Out of ideas, got any?

[parrott1969]

I have tried everything I know of to get my ruger P95 to shoot cast. It just will not do it. Tried alox coating and dipping, no dice 125 grain rn bullet size .358 over 5.3-5.5 grains of unique bhn should have been around 20-22 ( water droped WW). Switched to 124 grain commerical cast .357 truncated cone BHN of 15 over 4 thru 4.7 grains of unique, no dice. I think the bullets are stripping, when i look down the barrel I can see strips of lead hanging down. If you have any ideas, please share

[HeavyMetal]

Without knowing more any answer would be a WAG!

Let me ask some questions:

What die set are you using?

What is your expander plug size?

Are you taper crimping?

How do you know your boolits were 22 BHN?

Are you using clip on WW or stick on WW?

Are you using liquid Alox as your only boolit lube?

What head stamp is on your brass or are you using mixed case's?

The answers will provide clues for suggestions and, of course, other questions.

[Johnch]

Hate to say this , as I love Unique
But try a slower powder
And us the start load then work up
With a soft boolit , like 10-12 BH

Got to ask also
Has this pistol seen much jacketed ammo ?

If not , as a last resort , you might try fire laping the barrel

It did wonders for my Sig 226 9mm

John

[Sprue]

Change lube and or boolit style. Have you slugged your bbl for propper size? I'm not familiar with your load nor am I close to a manual.

If you are interested in some 115 grainers sized to .356 with felix lube, send 5 bucks to cover USPS Flat rate shipping and I'll send you a few to try.

There are those that have great sucess but my leading disappeared when I got away from alox, regarless of the corraled pistol/revolver caliber.

Here's what they are

[hyoder]

If you "can see strips of lead hanging down", your bullets must be undersized.
Have you slugged the bore? If so, are you sizing the boolits .001 or so over groove diameter?
Be careful not to over taper crimp or you can quickly swage the boolits down too much.

I have a Browning HiPower that has a .3585 groove dia.

[runfiverun]

back it down a notch.
check your brass, check how thick it is where the base of your boolit sits in the case.
use a real lube.
go through each thing one at a time.

[parrott1969]

The barrel slugged at .356. The 124 gr tc bullets I purchased from illonios bullet and he has the bhn on the box 15 and sized at .357, I do not know what type of lube he uses. tried the 125 gr rn lubed with alox and sized at .358. They were water quenched and I am guessing at the bhn. They were aged about 3 weeks. clip on WW. I use hornady die set with an adjustable expander. the bullets are taper crimped. The gun has seen about 500 rounds of fmj ammo. always thrjoughly cleaned before shooting cast.

[EMC45]

Pure WW sized to .358 Lee 120gr. TC over 3.5gr. Bullseye is my load.

[243winxb]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...72&postcount=1The bullet is being sized smaller during loading. Check your expander for the correct size diameter .354". If using a Factory Crimp Die, stop using it. If you are taper crimping, make sure your not over doing it. Do a test, pull the bullets of 3 loaded rounds and take there measurements. Are they smaller than .358" now?

[243winxb]

Just how does an Hornady "adjustable" expander die differ from a RCBS die. ? Here is a RCBS Expander, it also bells and decaps, and can be moved up and down inside the die. Would seem to be adjustablle also. Photo of one for a 357magnum.

[parrott1969]

I called it the wrong thing. Hornady uses a different system. There is no expander in the sizing die. It sizes and deprimes, the zip spindle head measures .220. The expander die is totally fixed I don't even think you can pull it apart for cleaning. The guts of it look to be pressed in. The only adjustment that you have is how much you screw the die into the press. Kind of like lees powder thru expander. If you compare it to your pic the expander looks like a top. I doesnt have the flat are that your pic has. Maybe someone else can explain it better.

[snuffy]

243winxb
Boolit Master

Undersized Bullet Diameter after Loading
The bullet is being sized smaller during loading. Check your expander for the correct size diameter .354". If using a Factory Crimp Die, stop using it. If you are taper crimping, make sure your not over doing it. Do a test, pull the bullets of 3 loaded rounds and take there measurements. Are they smaller that .358" now?

What's the factory crimp die have to do with anything? I'm tired of people saying the FCD "sizes" the boolit inside the case. ESPECIALLY for the 9mm, since it's a tapered case, the area of the case where the boolit is inside never gets touched!

So parrot, you tried one powder and 2 boolits with no success? If I EVER get success on the first or second try at cast boolit loading, I will think I died and went to heaven!

[Heavy lead]

What's the factory crimp die have to do with anything? I'm tired of people saying the FCD "sizes" the boolit inside the case. ESPECIALLY for the 9mm, since it's a tapered case, the area of the case where the boolit is inside never gets touched!

So parrot, you tried one powder and 2 boolits with no success? If I EVER get success on the first or second try at cast boolit loading, I will think I died and went to heaven!

