Reloading Lead Bullets

[Guest Matthew]

I have some questions about this as I am about ready to start reloading some 38 special rounds with lead wadcutters.

My questions....

How much of a roll crimp do you put on these? I've got a Lee press and from what I am reading I can go light medium or heavy on the crimp.

How much of a taper do you put on the case mouth prior to seating the bullet?

What is that little soft blue band around the bottom of the bullet for? (Might be a dumb question maybe but I really don't know)

What do you use to lube the bullets prior to seating them and what process is used to make sure they're well lubed?

I've been looking at some websites and I kind of have an understanding. There's a lot of information out there but I am not sure about the accuracy of some of it. I am looking for someone who has actually used lead and knows what problems you can run into and how to avoid them.

I'd love to hear your comments.

[Westwindmike]

Good Morning Matthew,

Ok, lets see.

Crimp. .38spl wadcutters-light to medium. They are not going to be powerful enough to pull the bullets out under recoil.

Bell the case mouth only enough to get the bullet started. Too much shortens case life.

The blue band is the bullet lube. No more is needed.

When I cast my own boolits, I use Lee Liquid Alox to tumble lube them. Others(like your boolits) use a mixture of beeswax and ????? to make their lube.

Check out this site for years worth of cast bullet knowledge.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php

Hope this helps.

Mike

Edited June 7, 2009 by Westwindmike
Link added

[xd shooter]

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Exactly what he said. I do a light crimp & a light bell before seating the bullet.

The less you have to expand & contract the mouth the longer the case will last.

I also use the Lee alox on my tumble lube designed molds.

I also use a standard lube groove mold like you described.

For that one I use a mix of a potty bowl wax ring, one candle 2 1/2" X 6", a half a jar of petrolium jelly & some crayons for color.

It works great for my .38.

[Guest tlondon]

I have not done wad cutters but have done round nose and semi-wad cutters. I use lee carbide dies and only resize the casing. When I used the bell die and then seated the bullet the round was to tight in the cylinder. So now just de-prime resize re-prime add powder and seat the bullet. seems to work for me so far. (I still have all my fingers and both hands:lol:). Thats just my 2 pennies

[Westwindmike]

I have not done wad cutters but have done round nose and semi-wad cutters. I use lee carbide dies and only resize the casing. When I used the bell die and then seated the bullet the round was to tight in the cylinder. So now just de-prime resize re-prime add powder and seat the bullet. seems to work for me so far. (I still have all my fingers and both hands:lol:). Thats just my 2 pennies

It sounds like you left out the final step of crimping the bullet. If the case was still flared, it would be very tight in the chamber. Try crimping and see if they don't chamber better.

[Guest tlondon]

It sounds like you left out the final step of crimping the bullet. If the case was still flared, it would be very tight in the chamber. Try crimping and see if they don't chamber better.

I dont have the factory crimp die as of yet.

[Westwindmike]

I dont have the factory crimp die as of yet.

Your seating die will crimp also.

[Guest Mugster]

I bell until there's no shaving's visible with a seated bullet. I don't use swaged lead, only cast alloy's. I tell you what though, I've had better luck throwing mondo lee FCD die crimp on .45acp ammo. I think I have a real tight chamber and the extra post resize helps it feed in all the way. This is especially true with the 255gr SWC's. With .44 I don't notice much difference either way (in terms of crimp) on plinking ammo (<1000 fps).