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Cheapo · May 17, 1999, 11:28 AM

Was fishing some .357 cases out of the vibratory tumbler the other day and had a thought (oh so dangerous!) while dumping out the media:

That stuff looks just a little bit like a certain smaller-grain powder I've been messing with!

So I did some measurements and found my approximate loading density. And had another thought...this is getting scary...would filling up the case to simulate a charge of "dud" powder make the primer impulse strong enough to launch my bullets into the forcing cone?

In other posts, I've mentioned how my current dies make the cases hold jacketed .357 bullets so tight, they don't budge if there's a missing powder charge.

Results with walnut media:

.357 Magnum
Winchester cases
Hornady 125-gr XTP bullet
At 65% loading density on top of a WSP primer--no bullet movement at all.

Same as above, but 100% loading density on top of a CCI 550 (magnum) primer--barely perceptible movement. A tiny bit of extra channelure visible, but no more than the thickness of a business card if that much. I didn't measure it because I wanted to avoid ridiculous precision.

Thus, I conclude that an earlier experience with JHPs and a Lee Auto-disk clogged with WW296 led to a forcing cone jam because the die either didn't resize the neck enough, or the expander stretched it back open too far. In every instance of these first accidental then intentional experiments, a heavy crimp was used. Just not heavy enough to buckle the neck to larger diameter at mid-neck.

FWI, YMMV, etc.

May 17, 1999, 11:28 AM	#1
Cheapo Senior Member Join Date: November 19, 1998 Posts: 986	Was fishing some .357 cases out of the vibratory tumbler the other day and had a thought (oh so dangerous!) while dumping out the media: That stuff looks just a little bit like a certain smaller-grain powder I've been messing with! So I did some measurements and found my approximate loading density. And had another thought...this is getting scary...would filling up the case to simulate a charge of "dud" powder make the primer impulse strong enough to launch my bullets into the forcing cone? In other posts, I've mentioned how my current dies make the cases hold jacketed .357 bullets so tight, they don't budge if there's a missing powder charge. Results with walnut media: .357 Magnum Winchester cases Hornady 125-gr XTP bullet At 65% loading density on top of a WSP primer--no bullet movement at all. Same as above, but 100% loading density on top of a CCI 550 (magnum) primer--barely perceptible movement. A tiny bit of extra channelure visible, but no more than the thickness of a business card if that much. I didn't measure it because I wanted to avoid ridiculous precision. Thus, I conclude that an earlier experience with JHPs and a Lee Auto-disk clogged with WW296 led to a forcing cone jam because the die either didn't resize the neck enough, or the expander stretched it back open too far. In every instance of these first accidental then intentional experiments, a heavy crimp was used. Just not heavy enough to buckle the neck to larger diameter at mid-neck. FWI, YMMV, etc.