Battle of the Bulge - with one unexpected result.

[Big Nick]

After about 1500 rounds of trouble free service from my .40 Gold Team I started getting f-t-f nose dives from magazines loaded above 14 rounds. In the past I shot mags with 20 rounds with no problems. Searching through the .40/10mm posts, I decided my problem was due to buldged cases from Glocks. I had started using some newly purchased, used brass and determined this is when the problem started. I went immediately to Midway and ordered a Redding G-RX carbide base sizing die and within 3 days I was in business. Tomorrow night, at Friday Night Steel, I will get a chance to run the gun and see if the problem is fixed.

One unexpected result from using the base sizing die was the greatly improved performance of my Dillion 550 reloader. I had been having trouble seating primers, having to spin about half the cases in the shell plate to get the primers to seat. Using based sized cases, the primers now seat easily and quickly. If everything goes well tomorrow night, I will be very pleased with my new purchase from Midway.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Big Nick

[ItZallGooD]

I run all of my 40 brass through a bulge buster, even if it wasn't run in a Glock. It makes life easier.

[legacy]

I bought a EGW Undersize die for 40 and i haven't had any issues since. 99% of my reloads pass my case gauge unlike before which was closer to 75%

Not sure if you lube your cases prior to reloading but i started hitting mine with a light spray of Hornady One-Shot and my 650 is smooth as butter now.

[DougM]

I use a Lee FCD with the insides removed to push thru my brass as a first step in reloading (after tumbling, of course). I too use Hornady One Shot to lube the cases before pushing them into the die. Makes it much easier to get them thru without cranking too hard on the handle. It is part of my routine for all my 40S&W brass. If a piece is badly Glocked, I just toss it.

[Aric]

I wasn't happy with the bulge buster. It took too much force to push cases through. My hand was bruised afterwards.

[himurax13]

I have had great results by using the EGW undersized Lee resizing die and case lube. One less step to deal with.

If the resizing die bulges out the bottom f the brass, then I toss it out. That case was probably done at that point,

[Glockenspiel]

Facinating stuff - I'm new to this forum and .40/10mm reloading. Very interesting to read this. Thanks OP and all.

[RangerTrace]

Another fan of the Udie..

[Cowboy1629]

U-die worked well for me. I currently have a Case-Pro and with the few rejects I saw with the U-die are no more with the Case-Pro. The big thing that helped when using the U-die was to use Hornady One Shot on the bass. Made it run a lot smoother in my Dillon 650.

[Aric]

I roll size my cases now. Much easier and faster than the push through dies.

Less than 1% don't pass the plunk test. They chamber and shoot just fine.

[splashdown]

I am a fan of the GRx die from Redding. It's an extra step on the single stage, but zero ammo problems since I started using it at least 5 years ago. I load on a Square Deal, so I don't have any other options.

[mach1soldier]

I started running any ammo that fails case gauge through the case pro again. Works like a charm so far.

[Glockenspiel]

GRX in the mail

[Graham Smith]

I decided my problem was due to buldged cases from Glocks.

I don't want to sound pedantic here but I'm getting really tired of seeing this because it's something of an urban myth and detracts from an understanding of how guns are designed.

There are a lot of guns that have a chamber that is slightly undersized at the base to allow a smoother feed of rounds from the magazines. And that brass will reload without extra steps or special dies and run in a lot of guns just fine. However, some designs have a tighter chamber and need brass that's been sized a bit further down.

I could easily say that the problem is not the brass but the tight chambers on some peoples guns. But I won't because tighter chambers are common on some guns, particularly competition guns. For example, KKM barrels for Glocks have a tighter chamber than the factory barrel.

Part of reloading is to know just what you need to do for the ammo to work in your gun. I would have thought by now, with all the discussion on this topic, that anyone with a gun that has a tight chamber, like the .40 Gold Team, would already be using either using a 'U' die or something similar. Or buying brass that's been roll sized.

[Big Nick]

Graham, the rounds fit loose in the Gold Teams chamber before the G-RX die. The problem was the round wasn't making it to the chamber if I loaded over 15.

