Proper use of 1050 station #3

[Ryan67]

12 hours ago, kmc said:

I too use a cutaway die to set my swager--both the DP holddown and the swager underneath. I'm running this with 40 and had the holddown die set to the bottom of the case and the swager set appropriately in the primer pocket. This positioning causes the brass to expand such that it will not drop into the hundo after station 3. It isn't the slight bell that stops it, it is the expansion toward the bottom of the case that does won't go into the Hundo. My crimp die is a combo seat/crimp so I can run a powder check. It takes the top bell/expansion out without issue but does not remove it toward the bottom of the shell. If I set the combo die up to go further toward the shellplate, it crimps too tightly at the top. I know the combo dies are tricky to set and have followed the suggested procedure as far as I know.

That makes sense I see what you're saying now. I don't load 40 on a 1050/1100 so don't know how deep the hold down expands. If you don't want to change your seating/crimp setup I would either loosen both the swage rod and remove hold down or get a thinner hold down rod like suggested that doesn't flare. 40 shouldn't be crimped so doesn't need the swage if you wanted to just forgo that step though.

[jejb]

19 hours ago, Boomstick303 said:

The coke bottle effect also does not sit well with my OCD at all.   

OCD is about the only reason I can see for worrying about any coke bottle shape. But whatever floats your boat. If they pass my hundo gauge, they are 100% reliable in all of my guns. And that's the bottom line for me. Not putting the Redding die down at all. I'm sure it's great. All I know is the Lee U-Die eliminated almost all of my Hundo gauge failures. 

[kmc]

21 hours ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

The coke bottle effect also does not sit well with my OCD at all.   

Ok, I guess I'll have to admit it--my OCD problem is what causes me to notice and care!

[Boomstick303]

3 hours ago, jejb said:

All I know is the Lee U-Die eliminated almost all of my Hundo gauge failures. 

 

I do not doubt this at all.  I am curious though.  I have never used a U die of any sort.  Only Dillon and Redding resizing dies, and have had few failures when it comes to using the hundo gage.  Does the U die remove bulges at the bottom of the casing.  That bulge created by unsupported barrels?

[Sarge]

4 minutes ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

I do not doubt this at all.  I am curious though.  I have never used a U die of any sort.  Only Dillon and Redding resizing dies, and have had few failures when it comes to using the hundo gage.  Does the U die remove bulges at the bottom of the casing.  That bulge created by unsupported barrels?

Mostly yes. UDIE stands for undersized die. So it sizes slightly smaller. It is also ground off more at the bottom so it sizes lower. AND regardless of what any instructions might say you want the die to just kiss the shell plate.

[ltdmstr]

15 hours ago, jejb said:

OCD is about the only reason I can see for worrying about any coke bottle shape. But whatever floats your boat. If they pass my hundo gauge, they are 100% reliable in all of my guns. And that's the bottom line for me. Not putting the Redding die down at all. I'm sure it's great. All I know is the Lee U-Die eliminated almost all of my Hundo gauge failures. 

 

I tend to load a couple thousand rounds at a time on my 1050s and the excess sizing from a U-die is very noticeable when cranking by hand.  And it significantly reduces the number of rounds I can load before I have to call it a day.   I use a Redding dual ring for .40 and standard carbide for 9 and 45.  And I get 100% pass rate on all those as well.  While the u-die does solve the setback and case gage problems many people encounter, it does so by overcorrecting and therefore isn't exactly an optimal solution.  For those who want to use a u-die, that's fine, but there are better alternatives out there.

Edited December 30, 2021 by ltdmstr

[Boomstick303]

2 hours ago, ltdmstr said:

but there are better alternatives out there

 

I completely agree. Undersizes Dies are overkill in my opinion. Redding’s have been great for me. 

[jejb]

8 hours ago, ltdmstr said:

 

I tend to load a couple thousand rounds at a time on my 1050s and the excess sizing from a U-die is very noticeable when cranking by hand.  And it significantly reduces the number of rounds I can load before I have to call it a day.   

As I mentioned above, I use 2 sizing dies in my 1100. The Lee U die is the 2nd one, in station 3, as the title of this thread suggests. I don't notice any increase in effort required doing it that way. But I can believe it would have an impact if it were your only sizing die. 

[jejb]

21 hours ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

I do not doubt this at all.  I am curious though.  I have never used a U die of any sort.  Only Dillon and Redding resizing dies, and have had few failures when it comes to using the hundo gage.  Does the U die remove bulges at the bottom of the casing.  That bulge created by unsupported barrels?

As Sarge says, it does do that. I am pretty indiscriminate about picking up range brass. If it's 9mm and not that ZQI stepped case crap, I'll use it. Most of the failures I used to see in my Hundo were bottom of the casing issues. Almost entirely gone now. 

[Boomstick303]

4 hours ago, jejb said:

If it's 9mm and not that ZQI stepped case crap, I'll use it. Most of the failures I used to see in my Hundo were bottom of the casing issues. Almost entirely gone now. 

 

I roll size my brass now.  I can see the benefits for Undersize Dies for certain.  Just not needed in my process.

[HOGRIDER]

21 hours ago, ltdmstr said:

 

I tend to load a couple thousand rounds at a time on my 1050s and the excess sizing from a U-die is very noticeable when cranking by hand.  And it significantly reduces the number of rounds I can load before I have to call it a day.   I use a Redding dual ring for .40 and standard carbide for 9 and 45.  And I get 100% pass rate on all those as well.  While the u-die does solve the setback and case gage problems many people encounter, it does so by overcorrecting and therefore isn't exactly an optimal solution.  For those who want to use a u-die, that's fine, but there are better alternatives out there.

Also using Redding Pro TC Sizing die for 9mm and having zero rejected rounds in the case gauge!  FWIW, I am using same headstamp processed, roll sized brass.

 

The U-Die sizes down .003:..........according to Redding, the pro sizer takes them down -.002".

 

 

 

[George16]

1 hour ago, HOGRIDER said:

The U-Die sizes down .003:..........according to Redding, the pro sizer takes them down -.002".

That’s about inline with the measurements I got between the Redding and Lee UDie; .001-.002”  difference between the two dies.

[HOGRIDER]

9 minutes ago, George16 said:

That’s about inline with the measurements I got between the Redding and Lee UDie; .001-.002”  difference between the two dies.

[Sarge]

6 hours ago, HOGRIDER said:

Also using Redding Pro TC Sizing die for 9mm and having zero rejected rounds in the case gauge!  FWIW, I am using same headstamp processed, roll sized brass.

 

The U-Die sizes down .003:..........according to Redding, the pro sizer takes them down -.002".

 

 

 

Isn’t t -.002 undersized?

[kmc]

FWIW, I had finally tuned my 40 setup to run 100%. However, some required pressing in the gauge to pass the Hundo. Based on some ideas above, I replaced my Dillon factory holddown (in station 3) with a second sizing die sans decapper--a Hornady Custom Grade--and my gauge success went to nearly 100%. Problem solved.