Me too. I only have one FCD that did that, a 44 magnum, knocked the bottom sizer out and just use the crimper, best crimper on the market. 45 Colt since it's a tapered round just touches the base. 45 acp, wouldn't load without it, it crimps to perfection and DOES NOT size the boolits down, I checked, I panicked one day where I read a thread, loaded up 100 of them and had two ftf, got my head right, pulled a few boolits and realized I tried to fix a problem that wasn't there.

[243winxb]

What's the factory crimp die have to do with anything? I'm tired of people saying the FCD "sizes" the boolit inside the case. ESPECIALLY for the 9mm, since it's a tapered case, the area of the case where the boolit is inside never gets touched!

Even more a good reason not to use a FCD. The mouth of the case is .380" tapering to a Fatter .391" You would think as the case gets larger towards the head that there is more room for the bullet , but the case wall grow thicker the deeper you seat the bullet. The case on the bottom is the 9mm, see how the thickness of the wall change? The FCD is about the same as running a loaded round thru a Tungsten carbide sizing die. Take a oversize .358" cast bullet and a case wall thickness on the large size and the bullet gets swaged inside the case. Results, an undersized bullet leading the barrel.

I only have one FCD that did that,

Only takes one. [IMG][/IMG]

[HeavyMetal]

First the Lee FCD is not always at fault or even wrong. However it is the first place I will suggest someone look when leading exists and shouldn't.

The FCD die is supposed to return loaded rounds to a "preset" diameter so they will all feed all the time! If you boolit brass combo exceeds these "preset" diamensions yes your gonna get boolits that are sized in the case. This will make them undersized and then you get leading!

I have no expereince with Hornady dies. You are gonna have to find out how they come apart because you need to know the size of the expander plug.

9mm brass is very thick and will reduce the boolit diameter during seating if the expandr plug is to small. Most die sets are set up for Jacketed bullets and, as such. have expander plugs much smaller than needed for lead boolits.

If you want to shoot a .358 lead boolit you better have a 357 expander plug in the die set!

Other wise you sizing boolits when seating them. This does not mean you will have a ring of lead on the exposed case mout either so don't judge by that criteria!

The suggestion to pull 3 rounds was a d....good one! Do so and "mike" the pulled boolits. If it is the same size as when you seated it.... you need to look elsewheres for your leading problem.

If they are smaller then check expander plug size and if that is correct remove the taper crimp from your loading process. Then load three or four rounds let them sit a day or two and then pull them down and "Mike" the diameters.

15 BHN is a good number and shouldn't be a problem with the load your using. I think the issue is boolit fit and "case" sizing during seating or crimping operation!

[parrott1969]

Thank you guy's. Next batch I load I am going to use my lee powder thru expander for .357. Then I will readjust the taper crimp. then do as heavy metal said and pull the bullet and check size. Snuffy, I use unique for all my pistol loads and some of my rifle loads ( cast of course ). I like because it seems to be an all around powder. Also, at 96 dollars for eight pounds it's cheap and sooooooo am I!

[putteral]

My Ruger P95 loves the 105 gr SWC sized to .356 with 4.5grs of titegroup, also have good success with the Lee 124 TC TL with 5.8grs of AA #5 + It likes my Lyman 147gr FP with 4.8 grs of Power Pistol. Also sized to .356. I lube with LLA and get very minimal leading if any, maybe I'm just lucky. Never had much luck with Unique.

[anachronism]

The number one culprit for auto loaders seems to be the crimp die. Any crimp die can swage the bullet down in the case if not carefully adjusted. Remember, the taper crimp is only used to prevent the bullet being pushed into the case. It does precious little to prevent the bullet from going the other direction. Too tight of any crimp in a short case can result in your .358 bullet ending up .356 or smaller without your realizing it. This is why it was suggested earlier that you pull a few bullets & measure them after the crimping process.

[snuffy]

I only have one FCD that did that,
Only takes one. [IMG][/IMG]
__________________
For help with Lee Products follow link. http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/faq/index.cgi Lee Tech Assistant

243 wxb,so, in trying to convince others that the FCD is ALWAYS at fault, you show a bottle necked case? The bottle neck FCD is entirely different from the pistol FCD, there's no carbide ring in the BN FCD.

Also, the carbide insert in the FCD is NOT the same diameter that a sizer die insert is. Depending on the cartridge it's .002- .004 BIGGER than the sizer. The 9mm, because it is tapered, has more than just a ring, it is a full length carbide bushing in both the sizer and FCD.

Sizer dimentions top, .379, bottom, .390
FCD " " .388 " .392

By top and bottom I mean, as far up into the die that I can get the inside jaws of my FA digital caliper,(about ,445 deep). Bottom is about 1/8 inch into the bottom of each die.

2 9mm win cases with an unsized lee 125 TC-TL boolit @ .357 as cast seated, measures .380 across the spot where inside the bottom driving band is seated. SO HOW DOES A DIE THAT'S .388 AT IT'S SMALLEST DO ANYTHING TO A CASE THAT'S .380 AT ITS BIGGEST? Answer, it doesn't do a thing!

[parrott1969]

Interesting thing, I just pulled a boolit it measures .356 in some places and .357 in others. Is this a sign of too much crimp? check one out of the box and its .357.