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Posted: 3/26/2013 5:40:26 PM EDT
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I'm sure this has been discussed here, but I wasn't paying attention as it only recently became pertinent for me, and a search hasn't turned up a thread.
until the recent panic, I never bothered to reload for my carry pistol, just bought a box or two every month at Wally World to run through it. With availability and pricing what it is, I've finally been tipped over the edge to reload for it. I'm a veteran reloader, and although I'm primarily focused on precision rifle, I have reloaded for pistols for years, mainly the harder to find, more expensive cartridges like my .41 mag, and .45 Colt. Anyway, I've got shipping notice on 1000 plated bullets for my .40, 135 grns that I intend to load into a mild target load. In anticipation, I bought a Lee Factory crimp die and " de-Glocking kit", and started sizing brass. So now, finally, the reason for the post. The "problem". My shiny new carbide De-glocking die is doing nothing. After sizing in my Lee Carbide sizing die, the cases don't even touch the sides in the Factory crimp die. No bulge is detectable. I have measured with calipers, ( I'm at work and don't have the measurement, but it's a few thousanths under spec), dropped them in the chamber where they rattle around. I had heard that "de-bulging" was critical, but it appears to not be nessacary with my lee sizing die. what am I missing? |
| The Lee debulger is just a .40 FCD with the top and crimp ring removed. What remains is just the carbide sizing ring . If there is insignificant bulge at the base and you put them through a sizing die first, it's likely the debulger won't do anything. I run .40 and .45 through the debulger first, then size later in the process. I usually only do it once, the first time I process range pick up brass. The guns I use don't seem to put a bulge in the cases that the sizing die doesn't fix. |
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I'm sure this has been discussed here, but I wasn't paying attention as it only recently became pertinent for me, and a search hasn't turned up a thread. until the recent panic, I never bothered to reload for my carry pistol, just bought a box or two every month at Wally World to run through it. With availability and pricing what it is, I've finally been tipped over the edge to reload for it. I'm a veteran reloader, and although I'm primarily focused on precision rifle, I have reloaded for pistols for years, mainly the harder to find, more expensive cartridges like my .41 mag, and .45 Colt. Anyway, I've got shipping notice on 1000 plated bullets for my .40, 135 grns that I intend to load into a mild target load. In anticipation, I bought a Lee Factory crimp die and " de-Glocking kit", and started sizing brass. So now, finally, the reason for the post. The "problem". My shiny new carbide De-glocking die is doing nothing. After sizing in my Lee Carbide sizing die, the cases don't even touch the sides in the Factory crimp die. No bulge is detectable. I have measured with calipers, ( I'm at work and don't have the measurement, but it's a few thousanths under spec), dropped them in the chamber where they rattle around. I had heard that "de-bulging" was critical, but it appears to not be nessacary with my lee sizing die. what am I missing? You only need to "de-bulge" if your cases actually have a bulge to begin with. None of my Glock 40's bulge the cases so it's a non-issue for me. |
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I believe not all Glock chambers are alike. This is very true. Someone posted a thread about some 10mm pregnant brass a while back and included pics of a few 10mm factory barrels that had vastly different sizing at the feed ramp. I think they have gotten better at internal QC over the years (let's hope so anyways since I have a 22 on order). An aftermarket barrel is always a possibility as well and *should* have much tighter tolerances. |
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The cases, which are a mix of my once fired and range pickups, are visably bulged prior to resizing, but look great and measure concentric and in spec with dial calipers after running them through the regular resizing die, If I run them throught the crimp die first then it does resize them, but the regular sizing die seems to do just as good a job and also decaps the primers, so it seems a redundant waste of time to do it twice. After regular resizing, they don't even touch on the run through the crimp die, and they chamber loosly.
Reading on the subject , a lot of folks seem to think that a regular resizing die wouldn't go low enough on the case to eliminate the bulge, nessicitating the swaging though the factory crimp die, but that doesn't seem to be the case for me. I think I'm GTG just running them throught the regular die, but wanted to get input from people with some experience with them |
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I just acquired a Gen 3 G27. The barrel completely supports the case head, so I don't see how Glock bulge is possible, without a catastrophic case failure.
Shot it for the first time yesterday, with several loads. One was near max. I examined each case fired from that load, and couldn't find a bulge. I'm gonna back off that load, anyway, because I don't like living close to the edge. But I don't think you'll have a bulge problem unless you have an early model. Just check your barrel and see what kind of case support you have. |
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I shoot a lot of 40 in USPSA.
My process for 100% yield in 40 is: 1. Size the brass on a single stage (with a Lee die). 2. Shove all the sized brass through a Lee Bulge Buster setup which uses a LFCD 3. Load on the Dillon with a Dillon crimp die on the final stage. 4. Do a plunk test of all loaded rounds in the barrel I'm going to shoot them in (Lone Wolf makes tight chambers).. Doing it like this eliminates all the bulged brass before I load them Because the LFCD isn't on the last stage I can load lead and not lose the .001" advantage through the base ring of the LFCD. Edited to add - Lee says if you use their sizing die you wont have a bulge problem, that's BS, 35 years of using lee stuff tells me their sizing dies are just like everyone else's dies. If it were true there would be no need for their biggest hit, the LFCD in pistol calibers. |
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A FCD does not size as small as a standard sizing die and is not to be used as a de-bulging die, the FCD sizes the case what it should be after a bullet is seated, not what it should be before a bullet is seated.
