.357 loads don’t fit

[nammac]

You know...
The crimp die was a gift. I just set it and got going. But now I wonder if it's ACTUALLY crimping...

That would explain a lot.

I'd work that die on empty cases, get that bell closed up to at least straight. Then work at getting the case crimped against the bullet, once done you should be all set...

 

[crossbow5]

Here is a picture of a 45 Colt and a 357 magnum. Both have roll crimps at the top of the case. The crimp is what holds the bullet in the case while shooting a revolver. These bullets have the crimping groove cast into the bullet. I do the roll crimp as a separate step after the bullet has been seated in the case. Many people do the roll crimp at the time the bullet is seated. With RCBS dies, the die has to be set deep enough in the press to give a little resistance which indicates that the case is being crimped.

 

[ageingstudent]

I stand behind my earlier comment. Cast rounds are typically LARGER than jacketed and plated by just a c*nt hair and adding that on top of brass thickness causes issues.

@Dyjital, now which mark on the tape measure is that???

 

[Member 5605]

@Dyjital, now which mark on the tape measure is that???

The one that makes you floss.

 

[Papercidal]

Revolver cartridges need a roll crimp into the crimp groove in the bullet. Your Dillon crimp die will do just fine but you will want to adjust it down a good bit more if you are used to semi autos it will seem excessive but is the way they are ment to be crimped.

 

[Member 34319]

You know...
The crimp die was a gift. I just set it and got going. But now I wonder if it's ACTUALLY crimping...

That would explain a lot.

Ya after seeing that little gap from zooming in I'm putting a beer on the crimp die not crimping.

Let us know if that was it.

 

[Papercidal]

Dillon crimp dies or any other crimp are pretty easily adjusted just screw it down about a 16th of a turn at a time until the mouth starts to roll over into the crimp groove in the bullet.

 

[Silver Hand]

Clean your gun, set the projectile in the case correctly, the crimp groove on the bullet is there for a reason. Crimp the projectile correctly in that groove. If you haven't slugged your cylinders and are using improperly sized bullets or bullets that are sized for someone else's gun or not sized at all and haven't measured them against your cylinder slugs, you may never know the answer.
If you cant do this use factory bullets one size fits all.

 

[fmiller]

Thanks everyone! I've gotten my rounds to fit. I'm pretty sure the culprit, to this and another problem, was that I had a slight wobble in the entire plate/primer/etc assembly. Tightening a couple screws got things into more or less ship shape.

Thanks!

 

[umrek]

Very anti-climactic!

 

[fmiller]

I know, right?

Just blunt stupidity. Never fails.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It took seven days to figure out. Next time give it an eyeball.
lol

 

[fmiller]

Gosh. Thanks.

 

[DizzyJ]

Tough crowd.

 

[bbbass]

 

[Certaindeaf]

View attachment 509475

ding ding, it's belled
lol

 

[nammac]

View attachment 509475

See what happens when you have a screw loose on your reloading press, you get a dum dum round...

 

[I594 Sucks]

View attachment 507654 I hey

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

My 357 loads won't fit in the cylinder- they go halfway in and get stuck.

Tightening down my crimp die seems to help but I think I'm WAY overdoing it.

Here's a pic - does this look right?
What it doesn't really show is the outline of the bullet is pretty clearly visible in the brass. Any ideas? Too much belling?

You picture makes it look like your inserting the bullet too far into the case, to me.

 

[mignuc]

If none of the above comments solve your problem, which I've run into before myself. Since the mount of the case isn't rolled into the crimping groove I would highly suspect that the problem is that the bullets are seated TOO DEEP. If you have a bullet puller, pull one and see if the mouth of the case hasn't been impressed into the band in front of the crimping groove. The photos look like that's the case.

Another way to check this is to take 20 rounds or more and seat the bullets with zero crimp. You can easily do this just by turning the seating die out about the length of one thread. Normal dies have 14 threads per inch. Then, when they're all seated to the right depth, take the seating stem out of the die and put it all the way down again. If you didn't get the problems when the dies is backed off but do when the die is seated all the way done - problem solved.

What a small bulge in the brass at the bottom of the bullet most likely means that the resizing die is a bit smaller than it should be. If that's the case, it's not a problem, it just looks a bit strange. If the case diameter is the same at the base of the neck as it is further up, on the bullet area, it's not too much crimp. If the bulge is ANY amount larger than the side of the case, then it's too much crimp and the case is buckling.

Now, if the bulge is wider than the case and comes to a circumferential point, that's a problem that puzzled me for several years. I finally realized that I was crimping too hard. When a bullet cannot go further into the case and the press handle still isn't all the way down, something has to give. What gives is the sidewall of the case, right at the base of the bullet. I didn't realize that being seated too deep had anything to do with it because they were on .380 ammo, which uses a taper crimp and so you can't easily see when there's too much crimp. I backed the seating die off - problem solved.

Also, regarding the crimp, if you are shooting full-power loads for a magnum cartridge they must be crimped. Some gunpowders will not burn completely if there is not resistance to the bullet leaving the case. If not done, the results will be some unburned gunpowder, inconsistent velocities and high Standard Deviations. These last two are checked by every chronograph out there. If you're shooting mild loads you probably won't need it. Depends on the individual powder as well as intended velocity.

Best of luck!