A couple more general questions, and a Split case.

[jonb.]

Alright excuse my NOOBINESS I did use the the search but couldn't find what I was looking for so here goes.

1. My buddy used to reload for me I would take those reloads case gauge them and then tumble them a bit to get whatever grit and lube off of them. Now I'm loading moly bullets for myself but I'm wondering if I tumble my reloaded ammo do I risk taking the moly off?

2. I notice my reloaded ammo .40 is shaped a little differently than my buddies reloads only slightly. I am using an undersized lee die while he uses a dillon die is this normal with undersize die's and is there anything to worry about using an undersized die?

3. I DODGED A BULLET! Check it out This was a bad round in my first 100 reloaded rounds. I was extremely careful when sorting, again careful while I picked the cleaned brass before placing it on my press, and then again when I transferred from the bin into my case guards. I found this round as I was loading a magazine at the range this morning THANK GOODNESS(apparently A split case does not cause a kaboom so excuse my drama or the lack of). My question is do any of you guys use a lighted magnifying glass or something similar to inspect brass? Or what are your methods and what do you look for in the reclaimed brass. I was using a case gauge.

That's it for now thanks in advance!

Edited September 29, 2012 by jonb.

[juan]

my rounds wont case guage with the smallest of splits in the case.

about as far as i will check them

[jmorris]

The "moly" coating you get is not just moly, it won't come off. Even if it did, it wouldn't make any difference the bearing surface is inside the case.

[GrumpyOne]

The split case will happen more often with nickel brass than with brass brass...

[Sarge]

my rounds wont case guage with the smallest of splits in the case.

Same here. Split cases won't fit.

[leas327]

Did your buddy use the same bullet as you? Different bullets will seat to different depths in the case. Some will make the finished rounds look more hour glassed than others. The U-die will also contribute to hour glassing. As long as it feeds it doesn't matter that it doesn't look like a factory round.

Am I missing something about split cases? I have some .45 brass with a WCC 68 headstamp that have been reloaded so much you can barely read it. I have loaded and fired a couple of split cases by accident. All that happened was a light pop and the bullet flew out like it had a light charge. It was easy to tell it wasn't a squib when you could watch it fly out and bounce of the steel.

[392heminut]

If you had fired that round I seriously doubt that you would have even noticed. It certainly wouldn't have caused any harm to you or the gun. The chamber of your pistol is what contains the pressure, not the case itself.

[Guest]

After cleaning brass I'll cascade brass back and forth between my hands, you can usually hear the "thunk" of a cracked case amongst all the bell like "tinkles" of the good cases. However, I have missed a few and shot them. As as said, no big catastrophe as long as the crack is in the case wall (almost always along the axis of the case) and not a pregnant case head crack (almost always perpendicular to the axis of the case jut above the extraction groove). Blowing the head off a case is kind of exciting.

[jonb.]

If you had fired that round I seriously doubt that you would have even noticed. It certainly wouldn't have caused any harm to you or the gun. The chamber of your pistol is what contains the pressure, not the case itself.

Did I say I was a noob? In case I forgot I'm a reloading noob. Still a little redfaced. I was under the assumption that a case like this had the potential to cause a KABoOm. I stand corrected.

Edited September 29, 2012 by jonb.

[OUshooter]

1. Just curious why you would tumble the finished rounds? Straight walled pistol cases sized with Carbide dies won't need any lube, and there shouldn't be any "grit".

2. I use a EGW undersize die for my .40 exclusively. I get quite a few coke bottle shaped cases, but they pass gauge and function fine.

3. I roll check each round before I load it in a mag, and toss any non-conformers into a bag. I typically don't roll check with case gauging, just because of time. But with a Lee FCD I have had split cases pass gauge.

As others have said, odds are very high that the worse case is the round hits the cardboard and falls down. The chamber is what contains the pressure. I wouldn't shoot it, but I'm crazy like that.

Edited September 29, 2012 by OUshooter

[jonb.]