[Big Nick]

Actually, the GT ran great and would digest about any reloaded ammo until I decided I needed to add more capacity to my magazines. I had shot about 1500 rounds with no problems, and I was reloading some ugly looking brass. It's when I started shooting over 15 rounds that the problems started. After reading the many different posts on this matter, I decided I needed to spend a little money if I wanted to fix the problem. And it's amazing how after the initial sizing with the GR-X die, the brass reloads so much easier, with no primer seating problems.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Big Nick

[cwall64]

I love the Redding G-RX carbide base sizing die, it might not be needed since I have a KKM barrel in my Glock 20 (and only shoot 40 S&W in a H&K USP), but still I run all my .40 and 10mm cases through it. It is easy to tell on purchased once fired brass which cases are a little more expanded than others as you work the ram on my turret press with the G-RX die! It is a mindless and easy step to do while watching the nightly news... On top of that it makes the XL650 run smooth and easy on the resize de-prime stage.

Edited June 24, 2015 by cwall64

[noylj]

I am old and on disability and can still run all my cases through the $20 Lee Reloading Press and Bulge Buster without any problems.

First of all, did you diagnose the problem correctly? Did you verify that the round was the problem or the position in the magazine? Was COL unchanged or was there bullet set-back? You could have a mag problem. You could have any of the following chambering problems:

Remove the barrel and drop rounds in until you find one that won't chamber. Take that round and "paint" the bullet and case black with Magic Marker or other marker. Drop round in barrel (or gage) and rotate it back-and-forth.

Remove and inspect the round:

1) scratches on bullet--COL is too long

2) scratches on edge of the case mouth--insufficient crimp

3) scratches just below the case mouth--too much crimp, you're crushing the case

4) scratches on case at base of bullet--bullet seated crooked due to insufficient case expansion (not case mouth flare) or improper seating stem fit

5) scratches on case just above extractor groove--case bulge not removed during sizing. May need a bulge buster.

Edited June 26, 2015 by noylj

[Big Nick]

300 rounds fired so far in competition with no problems. I have always loaded to 1.125 OAL.

[IATURNKEY]

Does anyone make a roll sizer besides Case Pro?

[dansedgli]

Sorry to bump an old thread.

I've got a ton of 40 cases that I need to bulge bust before forming into 357 sig.

Is a U die going to do the same job in my 1050 or should I get a bulge buster or GRX die and a single stage?

[himurax13]

The EGW undersized die either fixes or trashes the brass. If the brass gets trashed, it was on it way out anyways.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

Edited October 27, 2015 by himurax13

[RPatton]

I decided my problem was due to buldged cases from Glocks.

I don't want to sound pedantic here but I'm getting really tired of seeing this because it's something of an urban myth and detracts from an understanding of how guns are designed.

There are a lot of guns that have a chamber that is slightly undersized at the base to allow a smoother feed of rounds from the magazines. And that brass will reload without extra steps or special dies and run in a lot of guns just fine. However, some designs have a tighter chamber and need brass that's been sized a bit further down.

I could easily say that the problem is not the brass but the tight chambers on some peoples guns. But I won't because tighter chambers are common on some guns, particularly competition guns. For example, KKM barrels for Glocks have a tighter chamber than the factory barrel.

Part of reloading is to know just what you need to do for the ammo to work in your gun. I would have thought by now, with all the discussion on this topic, that anyone with a gun that has a tight chamber, like the .40 Gold Team, would already be using either using a 'U' die or something similar. Or buying brass that's been roll sized.

Pedantic, you don't see that word often, that said, I have come to believe that reloading may be recondite for a lot of people

[Miranda]

Pedantic.

it is an interesting term.

I think it means flogging a dead horse AND looking for a fight.

please do not skip the and in that sentence,

I have been accused of being pedantic.

I find it gets use most often when the one being accused

is reiterating the truth on a subject

and the accuser does not like the truth.

now to look up "recondite"

miranda

[RPatton]

Pedantic.

it is an interesting term.

I think it means flogging a dead horse AND looking for a fight.

please do not skip the and in that sentence,

I have been accused of being pedantic.

I find it gets use most often when the one being accused

is reiterating the truth on a subject

and the accuser does not like the truth.

now to look up "recondite"

miranda

miranda, somehow I think you will like it.