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Blackwater
01-15-2006, 06:28 PM
I FINALLY got to load up some cast bullets for a friend's 7.62x54 the other day. kenjuudo very kindly donated some cases to the old gentleman, and I trimmed them, chamferred and deburred them, all using the Lee case spinner - a technique I favor because after the chamfer/deburring, I took a piece of 0000 steel wool and spun the case mouth on that. This polishes and probably rounds the case mouth edges, and J-bullets seat almost effortlessly when I do this - MUCH easier than if this step is not done. I THOUGHT SURE I had a .31 long M die, but I didn't. DANG! In a pinch, I decided to see what the polishing of the case mouths would let me do with the soft ACWW bullets, 311041's that were sized .314" from an old Lyman mould. Kenjuudo also sent some oversized bullets as well, but I wanted to do some prelim testing to see what loads did best with these, so those test bullets could be better evaluated in the old man's and my M-44's, and my Brit #4 Mk. I. I loaded up 5 different loads, which would be enough (I hope) to get some indication of what the gun will want further testing with. 25 rds. is a good workout for the old man, and the soft loads should take the sting out for his shoulder. All he wants is an accuate load that'll shoot well.

I took the 311041's, and seated them as I would have a j-bullet. Worked very well. No shaving of the sides of the bullets at all. Only a little lube extrusion, and not much of that. A wipe with a paper towel was all it took to clean them right up, and there was no lead on the lube smears on the towel.

Do any of you seat GC'd cast with no belling of the case mouth? I've got a 31 long M die on the way, of course, as well as a Lee Universal neck belling die, but now I'm curious if any of you forego the case mouth expanding, and if so, what kind of results you get?

Also, do any of you polish the case mouths? Using the Lee case spinner, it's really easy and quick, and I think it's one of the things that makes my ammo accurate. The minimal pressure needed to start the bullets, jacketed or cast, into the mouth pretty much eliminates any tendency to cock the neck out of line as the bullet is seated.

BTW, I've had three Rock Chuckers, and sold them all. Ammo put up in my very old RCBS Reloader Special from the very early 70's FL sizes easily IF the cases are lubed right, and the lesser leverage gives me significantly more "feel" during all the other operations, like bullet seating. The difference in seating pressure used when I use polished case necks, after chamferring and deburring is VERY noticable, and I just wonder if any of you have had similar experiences?

David R
01-15-2006, 07:09 PM
I trim all my new or new to me brass. I then chamfer the out side a little and the inside until the end of the case is almost sharp. This puts enough bevel on the case for me to seat any gas check boolit without shaving lead. I don't crimp rifle boolits at all.

I use the universal lee expanging die for plain base boolits.

David

Bodine
01-15-2006, 08:33 PM
I generally do about the same as David R, only I try to obtain about .002 worth of neck tension by only neck sizing the brass. This is easily done with a Lee Necksizing die and by changing the mandrel to the size you need.

drinks
01-15-2006, 08:53 PM
While the case is spinning, I stick a brass brush in the neck and squeeze the case with 0000 steel wool, then still flare with the Lee expander.

Buckshot
01-16-2006, 05:41 AM
.................I normally use either a Lyman M die or an expander from the Lyman Multi deluxe pistol die setup. I HAVE loaded GC slugs without expanding necks before, over the years. On occasion I've gotten lead scrapes. Freshly annealed cases don't do this, but those that have been fired/resized several times are tough and springy enough to close back up tight enough to scrap after the GC has passed. All my brass is chamfered inside and out initially and at trimming. But I only chamfer enough to remove trhe sharp corner and not to create a funnel.

As a rule I never bother to crimp. Sometime back I tried it while I was messing with the Swede. Some crimped loads shot visibly better. In discussion it was though that it might have helped straighten the slug in the caseneck? I've seen it improve ignition stats (ES and SD) but not always accuracy.

If you have a good load try crimping as it may make it better. If it doesn't, or it makes it worse then there obviously isn't any reason to do it. Just another thing to try.

................Buckshot

Maven
01-16-2006, 10:48 AM
Blackwater, Re your question about seating CB's without expanding case necks first. It can be done some of the time if you use Lee collet dies (neck size only). I.e., I have 3 sets of them, but only the .30-06 set allows me to reliably do so. Needless to say, it's a great time saver.

Blackwater
01-17-2006, 01:42 AM
Hmmmm. Interesting. Seems I'm the only one to post that polishes the case mouths after chamferring and deburring. It worked, but I got my .31 cal. M die today, so won't have to do that any more, plus the Lee Univ. beller.

If any of y'all are experimentally minded and in the mood, give the case mouth polishing a try next chance you get and let me know if you can feel a difference in how your bullets seat ... especially the J-bullets. I PROMISE to keep mum about the j-bullet use. ;-)

If I can just get the gun projects I'm working on finished, and I'm close, I'll get to really wring out the Ruskie and the Brit, and maybe the '03 too. Can't wait!

Harpman
01-18-2006, 12:25 AM
every so many firings, I put the shell holder in my lathe, turn on and size it, then chamfer it in and out, then stick a bore brush in to smoothe it out and clean, then steel wool outside, in between this process I just use the tumbler to clean. bullets always go in , no problems. except for the 444 marlin, that one I flare the neck.