loading .380, bulges the thin wall brass when belling

[bigjake]

Ok, im trying to load some 380's, when I bell the case to accept the boolit, it bulges out the case below the bell.

Is there something you all do to remedy this?

[BK7saum]

Not exactly sure what your talking about. Are you using an expander or stepped expander or just a belling die?

Typically sizer excessively size the brass too small. The expander with a cylindrical section is larger than the internal diameter of rhe case. It is normal for the case to have a bulged section. If you had a sizer that was a better fit for your fired brass, there would not be a bulge, the entire case would be a little bigger.

[bigjake]

BK7, I know what you are saying. Its not that, the expander/belling die actually bulges the case before I put the bullet in. Its like the 380 case is to thin/weak to handle the force of the die.

[Larry Gibson]

If the inside diameter of the "bulge" in the case is .002 + less than the bullet diameter then it should pose no problem. If such is the case it simply indicates the sizer is over sizing the cases. With the bullet seated you'll end up with what is referred to as the "coke bottle effect". It's sometimes preferred as it is tantamount to putting a canalure under the bullet to prevent bullet setback when the bullet hits the feed ramp.

Larry Gibson

[bigjake]

BK7 and Larry, both of you guys are correct. My bad. I dis-assembled the expander and saw that the expander goes in quite aways before the case mouth even touches the belling section of the die. all along I thought that rounded end of the expander was what did the flaring.

[Outpost75]

You have the wrong expander plug. I don't know whose dies you are using, but in my .380 dies the tapered expander plug extends only 1/4" beyond the surface used to bell the case mouth. If yours is longer, they gave you the WRONG one!

[bigjake]

The dies are RCBS, the expanding plug is the same size as the 9mm's only its 1-2 thou smaller in dia.

[handyman25]

The expanding plug is for j bullets, the ones that have the copper on the outside. RCBS makes cowboy expander plugs that work great for lead bullets. I have them for 38 special and 45 long colt. I also use the Lyman M die for other calibers, you need the short body and the proper size expander plug. If my memory is correct their is a list on this site so you can figure out what you need. RCBS will special order make what you need but it is not cheap. I think I read that lathesmith will make them also at a fair price

[missionary5155]

Good morning
NOE Bullet Moulds makes a whole line of expanders designed for us cast boolit reloaders. They are screw on inserts that work on the LEE universal case expander. So just do a search for NOE molds. On the left side of the site is a menu. Scroll down 2/3 to Expander Plugs Pistol and there sit those fine little lead loaders expanders.
Mike in Peru