My Lee progressive is shaving lead on .45 acp

[pastordan]

I am new to reloading and have been reloading .45acp 185 wad cutter and 230 ball both in lead. I have adjusted the sizing die?? down to the plate and it is still shaving the bullet as it goes into the brass. Any tips on what the problem could be? Thanks for any help. Also the recipe for the 185 lswc is rare, I am using win. 231 - any suggestions?

[Chief-7700]

What the problem is you are not belling the cartridge mouth so that you can set a bullet on it.
Chief

[pastordan]

Isn't that what the die is suppose to be doing on the progressive?

[T. O'Heir]

"...Isn't that what the die is suppose to be doing on the progressive?..." Yep, but the die has to be set up to give just enough flare/belling for the bullet to sit in the case mouth. It doesn't come out of the factory set up.

[cgaengineer]

Crank your belling die down until it just touches the case and then adjust in 1/8 - 1/4 turn until you have a slight flair.

[pastordan]

I have tried adjusting prior to writing the thread. I watched the Lee video on line and read the directions. I have turned it untill it touches and then as much as a half turn more. Is it possible it is crimping the case too soon and that is why it is shaving the lead? Although I don't see or feel any noticable bell or flare on the case. After the case is sized what size should it measure?

[rwilson452]

The sizing die doesn't bell the case, the expander die does. if your using Lee dies the powder thru the expander die is the one that bells the case. that is the one you need to adjust.



I have tried adjusting prior to writing the thread. I watched the Lee video on line and read the directions. I have turned it untill it touches and then as much as a half turn more. Is it possible it is crimping the case too soon and that is why it is shaving the lead? Although I don't see or feel any noticable bell or flare on the case. After the case is sized what size should it measure?

[Striker1]

Pastordan,

What press do you have?

[Shoney]

Another common cause of shaving lead bullets is having the seat/crimp die too low; i.e. to much crimp. What happerns is the bullet is being pushed to the seating depth, while the bell is being crimped in, the moving bullet is thus shaved by the crimped case.

It is my experience that with lead, you seat the bullet in one opperation and set crimp in second.

[lee n. field]

I have adjusted the sizing die?? down to the plate and it is still shaving the bullet as it goes into the brass. Any tips on what the problem could be?

It's not the sizing die that you need to adjust, it's the belling die, which is the second in the series.

[whiplash]

a little advice, once you get your expander die set up. You may want to seat your lead bullets in one step, then crimp seperately as the last step. This will help the lead bullet get fully seated without having the crimp the bullet as it is going down inside the mouth and possibly shaving some lead. This could cause lead build up around the mouth/lip of the brass.

[medic0079]

take off the powder hopper from the die it is on. turn the die that is under the powder hopper 1/2 turn. put powder hopper back on and try it again. you should be able to see the top of the brass open up just a little bit, and the bullet should go on it easily

[pastordan]

I got it. It was the powder hopper was not screwed tightly to the die which lead to no crimp. I realized it was loose when I went to take it off. I reset the die highth to even with the plate and then tightened everything up and it flared beautifully. Thanks so much.

Another question how much crimp should I be putting on .45 acp? I have heard it should be as light as possible and still keep the bullet from moving.

[whiplash]

about the only number I have seen for crimping is .470, give or take a .001. There was and article in Handloader magazine about this, but cant remember off the top of my head. When I get a chance I will go look...Found it, it was issue No. 222, April '03. If I had some mad computer skills I would scan it for you. It also talked about headspacing and case length...

[Shoney]

Another question how much crimp should I be putting on .45 acp? I have heard it should be as light as possible and still keep the bullet from moving.
Correct.

[floydster]

How much crimp on the .45, on the cast bullets I go to .471.
Never had a problem.