Bulged Brass

[AzZ990]

I am familiar with brass bulging in factory handguns that have unsupported chambers, and I have had issues in the past from range brass that I reload sticking in the chamber.

Does anyone have any experience with reloading equipment from any of the following manufactures:


Lee Bulge Buster?

Redding G-RX push thru die?

Magma Case Master?

Case Pro 100?

AUTO DEBULGE 40?


Please tell me about your experience with any or all of the products you have used and how well they work for you?

[ttolliver]

I started with the Lee and then moved to the GRX. Both are push through designs that give you the same result, but the GRX is the better of the two.

With the Lee you position the brass on top of a flat stem with no edges or registration groove or anything to guide you to the center. It's not particularly hard, but it is some effort. And every once in a while you'll be off enter enough to crush an edge. With the GRX the brass sits in a small pocket that removes all effort from centering the brass.

That's all I can contribute.

Good luck!

[DougM]

The Lee Bulge Buster is all that I have used but I'm content with that. I'll have to admit that ttolliver is correct about positioning the case correctly to get it to enter the die but I've rarely had an issue with that. Once you get in the routine, it goes pretty quick. I'm using an old Pacific single stage that I've dedicated to this task and can crank about 15 - 20 a minute through the die and that isn't rushing it. One thing I found to help immensely is to lube the cases. While the dies are carbide, there is still a lot of resistance and just a little bit of lube really makes a difference.

I resize all my cases even though my barrel is fully supported. I'm really cautious about any visually noticeable bulged cases and will toss any that have smiles on them. Not worth the risk.

[peterthefish]

What type of press / sizing die are you doing your reloading on?

[DougM]

I'm doing my reloading on a Hornady LnL using Dillon dies for both 40S&W and 10mm. I "bulge bust" both, by the way, but I don't do other calibers, although some folks disagree with that. Do what works for you.

[AzZ990]

I use a Dillion 1050 and have over +15,000 cases of brass and easily go through 500 on range days. Simply just cannot have bulges in my brass or they stick in my barrel.

Looking for best method to restore the cases without spending hours at a time doing extra work.

What is the easiest and fastest way to remove the bulges in any range brass I pickup?

[DoBell]

Redding G-RX push through, for me. I still use my trusty Lee turret press and the G-RX die works wonders. It resizes and easily removes bulges. If I find a really badly bulged case I'll just throw it away, but with this die, I don't mind resizing and loading a case that has a fairly minor bulge. In my opinion this die is worth the money and will remove any bulge you put through it enough to safely chamber in your barrel.

[jmorris]

I have a few casepro machines and automated this one.

They have two dies that the brass rolls in between and they repair any base, rim or extractor grove damage.

The push through sizers work best with cases like the 45 acp or 40 s&w, only touch the rim on 9mm cases and can't be used with anything that has a rim, like the semi rimmed 38super.

Although I use it for push through sizing bullets vs cases I did throw this automated single stage push through sizer together for about $6200 less than a case master.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01zbImsdkbg

Not sure what the auto debulge 40 is doing but it only works with 40 and 45 acp, so like the push through sizers, that's a deal breaker for me.

[longbeard]

I'm battling similar issues and I'm seeing where many people are using the undersized U die with good results. It just replaces the station one resizer.

[TDA]

I use the bulge buster.

The trick is to start the case mouth up into the die while holding it with your fingers and then bring the ram up to meet it and push it through.

Placing the case on the ram and then trying to get it to start into the die is a waste of time.

[Echd]

I use the bulge buster.

The trick is to start the case mouth up into the die while holding it with your fingers and then bring the ram up to meet it and push it through.

Placing the case on the ram and then trying to get it to start into the die is a waste of time.

That is what I do and it is pretty quick.

Is there a reason why lee discourages placing the brass upside down on the punch?

[JohnSch]

I use the bulge buster.

The trick is to start the case mouth up into the die while holding it with your fingers and then bring the ram up to meet it and push it through.

Placing the case on the ram and then trying to get it to start into the die is a waste of time.

That is what I do and it is pretty quick.

Is there a reason why lee discourages placing the brass upside down on the punch?

The reason I've heard is that if you place them upside down, the punch doesn't push them up high enough to clear the die, and then the next case is doing the pushing, and could end up deforming the mouth of the case above it. Don't own one though so I can't vouch for this personally, but it sounds plausible.

[Echd]

Makes sense.

It's really easy to do as TDA suggested though, so there is no real reason to do otherwise. Just make sure you put the case "in" the die, then raise the ram.

[NFLcavediver]

I can't speak about other methods, but the G/rx die works for me I have the bottle adapter and use a 2 liter bottle on it and just fill it up. It does what it's supposed to do.

[jcc7x7]

Redding G-rx

[ltdmstr]

Case Pro w/Dillon case feeder.

[Blacksamwell]

I was using the Lee bulge buster with good results and was happy with it.

Then I acquired one of the Lee undersized sizing dies. It works so well that my bulge buster has become obsolete and sits in a drawer unused. I much prefer the U-die approach as it eliminates an extra processing step. YMMV.

[Aric]

I started with a bulge buster. I use a case pro now. I can process brass fast, easier and better with the case pro.