Jeff686 Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 I just got a caliber conversion for my SDB. I started loading NEW armscor 38 super rimless brass this evening. One out of every five won't fit in the shell plate. It seems that the rim is too thick. Anyone else have this problem? I'm going to call Dillon in the AM. I hope they don't say, "buy Starline". I've got 2.5K of this armscor stuff. I was thinking about deburring and smoothing out the shell plate, hoping that would allow all the brass to work. However, I'm hesitant about making it too loose. All my other shell plates and mixed brass work fine (45ACP, 9mm, 357 Mag). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansy Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Did you get a 38 Super Comp shellplate or the 38 Super? (the 38SC actually used a 223 shellplate) I did have some that were too thick for my 650 and 1050 press, I also discover loose primers (when brand new) maybee 10 per 200 rounds...on the first loading a bunch crack on the first fire.....but after the first time around the brass hold up fine....I use starline exclusively now. What I got left of Amscor my wife is using it at big match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 On the Square Deal, if you are using 38 Super Comp, you need the 380 shell plate. If you have the 380 plate and the brass will not go in, then the brass is probably regular 38 super. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff686 Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Well, I ordered the super comp. I assume it is the correct plate. I have not had any loose primers yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Well, I ordered the super comp. I assume it is the correct plate.I have not had any loose primers yet. There was a bad batch of brass several years ago. They have their act together and you can use the brass w/o worry. As far as brass not going in to the shellplate, if it won't go in the 38 super, it sure will not go in the 38 supercomp one. More importantly, if it will not go in the shellplate, chances are it will hang up on the extractor on the gun and cause all kinds of trouble. Using the smaller shellplate is the best way to make sure none of the regular 38 super brass sneaks in. If the brass is new and won't go in, keep it separate, call the people you bought it from and say that the regular 38 super got mixed in and ask for repalcement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff686 Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Well, I ordered the super comp. I assume it is the correct plate.I have not had any loose primers yet. There was a bad batch of brass several years ago. They have their act together and you can use the brass w/o worry. As far as brass not going in to the shellplate, if it won't go in the 38 super, it sure will not go in the 38 supercomp one. More importantly, if it will not go in the shellplate, chances are it will hang up on the extractor on the gun and cause all kinds of trouble. Using the smaller shellplate is the best way to make sure none of the regular 38 super brass sneaks in. If the brass is new and won't go in, keep it separate, call the people you bought it from and say that the regular 38 super got mixed in and ask for repalcement. Maybe I'm confused, or maybe I didn't explain myself well enough. The brass is all marked AP 38 SUPER RL, which is Armscor's label for rimless 38 super. I called Dillon and confirmed that the shell plate is for 38 super rimless (aka supercomp). Isn't the difference between 38 super and supercomp the diameter of the rim? In regular 38 super, the rim is a larger diameter than the rest of the case, but in 38 supercomp, the rim is the same diameter as the case. That's why when you stack the rimless in the magazines, they don't tend to catch on each other or make a curved pattern in the magazine. From my perspective, 38 supercomp still has a rim, just a smaller diameter. If I'm wrong about this, someone correct me, please. My problem is not the rim diameter. They all have about the same diameter. My problem is the tickness of the rim. Some of the brass slides right into the shell plate, some is tight, and some doesn't even go in. I don't have a mixed batch of rim/rimless, I have a batch with loose tolerances on rim thickness. I took a piece of brass and some valve polishing compound and ran it around in the shell plate. I think it smoothed out the burs and tool marks some. The 'snug' brass now slides in without too much effort. However, all that not withstanding, I've started sorting the brass, using the shell plate as a gauge. The only thing that I need to know now is if Amrscor is always like this, or do I have a bad batch? If I have to cull this much brass, it will be cheaper to switch to starline, if it is 100% good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 38 Supercomp has a smaller diameter extractor groove compared to 38 super. It is more than just a smaller rim. If they just turned down the rim, the extractor would have less to hold on to. That is why a regular 38 super case will not fit the 223 / 380 shell plate but the 38 supercomp will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff686 Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 38 Supercomp has a smaller diameter extractor groove compared to 38 super. It is more than just a smaller rim. If they just turned down the rim, the extractor would have less to hold on to. That is why a regular 38 super case will not fit the 223 / 380 shell plate but the 38 supercomp will. THAT I didn't know. Thanks. Of course, it doesn't help my situation... I guess I'll just have to sort all my brass (just once). Next time... Starline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 38 Supercomp has a smaller diameter extractor groove compared to 38 super. It is more than just a smaller rim. If they just turned down the rim, the extractor would have less to hold on to. That is why a regular 38 super case will not fit the 223 / 380 shell plate but the 38 supercomp will. THAT I didn't know. Thanks. Of course, it doesn't help my situation... I guess I'll just have to sort all my brass (just once). Next time... Starline. I had either the same problem or one very similar using the proper 38SC shell plate and brand new Starline 38SC brass. I took the Dremel to the shell plate and polished it a bit here and there and the problem went away...maybe ten minutes worth of work. It was pretty annoying at first! Interesting thing is that it didn't happend with Starline nickel 38SC...only the standard brass 38SC. Aside from that the Starline brass is better than the Armsor stuff from everything I've heard and read about it. R, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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