Help with 10mm

[Lewel]

I could use some help reloading.

I've reloaded for 40 years or so for pistols & straight walled rifles. Recently I've had problems loading 10mm.

I use a Dillion 550 with carbide dies. The problem comes when I seat the bullet. Every 10 rounds or so the bullet kinks the brass. The case mouth is belled, the bullet seated by hand, but every 10th round the bullets starts to seat but goes sideways to kink the case. I used Extreme plated 180gr bullets & after some adjustments, I got the defective rate down to about 1 in 50 rounds. I changed bullets to Sierra 180gr HP & the reject rate went to about 1 in 8 rounds.

What could be the problem?

Thanks, Lewel

 

[IAM Rand]

Do you trim all your cases to the same length. I was having something similar. I use the Lee trimmer and get all the cases to the same length and that seemed to solve my problem.

 

[bigggbbruce]

I load 10mm on a turret press. I don't bell my cases at all in fact the only die I use is the sizing die. So I use no crimp.

How much crimp are you using, backing off to absolute minimum has solved similar problems with other calibers I load, 44 mag in particular.

 

[Mike0251]

I just edited what I wrote since it does not apply to that station. Make sure the seating die is clean and has no internal burrs.
I use a Lee die in the 550 seating station and this is mainly because I like the adjustment knob for on the fly and not screwing with the hex nut numerous times trying to get the seating just right. It actually works out fantastic and yields +/- .001 OAL.

 

[colt_saa]

I do not know how many stations a 550 has.

Can you seat and then crimp in separate operations with the 550?

 

[fredj338]

If the bullet isn't seating straight, it is usually the seating stem not matching up with the bullet profile. Are you seating & crimping in the same station? Loading the 10mm is no diff than the 40, so not sure why this is an issue unless something isn't right with the seating die. Not belling & not taper crimping, MAYBE with some jacketed but certainly not lead or coated or even plated will survive that.

 

[reddog81]

What kind of dies are you using?

I'd guess the problem is either the expander die is belling the case mouth too much and the bullet is not aligned properly, you're not expanding enough and the bullet isn't able to align properly or maybe the seating die isn't matching the profile of the bullet properly.

 

[bigggbbruce]

Not belling & not taper crimping, MAYBE with some jacketed but certainly not lead or coated or even plated will survive that.

I load Xtreme plated without belling and don't crimp. I have no wasted bullets, everyone pushes just fine.

 

[chief38]

I'll guess that either you are not Belling the case quite enough or the seating die is the wrong shape. Some Dies are reversible and have a flat side and a round side. You should check it.

 

[WR Moore]

I recently went through something similar, but different caliber. I expect it's your case expander. Pull the expander tube out and call Dillon tech support and make sure it's the right one. If you've got a micrometer, measure the diameter of the expander button at 90 degrees to make sure the button is round before you call and have the dimensions written down.

Also before you call mike your bullets and make sure they're the proper diameter.

You do need to have the case mouth slightly belled to get the bullets a good start. It does help to have the bullet as vertical as possible, don't depend upon the die to straighten things out.

 

[fredj338]

I load Xtreme plated without belling and don't crimp. I have no wasted bullets, everyone pushes just fine.

And how is the accuracy? If i dont bell with plated i get shaved edges on the base. Might get away with a rounded edged base but true flat base nope. There is a flare/bell die for a reason.

 

[bigggbbruce]

And how is the accuracy? If i dont bell with plated i get shaved edges on the base. Might get away with a rounded edged base but true flat base nope. There is a flare/bell die for a reason.

Sorry if you don't believe me. Stop on by I'll show you.

 

[fredj338]

Sorry if you don't believe me. Stop on by I'll show you.

Not a matter of believing its a matter of exp. i've loaded enough rounds over 40yrs to know not belling with some bullets hurts accuracy. Maybe your accuracy requirements are diff than mine, but facts are facts. My accuracy is worse when bullet bases get even slightly damaged. All My handgun rds need to be better than 2" at 50ft offhand. Anything that degrades that, isnt done, including the lfcd & not belling & proper taper crimp.

 

[reddog81]

Not belling might work in some limited scenarios but it is not a common practice and I've never heard of anyone advocating for it.

