How many times can you reuse .40 S&W Brass/Glock bulge?

[thefish]

A two part question:

1) I have a batch (around 3000 cases) of mixed–manufacturer and mixed–age brass that were shot in various .40 S&W handguns. Probably 60% of them were fired in Glocks. The "oldest" shells in this batch have been fired and reloaded 10 times. The "youngest" shells in this batch have been fired only once. I use a Dillon 950 Progressive press and Redding die. I don't push the speed at all and I use 4.1 grains of TiteGroup and 180gr FMJ. The primer pockets have a nice, "snug" feel to them when I push the handle of the Dillon forward. I have had no problems whatsoever with feeding, firing or ejecting. My question is: How many times can I safely reload these cases?

2) Many of the cases, (I assume the ones that were fired in the Glocks) have a small bulge in them. As I mentioned above, in spite of the bulge, they feed, fire and eject w/out any problem regardless of the gun I put them in. When I first became aware of this "post–Glock bulge", I contacted Redding and procured a type of push–thru die designed to eliminate the bulge. I have not used it yet. This push–thru die, however, cannot be used on a Dillon progressive press. This bring me to my second question: Should I run all of the cases in this batch thru the Redding anti–bulge push thru die on my backup single stage press just to be safe? How many more firings do you think I can get out of this batch of shells?

Thank you all in advance for taking the time to read this,

RIF

[Retread1911]

Use the brass until it fails. Ie either splits or gets a loose primer pocket. Your feel of the primer seating is what I use for the test of the pocket.

I went through three stages with my push through die.

Stage 1 every thing went through it as I prepped the brass.

Stage 2 only bulged cases went through it

Stage 3 it sits in the box while the brass goes through the case pro.

Sounds like you are not gauging your loaded ammo which is something I do recommend even if it is with your barrel.

Cheers

Retread.

[blaster113]

10 loadings out of .40? wow. I've gotten split cases after 2 or 3 loadings. I use an EGW undersize die in the first station of my 650. I only load to major at 1.180 oal and 170 pf with N320 or Solo. If you can get 10 or more loadings with your setup then I say use the cases till the primers fall out or they split. I normally chuck my .40 after 4-5 loadings max cause of the U-die but then I get free brass.

[warpspeed]

From 2004 - ( wow, almost 10 years ago)

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11159&p=129439

I once did an experiment to answer this question.

I took factory federal & pmc 40 S&W loads and fired them in my STI.

Cleaned, roll sized, reloaded & fired. The load was a 180 gr jhp over 5.0 gr of N320 - 170 pf. After 10 times w/o any failures or cracks or splits. I decided that was enough.

[thefish]

Thank you all for taking the time to answer my question. I will keep a sharp eye out for cracks, splits, etc. In retrospect, I should have been more diligent about segregating the shells more strictly according to their age.

Thanks,

RIF

[Steve RA]

You would probably get more uniformity in accuracy and velocity if you segregated them by brand.

[thefish]

Yes, I realize that as well now. I've started a new batch and have instituted the changes. It only takes a few seconds if you stay on top of it. There are many benefits down the road. It answers a lot of questions when little inconsistencies arise. Thanks.

[chevyoneton]

I run range pick-up .40. I don't know how much of it is mine, somebody else's, or what kind of gun most of it was shot through. After starting out gauging all my loaded rounds and then Lee Bulge-Busting the ones that did not pass, I realized that in less total time I could just run them all through the Bulge-Buster and be done. I do not know how many firings they have either, one or one-hundred.

[jcc7x7]

Usually until I loose it!

[thefish]

Thanks chevyoneton. I am not familiar with the "Lee Bulge Buster". How does it differ from the "Push through" die I have from Redding? It is the same principle? I looked @the picture of the Lee Bulge Buster and it seems like it only would work on a Lee press. They also had a little disclaimer about using it in Glock fired shells. This is legal CYA stuff or is it worth losing sleep for? The same caveat would exist for shells run through their push through die? I mean, neither of them really fix the asymmetry of the shell wall thickness if it is re-fired in another Glock, right?

