Goat259 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Good Evening, On average, out of 100 rounds you reload, how many do not drop in, or fall out of the case gauge? I have noticed it is becoming more Collin than when I first set everything up. I’ll get anywhere from 3-5 per 100. I am reloading in a Dillon 650. 1. Dillon Sizing and de-prime die. 2. Flare and powder drop. 3. Bullet feeder. 4. Dillon Seating Die 5. Lee Carbide Factory die. loading from mixed brass. Someone told me it is the base of the case, as the die may be be going down far enough. Thoughts? Goat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 With my reloads, zero. Not a single one that has not been a split piece of brass. I reload on a 550, mixed range brass, Dillon dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Flip the failing round around and insert them rim first into the case gauge. That will show you where they are failing, adjust or change your process. Nolan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Take a sharpie and color a round that doesn't pass completely. Poke it in and out of your gauge a few times. Look where the sharpie rubbed off. In .40 it's usually fat bases-- rubbed off a bit above the rim, insufficient crimp (rubbed off right on the case mouth) or oblong/oversize bullets (rubbed off on the bullet) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davecoff13 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 I honestly don’t remember ever having one fail the case gauge. Probably done 10 k 40 cal. Nowadays I only randomly check 10 per 100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 take the Dillon seat die out and toss it in the swamp like I did mine... problem will go away. I decided for some reason I needed to upgrade from Lee dies,,, and bought Dillon.. even like you keeping the Lee FCD for last station,, I was getting failure to chamber issues.. Never did figure out why,,, Went back to a Lee seater and problem went away and never returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 42 minutes ago, Davecoff13 said: I honestly don’t remember ever having one fail the case gauge. Probably done 10 k 40 cal. Nowadays I only randomly check 10 per 100 After checking and checking and checking, and never finding a single one....I stopped checking entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat259 Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 So I tried the sharpie trick and it seems to be at the base of the case. I readjusted my crimp die (I screwed it down firmly into the shell plate) and everything seems to be passing. Will update as I reload more to asses if the problem is still there. Thank you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat259 Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 20 hours ago, shred said: Take a sharpie and color a round that doesn't pass completely. Poke it in and out of your gauge a few times. Look where the sharpie rubbed off. In .40 it's usually fat bases-- rubbed off a bit above the rim, insufficient crimp (rubbed off right on the case mouth) or oblong/oversize bullets (rubbed off on the bullet) If it’s in the base, just screw the crimp die down further? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 6 minutes ago, Goat259 said: If it’s in the base, just screw the crimp die down further? If you do that, you'll over crimp the bullet. The sizing die is what needs to go down further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 With the ram all the way down, screw the SIZING die down to the shellplate and tighten the lock rings. Some people grind off the bottom of the sizing die so that it goes further down the case. With Dillon die, they are tapered at the mouth to aid in guiding the case into the die. Remove that taper and the carbide sizing ring can go down further on the case. Secondly, case gauges are usually tighter than the chamber of your gun. Check the rounds in the barrel, if they work in it, then go with that...after all, that's where they will end up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSteel Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 I get less than 1 in 500. The hundo gauge I use is tighter than my chamber so once filled if I have any high I give the gauge a quick tap on my bench mat and they usually all seat. Any that don’t, I pull and inspect. Seldom have to pull any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HesedTech Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 On 1/3/2023 at 8:28 PM, Goat259 said: 1. Dillon Sizing and de-prime die. I found the Lee 40 die sizes better than the Dillon, because it sizes slightly undersize. Also I found the Dillon taper crimp die superior to the Lee in taking out the bell. For your failure rate issue I would recommend switching to the Lee regular or U (undersize) die and I would wager your failure rate would substantially reduce. Just my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Yeah, I had to switch from the Dillon to the EGW/Lee U die for .40 to get reasonable sizing with range pickup brass in my Limited guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 i use lee dies on a 650. I also run all my 40 brass through a bulge-buster die before loading. I got to be pretty picky about case-gauging when I was diagnosing problems with a new limited gun (turned out to be mostly magazines), and I get 0-2 out of a 100 that don't plunk completely down in the gauge. They go all the way to the rim and stop there. I set them in a rejects pile and a few times a year I go shoot the rejects at a practice session and leave the brass. They all run just fine, so I know I'm being pickier than I need to be, but that doesn't bother me. I figure for a match, I may as well control everything I can control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darqusoull13 Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 13 hours ago, Goat259 said: If it’s in the base, just screw the crimp die down further? When I was shooting 40 I had to run all my brass through a push through die to get a decent pass rate. Thankfully I only had to do that for about 2000 total rounds before going back to 9. If you're doing high volume shooting of 40 S&W, 10k a year or so, I would strongly suggest a roll sizer. You'll get all that bulged brass back in shape and the resize on press takes way less effort. I've run the roll sizer for 9mm for a season now and I'll never go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharko Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 Since I started rollsizing zero in the last 20K or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 It all depends on the caliber & gun. In .38 Super, I don’t think I’ve ever had one fail. in .40, I get an occasional case with an overly pregnant Glock bulge that won’t size out all the way. These get broken down and the brass scrapped. I have a lot of grungy 9mm brass that’s been through a couple machine gun chambers. I used to get a lot of case gauge rejects from these. Sometimes as much as 10-12%. It’s usually a slightly deformed rim. Depending on how it looks, they will either go in the practice ammo bag or get broken down for components. I’ve since started sorting by headstamp, plus examining the head prior to loading. It’s tedious, but it can sometimes be done during work-from-home online meetings. But since those are few and far between these days, I have a pretty good supply of cleaned, “ready to be inspected” 9mm brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeti Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 Using all mixed brass. Currently 2 per 300 will not case gauge, but a high percentage of these plunk test fine. I know this will rile some folks, but adding a FCD (properly set) on station 5 has improved this from the previous ~6 per 300. The loads that fail to case gauge get set aside for practice use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat259 Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 Ok. So is the Lee Undersize die a full length sizer? Sorry if it’s obvious, but I don’t know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George16 Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 1 minute ago, Goat259 said: Ok. So is the Lee Undersize die a full length sizer? Sorry if it’s obvious, but I don’t know. Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNshooter Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) GRx push through will solve your brass problems, but you have to do it one by one. A rollsizer is a more efficient solution. You can choose your flavor (and price). I rollsize all 9mm and 40 and rarely have any case issues. Edited January 22, 2023 by MNshooter Autocorrect!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rifleman777 Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Lee Bulge Buster for all my .40 brass solved the problem for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbrussell Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 None; I CasePro all my brass and use a Lee U (undersized) sizing die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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