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 Getting misfires in my reloads? 
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:33 pm 
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Wow, I am truly impressed :!: :!: :!: And thank you all :!: :!: :!:

I am thinking that the crimping may be the culprit. I noticed what looked like a bit of a flare where the bullet seats into the case. I put it on the caliber and the top of the case is about 2mm larger then the rest of the case. The squib did have lots of powder on it as well, and I am about 99.99% sure I had no rounds without powder (or under powdered (I checked 10 in a row and then every 10th round and the all were within .1 of a grain)). So I think I am going to attack the crimping.

Now my dirty little secret :roll: I am using a Lee Pro 1000 :oops:

I know, I know, everyone is going to say I should have bought a Dillon. I just could not justify the cost in my head for a new hobby, that I was not sure that I would like. Heck, I didn't learn to drive in a new Cadillac, I went with the 10 year old Grand Am that I could afford. I did buy all the major accessories (digital scale, digital caliber, case tumbler) though.

I did a bit of looking and found Lee's Crimping Dies http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog ... crimp.html
I am going to order the Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die and see if that does the trick.

Once again I am awed by the amount of knowledge on this board and the speed at which it is shared.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you :!:


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:54 pm 
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realtor_packing_heat wrote:
Now my dirty little secret :roll: I am using a Lee Pro 1000 :oops:

I know, I know, everyone is going to say I should have bought a Dillon. I just could not justify the cost in my head for a new hobby, that I was not sure that I would like. Heck, I didn't learn to drive in a new Cadillac, I went with the 10 year old Grand Am that I could afford.

:) I know what you mean. I'm getting a Lee turret press--don't tell anybody!

My philosophy's pretty similar. I went through at least four air-cooled VWs before I bought a car with a warranty. When I bought my first 1911, I figured "I can get that nice Kimber in a month or so... or this Charles Daly, and a bunch of ammo, now."


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 7:28 pm 
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r_p_h wrote:

Quote:
top of the case is about 2mm larger then the rest of the case


2 mm (0.078 inch) sounds like a lot of flare on the mouth of the case. I assume this is before you seat the bullet and crimp the case mouth. There should be a slight crimp (taper for a semi-auto and roll for a revolver) at the mouth of the case on a loaded round.

The flare is put on the case to help get the bullet started. It is fully removed when the bullet is seated and crimped. Seating the bullet and crimping the case mouth is usually done in one die. If the crimp is not done with seating / crimping die you do not have the die set properly. When you get the Lee Factory Crimp die, this is done in a seperate operation after only seating (no crimp) the bullet with that bullet seating die.

Not being familar with the Lee Pro 1000, I do not know how many stations are on the press. Do you now have an empty station left to use the Lee Factory Crimp die?

Also, the flare on the case mouth is normally done by a seperate die. On a Dillon press it is done in the stage where the powder is added and there is no die station to flare the case mouth.

2 mm is a lot to flare the case mouth to insert the bullet. For jacketed bullets I use only 0.020 inch ( 0.5 mm) or less on the diameter. For lead I may increase the flare to 0.030 inch. Putting too much flare on the case mouth only weakens the brass at that point. What you flare out, you must crimp back in after the bullet is seated.

The round needs a crimp on the bullet. If enough pressure is not built, the powder will not burn properly. Check your seating / crimp die to be sure it is set properly. The crimp is usually set by the location of the die in the press. The bullet seating depth is usually done by the threaded adjustment screw in the die. Be aware that if you move the die in the press frame to change the crimp, you also change the seating depth (overall length of the round).

Good luck. Reload is fun. The Lee Press is fine. (Just paint it blue.)


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 9:25 pm 
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I'd agree with Westhope, it sounds like you have your expander die set too deep. I assume you are using the Lee powder-thru expander.

I'm not familiar with the Lee progressive adjustments, but you really don't need much flare at all and too much works the brass too much and will shorten it's life and give you split necks.

The case on the left is about the maximum you would want to expand your case mouths. The one on the right is way too much:

Image

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 9:33 pm 
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With that little amount of crimp, I'm surprised that the bullet is even being held securely in the case at all.

Take a loaded round. Measure the COL. Set it on your table. Push down HARD on the bullet with your thumb. Then measure the COL. It shouldn't change.

I use a Lee Factory Crimp on all the calibers I load. One of the benefits of it is that it's really easy to set.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:52 pm 
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I apologize I meant to say .2 to .25 mm not 2 mm. I did not have the die set deep enough at all. The .2 was on the last 1 mm of the case. It is looking good now and I now have .1 mm of a crimp instead of the .2 mm flare :D

I now know what I need to buy next -- a bullet puller :lol:


I loaded 20 and will let you know if they work :D


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:48 am 
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realtor_packing_heat wrote:
I now know what I need to buy next -- a bullet puller

How about buying a Hornady or Speer loading manual and reading it. People buy a loading manual just for the recipes and don't even look at the wealth of information in the book that would help them avoid several possible bad situations.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:50 am 
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cobb wrote:
realtor_packing_heat wrote:
I now know what I need to buy next -- a bullet puller

How about buying a Hornady or Speer loading manual and reading it. People buy a loading manual just for the recipes and don't even look at the wealth of information in the book that would help them avoid several possible bad situations.
Amen. We had a moron at BPR, a few weeks ago, who had downloaded some .44 Magnum rounds so that his girlfriend could shoot his .44 without a lot of recoil. That part worked, I guess, although the gun blew up -- in the lane next to me -- tearing the topstrap off, and breaking the cylinder into several pieces.

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:26 am 
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A slight breeze or draft can effect the accuracy of a digital scale,
Also weak batteries or florescent lighting will also have an effect.
The less expensive $30-40 Frankford Arsenal digital scales are noted for coming with weak batteries and inconsistant reading.


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 12:35 pm 
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joelr wrote:
Amen. We had a moron at BPR, a few weeks ago, who had downloaded some .44 Magnum rounds so that his girlfriend could shoot his .44 without a lot of recoil. That part worked, I guess, although the gun blew up -- in the lane next to me -- tearing the topstrap off, and breaking the cylinder into several pieces.


How is the moron's one-handed girlfriend doing? :roll:


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 1:33 pm 
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Traveler wrote:
joelr wrote:
Amen. We had a moron at BPR, a few weeks ago, who had downloaded some .44 Magnum rounds so that his girlfriend could shoot his .44 without a lot of recoil. That part worked, I guess, although the gun blew up -- in the lane next to me -- tearing the topstrap off, and breaking the cylinder into several pieces.


How is the moron's one-handed girlfriend doing? :roll:


Ironically that was the day before I had my first and only squib. While Roger and I were pounding a 230gr slug out of my Glock's barrel, he was relating to me the story of "well it could have been worse" that happened the day before.

Detonation is a scary thing. Less is not always better :x

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 1:37 pm 
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Traveler wrote:
joelr wrote:
Amen. We had a moron at BPR, a few weeks ago, who had downloaded some .44 Magnum rounds so that his girlfriend could shoot his .44 without a lot of recoil. That part worked, I guess, although the gun blew up -- in the lane next to me -- tearing the topstrap off, and breaking the cylinder into several pieces.


How is the moron's one-handed girlfriend doing? :roll:
Amazingly, and surprisingly, nobody was even slightly injured, including her.

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