bullet not centered in case

[Marlin Hunter]

You didn't mention what brand of dies you use. I see a Lee press turret block, and Lee crimp die, but the micrometer seat die doesn't look like a Lee die. I have noticed that my Hornady neck expander die will sometimes put an off-center bulge in a straight case if the case is not centered on the shell plate. Check the brass case right before you install the boolit.

[243winxb]

jbunny, Custom steel dies could be made to match your handgun brass, they do it for rifles, why not handgun brass. Contact Redding and others by email. They will give you a price. Standard dies must work with all different brands of brass no matter what the case/neck wall thickness. They size the brass down way to much, then the expander has to open it to the correct inside diameter. Bushing dies are made for rifles to solve brass wall thickness problems, not pistol, maybe in the future??

[dbldblu]

I second everything Doc Highwall said. When I seat boolits, I want the case neck ID to be .001 less than the boolit diameter. Most die sets will leave you with .004 to .006 smaller case neck ID. What you get then is your boolits get sized down by the case and, also, you get excessive runout (rifle) or a lopsided appearance (handgun). I make my own size buttons for the M die. If you buy a "30L" M die from Lyman, the button will probably be .307". This is fine for .308 boolits. If you want to use .310" boolits, you need a .309" button, IMO.

[prs]

You could try sizing (not post sizing) with a Lee Factory Crimp Die. It would be at about max of tolerance -- IF small enough to work.

prs

[jbunny]

prs; i just checked that and it might work and that u got me thinking, 9mm.
i use lee 38 dies for my 9mm largo and my 357 max brass is loose in the lee 38
sizer die. i don't have any fired 357 max brass to try but will have soon. i opened
up the lyman 357 carbide sizer die this afternoon 2.5 thou with a diamond file. i just held the file in my hand and had the die spinning at 1200rpm in my lathe. the oval
file i had was real course and a minuite and a half was lots. i spent 1/2 hr polishing
and did,nt get it nowhere near mirror finnish. i think the right amount of sizeing
would be better the to much and then have to expand it back out. that is what the bullet is doing expanding the brass. i would be interested in hearing from someone
with a 357 mag or max with the m die if it expands evenly. thanks for all the replys.
jb