Most of the common recently produced resizing dies overwork the brass and resize it down more than is needed. I have replaced a lot of my Lee resizing dies with old RCBS steel sizing dies because they don't work the brass as much. I mainly shoot lead bullets and do not want my cases squishing my soft lead bullet. Even when using the most generous sizing dies I have to bell the case mouth in order to seat a bullet correctly. I suppose if a bullet has a very generous bevel base it might work to get the bullet into the case without issues, however this would be uncommon and I can't think of any practical reason to skip the expanding die.

 

[Lewel]

10mm

Thanks for the response.

I seat at 1 station & taper crimp on the 4th station.

I had some problems at first with the Extreme bullets but cured it by belling the cases a little more. The Sierra bullets cause the mose problem & I have not cured the problem yet.

I use a round nose bullet seating stem. I had some luck with seating the Sierra bullet part way & then finish seating the bullet with a second stroke. I still get a sideways seat about every 8-10 rounds.

I think I'll check the nose of the seating die with the Sierra bullet. I did not think to checkthat; my bad.

Anymore suggestions are welcome.

Thanks again for your help, Lewel

 

[Big Cholla]

As stated by previous posters, check every aspect of the dies and make sure that they are functioning correctly.

But, IMHO, you are suffering from debris buildup in the shell holder from the old expended primers and perhaps passed thru tumbler media that was in the cartridge flashhole. The debris builds up, causes the misalignment, gets moved out of the shell holder and then starts all over.

I would pull the shell holder assembly and give it a thorough cleaning. Then I would use a compressed air container to give the shell holder plate a little cleaning after a moderate number of cartridges have been reloaded. Alternately, I would de-prime with a remote tool setup before placing my empty brass in the holding area for reloading. .......

 

[bigggbbruce]

I don't use a progressive, and the seating die I use is RCBS flat nose. It has always worked well with Xtreme 180 RNFP and with my HP's.. my failure rate is ZERO.

 

[fredj338]

Thanks for the response.

I seat at 1 station & taper crimp on the 4th station.

I had some problems at first with the Extreme bullets but cured it by belling the cases a little more. The Sierra bullets cause the mose problem & I have not cured the problem yet.

I use a round nose bullet seating stem. I had some luck with seating the Sierra bullet part way & then finish seating the bullet with a second stroke. I still get a sideways seat about every 8-10 rounds.

I think I'll check the nose of the seating die with the Sierra bullet. I did not think to checkthat; my bad.

Anymore suggestions are welcome.

Thanks again for your help, Lewel

Two sure fire cures for straight bullet seating; a Lyman M style expander, custom for the dillon, &/or a hornady seating die. The Hornady has a sliding sleeve that engages the bullet prior to seating & a hollow seating plug that engages the ogive, not the bullet nose. I replaced my dillon in 45acp because i was getting crooked seating with some very short 185gr bullets.

 

[castleadslinger]

Two sure fire cures for straight bullet seating; a Lyman M style expander, custom for the dillon, &/or a hornady seating die. The Hornady has a sliding sleeve that engages the bullet prior to seating & a hollow seating plug that engages the ogive, not the bullet nose. I replaced my dillon in 45acp because i was getting crooked seating with some very short 185gr bullets.

I bought several of these M-style expanders for my RL550B and they have cured my shaving of lead bullets and tilting issues while seating the bullet. I have no idea why Dillon doesn't make these M-style expanders. Or at least make it an option to buy them on the Dillon website. Also, I'm not the seller, just a happy customer.
Dillon Powder Measure-Replacement Powder funnel for 650 RL 550 SL 900 SDB 1050 | eBay

 

[BruceM]

I load 10mm on a turret press. I don't bell my cases at all in fact the only die I use is the sizing die. So I use no crimp.

How much crimp are you using, backing off to absolute minimum has solved similar problems with other calibers I load, 44 mag in particular.

The previous comments have covered the motion of not belling the case mouths but I have to tell you that I would never tell anybody I don't apply a heavy roll crimp to .44 Magnum loads. It has to be done to prevent the bullets jumping the crimp in real .44 Magnum loads. If the only die you use is the sizing die, how do you seat bullets?

The odds are that the OP has not belled the case mouth enough, has over adjusted the crimping die or by far the most likely, is using the wrong seating stem for the bullet he is using which allows the bullet to tilt going into the case mouth.

Bruce