Bulge at the bollom of 357 Brass

[mdi]

Yep a whole lot of answers (some kinda weird). Need more info though. Whenever a "fit" or "bulge" problem is encountered, measure! Any info from "about" "finger push", etc. "measurements" are just a WAG. What is the diameter, how far above the rim? Is the bulge consistent, round, the same every time?

[RCressler]

I've had a few customers run into this type of thing when using gas the casting business. It seems that the longer the case is, the more susceptible they are to bulging. One instance was on a .44 mag using a taper crimp die. Turns out that even a taper crimp can be too tightened where it grabs the crimp groove or cannelor before the ram completes it's cycle. Another one was a .357 Ruger GP100 with a .352 bore. The guy was experimenting with loads trying to figure out why it didn't shoot. NOT sure what made that one act up with a bulge, but I ended up with the gun and shoot custom sized 9mm bullets out of it. No problems and probably the most accurate handgun I own. Possibly a tight chamber as well and the smaller bullet diameter took care of the problems? I've not had issues with any brass out of it at all. What bullet diameter are you loading? Cast standard are .358, jackets usually standard at .357.

[RCressler]

Sorry for all the typos. But I forgot to add that someone's cast bullets run a visible bulge to the case, and it's possible to maybe have a little too much pressure there as well

[doctorggg]

Thank you Artful for this detailed info. I learned something that I hadn't known in 45 years of reloading. Of course I haven't had carbide dies that long. I wondered why a few of my 44 magnum cases wouldn't chamber all the way after being FLS. Now after seeing the diagram it's "words in pictures." Obviously some of my 44 mag revolvers have larger chambers. Thank you again for the valuable info.

The carbide die design has a ring of carbide that doesn't extend all the way down the case when the case is inserted.


As you force the case into the die it runs out of "donut" it can go thru
This may be more pronounced if you mix and match dies and shellholders.
- if you have the old fashion die it may iron out your bulge - and if not you can trim off some of the bottom of the old style steel die to get it further down the case.
another solution... (which I have not tried)

[Weaponologist]

Thanks All for the info. I went back and did some checking...Seems the Wilson 357 Brass Gage is bigger than the Wilson 357 Finished Case Gage. So it's possible these came with a Bulge and I never got them out do to the Carbide Die not going as low as needed to remove them. Being Once Fired so it was Advertised? and the fact it was on several different head stamps. and it's only happened with this sack of brass. I feel like many of you have said. It came this way. I'm going to make sure I'm sizing as much of the brass as possible and any to bad to get out on the first run I'll just trash. Hopefully I won't see this by the next reload. Thank you all for the help. I've learned a lot in the process..

[rockshooter]

I agree with petrol and powder- how do they chamber in your revolver? If they fit, they're probably fine. Lee carbide dies tend to size a little further down. I normally use a piece of paper to locate the die- I don't want it to touch the ram but be as far down as possible. I also use a Lee "U" (undersize) die in .357 so my loaded rounds all look a little funny but work just fine.
Loren

[KYCaster]

I think that they're just once fired brass fired in a chamber that was sloppier than yours.

Yeah, what he said.

Check your sized brass in the finish case gauge to cull the bulged ones before you waste primer/powder/bullet.

Sounds like the brass gauge is pretty much useless.

Jerry

[Weaponologist]

Yea, The Bulged cases won't fit my Revolver I tried. Like you say. If it would have chambered.....And Yes, Brass Gage is Trash. Seems all it would be used for is checking Length.. Wast of good Money...

[wallenba]

My Ruger 77/357 rifle leaves a bulge down there, but not all around. The feed ramp cuts into the chamber area there, and leaves an unsupported gap. I found that if you remove the decapping pin/rod from a Lee FL die, and set the case on top of a shell holder, you can iron it out. You MUST use lube even with a carbide die, The Lee FL has an opening on top that you can use an oak dowel in to tap it out. Time consuming, and the risk is having a thinning area in the brass from the stretch from firing.

[altheating]

I must be lucky, no bulge on my cases from my ruger 77/357.

[jmorris]

A rollsizer was designed to cure the problem.

I have a couple but if I am reading right, I don't think they would help you.

If your cases are not bulged before you reload them but are after, your process is the problem.

I would work with a single step at a time (gauging each time) and isolate (then fix) the problem.

[mdi]

A rollsizer was designed to cure the problem.

I have a couple but if I am reading right, I don't think they would help you.

If your cases are not bulged before you reload them but are after, your process is the problem.

I would work with a single step at a time (gauging each time) and isolate (then fix) the problem.

Yep, I agree...

[NoAngel]

If the cases easily extract and rechamber after you fired them, don't size the whole brass. It's wasted effort. Try resizing only the length of the seated bullet.

I actually shoot a lot of .45 Colt and .454 Casull and I have some that look like a bottle neck cartridge from the right angle. I decap in a separate die and set the resizer to only size about the upper 1/3 of the case. No reason to do otherwise as long as they chamber freely.

