EGW U-Die

[JimInFL]

Just another U-die observation.

When I load minor 9 for my son, I use this die. I put almost NO bell on the case in powder station. I use 147gr Zeros which have the back/bottom (what's the right way to describe that part of the bullet?) slightly undersize from the rest of the bullet for about 1/16". When I set the bullet in, it is actually a snug, slip fit in the case, up to that 1/16 point. Perfect fit to stand up straight. Then, after the seating die sets it, my FCD die barely, if at all, even touches it. Great setup. Right at .375-.376 depending on the brass.

JimInFL

[Lumpy McSoo]

Lumpy,

You might be describing a crimp problem. What do you use and how is it set up?

Jim

Jim,

I am using a Lee Factory Crimp Die. I have it turned about 3/4 of a turn down after making contact. The set up works for all of my barrels except for my Bar-Sto's. Could be a crimp of a slightly canted bullet. With most of these, just out of curiosity, with the gun disassembled and the Bar-Sto barrel in my hand, the ones that don't quite fit right bullet first go right down to the bottom of the chamber. Maybe this is more of a bullet seating issue. I have the Redding Pro Competition Seating die. All of these are in the Dillon 650. The U die is currently in my single stage press and I was resizing on single stage and case inspecting and then putting them in the Dillon.

The more I think about it, it does seem to sound like a seating or crimp issue, possibly?? Everything still fits in Dillon Case Gauge and goes in all my other barrels, just not the Bar-Sto. Actually, I may be belling the case too much. I'll bell a little less and see what happens.

Thanks, Lumpy

Edited September 19, 2008 by Lumpy McSoo

[Jman]

Lumpy,

A couple things you might look at if you haven't already. Thinking your FCD needs to be backed off some. 1/8 of a turn wrong on them will result in problems with different barrel and bullet combinations. Found myself chasing the proper crimp too. Replaced the FCD with Dillon's taper crimp die and all I can say is day and night. Leaves a nice crimp without crushing the whole round. They drop into my EGW case gauge which is REALLY tight, perfectly. I still have a FCD in my 9mm setup and have no intention of replacing it. If it ain't broke...you know. The .40 was a different story. FWIW.

Jim

[PhotoRecon]

I checked out the EGW website but would like to see what the mouth of the U-die looks like. Is it like a Dillon sizing die only the measurements are different? Does anyone have a picture of the base of the die they could post? Thanks.

Regards...

[carlosa]

This u die is kicking my ass with 180gr bear creek bullets..

All my rounds are seating crooked..

Only 1/5 are passing the chamber test..

I have to mention that my Sti barrel is really tight..

[noylj]

If your bullets are going in cocked, check the case ID after expanding (and don't just use a case mouth flaring stem, but a real expander stem). If your bullets are 0.400" diameter, the expander stem should be expanding the case ID to 0.398-0.399". Any smaller, and the bullet will push the case out where the case wall is thinnest. The expander is a very critical item for accurate ammunition.

Also, if you are using several-times fired cases, they have work hardened and will spring back down. You will probably need a larger expander stem to get the case ID to the correct dimension.

One should track the case dimensions through the various stages of the reloading cycle to verify that dimensions are going up and down as appropriate.

[carlosa]

If your bullets are going in cocked, check the case ID after expanding (and don't just use a case mouth flaring stem, but a real expander stem). If your bullets are 0.400" diameter, the expander stem should be expanding the case ID to 0.398-0.399". Any smaller, and the bullet will push the case out where the case wall is thinnest. The expander is a very critical item for accurate ammunition.

Also, if you are using several-times fired cases, they have work hardened and will spring back down. You will probably need a larger expander stem to get the case ID to the correct dimension.

One should track the case dimensions through the various stages of the reloading cycle to verify that dimensions are going up and down as appropriate.

Thank you for your feed back..

The bear creek bullets are .401 in diameter I'm guessing the undersized lee die might be over shrinking the case.. I'll measure the inside diameter of my brass and see where it's at.

Thanks agein for the info.

[carlosa]

Id after resize with u-die is .393

od of the case mouth after belling is .425

Id of the case at the stem after belling is .394

What do you think?

[noylj]

Carlosa: My experience says that you need a larger expander plug to get the case ID up to at least 0.399".

Lee is your best bet as they are very reasonable for their custom services. Take your expander OD and case ID (after expanding) and add the amount to get up to the proper dimension.