You need an actual debulging die, it allows the entire case to be sized to the same spec as the sizing die, not the crimp die. EWP |
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A FCD does not size as small as a standard sizing die and is not to be used as a de-bulging die, the FCD sizes the case what it should be after a bullet is seated, not what it should be before a bullet is seated. You need an actual debulging die, it allows the entire case to be sized to the same spec as the sizing die, not the crimp die. EWP Like this Lee Bulge Buster |
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A FCD does not size as small as a standard sizing die and is not to be used as a de-bulging die, the FCD sizes the case what it should be after a bullet is seated, not what it should be before a bullet is seated. You need an actual debulging die, it allows the entire case to be sized to the same spec as the sizing die, not the crimp die. EWP Like this Lee Bulge Buster Looks like it does use the FCD, it pushes the case all the way through getting the web and rim that the standard die cant size. I just tried it with my FCD, I used a 6.8 Rem case in the shell holder for the punch and pushed a few re-sized Win 40 cases through and it sized the web but didn't reduce the size(.422") of it so I'm assuming the brass wasn't bulged. I don't have a Glock and don't see much bulged brass at my range so it's never been a problem for me, my RCBS carbide die sizes the full length of the case down to just above the web at .422" just like after going through the crimp die. I stopped using my FCD when loading 40(I use a Redding taper crimp die now instead), some brass is thicker than others and I didn't like the way the FCD would size the bullet down when using that thicker brass(Star Line). EWP |
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A FCD does not size as small as a standard sizing die and is not to be used as a de-bulging die, the FCD sizes the case what it should be after a bullet is seated, not what it should be before a bullet is seated. You need an actual debulging die, it allows the entire case to be sized to the same spec as the sizing die, not the crimp die. EWP Like this Lee Bulge Buster ERRR.....did you actually read what you posted up? The Lee Bulge buster kit, which is what you posted up, uses the FCD, with the bulge buster kit consisting of a tool to fit in your shell holder to push the case through, and a plastic catch bin. This is what I have, and have been discussing. 
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A FCD does not size as small as a standard sizing die and is not to be used as a de-bulging die, the FCD sizes the case what it should be after a bullet is seated, not what it should be before a bullet is seated. You need an actual debulging die, it allows the entire case to be sized to the same spec as the sizing die, not the crimp die. EWP Like this Lee Bulge Buster ERRR.....did you actually read what you posted up? The Lee Bulge buster kit, which is what you posted up, uses the FCD, with the bulge buster kit consisting of a tool to fit in your shell holder to push the case through, and a plastic catch bin. This is what I have, and have been discussing. Yep You run the brass through the bulge buster set up after sizing because there isn't any standard sizing die that will take the bulge out, including lee. Lee says their sizing die will "de-bulge" 40 brass but it doesn't. If you have sized brass in the lee sizing dies and it didn't have the bulge when you are done you didn't have the bulge in the brass to begin with, at least that's been my experience in 40.. |
| I shoot a lot of 40 for IDPA in a G22. I have a Redding Grx die set up in a single stage. The redding is a steel die so you have to lube the cases. Rather pre-screen the brass I just run all 40 through the Grx. My brass is a mix of my stuff and range pick-up. Some cases just slip right through but some you really have to lean on the handel to get them through, so I think the issue is real. I then run run through my three station Lee Pro1000. Its a little extra work but the brass runs through the the rest of the process easier and I think I get a better product. I then use lead bullets with my factory Glock barrel, but that's another story. ; ) |
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A thought or two on .40S&W bulge.
I have a couple thousand range pick-up .40S&W brass that I have been reloading on my 550B. I've been through about 500 so far and quite a few do have what I would call a bulge just above the case head. I lube with One-Shot and the Dillion size die takes the bulge out nicely with little effort. Although with more effort than the cases that have no bulge. They drop into the case gage nicely and into my model 22 gen 3 barrel just fine. After shooting them with two test loads of SR4756, 6.5Gr and 7Gr. I see what appears to be a bit of a bulge on some of the cases, either loading. But the bulge is not nearly as pronounced as the bulge on some of the range brass. |
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I was surprised to see the manual for the Lee Buldge Buster to specificly warn against using the product to size brass intended for use in a 40 cal Glock !
Link to Lee Buldge Buster Manual Edit:Here is the Quote: Do not use the Bulge Buster Kit to reload for the 40 S&W Glock or similar guns with chambers that do not fully support the cartridge due to the intrusion of the feed ramp. So perhaps they are just referring to the older barrels that had issues with a lack of support |
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