38 Super Die Setup?

[NickB1075]

Hi all, My name is Nick and this is my first post on this forum. Well now down to my question.

I own a Kimber Stainless Target II in 38 Super. I have have been reloading rifle rounds for a few years now but new to pistol. I am haveing a difficult time setting the sizing die properly. I purchased a set of Redding Titanium Carbide dies because i had good luck with them for my 357mag. My problem is that when I size the case they have a large bulge at the bottom of the case near the web.

The die instructions say that these dies are not designed to full lenght resize, and to adjust the die so that only the expanded part of the case is resized. I understand this part but even with my decapping pin adjusted to the lowest position it does not remove the primer. Then I have to screw the die in more and the bulge starts to appear again.

Has anybody had this problem? What am i doing wrong with set up? How much of the case actually is supposed to get resized?

Thanks
Nick

[FLHTC]

Screw the sizer die down to the shell holder with the ram up all the way and then back your sizer die off one turn. Lock it down and then adjust your decaping rod. I have loaded 38 Super with 9mm Luger dies already so there is much to be said about following instructions to the letter.

[wv109323]

Redding does make some dies that are two step resizing. The idea is not to overwork the base of the straight wall pistol cases each time the case is resized. I would visit the Redding web site to see what I had.
I think that type of die would not be suitable for a semi-auto. You may need to get a "regular" resizing die.

[KYCaster]

Was this brass fired in your Kimber?

If not, do you know the history of it? Could it have been fired in a competition gun with "major" loads. Some of those guys load to extremely high pressures and discard their brass after a few loads because of the condition you found.

Jerry

[casterofboolits]

Is the barrel ofyour kimber a fully supported barrel?

I've been reloading for the 38 Super since the early 70s and what you describe is what I experienced using a too fast powder and an unsupported Colt barrel. I was having to resize my cases with a steel sizing die before putting them thru my carbide size die.

I would advise a slower powder like BlueDot or Accurate #7. This got rid of the over expanded cases for me.

I ended up using a supported barrel and a 158 grain SWCBB over BlueDot to make IPSC major without any further bulged cases.

[casterofboolits]

Is the barrel of your kimber a fully supported barrel?

I've been reloading for the 38 Super since the early 70s and what you describe is what I experienced using a too fast powder and an unsupported Colt barrel. I was having to resize my cases with a steel sizing die before putting them thru my carbide size die.

I would advise a slower powder like BlueDot or Accurate #7. This got rid of the over expanded cases for me.

I ended up using a supported barrel and a 158 grain SWCBB over BlueDot to make IPSC major without any further bulged cases.

[NickB1075]

The brass was factory loaded winchester silvertips, and they were fired in my Kimber. I am not positive about the barrel being fully supported or not. How would I tell?

I did contact redding and they said that they are the correct dies for my brass. They said that this is a normal event with the single carbide sizeing dies. They sell a double carbide ring die to solve the issue. They imformed me that if I only size half of the case it should be sufficient. I did some dummy rounds this way and there is still a slight bulge but they feed, chamber and cycle from the magazine fine.

I did inspect a fired case and a factory loaded cartridge and they both measured the same in the area where the bulge is appearing.

[NickB1075]

I didn't even know that a 158 SWC was suggested for the 38 super. This is something i will be looking into. How fast were you pushing the 158s?

[LUBEDUDE]

The brass was factory loaded winchester silvertips, and they were fired in my Kimber. I am not positive about the barrel being fully supported or not. How would I tell?


A fully supported chamber is not really 100% "fully supported. Think of a chamber checker gauge - how your bullet should fit completely flush. Well if you take your barrel out and set a bullet in it, it is flush, except at the bottom, due to the feed ramp. You just can not get the bottom of the rim 100% flush due to the ramp. Well, for example, Colt an Glocks don't even try to get it close. Thus, when a hot load is used, you get a bulge at that particular spot.

Now Kimbers and a lot of the custom barrels do a much better job at getting the bottom portion tucked in closer, and those are called supported barrels. They usually don't bulge the casings, but CAN if super hot.

[NickB1075]

Lubedude, thank you for that explination! I will have to check but i do remember not having much casing exposed except in the feed ramp area.

[khmer6]

Screw it all the way down to the shell holder is what I do. Also if I shoot extremely hot loads with 38 super comp brass it doesnt buldge at all. Ig I try to use regular super +p it will look lopsided buldged