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petej88 · October 9, 2000, 04:47 PM

I'm sure a bottlnecked reloader can help out here .......

7 out of 80 rounds had case damage. Basically the shoulder area
looks almost wrinkled. So instead of having the diameter of aprox .420, it
was .427 -- ouch. The other 73 rounds look perfect and the bullets are very
strongly seated in the little 357 SIG case (think of it as a little rifle
bottlenecked cartridge).

Here's the facts:

I loaded 200 rounds using Western Bullet 124 grain flat point plated bullets.
Every round was perfect. I have loaded thousands of rounds of 124 grain flat
point Rainer bullets perfectly as well.

I was using brand new Starline brass and lubing them properly for these
experiments.

Then I decided to run a test with eighty Laser Cast hard lead 122 grain
flat points from Oregon Trail. Here's some ideas of where I think I might
have done something wrong:

1. I should have belled the mouth a bit more? Some bullets did have a little
shaving issue going on. I just need to make sure the 357 SIG bullet won't
slip.
2. The RCBS roll crimper is kind of long for a Dillon 550. The bottom of the
crimper is literally only about .003 from touching the shell plate.

I believe the case was wrinkled at the crimp station. I could try backing
off the crimper a little, but not much. Maybe there was some slight shell
plate movement that simply crushed these 7 cases? If I can't back off and
maintain the ideal roll crimp, then maybe I can cut off a little bit of the
end of the die if it on rare occasions slams into the shell plate?

Or, I could go back to the Lee crimper, which is a combo of a taper/roll crimp
die.

Since the hard lead bullet is an extra 1/1000" in diameter, .356,
instead of .355, maybe I was simply crushing the poor little case with too
much pressure.

note: I don't necessarily wish to debate whether the 357 SIG cartridge
headspaces on the case mouth or shoulder or both, etc. I've already given
my evidence and those of others on my site at: http://home.earthlink.net/~petej55

Any constructive ideas of how to fix this issue are much appreciated.

October 9, 2000, 04:47 PM	#1
petej88 Senior Member Join Date: November 7, 1999 Location: US Posts: 510	I'm sure a bottlnecked reloader can help out here ....... 7 out of 80 rounds had case damage. Basically the shoulder area looks almost wrinkled. So instead of having the diameter of aprox .420, it was .427 -- ouch. The other 73 rounds look perfect and the bullets are very strongly seated in the little 357 SIG case (think of it as a little rifle bottlenecked cartridge). Here's the facts: I loaded 200 rounds using Western Bullet 124 grain flat point plated bullets. Every round was perfect. I have loaded thousands of rounds of 124 grain flat point Rainer bullets perfectly as well. I was using brand new Starline brass and lubing them properly for these experiments. Then I decided to run a test with eighty Laser Cast hard lead 122 grain flat points from Oregon Trail. Here's some ideas of where I think I might have done something wrong: 1. I should have belled the mouth a bit more? Some bullets did have a little shaving issue going on. I just need to make sure the 357 SIG bullet won't slip. 2. The RCBS roll crimper is kind of long for a Dillon 550. The bottom of the crimper is literally only about .003 from touching the shell plate. I believe the case was wrinkled at the crimp station. I could try backing off the crimper a little, but not much. Maybe there was some slight shell plate movement that simply crushed these 7 cases? If I can't back off and maintain the ideal roll crimp, then maybe I can cut off a little bit of the end of the die if it on rare occasions slams into the shell plate? Or, I could go back to the Lee crimper, which is a combo of a taper/roll crimp die. Since the hard lead bullet is an extra 1/1000" in diameter, .356, instead of .355, maybe I was simply crushing the poor little case with too much pressure. note: I don't necessarily wish to debate whether the 357 SIG cartridge headspaces on the case mouth or shoulder or both, etc. I've already given my evidence and those of others on my site at: http://home.earthlink.net/~petej55 Any constructive ideas of how to fix this issue are much appreciated.