Need help

[BSkerj]

I sized, primed and charged 350 .357 case last night. I am going to be using 148 grn Lees WC ( out of the 6x mold). The OAL is 1.435 . The trouble I am having is getting the load to crimp. I am using the Hornaday die set. When I crimp using the seating/crimp die it is really tight and the die won't release the case. The cases don't seemed to be belled to much. I have used this die on alot of the same reloads. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance !

[wiljen]

try seating and crimping in 2 different steps so first seat all without crimping, then back the stem out so it doesnt touch and crank the die down so it crimps and apply a light crimp and see if that cures it.

[Rick459]

is the die clean of lube and lead build-up.

[sagacious]

Sometimes that happens when using cast bullets in a seating/crimp die that seems to have been cut for jacketed bullets (smaller diam than cast bullets, so the die is tighter right before the crimp shoulder). The increase in diam of the loaded round can make the round tight when it enters the seating die.

Seating and crimping done as separate steps eliminates a number of potential frustrations. Since the tightness is caused by the area just in front of the crimp shoulder, die adjustment may not solve the tightness problem-- I hope that makes sense. If the die is just a little snug, then no big deal. Still, it's very often better to seat/crimp separately anyway.

A call to Hornady may help, as they may be able to adjust your seating die to better suit your cast bullet reloads. You can also buy a separate Hornady or LEE crimp die to go with your set-- the small expense is well worthwhile.

[BSkerj]

While cleaning the die, I replaced the retaining ring on the die. The old one was pretty worn out. It is working good now. I did just ordered the Lee crimping die after the recommendations here. Sounds like they are the ticket for cast bullets! I did not realize (or think about ) that cast bullets may be a little larger than J bullets! Thanks for the info !

[462]

BSkerj,
Load a dummy round, pull the boolit and measure it. A too tight seating die or crimp can size the fatter boolit down to jacketed size, which can be a source of leading.