EGW U dies…?

I have been reading a couple of old threads here and some reviews elsewhere on these. I get that they are made by Lee to be just a little tighter when sizing the cases. Personally, from reading the various reviews, I feel like some people are buying them for the wrong reasons. .40SW cases have the bad rap for getting the “Glock Smile” or any other name that has been hyped for cases that are loaded to higher pressures and used in barrels that don’t have quite enough support. These cases are then sized down for reloading but sue to the chamfered opening at the mouth of the die, the bulged area doesn’t get fully sized out uniform again. I guess roll sizing will fix this, but that’s a machine most of us don’t have. Then I don’t know who came first, either the Redding G-Rx die or the Lee Bulge Buster. I bought the G-Rx (I still laugh at the name since it feels like “G” for “Glock” and “Rx” as in the abbreviation for prescription… ). I guess I should have bought the Lee Bulge Buster since I have most of my pistol dies from Lee with their Carbide FCD’s already and that die doesn’t require lube while the Redding does. I guess Redding has seen the light and is now selling a carbide version of the G-Rx die. I will add that the bottle adapter works really well with the G-Rx, but isn’t really needed. It makes a great “nice to have” item though. I’m rambling on about push through sizing dies since I think some people are buying the EGW U dies thinking they will get the same use out of them as a push through die. I don’t subscribe to this theory, nor do I enjoy the thought of milling down the edge of an existing sizing die. My thought on the EGW U die is that since it does size the case walls down that extra .001” then it will have that much more neck tension to hold your bullets to prevent bullet setback a little more. And with a cartridge like the .40SW that is already high pressure, a little bit of insurance in assisting in the reduction of the chance of causing a pressure spike isn’t really a bad thing. I use a Lee six cavity mold to cast 175gr SWC’s that I tumble lube and size at .401”. So while the bullet is already a hair bigger, it’s also a lubed bullet and a fairly heavy one at that. I forget how much HP-38/Win 231 or Power Pistol I use under them, but I’m not loading them hot. They don’t lead the barrel of my Sigma one bit, but the alox does get a little smoky if I overdo it. I set my taper crimp with the Lee Carbide FCD and they drop right into the Sigma’s chamber. The post sizing ring always just kisses the case wall and never swages down the bullets. If I do feel real resistance then that one gets culled for inspection and usually becomes kinetic hammer fodder. Since I both enjoy this load already in my Sigma, and .40SW cases have become so cheap that they cost less than 9mm cases in many places… I’m thinking more and more that the .40SW is creeping up on my enjoyment meter enough to maybe buy something else interesting in that caliber. So if I really want to start loading big time on my LNL AP and use my cast bullets… Would it be a smart idea to invest in this die or is this more of the idea of “a solution in search of a problem” kind of equipment??? To buy or not to buy… That is the question… I can never tell if it’s a good tool or just continuing my amass equipment obsession.

Since I picked up buckets of range trash brass, I have lots of "Glocked" .40 brass. One day as I was sticking them rear-first into a .40 cartridge case to sort out the problem brass, I took a look at a Lee .40 FCD.
Stripped the guts out of the .40 FCD, shot the "Glocked" brass with some case lube, and started shoving the brass all the way through the die with the rod from a Lee bullet sizer, using an old Lee single press. I guess I cobbled together my own "Lee Bulge Buster."

No problems with the reloads in Sigma, Brn HP, or Glock 35, using Dillon dies on the Blue Press, and the brass prepped as above.

Seems like a simple solution. If you don't shoot a Glock 40 why bother??? Once you shoot them in a supported barrel wouldn't it kind of form fire and rid the bulge??

I am sure I have thousands of Glocked 40 SW brass and never even bothered to look after I have shot them out of my non Glock guns.

I had a Glock 40 but could not stand it.I wasn't going to spend another $100 to get a Lone Wolf barrel or whatever. Actually the only gun I sold and made some money.

The only Glock I own is a 9mm ,19 With a modified trigger and connector so it's not a staple gun.

