Bulge buster: before or after loading?

[JeepHammer]

I ALWAYS check loaded rounds in a cartridge gauge (don't ask me why) and so there's no point in bulge busting for me until after I've loaded up and gauged my rounds. Any loaded rounds that don't cleanly plunk get bulge busted.

If it works for you best, then that's the way for you to do it.

I take bulge, 'Smile', bloating out as a prophylactic measure.
Going through the dies doesn't hurt non-bulged cases while automatically removing the bulge from ones that have bulge.

*IF* I had to do every case by hand, I'd reconsider... Depending on volume the time consumption might be way too much...

Every loaded round I produce is gauged. Period.
If it fits a SAAMI gauge, it fits the chamber, no questions asked.
If there is a failure to feed, it's NOT the ammo that way,and for those of us that sometimes race the clock, that's a HUGE deal...

Boolseye just curious about your 45s I have not run across 45s that are budged , my chambering problems 45 acp range brass comes from short cases that do not get enough crimp to fully remove the bell ,(I am not going to trim them all the same length) which is the primary reason I use the FCD I can set it so they all work in all my guns my WW white box loads

With .45 ACP it's usually someone that got WAY too aggressive with a Dremel tool on the feed ramp to get 'Smiles' or bulges in cases.

I've made that mistake myself in my younger years...

As for crimping, have you tried reducing the size of the case body expander?
Reducing the mouth flair/bell a little so more of the non-flaired case can grip the bullet?
This allows the case to get more tension/grip on the bullet and often reduces or eliminates the need for crimp.

The taper 'Crimp' *Should* leave a nice, square edge on the mouth of the brass so it headspaces correctly in the chamber.

Since you aren't overworking the brass, it often lives much longer...

[Outpost75]

I'd be wary of a case that my normal size die wouldn't size to spec. A case with a large bulge wouldn't be a candidate for a top notch handload. Over the summer, I picked up from the ground, a five gallon bucket of 45 cal and 9mm brass at no cost. Why bother with brass that may not even be safe to load?

^^^THIS^^^

Localized work-hardening caused by ironing out these bulges in oversized chambers which don't adequately support the case head, is likely to induce incipient cracks and is setting you up for a KABOOM!

When the fired brass looks 3-months pregnant something is WRONG!

[onelight]

As for crimping, have you tried reducing the size of the case body expander?
Reducing the mouth flair/bell a little so more of the non-flaired case can grip the bullet?
This allows the case to get more tension/grip on the bullet and often reduces or eliminates the need for crimp.

The taper 'Crimp' *Should* leave a nice, square edge on the mouth of the brass so it headspaces correctly in the chamber.

Since you aren't overworking the brass, it often lives much longer...

My bullets are a tight fit but I am sure I bell some cases more than I would back in the day when I sorted by length so the the bullet will start in the short ones if I have the factory crimp die adjusted correctly even with random mixed cases all chamber and have plenty of case mouth to headspace 0 misfires 0 leading in 9 , 40 , 45 & the occasional batch of 380 . The bullseye guys would probably cringe at my process ,, but I have a good time . I set my OAL with the barrel with the tightest throat and work up the powder charge and use the load shoot in all my guns in that caliber. They will all shoot 5 in 1 hole at 7 yards except for some of the small da only pocket guns when I do my part.
If I was loading for hunting or competition I would take more steps to get a better load for a specific gun at much longer range.
I use mainly Hi-Tec coated bullets or my cast. I use .356 , .401 & .452 I no longer have any Glocks but have other guns with the same type rifling .

[JeepHammer]

Localized work-hardening caused by ironing out these bulges in oversized chambers which don't adequately support the case head, is likely to induce incipient cracks and is setting you up for a KABOOM!

When the fired brass looks 3-months pregnant something is WRONG!

Overworking the case mouth to failure point is much more common than pushing a bulge back causes failures, if at all.
It's MUCH more common to crush the mouth down, over flair/bell, the over crush again with excessive crimp.

My bullets are a tight fit but I am sure I bell some cases more than I would back in the day when I sorted by length so the the bullet will start in the short ones if I have the factory crimp die adjusted correctly even with random mixed cases all chamber and have plenty of case mouth to headspace 0 misfires 0 leading in 9 , 40 , 45 & the occasional batch of 380 . The bullseye guys would probably cringe at my process ,, but I have a good time . I set my OAL with the barrel with the tightest throat and work up the powder charge and use the load shoot in all my guns in that caliber. They will all shoot 5 in 1 hole at 7 yards except for some of the small da only pocket guns when I do my part.
If I was loading for hunting or competition I would take more steps to get a better load for a specific gun at much longer range.
I use mainly Hi-Tec coated bullets or my cast. I use .356 , .401 & .452 I no longer have any Glocks but have other guns with the same type rifling .