You "want" the round to come out "coke bottle" or "wasp waisted" in appearance. This will work to prevent bullet set back (though with the tight sizing from the U-die, bullet set-back is probably limited to the distance the expander plug opens up the case ID. In your case, you need an expander plug that is 0.005-0.006" larger in OD.

If you have any R.P. brass, you can try it in your present set-up. R.P. brass frequently has relatively thin case walls and it might handle the bullet being seated in a too small case ID better.

Also, you can use a Lee Factory Crimp Die to remove the case bulge. However, while it will produce rounds that chamber easily, it would, in your case, probably swage the bullet down and accuracy would decrease and leading would increase.

[ckfarris]

I tried the EGW U-die for awhile and found it was ok, I just couldn't get over the way my finished rounds kind of looked bottlenecked from the U-die. So instead, I now run all of my brass through a Lee Bulge Buster on a Rock Chucker single stage press. It takes about 15-20 minutes to do 200 pieces of brass and then I proceed to load with the standard resizer die. The Bulge Buster is inexpensive and really works well. I have had no problems doing this at all.

[Joe D]

IMO the U-die is a total waste of money and arm strength. I have been using a plain old Lee carbide sizing die for years. I have never had any feed issues with 9mm, .40 and .45. Yes it even sizes fired 9mm Major cases with ease.

[Deputy1199]

Not only do I use an EGW undersize die but I filed down the shell holder so that .40 brass cases are pushed higher into the die, eliminating any bulging. Reloading used Glock brass is no longer a problem.

Edited August 8, 2011 by Deputy1199

[Warhammer4k]

I just use the regular Lee carbide sizing die. No problems with Glock bulge. IMO the EGW/U die sizes the case too much.

Agreed. I'm approaching this from a different place from most, as I originally bought a U-die to help with my 10mm reloading.

What I found is that the U-die doesn't size far enough down the case to "un-Glock" 10mm brass. Even with the U-die touching the shell plate on my Hornady Lock 'n' Load AP, there is still a length of brass that does not get (under)sized. Same deal on my Rockchucker. Must be something fundamentally different about the "Glock bulge" on .40 S&W brass.

With some "Glocked" 10mm brass, the U-die created an ugly "shelf" effect in the location described above. I am slowly filtering these cases out of my brass supply. They often will not fully enter a tighter-than-usual chamber, such as the chamber of the Lone Wolf barrel I use with my Glock 20.

Not only that, but I am concerned that the extreme working of the brass in that location makes these cases unsafe for further use.

As for .40 S&W, I have not found it necessary to use the U-die. Most of my .40 S&W brass has never been Glocked. The rest has been sufficiently reformed with a standard size die plus Lee factory crimp die.

Hope that made sense. My purpose is not to poo-poo the results some have had with the U-die, just to note that it isn't a cure-all.

[raz-0]

This u die is kicking my ass with 180gr bear creek bullets..

All my rounds are seating crooked..

Only 1/5 are passing the chamber test..

I have to mention that my Sti barrel is really tight..

Are you using a lee FCD for your crimp? I was using a U-die and FCD, and was losing about 10% of my ammo on the case gage, and was experiencing extraction problems in a really tight barrel. added push tthrough sizing, and that dropped it to about 5% but STILL had probelms. Swapped the FCD for a dillon taper crimp, and no more slightly tilted bullets causing them to bind in the case gage.

[taylorguns]

Without a doubt if you are shooting a EAA gun. Well worth the 30 dollars and then 10 minutes to either cut the end off or drill the threads out and use it as a push though die.

Edited September 30, 2011 by taylorguns

[woodrow]

I too have been using lee carbide dies and have a fine time sizing. I picked up the egw u die out of curiosity and it didn't make anything better than the regular die did. So what did 35bucks, extra stress on brass and extra effort to size get me?.... Got a cool egw pen out of it haaha.

[woodrow]

I think the buldge buster is the way to go, gonna give that a run next.

[AzZ990]

Never used an U die, but my AUTO DEBULGE 40 works great!

[darkvibe]

Never used an U die, but my AUTO DEBULGE 40 works great!

That looks pretty awesome. Not cheap though.

[RiggerJJ]

Never used an U die, but my AUTO DEBULGE 40 works great!

And you may be voiolating forum rules...

[Austings]

I Picked Up the Redding g-rx die, run the cases through my single stage and the normal process on the 650.