1. Just curious why you would tumble the finished rounds? Straight walled pistol cases sized with Carbide dies won't need any lube, and there shouldn't be any "grit".

2. I use a EGW undersize die for my .40 exclusively. I get quite a few coke bottle shaped cases, but they pass gauge and function fine.

3. I roll check each round before I load it in a mag, and toss any non-conformers into a bag. I typically don't roll check with case gauging, just because of time. But with a Lee FCD I have had split cases pass gauge.

As others have said, odds are very high that the worse case is the round hits the cardboard and falls down. The chamber is what contains the pressure. I wouldn't shoot it, but I'm crazy like that.

Since I'm using moly bullets they seem to be really tacky and that stickiness gets on the case I end up with pretty smeared up cases it makes it hard to see deformity's. I also figured the cleaner the cases are the less fouled up my barrel will get or am I over thinking this?

Edited September 29, 2012 by jonb.

[OUshooter]

1. Just curious why you would tumble the finished rounds? Straight walled pistol cases sized with Carbide dies won't need any lube, and there shouldn't be any "grit".

2. I use a EGW undersize die for my .40 exclusively. I get quite a few coke bottle shaped cases, but they pass gauge and function fine.

3. I roll check each round before I load it in a mag, and toss any non-conformers into a bag. I typically don't roll check with case gauging, just because of time. But with a Lee FCD I have had split cases pass gauge.

As others have said, odds are very high that the worse case is the round hits the cardboard and falls down. The chamber is what contains the pressure. I wouldn't shoot it, but I'm crazy like that.

Since I'm using moly bullets they seem to be really tacky and that stickiness gets on the case I end up with pretty smeared up cases it makes it hard to see deformity's. I also figured the cleaner the cases are the less fouled up my barrel will get or am I over thinking this?

The "moly" or dry lube shouldn't have any tacky or sticky feeling of any kind. If your bullets right out of the bag from the vendor are tacky they are defective.

1. Have these dies been used before with hard cast lead bullets?

a. If so clean them out the lube from the lead is built up in the die.

b. If not where the dies cleaned out before being put into use?

Edited September 29, 2012 by OUshooter

[jonb.]

1. YES

A. Will DO

B. Bought theme used threw them on and started knocking out rounds... Apparently this is wrong.

[OUshooter]

1. YES

A. Will DO

B. Bought theme used threw them on and started knocking out rounds... Apparently this is wrong.

The green label brake cleaner from O'Reilly's or equivalent is great for cleaning those out, along with a small dowel rod and old t shirt.

[OUshooter]

Also from time to time will hit my sizing die with some 5000 grit sandpaper. Works for me but your mileage my vary, use with caution.

[jonb.]

Also from time to time will hit my sizing die with some 5000 grit sandpaper. Works for me but your mileage my vary, use with caution.

I actually spoke to dillon about this today because my sizing die was sticking a bit and they said to do the powder funnel with 7000 grit. As far as use with "CAUTION" please spell that out for me since I am likely to do something opposite of that if you don't.

Edited September 29, 2012 by jonb.

[OUshooter]

7000 grit! Damn I wish I could nab that locally. My local guy only has 5000grit.

By "caution" I mean go slow. I usually swab the inside of the die with 3 or 4 swipes. The carbide alloy is pretty freakin hard so short of a file you shouldn't do any damage to it. You should be able to clean any particles of crap sticking to the sizing ring.

[FightFireJay]

JonB - Look on the bright side, better to have your brass wear out at the mouth than the web!

Because my Glock 23 has a loose chamber, I actually use a two stage sizing system. First, I use the FCD with a Bulge Buster kit, so all my brass is sized at SAAMI maximum, then when I put it through the Turret press, I keep my standard resizing die adjusted to only go about 5/8s of the way down the brass (just over half way) so the web isn't getting worked.

I get good neck tension, I can see a distinct (but slight) hour glass shape, doesn't overly work the web, and it chambers well!