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Roll sizing brass, is it worth it?


twister

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I shoot a 1911 9mm in a PPC league, and wanted to know if roll sizing brass on a case pro would be worth the trouble? Never shot any, just curious. Thanks for any help on this, Dave.

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I can't justify the cost. By the time you buy the unit and the accessories you will need close to $1000. I chamber check my 9mm brass after I size. If it doesn't fit, I've got a bucket to fit it. My 40's all go through a CRX die. I like toys like the next guy. But I'm not going to throw money at a hobby for no reason.

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Would love to but can't justify as I'm retired.

FWIW - I use the Lee FCD (9 & 45) with coated lead and only case check the rounds that will be used at a match just in case as I have rarely had a round that didn't pass the gauge not run in either my Glock (9 only) or my 1911's (9 or 45).

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From a ransom rest I see better accuracy at 50 yards from roll sized brass. Granted this is from a PPC auto that shoots 10 rounds in a one inch group. For IPSC that level of accuracy isn't needed, but 100% reliability *is* needed. I roll size every piece of brass I load.

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Definitely needed it when I shot a lot of .40.

I still do it in 9 mm because, even though the number of rounds that fail to chamber is only a fraction of what I had in .40, I like the assurance I get from rolling the brass.

But, yes, it is not a cheap piece of equipment, and, if I was to start over with just worrying about 9mm, I would have to weigh just how much the extra assurance is worth to me, since the failure rate is so much lower.

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I roll size all of my .40 brass. In addition to sizing the brass, it is easier to catch brass with bad rims. I think it also makes resizing slightly easier in the press.

When I chamber check for major matches, the ones that don't pass go off in practice without issues.

I had issues with "glocked" brass. It is a non-issue now.

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  • 7 months later...

I bought a single stage press, Bulge Buster, and the Lee 9x18 FCD and since I started using it I have very little if any rounds that won't chamber check. It adds an additional step but for me it was well worth it. Also, like the above post it makes resizing on the press easier so another plus.

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On 5/30/2016 at 9:43 AM, kneelingatlas said:

A friend roll sizes 9mm with 38SC dies and says he gets 31+1 in his big stick.

I ordered a Lee single stage with a bulge buster and a 38 sizing die to try it out.

 

This didn't pan out real well <_< The rim got fatter as it pushed through and would work in some guns, not in others...  So rather than pollute the brass pool with fat rims I pulled them all and recycled them.

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For those that think roll sizing 40sw is a must, I have an alternative.  I used to have somewhere between 20 and 25% of my reloaded once-fired brass fail chamber checking when using my Dillon SDB.  If I could chamber them in my TS, I'd shoot them at practice and then discard the brass.  About half would not chamber at all.

 

I've since moved on to a LnL.  Using Hornady dies with a Lee Factory Carbide Crimping Die has cured that problem.  It reduced the "failure" rate to 1 or 2 per hundred.  I check all rounds by dropping them into a Shockbottle 100 round checker.  Any that do not drop unassisted to the bottom are removed for practice.  The one of two that don't have just the rim of the cartridge protruding.  Every one of them chambers in both my 40sw guns.  I still pull them for practice rounds, but do not discard them.  The Dillon SDB dies left a pronounced Glock bulge and the rounds would only go halfway into the chamber checker.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 7:26 AM, zzt said:

For those that think roll sizing 40sw is a must, I have an alternative.  I used to have somewhere between 20 and 25% of my reloaded once-fired brass fail chamber checking when using my Dillon SDB.  If I could chamber them in my TS, I'd shoot them at practice and then discard the brass.  About half would not chamber at all.

 

I've since moved on to a LnL.  Using Hornady dies with a Lee Factory Carbide Crimping Die has cured that problem.  It reduced the "failure" rate to 1 or 2 per hundred.  I check all rounds by dropping them into a Shockbottle 100 round checker.  Any that do not drop unassisted to the bottom are removed for practice.  The one of two that don't have just the rim of the cartridge protruding.  Every one of them chambers in both my 40sw guns.  I still pull them for practice rounds, but do not discard them.  The Dillon SDB dies left a pronounced Glock bulge and the rounds would only go halfway into the chamber checker.

I think there's something to the Hornady dies.  I load on a 550 and have a Hornady die in station 1 and have very few problems loading for an Edge.

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On 1/30/2017 at 7:02 PM, kneelingatlas said:

 

This didn't pan out real well <_< The rim got fatter as it pushed through and would work in some guns, not in others...  So rather than pollute the brass pool with fat rims I pulled them all and recycled them.

Were you able to fit anymore rounds in your big stick mags running. The 38sc die? Carbide dies can be opened up with some diamond lapping compound.

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