[ParaLarry]

", I contacted Redding and procured a type of push–thru die designed to eliminate the bulge. I have not used it yet. This push–thru die, however, cannot be used on a Dillon progressive press.

The Redding die and the Lee "Bulge Buster" need to be mounted on a separate single stage press. You can find an inexpensive one at Midway

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/807734/lee-reloader-single-stage-press

Comments on Midway about the Bulge Buster indicate people have used it fo the Glock bulge with no problems.

I keep a single stage press to the side of my 550B mainly for pulling bullets, and sometimes resizing oversize bullets.

With my EGW undersize size die I have no problems with Glock brass for over ten years; and I'm sure some of the brass I'm using is from at least 10 years ago; not an issue at mild (170 power factor) loads.

[Justsomeguy]

I too use a GRX die to iron out the "Glock bulge" in some brass I have acquired. However, once done, if the brass is then fired in a "fully supported chamber" like most other guns have, they stay linear and I don't have to repeat the process. I have reloaded brass treated like that many times... more than 10 I would wager, but I don't use really fast powders in 40 which tends to stress the brass more for the power factor than medium burners like Silhouette of which I am quite fond for most 40cal loads, including lead. The only splits I ever had were few in number and at the case mouth which I think were caused mostly by the hardening from working the brass in belling and taper crimping with lead bullets mostly, which requires slightly more belling than JHP's would.

[BillChunn]

The CasePro (<-- link) will get rid of any bulge in any size brass. It works differently than the resizing die which pushes the "extra" brass downward toward the casehead. The CasePro rolls the brass between two dies, forcing the material upward away from the casehead.

Check out the information in the link.

BC

[Frank34]

All of my brass has been shot our of Glocks when I get it. I've never had a problem with a bulge after resizing with my Dillon die set. I have the sizing/decapping die as low as possible and after case gauging usually only have two or three out of a thousand don't pass the case gauge. I shoot my reloads through an STI Edge. As far for loadings usually I loose them before they start to fail.

[Justsomeguy]

Well sure... different chambers may or may not feed so called "Glocked" brass depending on the amount of bulge and the generosity of the chamber size. Your dies might be adequate to resize the brass for your chamber, or the brass comes from newer Glocks which are less prone to the larger bulges. One thing you might look for though is some "scuff marks" on the bulged part of the brass as an indicator of just how close to the edge (no pun intended) you are getting with the chamber size. If a good number of brass are showing signs of scuffing on the fat part of the brass going into and being extracted from the chamber, then you are skating on thin ice as far as feeding is concerned. If the gun runs well though and you are not concerned, then shoot away.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Justsomeguy

[TonyT]

All of the 40 S&W once fired brass I obtain has been fired in Glocks. I use a Dillon 550 with a normal Lee carbide die set and shoot the resulting cartridges in Dan Wesson & STI 1911's, PO16-40, CZ-40B, and a S&W610. As a matter of policy I scrap brass from high pressure reloads after four reloads.

[moose76]

I am up to around 8 loadings, but I think that batch is reaching the end. I run all my brass though a Redding G-Rx and that batch of brass is noticeably harder to run through the die. Seems like it it has gotten work hardened.

[us_shooter]

FWIW, I have loaded the same cases 10+ times to major PF. Almost all of the brass started out as once fired glock brass. My brass gets run through a u-die every single time it's reloaded.

When I started reloading the 40 I was very anal and would case gauge every round, divide brass by brand, separate brass by number of firings.....etc. Nowadays I just shoot it till it splits or I lose it, whichever comes first. The one caveat may be what you are shooting it out of. All of my brass is fired out of Tanfoglios or XDM's.

[RePete]

I, too, use a CasePro100, but I tend to lose the brass before anything happens..