Another reason to powder coat

[mongoose33]

The reason an expander is used is to open up and bell a tapered wall case so it will accept a bullet without shaving or deforming the bullet. The idea to overexpand a case did not make any sense to me in the first place, unless Dillon, RCBS, Hornady, etc. etc. are all wrong when they make their expanders. Additionally, I have yet to have anyone show me proof that firing a greatly oversized bullet provides any benefit, because once a bullet fills the grooves the gases are sealed, after that your are only creating more pressure as the gasses try to push this plug out of the barrel.

Some powders are definitely dirtier than others and some will smoke worse than others and will smoke even shooting a jacketed bullet, but with lubed bullets I still think you are seeing the hot gases burning lube, it's the only explanation that makes sense.

Well, it's a theory and I'm trying to test it. First test failed to confirm the theory. There's some logic to it, though I discovered one issue with it--boolit setback due to insufficient neck tension that occurs when a round is chambered.

It's clear it's the lube burning--the question is why, and when others like Gloob insist they shoot lubed boolits w/o smoke, well, either he's trolling and trying to get me to spend money and time to no end, or there's something here I might be able to learn.

I have a few other variations to try--can't do it this weekend as I'm otherwise engaged--but the first test was shockingly ineffective. I'll keep moving forward on it; at least I can still PC boolits to eliminate lube smoke.

[Dragonheart]

Another real world problem is the OAL of cases. I have found that a 45 ACP case that is or close to .895" and a 9 mm case at .750" to produce the most accurate groups. So ideally we would all be loading cases that are the same exact length, but we know that is just doesn't happen. Most don't even separate their brass by headstamp and even if they did the OAL still varies considerably.

For example, when you adjust your dies for a 45 ACP, do you adjust off a .0895 case or whatever case happened to come down the pipe? When the case is belled the bell will vary with the case length, as well as the seating depth and the amount of crimp. Since the 45 case was designed to headspace off the mouth of the case you can see a shorter case is now headspacing off the extractor.

My point of all of this is I can see no benefit of a larger expander unless the first step is a case of proper length to headspace properly, but even then I still think lube is going to smoke, because some hot gases are going to reach the lube when the case expands to fit the chamber walls.

[fcvan]

I have not gotten so retentive with regard to pistol cases as I do rifle, but I do know that case length and seating depth sure makes a huge difference in accuracy. Back in the late 80s, Dean Grennel did a write up on accurizing his 1911 45 ACP loads by approaching the cartridge like a bench rest shooter. He trimmed to fit the chamber, turned the brass to fit the chamber, and generally tailored the load for the gun. As one would expect, his groups tightened. It turned into a project that resulted in the .45 Super, but was still a great lesson in approaching the best accuracy one can achieve. As such, I tend to have some brass dedicated to such minutiae, but the rest is just can rolling plinker ammo. If all calibers are approached with a 'bench rest' mentality, accuracy can be improved. I strive for accuracy good enough to qualify on a B27 at 100 yards, so qualifying at shorter ranges is a snap.