Trouble at the Reloading Bench

[Hoot]

I've wondered when this would happen. I was seating a round in a case that I had expanded and when the bullet pushed in, the case bound up in the sliding guide like the popular concrete anchor. I tried withdrawing the ram first gently, then with increasing force trying slow pulls and also tapping action. Suddenly the guts came flying out and the seating plug flew into the concrete wall next to the press denting the previously circular mouth. To add insult to injury, the tiny hole where the spring clip poked through is now an oval. I have some flaring punches, but I doubt I will be able to return the seating plug mouth to a precise circle. The tiny hole in the seating body will never be the same. The spare spring clip no longer retains the sliding guide. It's a mess.
I've had great luck with RCBS supporting their dies that go amiss, but no experience with Hornady. I will try contacting them in the morning, but for the moment, my reloading is at a stand still and I just booked Tuesday and Wednesday off due to perfect weather conditions for range work wouldn't you know.

Talk about bad luck.

I have a .45 ACP die set in the cabinet. Anyone ever have any luck improvising that for 450b? It's late and I'm weary. Will give it a try tomorrow morning.

Hoot

[oldmanjeffers]

Hoot, A 45 ACP die is all I use for seating the bullet, It takes a little "Playing" with, But works, I started out running my die up as far as I could and my seating plug all the way down, I then found a happy medium using a dummy round, I do the hole seat a little, Then turn the case and seat a little and turn the case thing. I have Yet to get a 450 die set because I've gotten used to the system I have, 45ACP bullet seating die, .284 Win full length sizing die, and a custom 45-70 Factory crimp die (thanks Hoot), It takes me a good amount of time to load up 50 rounds but I've been very happy with my results.

One thing I want to mention, I use the LEE carbide 45 acp die, I need to visually inspect the depth of the bullet every time I seat and then measure the OAL a few times before I get the depth I want, Some go deep with the same pressure on the handle some come up short, I have never been able to just set and seat the bullets like I can for any other round I load for. Like I said, It takes a little playing with and every once in a while I gotta get out the bullet puller to "pull" the bullet back out a bit and then re-seat to my OAL, I'm currently looking for a non-carbide 45 ACP die to try and modify a little for better consistency in my Bullet seating procedure.

Sorry if this Question has been asked before but does anyone else make a Die set besides Hornady? What did wildcatter use when developing the 45 super?

[Hoot]

...snip Sorry if this Question has been asked before but does anyone else make a Die set besides Hornady? What did wildcatter use when developing the 45 super?...snip

I believe I read that C&H has 450 Bushmaster dies once.

Hoot

[Siringo]

Hoot -- did your die break when using 284 cases? Mine did. Simple fix -- I just re-bent another tab on the retainer. The sliding sleeve is tight -- actually, tighter than the chamber. Insures straight bullet alignment (contributes a whole bunch to the accuracy side of the equation). IF, you used 284 cases and they were not reamed, it is too tight -- especially with .452 bullets. These dies are designed for 450B brass.

[Hoot]

Hoot -- did your die break when using 284 cases? Mine did. Simple fix -- I just re-bent another tab on the retainer. The sliding sleeve is tight -- actually, tighter than the chamber. Insures straight bullet alignment (contributes a whole bunch to the accuracy side of the equation). IF, you used 284 cases and they were not reamed, it is too tight -- especially with .452 bullets. These dies are designed for 450B brass.

Yes I was trying some .284 cases. Yes it turns out to be tighter than the chamber. Yes my brass was only fire formed. Wanted to use the slider to make sure the bullets started straight, then just the plug for final seat. Never got that far. I should have sacrificed the round to save the die, but I underestimated how tight it was stuck. Yes, I know the dies are only for 450b brass and finally, Yes I felt and still feel stupid for even trying it. At least I got some rounds loaded up before the disaster and am heading for the range. Great conditions today.

Hoot

[Siringo]

Gotta ream 'em -- or use undersized bullets without expanding the brass. I have three reamers -- .453" (which I have not used), .452" and .446". If the 284 brass has been fire formed, I use the .452" before resizing. If the brass is unfired, I use the .446" just deep enough to seat the bullet. After the first firing AND RESIZING, I finish the reaming with the .446" to the full depth of the reamer (so I can use long bullets). This is very closed to the 450B factory OD and ID measurements.

[Hoot]

All's well that ends well. I called Hornady to price the seating plug and body and the nice fellow I spoke to would have no part of it. He's sending me new ones and a spring clip for free. He said it might even make it out before the end of the week. I was able to true up the seating plug good enough to do the job, but then discovered my effort had flared the end to where it would not slip into the slide-guide. I was able to turn down the slight flare so that it went into the slide guide. I was not able to get a good enough hold on the little stub on the spring clip to bend it at a sharp angle, but my efforts managed to get it at least to feebly hold the slide guide in as long as the case I'm working on doesn't have even the slightest bind. Otherwise it falls back out and I have to catch it before everything hits the floor. So, the going is a little slower but I'm back in business. Unfortunately, the bulk of my day off has passed me by. I am facing the fact that I need to have Forster make me a .446 ream. Doing this by fire forming and never resizing is not the way I want to go. Too much fiddling to get them right. It's do-able. I shot some done that way today, but it ravages the brass having to resize the bulge down. You and I both know that isn't good for the bullet or the brass. Boy do they shoot nice though. Tossed those 225s at 2400 fps into an inch and a half group at a hundred yards. Good seal too.

Hoot

[Siringo]

Hoot -- are you saying that the bullet in seated into the 284 case and then run into the sizing die again?!

[Hoot]

Hoot -- are you saying that the bullet in seated into the 284 case and then run into the sizing die again?!

Yes, but only as far as needed to reduce the bulge enough for it to chamber. Doubles as a crimp. Problem is and yeah there's always a catch, the crimp is too effective. Never thought I'd say those words, but you have to really reduce your charge and if you end up less than 80% capacity, then find a slower powder. I can not lay claim to this approach. It is a process developed by someone else. As I said, it's a lot of setup fiddling to go through if you're not processing a large amount of loads at the same time, much like the bother getting a variable length Lee FCD die set for the right spot and the right stab depth. I only shot a run of 5 this morning, as my first test of the process and they cycled fine.

As I mentioned in another thread, I'm more and more favoring using the resizer as a crimp die as opposed to the taper crimp die. It applies the same tension to the entire bullet surface and it adds up. They're a beyatch to pull in an inertial puller if you want to change something though. Uff-da...

Hoot

[Siringo]

OK -- then wouldn't the diameter of the bullet be reduced? Have you pulled one of these bullets to see what the diameter is? Considering the taper of the case (the rear portion) the bullet is most likely a tapered -- I would think that is why it would be so hard to remove.