If you

don't shoot a Glock 40 why bother??? Once you shoot them in a supported barrel wouldn't it kind of form fire and rid the bulge??

Click to expand...

If it would chamber, it would, but the problem cartridges won't chamber. The bulge is from the unsupported area on the brass right at the case head, and what are the odds you'll get the reload turned exactly the same as before, even on a G?
Feature yourself with a .40 reload stuck most of the way into a .40 Brn HP.....

If I recall correctly the BHP 40 is not a fully supported barrel either but not sure as I only have the 9mm.

I know I have 40"s shot from Glocks and after resizing I have never had a 40 stick. Maybe due to they are mostly factory once fired I picked up some time ago at the range and not loads that where hotter?? I have clearly seen the bulge. Maybe because I run all my semi auto through the LFCD but in theory it does not go down that far??

Just do not know for sure.

Now I need to dig through my 40 brass and find some

Summer came back for a few days so it's too damn hot to go to the swamp and shoot

Here is a old thread I found. My pics are gone as I cleared out my PhotoBucket.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/64895-glocked-bulged-brass-part-two.html



But due to the internet my pics are still there on row 12, 1st pic on the blue tape.

There are better pictures on this search.
images of glocked brass - Google Search


Anyway I dug through some piles of 40's a found a few with a slight bulge, but no the lopsided major bulge. I would have no problem sizeing and shooting these.

They look like this one

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

I have the EGW-U dies in 9mm and 40 S&W and I never use them. So based on my experience, save your money.

First of all, many of the pictures you see of "Glocked" brass, is really brass that is fired out of battery. It is true that Glocks have generous chambers, but this results in a bulge more toward the mouth of the case, not the guppy belly near the head.

For 40 S&W I use a Lee carbide die for sizing. Since the taper at the entrance is less than other dies I have (Dillon, RCBS, and others) it sizes the brass better. On a very small percentage (less than 1%) of the range brass I pick up, it will not fit in a Lyman case gage. That is the way I check. Yea, it still would probably chamber and fire in a Glock barrel. But I use Lone Wolf barrels since they are tighter for future loading and firing lead isn't an issue.

For the 1% that don't pass the Lyman check, I have tried the undersize die, but I found at least half didn't pass my Lyman test. And it left an ugly step at near the head of the brass. And I wasn't too excited to work the brass that much.

So as OKFC005 mentioned, running them through a Lee Carbide FCD solves the issue. I run brass not fired in my pistols through this die the first time I size them. Never have to after that. 100% reliability after running them through the FCD.

Just to let you see various pistols support:

I only mentioned the bulged cases to note that I am not talking about that issue. Rather, I am talking about the case tension holding the bullet. In my case, that bullet will be a .001" over sized but well lubed bullet. I was thinking that maybe the U die would help that tiny bit more in holding the bullet. If it means that I'm that much safer with a heavy .40SW bullet then I am willing to try one. But I have no idea if bullet setback is even an issue. While I have not heard of it, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I didn't know they made a three inch Model 19 until a short while back... These things happen. But I seem to have derailed my own thread right from the get go since all this has been about sizing the case from a "Glocked brass" standpoint. I just want to know if the extra neck tension would be a good thing or if it's just fluff.

Using Rem .40 brass and a lighter jacketed bullet in BHP 40 illustrates the reason for a u die. It ain't got nothing to do with "the bulge" from earlier glocks. For the 9mm, ,40 and 45 acp the u die provides for a greater interference fit if needed and expanding plug is suitably lessoned in dia. It can signifcantly reduce bullet setback. Bullet setback is much less of a concern with lower powered rounds using greater dia lead bullets and thicker brass.

Great page for why I'm still thinking this over:

CALIBERS -- Why the 180gr Bullet is a Bad Choice for .40 S&W

The slightest change in that 180gr bullet can add a bunch of pressure. And I'm wanting to use a not much lighter lubed lead bullet.

I use the U die for my reloads. My RCBS resize dies did not resize the cases enough to feed reliability. The slide would not close. The U die solved my problem.