Bells and Crimps.

[TN RAT]

Starting my own personal setup, and finished the first batch of 44 magnums yesterday afternoon. This is going to be a bug to catch, I can tell you.

This was my first load:

10 rounds using Top brass

40 rounds using W-W brass

All loaded with W-W large pistol primers, 5.8 grains Unique, and the Hornady swaged 240 grain lead HP.

These rounds shoot like a dream in my 629-3 Classic DX with 6.5 inch barrel. They seem to be extremely accurate, dead on, and ***** cats in the power realm.

I have several questions:

1. I noticed unburnt powder. I am using a light roll crimp, so light you can barely see it.

I forgot to mention I don't have many W-W primers left, and will be switching to CCI Large Magnum Pistol shortly.

Would increasing the crimp result in longer residence time for the bullet, and longer burn time for the powder, thereby burning more?

Will the mag primer or tighter crimp fix the problem, or is this something I should get used to with Unique?

2. I thought I was using a very slight bell on the case mouth, but the bullet has more than enough room to slide in w/o damage to the bullet.

Should I leave that alone, or tighten up?

3. While adjusting the bell I way over did it on 2 cases, and now they will not fit in the bullet sizing die. These two are primed cases.

Is there some way to "unbell" these so I can continue to use them?

Or should I just shoot the primers, crush the case mouths, and throw them in the trash?

What if they are overbelled to the point they won't fit in chambers?

Thanks for your help. Running out to shoot the other rounds now and start over again with little more powder!!!

 

[TN RAT]

Starting my own personal setup, and finished the first batch of 44 magnums yesterday afternoon. This is going to be a bug to catch, I can tell you.

This was my first load:

10 rounds using Top brass

40 rounds using W-W brass

All loaded with W-W large pistol primers, 5.8 grains Unique, and the Hornady swaged 240 grain lead HP.

These rounds shoot like a dream in my 629-3 Classic DX with 6.5 inch barrel. They seem to be extremely accurate, dead on, and ***** cats in the power realm.

I have several questions:

1. I noticed unburnt powder. I am using a light roll crimp, so light you can barely see it.

I forgot to mention I don't have many W-W primers left, and will be switching to CCI Large Magnum Pistol shortly.

Would increasing the crimp result in longer residence time for the bullet, and longer burn time for the powder, thereby burning more?

Will the mag primer or tighter crimp fix the problem, or is this something I should get used to with Unique?

2. I thought I was using a very slight bell on the case mouth, but the bullet has more than enough room to slide in w/o damage to the bullet.

Should I leave that alone, or tighten up?

3. While adjusting the bell I way over did it on 2 cases, and now they will not fit in the bullet sizing die. These two are primed cases.

Is there some way to "unbell" these so I can continue to use them?

Or should I just shoot the primers, crush the case mouths, and throw them in the trash?

What if they are overbelled to the point they won't fit in chambers?

Thanks for your help. Running out to shoot the other rounds now and start over again with little more powder!!!

 

[john traveler]

Excessive belling can usually be fixed by pressing it into the case sizing die a little, and then re-xpanding again. Expand just enough to let the cast lead slug enter without scraping. Over-expansion is the most common reason for cases cracking at the mouth after only a couple firings.

Another way to salvage over-belled cases is to remove the expander plug, manually insert it into the case, and use a plastic mallet or block of wood to gently tap the case mouth back down. Resize, expand, and you are good to go.

 

[gboling]

1. That load would be a medium load in .44 Special cases. I believe 6.7 GR of Unique would be minimum in .44 Mag. cases. An exceptionally light load could leave unburnt powder. Unique should not require Mag. primers but .44 Mag should have a heavy crimp. I suspect the light load and the light crimp caused the condition that you described.
2. Don't bell the cases more than necessary to get the bullets started w/o damaging the cases. Excessive stretching and re-sizing will chorten the case life.
3. I would fire the primers and then deprime and re-size or throw them away.

 

[OKFC05]

Would increasing the crimp result in longer residence time for the bullet, and longer burn time for the powder, thereby burning more?

Will the mag primer or tighter crimp fix the problem, or is this something I should get used to with Unique?

`1. Unique is going to leave some loose residue. So what? It comes right out when you clean it. Some other powders leave less residue, but some are harder to remove.

2. Crimp is part of bullet retention. Sizing of the entire case is also important. Once you have enough crimp, stop. Over crimping damages the bullet.
How much is enough? You should be able to press the bullet nose hard against your bench without the bullet moving in the case.

3. When you are setting up the size and expand dies on a press, don't use primed cases. (so NOW he tells me)

 

[Kevin G]

When setting the crimp up I use an unprimed,no powder case. Resize,bell and then seat and crimp the bullet. I then pull the bullet and visually check it for over-crimp. If crimp impression on bullet appears too deep I'll decrease the crimp a bit.
Kevin