reloaded 40SW -what did I do wrong?

[Keltyke]

Looks like not enough flare or too much crimp. I don't think the crimp needs to dig into the buillet like that.

[scooterj]

Since you have a separate Factory Crimp die, use the third station only to seat the bullet. There is no need for that much crimp, so back off on the FCD. Case wall tension will prevent bullet movement. A heavy crimp is only necessary for heavy recoiling revolver loads.

[fredj338]

I personnaly do NOT like the LFCD, it can cause accuracy issues w/ some bullet types, mostly soft lead or plated. If you mic the pulled bullet, you'll likely find you have squeezed it down to a smaller size by over crimping, terrible for accuracy. That is waaaaay to much crimp. There should be little to no indentation in the pulled bullet, enough just to remove the flare.
It can all be done in one die or in a progressive or turret, seat w/ one die & crimp w/ the other. If you must use the LFCD, set it so it just removes the flare. That is the cause of your buckled cases.

[Jack the Toad]

Originally Posted by fredj338

The bullet isn't crooked, the case has a kink in it. A cocked bullet would cause a bulge on one side, but look carefully at the case mouth, it's slightly rolled over, that & the kink is tellng me too much crimp. If JRM posts a pulled bullet, that will be the telling factor. I see you are over sees, thanks for you service.

That is what it looks like to me too. I've had it happen to .41's back when I first started reloading.

[Keltyke]

I use the bullet seating die to crimp, too. Run the die down until it just touches the rim of the case, then check a couple of rounds. Adjust the thumb knob for OAL as needed. I usually run the die down about another 1/16-1/8 turn and that does it, but you may want more or less. Remember, moving the die for crimp also changes the OAL so readjust that.

I've also seen this from too-little flare. The bullet will actually mash the case instead of sliding into it. If you're having trouble placing the bullet on the case and it staying in place without falling sideways, you need more flare.

Also, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU'RE DOING - you should have caught that defect on the first couple of rounds and STOPPED right there. You should never have loaded 50+ rounds that looked like that. As someone else mentioned, even a newb knows what a correct round should look like, and crumpled ain't it.

Reloading is a lot of fun, but you gotta watch what you're doing or you can get hurt or damage a gun.

Good luck!

[XD45 Al]

Don't know if this helps but I recently had a 38 spl come out like that. I load 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP with a very light crimp but when I set up my 38 spl dies last week to roll crimp, I got one like that. When I lowered my seating die in hopes to increase the roll crimp, it crushed the case down causing an identically looking case like the pic you took.

[JRM]

Hi Gents,

Thank you all for your advice and comments. I've set the seat/crimp die to 'seat-only', and I'm using the FCD to just remove the bell/flair and not put any crimp into it. Now they look great! Thank you for setting me straight and reminding me to not rush the process and to inspect each round.

Here's a follow up question:

What's the deal when 3 different manuals conflict with minimum and maximum load numbers?
Looking at 180 grain XTP bullet with HS-6 powder:
The 2011 Hodgdon manual) listed "6.1 min and 6.9 max".
The Lyman manual showed it as "6.9 min. to 8.0 max."
The Speer manual shows "7.3 min to 8.2 max."
All used a 4" barrel with 1-16" twist.

That's an overall range from 6.1 to 8.2.

So which manual do I follow? To play it safe, I went with the lowest range as shown in the Hodgdon manual. Dare I dabble in the range that Speer listed?

Yesterday I put 12 rounds loaded at 6.3 down the range. The group was nothing to write home about. Next 12 were loaded at 6.8 and the group improved significantly. But I'd like to know which manual correctly lists the max load that I should not exceed.

Any advice or recommendations?

Thank you all once again!

[fredj338]

Originally Posted by JRM

Hi Gents,

Here's a follow up question:

What's the deal when 3 different manuals conflict with minimum and maximum load numbers?
Looking at 180 grain XTP bullet with HS-6 powder:
The 2011 Hodgdon manual) listed "6.1 min and 6.9 max".
The Lyman manual showed it as "6.9 min. to 8.0 max."
The Speer manual shows "7.3 min to 8.2 max."
All used a 4" barrel with 1-16" twist.

That's an overall range from 6.1 to 8.2.

So which manual do I follow? To play it safe, I went with the lowest range as shown in the Hodgdon manual. Dare I dabble in the range that Speer listed?

Yesterday I put 12 rounds loaded at 6.3 down the range. The group was nothing to write home about. Next 12 were loaded at 6.8 and the group improved significantly. But I'd like to know which manual correctly lists the max load that I should not exceed.

Any advice or recommendations?

Thank you all once again!

Unless you are using the EXACT components, you aren't going to get identical results. A 180gr XTP is not a Sierra is not a Speer GD, is not a Win bulk FMJ, etc. So you need to match the bullet used as closely as possible to the one in the data.
When I work off the book, being a bullet not available in any manual, then I use average middle data & load to the longest OAL possible. Load no mor ethan 10rds, then up 0.1gr & down 0.1gr. That is about all you need to make ammo that goes bang & is reliable. You can always work the load up to average max, but always work in 0.1gr increments for powders faster than say Longshot. For slower powders, yo ucan work in 0.2gr increments, always watching for pressure signs.

[JRM]

Thank you again, Fred.
I appreciate everyone's advice.

[Fullclip]

Good post JRN. Had some questions about crimping myself.