Need help with expander dies

[Gundogblue]

Hi all,
I’m loading .44 specials for my 1894 Marlin, I’m casting with an NOE mould, and sizing my boolits to .433, and tumble lubing the boolits. I have both a .44 Lyman M die, and a set of RCBS cowboy dies in .44 special. I’m following the instruction for the dies, just flaring the cases enough to start the boolits. But after I seat and crimp the boolit, I can still see a slight bulge in the case where the boolit sit in it, you can’t really feel it, but you can see it. So my question is what am I doing wrong. Is there something I should be doing that’s not in the instructions? Any help on this will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul

[sparky45]

Do they chamber without any resistance? I load for a 44/40 and powdercoat with a finish diameter of .430 after sizing.

[waco]

Do the rounds chamber? If so you are probably fine. Being able to slightly see the base of the boolit in the case just shows you have good neck tension.

[Gundogblue]

Yeah they chamber OK, I just fired 100 rnds earlier today, and I had about three that were a little hard clambering. Just as a side note 100 rnds and no leading;)

[Wayne Smith]

Sounds to me like you need to look closely at your seat die and how you handled those few differently than you did the rest. You have proof that a) you die is not sizing down the boolits, b) you have adequate neck tension, and c) your process works for most of your ammo. What was different about the few that chambered hard?

I would guess something was crooked in the seat die.

[mdi]

Well, if you're stuffing a bullet into a tight brass tube, either the bullet will be made smaller or the tube will be made larger. I'd do one or two things; pull a bullet to make sure they are not being swaged and if they chamber shoot 'em. I have the same "problem" but ignore the "bump"...

The slightly harder to chambers may be cases with thicker walls or an occasional larger bullet...

[str8wal]

The "hourglass effect" is common in straightwall cartridges. Depending on the relationship of the sizer to the size of the bullet it can be more or less noticeable. As long as they chamber you should be good to go. One thing is certain, you have good neck tension.

[krems]

GDB,
I fought the same thing with my Marlin 1894. I’m loading 44 mag instead of 44spl. I needed .432” bullets in my Marlin. I solved the bulged bullet problem by not full length resizing of the brass- only sized the brass partially since most Marlins have OS chambers anyway. I made a custom expander die (Lyman M type) for .432” bullets that went deeper into the case, and made a custom fitted seating stem for the cast bullet that helped seat the bullet with better alignment into the case. Problem solved. Find a friend with a lathe and bring over a six pack. I hate reloads that look like reloads.