.500 S&W crimp problem

[deanadell]

OK folks...bear with me a minute, this is going to be long winded:

Taking in mind I'm still pretty much a "Newbie" at this, and most of my experience is loading .38 Spl......

I recently loaded 50 rounds for my .500 S&W Mag. Brand new Brass, Lil Gun powder, Speer Unicor 350 gr. jacketed flatnose. This was my first attempt at this caliber, using a brand new Lee Carbide 3-die set in my single stage Challenger press. I checked all 50 rounds of brass for length with digital calipers prior to priming and sizing, and all rounds were loaded to the exact same OAL.

At the range last week, I had a handfull of rounds that would not chamber in the cylinder.

This has got to be an issue of insufficent crimp? Correct?

NOw......according to the Lee Die directions, when using the bullet seating die I was to thread it into the press until it touched the ram, then back it out 3 full turns before tightening the locking ring. I followed these directions to the letter.

So....am I correct in my thinking that if I put this die back in the press, only back it out 2 full turns instead of three, then back out the bullet seater so it doesn;t reseat these bullets deeper, I should be able to run these rounds back through the die and achieve a tigher crimp? Therefore being able to fit them into the cylinder?


Or am I completely wrong?

 

[rwilson452]

IF you crimp too much you can buldge the case and they will not chamber.

 

[mrawesome22]

What would not chambering have to do with the crimp? Did you size the brass?

 

[deanadell]

yes....all brass was run through the sizer and expander die

 

[mrawesome22]

Then I think rwilson is probably right on. Too much crimp.

 

[deanadell]

OK....too much crimp......

What do I do now? Pull these bullets, dump the powder and start again?

 

[mrawesome22]

Not sure. You would think that pulling bullets out of a roll crimp would damage the bullet. I'm not sure though. I've never had to pull bullets yet. Surely someone on here has had to pull roll crimped bullets?

Just curious, will the cartridges go in the cylinder at all? Or do they go part way in and stop?

 

[kingudaroad]

I've done the same thing before with 44 mag. Too much crimp left a bulge in the case. I have not pulled mine yet but if you get one of those kinetic bullet pullers, you should be able to at least save the brass as it will still resize.

 

[James A. Mullins]

To check the crimp hold a ruler against the side of the case. This will clearly show any bulges in the crimp, or if you didn't crimp enough. You can elimanate ever having a problem by buying a Lee taper crimp die. You didn't say, but are you trying to seat and crimp at the same time? The best way to crimp is seperate from seating. I doubt any reloaders out there that didn't have some problems reloading. Good luck.
James

 

[deanadell]

Mr Awesome:

Won;t go into the cylinder at all.....

James:

Thanks for the info.


I put the box back on the shelf and haven;t even had time to look at them.....I'll check them out this weekend and see if I can figure out what I did wrong.

 

[The Real Wyatt]

The Lee Factory Criimp Die will prevent this from happening. I use a FCD for all my reloads requiring a roll crimp.

 

[ECLIPSE45ACP]

Lee FCD should cure your problems. Works like a charm on my 357 loads.

 

[amamnn]

Another vote for the LFC as the handgun version does post size your bullet to avoid precisely the problem you're having. I've gone over to the separate step for crimping camp long ago for better control of the process. Once you do that, overcrimping is not so much of an issue.
If you want the best possible control over the roll crimping process, I don't think you can beat the Redding profile crimper. I've gone to using that one for all my magnum calibers.


http://www.redding-reloading.com/pages/crimpdies.html

 

[Namerifrats]

Had a similar problem myself with 500 S&W. Only prob with the FCD is they don't make one that I can find that's for the 500 S&W

 

[rebelcop121]

500 S&W Crimp problems

First off they're right on both accounts. The Lee Factory Crimp dies are great and yes, they don't make one for anything bigger than the 480, because their machines aren't set large enough. On Lee die, back off three and quarter turns, then slowly screw in top guage until bullet is seated at correct C.O.A.L. This sets the bullet without crimp. Afterwards, screw out the seater on top of die, reset it to correct three turns or a little less if you want more crimp and then crimp the rounds in a separate step. The 500 grain flat nose, the 375 Barnes, and some others required me to do this. I now do it on all bullets for the 500 S&W and get much better results and a more uniform crimp.