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Thread: 380 brass oversized or worn out?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    DerekP Houston's Avatar
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    380 brass oversized or worn out?

    OK this 380 is giving me a devil of a time now. I processed and shot ~50 rounds of golddot/xtp combinations to find a good load. Got back to the house with the same brass, decapped, sent it though the SS pins, and then dried it in the oven. This time around loading (with the same dies/setup as before) there is no tension on the bullets. I reset the crimp die, but it's like the brass isn't getting sized down enough to provide proper tension on the bullets.

    I noticed it felt different went seating the rounds, so I took one and pressed the nose against my desk and it sank in deeper....not going to chance firing them. I switched to fresh brass and its back to normal tension and I can't push the round deeper, loaded with same dies/same setup.

    Any ideas? Did I ruin the cases by using the oven to dry them? I seated a cast bullet round and it seemed much more 'snug' but it is .001-.002 larger than the factory JHP I bought for these rounds.
    My feedback page if you feel inclined to add:
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  2. #2
    Boolit Mold
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    Did you check your OAL?

    Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
    DerekP Houston's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by edonwheels73 View Post
    Did you check your OAL?

    Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
    original OAL was set right on the guidelines of the load manual, don't recall off the top of my head but around a thumbnail of the round showing before it tapers. It has to be something with the brass, as I pulled a few of the questionable rounds and was able to seat the bullet with no movement in fresh brass. Just not sure how I damaged the brass in the first place, I'm considering just dumping the whole batch in my scrap bucket and starting fresh.
    My feedback page if you feel inclined to add:
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  4. #4
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    lefty o's Avatar
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    how hot, and how long in the oven?

  5. #5
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    Any time there is a fit situation, measure. Measure the sized case and compare it to a known good case or loaded round. That will give you a lot of information for troubleshooting. Try sizing post drying and/or air drying...
    My Anchor is holding fast!

  6. #6
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    Rattlesnake Charlie's Avatar
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    Did you by chance fail to size the cases? Your OP said you decapped, which may be via a universal decapper, not the one in your sizing die.

    I dry brass in the oven at 230 without a problem. I did a batch at 250, and the only ill effect was the brass turned a shade darker. No problem with bullet and case tension.

  7. #7
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    I would guess drying em may have done it. I have 380 brass that has been loaded several times with no problem. They eventually crack or I loose them.
    "In God we trust, in all others, check the manual!"

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    On another forum started by some ex-castboolit members there is a thread about using the stainless steel pin media. Some of them are claiming it wears the flash holes larger and also the primer pockets. I don't know as I don't use it. You might take some cases that haven't been in that type of media, mic the case mouth thickness, then mic them after you cleaned them in that media. Could be if left a long time in it that it could wear the brass down.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Charlie View Post
    Did you by chance fail to size the cases? Your OP said you decapped, which may be via a universal decapper, not the one in your sizing die.

    I dry brass in the oven at 230 without a problem. I did a batch at 250, and the only ill effect was the brass turned a shade darker. No problem with bullet and case tension.
    Nope, ran em back through the 380 sizing die cause I thought of that too. Maybe I just left them in the oven too long, was only a small batch so I think I'll nix that and try again with new brass.
    My feedback page if you feel inclined to add:
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    Thanks Yall!

  10. #10
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    How hot and how long in the oven? I can't imagine them getting annealed unless it was really hot (450-500 degrees/broil) and/or left overnight.

    How long have you had the dies? What brand dies? What brand brass? Just wondering if your dies were new, then maybe they are out of spec and have a 9mm carbide ring instead of the smaller .380 carbide ring (if carbide dies).

    Just trying to eliminate variables.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by BK7saum View Post
    How hot and how long in the oven? I can't imagine them getting annealed unless it was really hot (450-500 degrees/broil) and/or left overnight.

    How long have you had the dies? What brand dies? What brand brass? Just wondering if your dies were new, then maybe they are out of spec and have a 9mm carbide ring instead of the smaller .380 carbide ring (if carbide dies).

    Just trying to eliminate variables.
    300f for maybe 30 minutes?

    380 lee 3 die kit, brass is assorted range scrap. They have been working fine with all other brass and bullet combos, I'm going to chalk this up to user error on the drying portion and go back to towel drying. I've been using the same dies and cast bullets for a year now just recently started loading jacketed rounds and trying to fine tune my SD rounds.
    My feedback page if you feel inclined to add:
    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...raight-Shooter

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  12. #12
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    Just load cast boolits and shoot. That will work harden them.

  13. #13
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    I have an old toaster oven that I'm using. Set temp to 175* and timer to 30 min. Timer expires I just leave them in until they are cool enough to pick up. So far I haven't had a problem.

    Do you know what brand these are? It just might be the brass itself. I do all my priming on the press and I head stamp sort all my brass before I start anything. I do know and can feel that some brass is different than others by the way and pressure it takes to seat the primers. I also use very little flare and can feel a difference when seating bullets into different brass.

    Long ago I had a small amount of 9mm brass that I was having all kinds of trouble with. After reloading it that one time and then shooting it, it all went into the trash as I just didn't want to fight it again. Today when I reload all that brand gets thrown into the Misc. pan and when I know I'm going to one particular outdoor range I'll load that stuff all up because I know I'm going to lose all if it.

  14. #14
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    it's all random once fired brass I purchased. The odd thing that threw me off, I had literally just shot these off on saturday with the same bullet/load combo. Not a single one was too loose when seating the bullet, and I pressed them all against my desk to see if I could budge the rounds. Took the same brass home, deprimed, cleaned, dried, and now they feel 'oversized' or like a rifle round with no neck tension.

    I checked the other rounds I had loaded during the same batch and no issues, so far its just the rounds I shot off and then took back home for reloading ~50 cases.
    My feedback page if you feel inclined to add:
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    Thanks Yall!

  15. #15
    Boolit Master kmw1954's Avatar
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    Sounds to me the only variable could be the heat used in the drying process. Maybe a one time thing that never happens again and you will never know what happened.

  16. #16
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    no need for 300, probably didnt do much but not needed. keep it under 200.

  17. #17
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  18. #18
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    M-Tecs is right, that's not hot enough. BTW what brand is the brass? I know Remington is guilty of making thin brass. Got a lot of it in 32acp and 45acp. Haven't had trouble with it in 38/357.

  19. #19
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    700 is recommended for annealing brass, 300 should be no problem whatsoever. Someething else is the problem.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    My guess is quality of the brass itself. If not that, could you by mistake had used a Makarov expander die?The only really weird reason might be the pistol's blow back action moving the slide back too soon due to a too weak spring--like the spring becoming weaker overnight. and causing greater case expansion.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check