[Weaponologist]

Don't want to start this post rolling again, However I want to at least say what I did to correct my issue in case someone else has this issue..
What I found was that the once fired brass I was buying had some bulged brass mixed in. To correct or repair the bad brass I ordered a Lee Factory Crimp Die. I then removed the Crimping ring from the top of the Die which leave that Die opened at the top.
I then lube the brass and while using the push rod that comes with the Lee Bulge Buster kit.. I push the 357 Brass as far as it will go. until the rim stops flush with the die. I then used a wooden dowel and tap the brass back out.
This process returns the brass to spec. and sense I wont be loading them super hot. It shouldn't happen again.
I hope I explained this correctly and in a way that's understandable, Thank all of you for helping. I feel so fortunate for being a part of such a helpful and knowledgeable community.

[MtGun44]

Interesting fix, and the best use I have ever heard of for the infamous FCD.

Never ran into .357 brass with bulges, but have seen "Glocked" .40 brass and
my old .38 Super would eventually have a belted magnum look because the
loads were hot and the cases had been loaded perhaps 30-40 times and not
been size all the way to the extractor groove because my carbide size wouldn't
do it. Good news was that my .38 Super chamber was fine with this little bit
of oversized section, about .005 larger than elsewhere.

Bill

[Char-Gar]

Don't want to start this post rolling again, However I want to at least say what I did to correct my issue in case someone else has this issue..
What I found was that the once fired brass I was buying had some bulged brass mixed in. To correct or repair the bad brass I ordered a Lee Factory Crimp Die. I then removed the Crimping ring from the top of the Die which leave that Die opened at the top.
I then lube the brass and while using the push rod that comes with the Lee Bulge Buster kit.. I push the 357 Brass as far as it will go. until the rim stops flush with the die. I then used a wooden dowel and tap the brass back out.
This process returns the brass to spec. and sense I wont be loading them super hot. It shouldn't happen again.
I hope I explained this correctly and in a way that's understandable, Thank all of you for helping. I feel so fortunate for being a part of such a helpful and knowledgeable community.

I am glad you solved your problem, but it was "the long way around the mountain" to do it.

When you buy, fired range pick up brass there will be a percentage fired in sloppy chambers that will be bulged as you found out. A properly utilized steel sizing die will removed it with ease.

A handgun sizing die should be adjusted just like a rifle die. That is, the die is screwed down on the shell holder until there is a slight snap when the press lever is lifted to it's full height. This snap indicates all the slack/play is gone from the press linkage and providing the shell holder and die are a good match, the case will be resized down to the bottom.

Carbide being quite hard and brittle will shatter if brought down hard against the shell holder so the carbide insert is set up a little way in the die body to keep it from contact with the shell holder. Throw in the factor of not having the bottom of the die in contact with the shell holder and you will get what you experienced.

Steel dies have the extra advantage of producing a slightly bottleneck resized case where the top portion is expanded for the bullet and the lower part of the case remains a good fit for the charge hole. Thusly steel sized cases are larger, fit better and give longer case life due to less brass workage.

You do have to lube your cases when using a steel die, but that is (in my opinion) a small price to pay for the benefits received. I use steel (RCBS and Lyman) resizing dies for all my revolver calibers. They can be purchased on Ebay pretty cheap, as folks seem to be hooked on carbide these days.

I am not trying to be an Evangelist for steel dies, just trying to give information so folks can make informed choices.

For straight autopistol rounds like the 45 ACP, the carbide die seems to work as well as the steel dies.

[Char-Gar]

WHAT ??? .... a $140 for a sizing die, seriously ?....

Wow that's an unbelievable amount of cash for 1 die no matter how innovative.....

Well, it is not that innovative, but a high dollar way of mimicking what the old steel sizing dies would do. You can buy a steel for for $10.00 on Ebay or pay $140.00 for a new super duper carbide dual ring gizmo.

Folks got tired of having poor fitting cases in their revolver charge holes due to the one size ring over sizing the brass. The result was reduced accuracy and reduced case life. 45 Colt brass fired in the large Ruger SA charge holes was the worse offender when sized with carbide. So, enter the new whiz-bang dual ring $140.00 die.

It is worth $140.00 not to lubricate your cases prior to sizing? Not for me, but maybe for some. I remember when carbide insert dies first came on the market in the early 60's. About 1964, I thought I just had to have one in 38/357 so I bought the Lyman die. Sure enough no need to lubricate and the cases came out burnished but without taper and a much larger section near the rim. It took me ten years to break the code on these dies and I went back to my steel dies and the joy of case lubrication. Now we have a generation of reloaders who know nothing but carbide handgun dies and think a $140.00 dual ring carbide die is new and innovative. Not!

With the carbide die frenzy, good steel sizing dies sell for very little these days. I have redundancy in these dies in 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 44 Special, 44 Magnum and 45 Colt. I have one in use and two backups in each caliber. These steel dies if kept clean and not mistreated are good for several hundred thousand rounds each. At age 72, I think I am set for life.

[Down South]

Wow, I didn't know Glock made a 357.....