What am I doing wrong?

[jeff43]

When loading 38/357 ammo,some of the ammo when I try to chamber a round in my lever rifle or Blackhawk it will not chamber all the way.usually does this with plated or jacketed bullets.Most like about 1/8" or less chambering ,I can push them on in but it takes a little force to do it.I have a Dillion case checker,the difficult rounds drop right in it.

[f3joel]

Might try coloring some of the problems childs with a sharpie then rechambering.

See where it rubs off to help pinpoint the problem.

 

If it happens with .357 but not .38 could be a ring that didn't get completely clean from the .38s

[Trekbike]

If it happens with .357 but not .38 could be a ring that didn't get completely clean from the .38s

That would be my guess as well. Since you said the troublesome rounds fit fine in a case gauge, that pretty much eliminates the rounds.

[jeff43]

It's does happen with some 38's too.

[lshel]

Maybe you are not full length resizing. Is there a bulge just below rim after resizing. If so need to turn die down to resize all the way to rim.

[leroy]

It could be too heavy a crimp springing the case out just below the bullet; or incomplete initial resizing... I would take my dial vernier caliper or micrometer and see what is goin on... A Dillon case gage (...a real one..) would find it pretty quickly...

 

leroy

[Jct1911]

It could be too heavy a crimp springing the case out just below the bullet; or incomplete initial resizing... I would take my dial vernier caliper or micrometer and see what is goin on... A Dillon case gage (...a real one..) would find it pretty quickly...

leroy

Or the opposite, too much flare, when crimping its leaving a bulge below case mouth.

[gregintenn]

I have a box of reloads that won't chamber in my Model 10 Smith. They'll chamber in anything else. I've ordered a Lee factory crimp die to run them through.

 

The model 10 will chamber factory rounds fine, and these are the first reloads I've had this problem with.

 

I'll let you know when I find out for sure the problem.

[jeff43]

Looks like if it was the crimp it wouldn't go in the case gauge .I've cleaned the rifles chamber the best I know how,, but figure if it was only the 357 would not go in and the 38 would. It's not all of the time just one every now and then .So I don't know if I'm doing something in the sizing process or what . Edited September 3, 2015 by jeff43

[Raoul]

Also don't bell the mouth of your case too much.

[jeff43]

Also don't bell the mouth of your case too much.

Yeah,usually bell just enough for the bullet to set in.

[musicman]

I've ordered a Lee factory crimp die to run them through.

Bingo! I've found wide variations in brass thickness for 38 and 357 cases across the manufacturers. Couple that with some possibly oversized bullets and whammo... ammo that's too fat. I run the FCD on everything now. 97% of the time, the die barely even touches the case. Every now and then, though, you run one through and it's obvious that case may have had a bad time trying to chamber in a tight gun. Edited September 4, 2015 by musicman

[jeff43]

Bingo! I've found wide variations in brass thickness for 38 and 357 cases across the manufacturers. Couple that with some possibly oversized bullets and whammo... ammo that's too fat. I run the FCD on everything now. 97% of the time, the die barely even touches the case. Every now and then, though, you run one through and it's obvious that case may have had a bad time trying to chamber in a tight gun.

Do you roll crimp it too or just the FCD?I didn't know if the factory crimp would hold the bullet as good as a roll crimp or not.

[Jct1911]

The FCD is a roll crimp, just has a carbide post sizing ring at mouth to re-size your brass. I gave up the FCD, redding profile crimp is 1000 times better.

[musicman]

The way I load, the die previous to the fcd sets the crimp. The fcd is simply a QC step, really. Edited September 5, 2015 by musicman

[gregintenn]

The way I load, the die previous to the fcd sets the crimp. The fcd is simply a QC step, really.

That's what I'm looking for. It seems easier than removing the depriming pin from the sizing die to do it that way. I've always crimped with the bullet seater die. This is a new problem to me, and I've loaded and shot a LOT of 38 ammo.

[gregintenn]

My problem turned out to be self inflicted, but I can assure you now that a Lee FCD will cure what ails ya. :up:

 

With good die settings and consistent components, I doubt you'd need it, but it's simple to use and will correct most mistakes with a pull of the handle.

[Jamie Jackson]

The only time I've run into something akin to what Jeff is asking about were some RN bullets without a good crimping groove.

They were some oddball rounds that I had on hand and needed to use up.

 

I use a roll crimp on mine and I have no issue...as long as I pay attention to that groove . :pleased: