Crinkled Cases

[AJ]

I do not size handgun brass. In over 50 years of reloading have never sized (should be trimmed) for my handguns. Every once in a while I will get a case that has a crinkle in the brass. I am assuming it is a touch long in the seating die. Sometimes the crinkle is slight enough the case will still chamber. Sometimes not. Those that won't fit go in the "bad ammo bucket" at the range. The other day I thought about it and got out an extra sizing die. I pulled the decapping pin and and ran the loaded case into the die and pulled it back out. Viola! the case was perfect and chambers fine and shoots fine. Has anyone else done this?

 

[dwh]

I have on occasion like 3 or 4 times. But and a big but! Don’t do it to rounds that are loaded near maximum pressure. Because you just super crimped your bullet and it’s now under sized due to the resizing.

 

[fordson]

I’ll show my ignorance….not sizing pistol cases? That’s a head scratcher — Have not heard that. I’ve not trimmed pistol cases , but not sizing them? Interesting. Do you then “super” crimp all ammo to hold the bullet in place?
I assume no feeding issues with multiple pistols of the same caliber.

 

[AmStaff64]

Confirm you are not sizing. How do you seat bullets then? Most of the time they will drop into the case without sizing.

For the crinkle - do you seat and crimp in the same step? Crinkles usually occur when you crimp before the seating is complete. Trying to continue to seat a crimped bullet leads to the case buckling (crinkling). Two solutions for this - set the die correctly (assuming cases are not wildly different lengths which can impact crimps) or, crimp in a separate step.

 

[rosewood]

I pulled the decapping pin and and ran the loaded case into the die and pulled it back out. Viola! the case was perfect and chambers fine and shoots fine. Has anyone else done this?

Lee calls that a factory crimp die.

I have been handloading for about 20 years. I size every piece of brass one way or another. Either Full length or partial. You at the very minimum have to size the mouth of the brass.

 

[rosewood]

A problem with using the sizing die to do what you say, you may greatly undersize the bullet already seated. This may have an impact on accuracy. Also, not all sizing dies has enough room above the case to allow for the bullet to clear.

Rosewood

 

[glenwolde]

The Lee Factory Crimp Die is designed to do what you're doing, size a loaded round to factory specs. I do not as a matter of course use one but in specific situations I have.

I don't understand how you can get away without sizing your brass. If I try that bullets mostly just fall into the case.

 

[Old&Retired]

As someone else stated, how do you seat the bullet without sizing?
I'm going to assume that what you meant was you do not trim to size your brass to an acceptable length.
That said, I have never trimmed handgun brass in almost 50 years of reloading.

 

[cracker57]

never heard of anyone not sizing their brass, my guess is the OP meant he never trimmed his brass.
if not he has been doing it wrong for over a half a century!

 

[AJ]

never heard of anyone not sizing their brass, my guess is the OP meant he never trimmed his brass.
if not he has been doing it wrong for over a half a century!

Sorry for the misuse of a word. I meant to type trimming not sizing.

 

[rosewood]

With that info, it may be that it wasn't trimming that was the issue. You may have had the mouth slightly belled and that was preventing chambering. Running through sizing die took care of it. You may need to adjust your crimp die a tad more.

Rosewood

 

[H Richard]

Whenever I get new pistol brass I full length size it. Then I trim it to minimum length. I seldom ever trim those cases again. Match brass I trim for uniformity, which aids in accuracy.

 

[gwpercle]

Sorry for the misuse of a word. I meant to type trimming not sizing.

Now that kinda makes a big difference ..."Trimming"

I was wondering how you got away with never "resizing" your handgun brass ... my bullets kept falling into the unsized cases !

Keep On Keepin On !
Gary

 

[Yendor357]

AJ, you get 40 lashes with a wet noodle for making everyone’s brain explode this early in the day! lol.

I buckle a case mouth occasionally. Because case lengths vary, I’ve started crimping by feel. I set my crimp/seating die for the shortest case I may have. For the longer ones, I stop when enough resistance is felt. I still buckle one or 2 out of 100. Then, like AJ, I gently iron them out.

 

[fordson]

Sorry for the misuse of a word. I meant to type trimming not sizing.

Ok, that makes sense now - thanks for the clarification. I’ve been reloading for 50+ years and have never trimmed any pistol brass. Rifle, yes but not pistol. With that said, I have “crinkled” the case mouth on some pistol brass but that was my fault for not properly setting up a die, usually a crimp or seating die. Don’t think I squashed a case while sizing but could be wrong.

 

[AJ]

I have modified my initial statement to help folks understand the jist of this conversation.

All my cases are sized and belled the same for each caliber. So the only difference for each case must be the overall length. Like I have stated I never trim handgun cases to length. Usually they wear our and crack on me.

So my answer to the crinkling of a case once in a while is to use a standard full length resizing die (minus the decapping pin) to "iron" the few that crinkle. So far I have only noticed this on .38 Special cases and .45 Colt cases.

 

[Neumann]

Crinkled cases can be avoided by separating the seating and crimping stages, especially for revolver and rifle ammunition. Crimping while seating leads to a bulge at the crimp, even if no buckling occurs.

 

[rosewood]

Crinkled cases can be avoided by separating the seating and crimping stages, especially for revolver and rifle ammunition. Crimping while seating leads to a bulge at the crimp, even if no buckling occurs.

Exactly. I started on a Dillon 550B, which was setup for a separate seat and crimp. I have always done it that way and have found it to be much easier than trying to play 4D chess with seating and crimping at the same time.

I did once get a set of dies without a separate crimp die, I crinkled a couple of cases, and soon ordered a separate crimp die. Problem solved.

Rosewood

 

[taz666]

I've never had an issue seating/crimping in one step.


AJ .. you don't mention what bullet you're loading when you have cases deforming.
Do the bullets have a crimp groove?
Are they lead or jacketed?
How much are you flaring the case mouth(s)?

 

[AJ]

I've never had an issue seating/crimping in one step.


AJ .. you don't mention what bullet you're loading when you have cases deforming.
Do the bullets have a crimp groove?
Are they lead or jacketed?
How much are you flaring the case mouth(s)?

Don't want to add a fourth step for each and every case. I will use another sizing die without the decapper as needed.

I am mostly loading 148 Grain DEWC's for .38 Special. and 250 grain RNFP for .45 Colt. Have not noticed the problem with the other calibers that I load. Mostly I cast all my own bullets. I flare/bell the case mouths enough to get the bullet started without shaving lead.