm also not loading much 9mm with 147gr Bayou.

  3. #13
    Deadeye Dick Clusterfrack's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Wokelandia
    I've loaded over 60,000 125gr and 147gr SNS coated bullets in range pickup brass using the FCD. It's pretty obvious when the upper ring of the FCD resizes the loaded round, and most of the time it doesn't. I don't have problems with leading. Occasionally a damaged case will get rolled over at the lip by the FCD, and that doesn't chamber. So, for important match ammo, a Hundo gauge is probably a good idea--especially if your gun has a tight chamber.
    Last edited by Clusterfrack; 08-02-2017 at 10:07 PM.
    "You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
    Shabbat shalom, motherf***ers! --Mordechai Jefferson Carver

  4. #14
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Texas
    Ranger, your range 45 range brass if fired in Glocks may have swelled bases not completely removed by your current die. I'd bet that the undersize resize die will correct the poblem. Instead of using a specialty gauge for plunk tests, try your barrel which will most likely have a chamber with more generous dimensions. You rejects may work fine. Please be aware that I'm not suggesting that you lower standards.

    About thinner brass made to save mony. My unsubstantiated opinion is that's not the reason. I think that much variation in dimensions exists between brands and even within brands. I do, though, believe that everybody has lowered standards by saving money on sacrificing QC. This could result in too thick, too long, or too short brass.
    Last edited by willie; 08-02-2017 at 10:54 PM.

  5. #15
    If the bulge is at the base of the seated bullet, you are seating the bullet crooked.
    You need to check that your expander is actually opening the case ID to about 0.002" smaller than actual bullet diameter and that your seating stem actually fits your bullet.
    You can get a custom seating stem. If so, get one that:
    1) does not touch the meplat
    and
    2) contacts as far down the bullet's ogive as possible
    Alternatively, you can buy and try a Hornady New Dimension seating die that has a sliding sleeve/tube that helps to keep the bullet aligned.
    Or, instead for fixing the problem, you can "iron it out" with a Lee FCD.

  6. #16
    Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Northwest
    Post a picture.

    It's a bit impossible for a case to go through the resize die and not fit into a chamber...since the die is 9mm. Right? If it goes in, it is that size. So what happens?

    I think the likely culprit is too much crimp. You crank down at the case mouth so it bulges out. All that brass has to go somewhere.

    Back the crimp die to where you are just knocking out the bell and see how that goes.
    Last edited by nwhpfan; 08-05-2017 at 12:44 AM.
    A71593

  7. #17
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Behind the Photonic Curtain
    Quote Originally Posted by nwhpfan View Post
    I think the likely culprit is too much crimp.
    I'll take too this answer, too. I use a RCBS taper crimp die in my 550 and have zero issues with 150gr Bayou SWC in whatever brass gets swept up off the floor. FWIW I don't think much of the Lee FCD.
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

  8. #18
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Savannah, GA
    Quote Originally Posted by nwhpfan View Post
    Post a picture.

    It's a bit impossible for a case to go through the resize die and not fit into a chamber...since the die is 9mm. Right? If it goes in, it is that size. So what happens?

    I think the likely culprit is too much crimp. You crank down at the case mouth so it bulges out. All that brass has to go somewhere.

    Back the crimp die to where you are just knocking out the bell and see how that goes.
    The case on the top is the one that doesn't gauge. I crimp to .379", which is just enough to lay the case mouth flat from the bell.

    Name:  IMG_4280.jpg
Views: 292
Size:  52.0 KB

    Name:  IMG_4282.jpg
Views: 234
Size:  46.9 KB
    Last edited by Gio; 08-05-2017 at 03:36 PM.

  9. #19
    Site Supporter Matt O's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    TN
    Quote Originally Posted by Gio View Post
    The case on the top is the one that doesn't gauge. I crimp to .379", which is just enough to lay the case mouth flat from the bell.

    Name:  IMG_4280.jpg
Views: 292
Size:  52.0 KB

    Name:  IMG_4282.jpg
Views: 234
Size:  46.9 KB
    I think some of your bullets aren't seating straight. I had a similar issue at one point and the rounds looked a lot like the one you have that is failing to case gauge properly.

  10. #20
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Southern AZ
    I was having similar issues but with .40, the Lee undersized die fixed it...

User Tag List

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •