Cleaning and separating brass for next season....

Noticed some of my older 38 nickel brass has a slight belly toward the base.

It loaded with no issues last year but should I invest in a different die to minimize the belly?

I use a 550 with Dillon dies. These loads are target velocity.

Thanks 4 looking

You may be getting close to the end of that brass's usable life. I don't think another set of dies would do anything you aren't doing now.

You may be right. I acquired this brass in the 90s. The mouths on my supply of nickeled brass splits more and those get tossed.

I may try one more season.

That sounds like some that has been fired in a 38 Special that was reamed out from a 38 S&W [usually a Victory Model]. It weakens the brass, so it will stretch easier as it is reloaded, even with light loads.

C'mon...........

It's the Holiday Season so give those little Brass critters a break and let them have their little belly 'till after the holidays!

Without seeing them I might suggest that you check your re-sizing die.
Sounds like something is not adjusted correctly. Unless you are loading up HOT loads, 38 special cases should last a long long time. I am still reloading some that are from the 70's and they are still good to go. I find that when they are shot out, they simply split.

Chief38

Actually, Deacon brings up a good point, he just mentioned it in the reverse of what it is. A 38S&W Victory Model that was converted to 38Spl will do that.

Also, there are some lever guns that have a pretty "generous" chamber as well. I have a 45Colt Puma that really puts a belly on them. Of course, I load them kinda hot!

this stash of brass I bought used from an officer who sold me a SDB .38 sp and they shot it out of a 686 in the early 90s.

I dont have a .38 SW.

my dies are adjusted according to the manual.

I was wondering if a full length die would minimize this lil belly. its only a slight belly but my eye can see it.

I will consider trashing this brass after this season. yes....no hot loads here.

No need to trash brass until it starts splitting. As long as you aren't having problems with it chambering and you're using light loads, it should be fine.

I'm kinda wondering what kind of pistol dies don't full length resize? The length of the resizing is determined by how the die is set.

Dillon dies have a generous mouth chamfer to allow easy alignment in a progressive press. If the cases don't chamber easily you may want to put a LEE FCD in the last station. The FCD also removes any lead burrs if you load lead bullets.

I think it's old brass . That & using a progressive press dies don't size cases all the way to the rim . You got a slight bulge just above the rim correct ? If that's the case shoot 'em 'til they split . Oh BTW was out shooting an Aussie trade in 66-7 . Load was 3.2 VVN 310 , Fed primer , Valiant cast 158 BBSWC . Only shot @ 25yds . Put the first 5 in the X . Might want to try with a swaged 158 . Don't know how it'll do @ 50 yds .

This isn't an issue where the carbide dies are swaging the case down just a bit much and the "belly" is just the end of where the case was sized by the die... Is it? I would measure the case walls with a caliper and see how off spec they are compared to what the manual says. I see many posts on the whole "wasp waist" issue with people thinking something is wrong. It sounds like this may be the bottom half of the wasp waist. Or I could be all wrong. Pictures speak volumes, while I just rattle on...

Boatbum.....thanks for the reload info. I will try that.

My home computer is 10-42 right now, but I will snap some photos of my overweight brass.

Okay, the resizing die, is it or is it not touching the shell plate? If it is touching the shell plate, friend, you are as far as you can go without a special tool. If it isn't touching the shell plate, you need to adjust the die until a full stroke of the press, with a case in the die, makes it so there is no daylight between shell plate and die bottom, um, period.

Since this is the 38spl we are talking about, and not a semi-auto cartridge, then, there is no push through die, nor factory crimp die that will reach that portion of the case. So, a special die or shell plate has to be made or whatever to reach that part of the case. It could be, as Bob pointed out, that you have an "over achiever" in your resizing die and therefore it looks like there is a "belly" in your brass. Just for whoops and hollers, why not give us the measurement of the case, in the affected area, before and after sizing. Let's see if the die is working on that area of the case at all.

I suspect that you will find that your die is not setup like I say it should be. Too many presses "give" when put under stress. In fact, maybe your press is actually broken and allows for the distance to change between shell plate and die. I had a Square Deal B that had a broken frame once. I would set it up with one case, run the thing around, everything was fine, fill the shell plate with cases and nothing was right. Make sure something like that isn't happening to you. Not the same exact thing, mind you, just something similar.

Hope this helps, and, pictures of your die setup is what I want to see, not just the brass.

Hope this helps.

When using modern carbide dies, all but the last little bit near the base of the case is resized- usually it doesn't need resizing. If you notice in most carbide dies, the carbide ring is recessed into the die ever so slightly, and of course is chamfered- both of these contribute to making that little bulge- even if the die touches the shellholder/shellplate.

The only kind of dies that I know of that will get rid of this slight bulge near the base is a set of steel dies that are not chamfered for use in progressive equipment. If the little pot belly isn't hindering them from chambering, don't worry about it until they do split, and when they do- put in the round can marked to take to the scrap metal man for some $$$$, er...I mean ¢¢¢¢.

__________________
Lost it all in a boat accident