.45 ACP case adjustment

[dahermit]

Way back in the "old days" when the .45 ACP was the target handgun (before being dropped for the 9MM by the military), it was known that .45 ACP cases would fail to enter the shell holder due to the rims (yeah, I know it is "rimless"), growing too large due to being reloaded many times.

Back in those days, we would turn a device that would present the cases backwards into the standard .45 ACP sizing die and squeeze the rims back down as to fit the standard shell holder.

This is what that device looks like:

Here is what it looks like (sorry for the blurriness), mounted in a RCBS Jr. press with a casing positioned on it to be pushed (slightly), into the sizing die.

For some reason, I never see any reference to .45 ACP cases growing as to not fit in their shell holder anymore. Don't know why.

 

[44 AMP]

it was known that .45 ACP cases would fail to enter the shell holder due to the rims (yeah, I know it is "rimless"), growing too large due to being reloaded many times.

Interesting, I began loading .45acp in the early 70s, and the issue of cases not going into the shellholder because of growth of the rim was not known to me. This is, in fact, the first time I've ever heard of it!

Can't begin to tell you how many tens of thousands of rounds I've made in the half century since, other than tens of thousands is probably on the low side...

Never had any issue with .45acp not going into the shell holder due to rim size or thickness. Never. Not once. Not one single case.

I've used (and still have) brass from the 60s, and even earlier. Even got a couple cases from 1918.

BENT rims have occasionally been found though its rare but never ones too large in diameter or too thick to go into my Lyman shellholder or the RCBS one I also use these days..

 

[GlenF]

That type device would be the fix for many semi-auto cases when distorted due to extractor burrs.

Great idea. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[dahermit]

Interesting, I began loading .45acp in the early 70s, and the issue of cases not going into the shellholder because of growth of the rim was not known to me. This is, in fact, the first time I've ever heard of it!

Can't begin to tell you how many tens of thousands of rounds I've made in the half century since, other than tens of thousands is probably on the low side...

Never had any issue with .45acp not going into the shell holder due to rim size or thickness. Never. Not once. Not one single case.

I've used (and still have) brass from the 60s, and even earlier. Even got a couple cases from 1918.

BENT rims have occasionally been found though its rare but never ones too large in diameter or too thick to go into my Lyman shellholder or the RCBS one I also use these days..

Note: It had naught to do with the age of the case, it had to do with the number of firing/reloading cycles. Some of my cases back in the old days (late sixties, early seventies), were shot/reloaded so many times that the head stamps were all but unreadable.

The device was not of my invention... such was first made by some gun magazine author as a remedy for the growing rims. It is a mystery to me why no one seems to be aware of that problem nowadays.

 

[dahermit]

That type device would be the fix for many semi-auto cases when distorted due to extractor burrs.

Great idea. Thanks for sharing it.

If I were to make that device again, I would make a tighter fit between the inside of the case wall and the diameter of the device to enable a better aligned presentation to the sizing die.

 

[Unclenick]

You can buy the solution now. Get a Lee 45 Auto Carbide Factory Crimp Die and their Bulge Buster adapter, and away you go.

 

[dahermit]

You can buy the solution now. Get a Lee 45 Auto Carbide Factory Crimp Die and their Bulge Buster adapter, and away you go.

Nope... A bulge in the case is not what my post refers to. What I am posting about is that from many, many firing/reloading cycles, the diameter of the rim itself would no longer allow the cases to fit into the standard .45 ACP shell holder.

 

[Unclenick]

Dahermit,

You are confusing the stated purpose of the Bulge Buster with how it actually works. The way it works is the whole case, including the rim, passes through a maximum allowed OD carbide sizing ring and is collected in the red container above the die. This is done by removing the crimp ring and crimp setting plug from the CFCD and screwing the red container onto it and then providing a ram that pops into the shell holder slot that pushes cases all the way up and through it the die. So, the rim will be included in the sizing action, too. It won't be as small as running it into a resizing die ring, but it will force it to be small enough to chamber.

 

[Mike38]

I reload .45acp until the case splits or I loose them. Never have I had a problem with enlarged rims.