I hear you!
It's what works for YOU.

I was simply making some common suggestions.
If you have already tried and it didn't work, then crimp is the way to go.
Short/light bullets don't have a lot in the case to begin with, so a smaller case doesn't have nearly the same effect as say with longer rifle necks/bullets.

[Outpost75]

[QUOTE=JeepH[/QUOTE]


But mouth splits DON'T blow up the gun OR injure the shooter!

https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2018/...lown-out-case/

[JeepHammer]

But mouth splits DON'T blow up the gun OR injure the shooter!

https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2018/...lown-out-case/

Didn't see where a bulged case caused the failure.
It did specifically say the guy loaded well beyond published limits and was trying to see what it took to blow out a case...
I guess he found out.

If I were shooting well into +P or beyond, I believe I wouldn't be using many times reloaded random brass anyway, just a disaster waiting to happen.
Can't call it an accident, since the guy loaded well beyond published tables intentionally...

[David2011]

^^^THIS^^^

Localized work-hardening caused by ironing out these bulges in oversized chambers which don't adequately support the case head, is likely to induce incipient cracks and is setting you up for a KABOOM!

When the fired brass looks 3-months pregnant something is WRONG!

As mentioned previously, I full length size range .40 S&W brass with a push-through Magma Case Master Jr. I used to shoot a lot, up to 50K rounds/year and hope to shoot much more again with my relocation to the Houston area. Haven't seen too much that looked 3 months pregnant but think I would toss it. I've shot a LOT of range brass after resizing. All .40 S&W brass cracks lengthwise eventually but every crack I've seen, even from Glock bulges, is lengthwise on the brass and that is a non-event. Absolutely nothing bad happens. One guy I know claims to load it once mode after cracking. I didn't pursue the comment to determine if he was serious but he may have been nor how he kept up with how many times he allegedly reloaded cracked brass.

The amount of .40 brass I've seen split at the mouth is tiny- counted on one hand.

Point is, I have personally never seen a circumferential crack or blowout on any pistol brass. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen; just my personal experience. I have never seen ANY problem with .45 ACP brass. I bought a big lot of once fired .45 ACP many years ago but the batch I've actively used shows no signs of wearing out other than the headstamps getting hard to read. Almost all of the .45 ACP I shoot is powder puff loads.

[David2011]

With .45 ACP it's usually someone that got WAY too aggressive with a Dremel tool on the feed ramp to get 'Smiles' or bulges in cases.

Thanks. I've been curious about the source of bulged .45 ACP. Even Glock doesn't seem to be a problem with .45s. I just break the sharp corner of the ramp/chamber and polish it glass smooth with a very tiny radius.

[JeepHammer]

Thanks. I've been curious about the source of bulged .45 ACP. Even Glock doesn't seem to be a problem with .45s. I just break the sharp corner of the ramp/chamber and polish it glass smooth with a very tiny radius.

Polish and remove material are two entirely different things.
I had to learn that the hard way in my younger days...
Being a 1911 fan, but being broke I had to do my own work, and I made mistakes.

'Breaking The Ridge' or 'Lip' doesn't mean seeing how much you can take off/radius down.
'Relieving' the chamber doesn't mean making it a funnel shaped oval.
At 18 I knew just enough to be dangerous...

-------------

The only pistol brass I've ever seen blown out was someone WAY over maximum charge loads.
Those times it wasn't me for a change!

[Boolseye]

Boolseye just curious about your 45s I have not run across 45s that are budged , my chambering problems 45 acp range brass comes from short cases that do not get enough crimp to fully remove the bell ,(I am not going to trim them all the same length) which is the primary reason I use the FCD I can set it so they all work in all my guns my WW white box loads

It hadn't ever happened before, but I did get a few cases that were sticking near the case head, and running them through the buster (as loaded rounds) allowed me to chamber them. In general practice I don't bother with the BB for my .45 rounds. As you say, it's generally not enough crimp that causes problems...or the occasional bulge from boolit seating. Some people seem to think that loading practices should be perfect and every chamber should always run your rounds without a hitch, but that is just not reality as I know it.

[onelight]

It hadn't ever happened before, but I did get a few cases that were sticking near the case head, and running them through the buster (as loaded rounds) allowed me to chamber them. In general practice I don't bother with the BB for my .45 rounds. As you say, it's generally not enough crimp that causes problems...or the occasional bulge from boolit seating. Some people seem to think that loading practices should be perfect and every chamber should always run your rounds without a hitch, but that is just not reality as I know it.

It's nice to have some options that make for a simple fix.