No, I mean if it doesn't feed and I hand eject a live round. The lead right up near the case mouth is chewed up, sometimes leading to difficult extraction.
No, I mean if it doesn't feed and I hand eject a live round. The lead right up near the case mouth is chewed up, sometimes leading to difficult extraction.
Is it possible that some of your cases are long enough that you are scraping lead from the bullet as you seat and crimp in one step ?
And I am not sure how rounds that pass the barrel plunk test can keep the guns from going into battery in two different pistols / calibers .
If empty resized cases plunk and the slide will go into battery with them in the chamber then I would say the problem has to be the combined bullet case dia. , or OAL , or ogive shape , or crimp so light it does not remove flare , or so heavy it is scraping a ring of lead at the case mouth when seating and crimping in same step on some cases.
Case length/ thickness is more of an issue when seating and crimping in the same step with bullets with no crimp groove . Separate crimp dies for auto pistols simplify life
I can't think of anything else , but 2 different cartridge/bullet/gun combinations with the same problem it is probably something simple in your process
My Lee .356-102RN are a 1R bullet.
That's what I'm thinking and I bet I'm crimping too light, I'm doing just enough to remove the bell..maybe I'm not removing the entire bell? I'm going to try more crimp, slowly, lol.
Sounds like a plan.
I would rather buy a dedicated crimp die such as a Lee or better still the Redding profile crimp die in taper style than a second seater die.
If the same seater die adjusted differently is the ticket I would run your original seater twice for a while before going and pulling the “trigger” (wallet) on number two.
Three44s
Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207
“There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”
If the rounds plunk and drop out, the problem probably is elsewhere. The 1R Lee molds have been reported to pose problems in this area mainly because the fat profile. The 45 ACP RN 1R needs to be seated way deeper than a 2R to chamber cleanly. If there are marks on the bullet after feeding and extracting, the bullet is obviously hitting the end of the chamber/rifling...
My Anchor is holding fast!
Correct, I just can't figure out why since they don't on seating, perhaps I'm just not putting enough thumb pressure on them. But I don't want to chase ten options at once, first I'll reset everything and pick one cal/bullet/gun and work with the crimp. What do you guys think of the RCBS 356637 147grn 9mm mold? I've got a Hellcat, given the short 3" bbl, I'm thinking a 147grn 9mm may be just the ticket?
As always, it depends on what your firearm likes. I have a Hi-Power that won't shoot accurately with any bullets except in the 124-125 gr range. My friend's won't shoot worth SH with those bullets, but it loves the 147 grainers. Its always worth a try.
Update, 45acp is shooting outstanding with 230grn lee swc seated right at the edge of the taper with just enough "crimp" to take out my flair. And the 9mm LOVES 120grn (124 from my alloy) seated the same way. Both are 100% functional and hitting solidly to POA/POI. My 380s, I ditched the Kahr, it hung up on everything and just wasn't trustworthy as a carry gun, ended up with a Ruger LCP2 instead. LCP2, P3AT and Smith 380EZ are eating both the RN and the Round nose flat point bullets. 1911-380 is still giving me some issues but I'm closing in on it's sweet spot. The RN (which is the 1r that seems to give everyone issues) needs to be seated so deep that it jumps out of the mag in the 1911. However the 95grn Flat Tip RN Tumble Lube design feeds in everything and hits about 99grns with my allow. My only issue is that it's not locking the slide on the 1911. I'm betting 100grn jacketed load data isn't giving me the same pressure as 99grn cast and I need to go up just a couple tenths of a grain..if I can get slide lock back..I'm set on everything. Special thanks to Dusty Bannister for sending me some bullet profiles to try and pushing me in the correct direction. I did get the 120 grain TC bullets that the 9mm likes to shoot from all the 380s. However it casts at 124grns from my allow and Hodgdon was not too happy with my load data. Though it shot well and I got no pressure signs, they felt it was highly unsafe so I'll stay clear...no matter how much I really really want to shoot 124grn bullets in my 380.
Sounds good. Do they they make a pound or two lighter recoil spring for the Colt? If everything else is working might be worth a try.
It's a browning, and I'm not sure. But even Hodgdon said my load was a bit on the light side for a 100grn cast. And I'm really close, they suggested I could go up half a grain and be safe..and I don't think it'll take half a grain. On the good side, I've been working on one gun at a time and then taking them all to the range to make sure previous success wasn't just a lucky day. Today I took the 45acp, 9mm, and all 4 380s to the range and at 7 yards you could cover a full mag from each with your fist. Not target shooting, but I feel like all this work really got me some needed practice. I had the failure to lock back on the 1911-380 and other than that 100% success.
Good job staying with it. Enjoy your success.
Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.
Sounds like a tight chamber throat. I've dealt with this many times in many calibers. Your options are, find a different mold, or seat your bullet deeper. If you are seeing marks on the bullet itself, it's not a crimping issue. The cast bullet is .001-.003 larger than the jacketed, and is getting squeezed tight going into the chamber. .380's are nearly as bad as 9MM's when it comes to variances. There are so many models spanning dozens of countries and 100 years.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |