[scott0116]

Here's something useful i didn't know was out there.

http://leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1275189563.5255=/html/catalog/bulgebuster.html

 

[MAC702]

I just bought one to use with my .40 and .45 brass. Haven't used it yet. But I'm confident I'll get a greater success rate through the case gages now. I've never had a .380 fail a case gage, so no need to get the Lee Factory Crimp die there. It has to be used with the Factory Crimp die, which I've bought separately to go with my otherwise Dillon dies for .40 and .45.

 

[sionaprhys]

Redding has the same thing. They call it their “base sizing die”. I think Dillon was the first with something similar.

Be careful as bad bulges, for example in .40 S&W in unsupported barrels, weaken the case. Ironing out the bulge doesn’t eliminate the weak spot.

 

[Big Bore]

That's the problem with these dies as I see it, they lure the reloader into a false since of security that all is well just because the cases fit the chamber better. They will split eventually (and sooner rather than later too) and since there is no way to anneal that section of the case without ruining it, when that part splits it could wreck your pistol the same as it would with a case head failure. I know I would not trust a case that has been shot more than three times in any type of weapon that gives the case web area a pregnant belly no matter what the sizer die makes them look like.

 

[Cheezywan]

I think Big Bores' thinking about it right. Cases fired from a firearm that do NOT fully support the head should be suspect for reloading. A split there could wreck an otherwise "good" day!

Might be able to index one so a different part is un-supported for awhile? That's more attention than I'm willing to muster on a butt-load of brass.

Re-cycle and buy new or trade firearms seems safer to me.

Cheezywan

 

[unclenick]

Yes, Redding's had the GRx (Glock Prescription) die for awhile, picking on Glock for their unsupported barrels, I suppose. Should be fine if you use reduced target loads, but I would sure be reluctant to stoke them up to full pressure, and I definitely wouldn't want my life depending on one. Serious loads get new brass, anyway, on my bench.

 

[jaguarxk120]

In a old edition (1978) Handloading for Handguns by Maj. George C. Nonte talks about resizing straight walled cases the exact same way you guys are buying special dies for.

All you have to do is push the straight walled cas through the die base first. One needs a pusher ram to send the case through the die but Nonte says it works. He used standard resizing dies that were bored through so the case can pass up and out.

At the time of printing only two cases could be resized that way, 45ACP and the 380. Now there are several straight walled cartridges that can use Nonte's method.

 

[MAC702]

...Nonte talks about resizing straight walled cases the exact same way you guys are buying special dies for.

...He used standard resizing dies that were bored through so the case can pass up and out....

I don't think anyone would argue with that. I just have no problem buying an extra $10 die so that I don't have to bore out the standard resizing die and use my extra decapping die.

 

[jaguarxk120]

I have two 45 sizer dies made that way, a C-H and a Hollywood that the case can be pushed up through the die body.

I pointed this out so people will know that these idea's are not new and revolutionary.

Many of the tooling mfgr's are just taking old and proven reloading technique's, repackaging them and selling.

 

[MAC702]

However, interestingly, if I have a case that won't gauge in .45 ACP, and I run it back through a Dillon sizing die (not all the way like a bulge buster does, but just back and forth through the die with the decapping assembly removed) it will size too much and cause lead or plated bullets to fall out of the case. It will loosen FMJ bullets slightly but they are still good enough to keep. But you can tell the difference in tension if you put them through an inertial bullet puller.

Take the same kinds of gage failures and run them back and forth through the Lee Factory Crimp die, and they then pass the gage WITHOUT loosing tension on the bullet. This is not using a Bulge Buster kit, but just a post sizing Lee Factory Crimp die.

So there is some significant difference in the sizing of a Dillon .45 ACP sizing die and a Lee .45 ACP Factory Crimp Die. Enough to have saved me a lot of work when using old brass.

I don't know if this difference exists in other brands, and can only offer that experience.

 

[jaguarxk120]

From your post , I get the impression you are resizing loaded cases!!!

The bulge buster or any through the die system is NOT for resizing loaded ammo. It is to remove the slight expansion ring at the base of cretain pistol cases. This is to be done during the resizing operation of the brass.

Any resizing of loaded rounds will resize the bullet and make it conform to the inside walls of the case. The walls may or may not be smooth of even thickness. This resizing after loading does the bullet no good what so ever.

As far as fcd check loaded 45's 40's 9mm's and see how the factory crimps them. I have a 45ACP WCC 90 Match round on my desk and looking at it there is NO CRIMP!!!!!

 

[MAC702]

I've not pushed any loaded ammo through a die, as I mentioned clearly in my description of my experience.

I've used a Dillon resizing die in the exact same way as the Lee Factory Crimp postsizing die. The difference in results shows there is a difference in sizing diameter between the two, which was the point of the post, in answer to using a standard sizing die modified for bulge-busting.

So, at least with the two brands I mentioned in .45 ACP, using a Dillon sizing die converted to a through-die for bulge-busting will not be the same as using the Lee bulge-buster kit that uses the Factory Crimp postsizing die. This is also not to say it won't work.

This thread is not addressing crimping at all.