Problems reloading Ranier 148gn DEWC in 38 Special

[Fishstyx]

I picked of a few boxes of Ranier plated 125gn HP and 148gn DEWC. The HP bullets load fine, but the 148gn DEWC is driving me nuts. About 20% of the cases are deforming. I'm using a Lee die set. Am I doing something wrong or are these bullets just oversize?

 

[pete950]

what kind of cases are you using?
I have that problem with military cases!!

 

[Rockets]

I had the problem a while back. Can't remember which one but it was an off brand.
Nothing wrong with the lee dies
It's the brass

 

[Fishstyx]

All of the deformed cases have a CBC headstamp. The other cases are Federal, and had no issues. That said, I've reloaded just about every other .357 bullet in I have in those CBC cases (Lead, Hornady, Ranier 125gn HP, etc) and had no problems.

 

[Rockets]

All of the deformed cases have a CBC headstamp. The other cases are Federal, and had no issues. That said, I've reloaded just about every other .357 bullet in I have in those CBC cases (Lead, Hornady, Ranier 125gn HP, etc) and had no problems.

It was CBC head stamp I ended up throwing all of them away in the scrap pile.

 

[Fishstyx]

It was CBC head stamp I ended up throwing all of them away in the scrap pile.

That's a solution I can live with.

I picked up a few boxes of primed 38 cases from Midway. They have R - P headstamp. Hopefully they hold up. So far so good.

 

[rwsmith]

That's not good

Too bad you have to throw any component away, brass is scarce and expensive. Nowadays even .38 special stuff.

 

[Engineer1911]

Save the CBC brass for RN or SWC bullets, just don't load DEWC in CBC brass.

 

[blujax01]

That's a solution I can live with.

I picked up a few boxes of primed 38 cases from Midway. They have R - P headstamp. Hopefully they hold up. So far so good.

This link may be useful.

http://cartridgecollectors.org/?page=headstampcodes#R

CBC = Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos, Brazil


R-P = Remington Products. They will give you many, many reloads.

 

[lebomm]

R-P= Remington-Peters. It's the stamp Remington has used on their brass since they absorbed Peters and stopped using REM-UMC.

 

[blujax01]

R-P= Remington-Peters. It's the stamp Remington has used on their brass since they absorbed Peters and stopped using REM-UMC.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Ceapea]

I use military brass (including CBC) for all jacketed and soft lead (swaged) bullets with no problems.
Lead bullets for any given caliber are usually .001" over nominal size for that same caliber. That extra .001", in a hard cast bullet (and plated too, it seems), will deform the military cases which have a heavier case construction. The swaged bullets will "resize" when stuffed into that brass, so I only use them for plinking. But they actually shoot really well too.

 

[Fishstyx]

Save the CBC brass for RN or SWC bullets, just don't load DEWC in CBC brass.

Yeah, that's the plan. I'm only out 17 cases and some grief from my wife ("What the hell was all that banging!" yeah that would be the bullet puller).

Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to look at the headstamps as the crumpled cases were piling up. I only lost those cases though. The bullets came out clean (plating intact) so I just put them in R-P cases.

 

[Bruce51]

When I was loading the same bullet, it became obvious, that some cases are too thick to seat a DEWC deeply into the case.

Winchester cases, especially the nickel plus p, would be hard to seat and would not chamber.

Remington cases were the best allowing the bullet to be seated flush with the mouth of the case.

You will need to sort and use only those cases which have the thinner side walls. Save the other cases for regular style bullets.

BLM

 

[*chris*]

It also looks like you maybe crimping the bullet too much causing the case to collapse, those will stay tight with a taper crimp, not the light roll crimp you are putting on them. Have you pulled one apart? Are you cutting through the copper plating?

Chris

 

[Nevada Ed]

Every now and then you will run into over sized bullets or tight brass and get "Over stuffed " loads that look ugly...........
but if they chamber, I shoot the loads and take notes to correct the problem on the next loading if the case survives.

As mentioned, probably Brazil heavy side walls, but they should work with all lead bullets that can be "Shaped" a little in the dies while loading, if on the soft side.

Hate to see new brass tossed out..................

 

[Fishstyx]

It also looks like you maybe crimping the bullet too much causing the case to collapse, those will stay tight with a taper crimp, not the light roll crimp you are putting on them. Have you pulled one apart? Are you cutting through the copper plating?

Chris

I was following Ranier instructions which call specific for a roll crimp. That said, the case lengths in that lot varied enough so some got more of a crimp than others. I realized I could 'feel' the crimp at the end of the stroke on the press so for a taper crimp I just stopped a hair short.

The copper plating was not cut. I pulled the bullets and re-used them. I could tell by the resistance that the cases were crushing during the seating stroke.

Another thing someone pointed out was trying to better align the WC before seating. This was tricky and many were slightly 'cocked' as they went in the press. I should probably flare more.

In any case. I appreciate all the feedback. I now understand what's going on and can avoid wasting brass in the future.

 

[Fishstyx]

Every now and then you will run into over sized bullets or tight brass and get "Over stuffed " loads that look ugly...........
but if they chamber, I shoot the loads and take notes to correct the problem on the next loading if the case survives.
...

Interesting note. On my last batch I had many 'stuffed ugly' rounds that would fit in the cylinder, but just barely. So, I resized the entire loaded round and they dropped right in. However, the resized loaded DEWC shot about 100fps slower than the ugly fat ones. Go figure.

 

[Ceapea]

Interesting note. On my last batch I had many 'stuffed ugly' rounds that would fit in the cylinder, but just barely. So, I resized the entire loaded round and they dropped right in. However, the resized loaded DEWC shot about 100fps slower than the ugly fat ones. Go figure.

Yeah, I did get my "fat" military rounds to work after running them through a LEE FCD.
And though I didn't have a noticeable drop in accuracy, I'm sure that they fit the barrel differently after they were resized and that would probably affect MV.

 

[SMSgt]

While prepping a load of .45 ACP range brass, both mine and donations from others, I ran across a couple of split cases. I checked all of them with a magnifying glass (more for the old eyes than anything) and found several more--all CBC head stamps.

Whether they were my cases or someone else's I can't say, but they didn't look abused or overused. I sorted out the 15-20 CBCs in the lot and tossed them into the scrap can. Never had this with any other brand and don't bother with CBC anymore.