.40 EGW-U die too small?

[DarthMuffin]

I buy a lot of (almost exclusively) once-fired .40 brass for my loads, and most of it has been "Glocked". After reading about the EGW Undersized die here I thought it sounded like a good idea and a reasonable precaution, even though my USP has never had a problem yet with any of my reloads (a couple thousand using Hornady dies).

What I found is that the rounds with the EGW U die come out a little undersized, even slightly hourglass shaped. I measured a bunch of cases and found the measurements to be pretty consistent. Which of the two scenarios do you think is preferable?

			EGW-U  Hornady
Crimp	   .420   .420
Mid		 .415   .420
Base		.420   .423

[shooting for M]

You miht not have much of a problem with a USP. We are using USP/P2000 once fired brass. I've neer really worked with either but some of the results guys are getting without the u-die are almost like a belted magnum case.

Jason

[yoshidaex]

i would stick with the "U" die. less chance of bullet set back with the EGW die.

[G-ManBart]

The hourglass shape is desirable....no chance of bullet setback and they'll chamber perfectly. I get as much once-fired .40 Win brass as I want and it's all been Glocked...heck, it's sometimes still warm when I'm picking it up:) I run them through an EGW U-die and always get the hourglass shape when they're done. I have never had one of them fail to feed/chamber. The one thing you may have to do is adjust the powder drop/case bell a bit so that the bullet won't fall out when you're ready to seat them.

[blkbrd]

I also polish the powder funnel / expander down a couple of thousandths makes the machine work smother.

A tight bullet is a happy bullet. The hourglass shape is good, with a tight bullet you get a better powder burn and better consistency from mixed brass.

[DarthMuffin]

That's good to know about the hourglass shape being a "good thing", thanks everyone for the info. I believe I'll keep using the U die.

[pjb45]

You probably wont have any problems with the HK. However, when you move to a tighter chambered gun without the EGW you will definitely run into problems because of the bulge case.

I also use a Lee FCD. These two items have totally removed any problems associated with reloading .40 in a tight chambered Nowlin barrel.

[Kingman]

HK's seem to run just about anything through them without a hitch.

I run square deals and sometimes some of the glock cases don't make it through my pre screening process. The EGW die would take care of that problem. Maybe time to run a 650 or 1050 in the future.

[DarthMuffin]

I agree about my HK, it's never had a problem with ANY ammo that I've ever thrown at it. However, my wife is going to start shooting USPSA too using my CZ-75b (which I think is now HER gun, she likes it that much), which might be a different story. I also have an income-challenged good friend who shoots an XD and I frequently toss some of my reloads his way. I'd like my ammo specs as close to industry standards as possible since I use it in multiple guns.

I use the Hornady taper crimp die (LNL-AP press) too. I had a lee FCD on an older press and the Hornady taper crimp works just as well.

Edited September 15, 2007 by DarthMuffin

[Tokarev]

If you're concerned about the "U" die being too small, try a standard Lee sizing die. It'll get the bulge out of the most stubborn cases and should leave your brass about .001" larger than the EGW die.

[yoshidaex]

Tokarev,

I've been told the Lee and EGW die will size brass the same. The only difference is the EGW will size further down the case.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: I measured both dies and the EGW "U" is 0.002" smaller than the Lee. The radius is smaller on the EGW so it will size the brass further down. Thanks, Eric

[Carlos]

I'd stick with the U-die & the hour-glass shape it creates; makes possibility of set-back almost impossible (and set-back results in case head separation - very very unpleasant).

[DarthMuffin]

My EGW die came in a Lee box with Lee instructions. My guess is that EGW has Lee make them.

I had to adjust the expander on my powder drop (using Hornady's powder-through-expander built-in) to put a hair more of a bell on the case to reliably get the bullets in without scraping off the plating (Rainiers), and then readjusted the taper crip die to .420-.421, enough so that a pulled bullet just barely doesn't show any signs of deformation from the crimp.

I fired some of the EGW-U created rounds yesterday at a match. Nothing like trial-by-fire No problems. I think I'll be sticking with it.

I am concerned that the extra amount of resizing and flaring will shorten the life of my brass, but I'll keep an eye on it. Generally my brass gets lost before it wears out

[ChrisStock]

I am concerned that the extra amount of resizing and flaring will shorten the life of my brass, but I'll keep an eye on it. Generally my brass gets lost before it wears out

Like any metal, expansion and contraction will wear it out to the point of failure. OTOH, the Lee/EGW die was an absolute miracle for me. I was able to keep all of my 1X fired glocked brass to shoot another day. It will be obvious during normal inspection when loading whether it's worn out or not.