Resizing for autoloaders

[CMKiefer]

I have just jumped back into reloading and in the past have reloaded mainly for 38/357 wheel guns. Just recently purchased dies for my 1911 and 50AE D.E.

I was just cleaning these two guns and thought I would check the fit of once-fired brass in the chambers of the disassembled guns.

In both guns the brass slipped in (all the way to the "stop") and out with no resistance. This got me wondering if anyone is reloading for autoloaders without resizing?

Is there a good reason not to? Should the brass be resized every time without question? I know constant reworking of the brass weakens the casing.

Your thoughts.recommendations.ideas are appreciated

[Shane Tuttle]

Although a common occurence that the spent cases still slip right in your barrel's chamber, you will still need to resize the case.

Straight-walled pistol cases that use the mouth for headspacing are relied on case-to-bullet tension. In this situation, you're not roll crimping. So, in short, resizing is paramount.

Try taking a bullet to use for reloading on a spent case and more than likeley it will fall easily into the case....

[Unclenick]

Even though they slip into the chamber (and they should; if they stuck it would mean your pressures were dangerously high) you will find the bullets just fall into the case mouths of many brands fired in many chambers if they aren't resized, so you can't control seating depth. Even if the bullets don't fall in, you can usually push them in with your thumb. That means just stripping from the magazine and running up the loading ramp could push them even further which quickly leads to very high pressure.

You need enough case neck tension to keep the bullets from moving to remain safe. That means resizing.

Also, beware of Remington (R-P) cases in .45 ACP. They have thin mouths and work harden quickly. I've had them get hard and springy enough that even sizing didn't narrow them enough to stop bullets from fitting loosely. Use your thumb to check, but I don't even keep R-P fired brass anymore. It's been a number of years since I checked it, but I don't believe I've heard that situation had changed any.

[Shoney]

CMKiefer

WELCOME to TFL!!!!

Tuttle8 gave you the correct information. Overworking the brass is usually from excessive belling. Bell the case just enough to seat a bulltet without scraping it's side.

EDIT! PLEASE NOTE: Unclenick is also correct, but his post did not show up until after I posted.

[CMKiefer]

Thanks for the input, please be patient with my questions.

1. Isn't the expander die used for sizing the case to receive the bullet

- and -

2. Doesn't seating die apply the proper (tapered) crimp thus sizing for headspacing on the mouth?

By the way, I just tried your idea for pushing the bullet into the mouth of the case. Won't go

[Sevens]

Your sizing die will return the case to the proper dimensions. There is NOT a shortcut for this step. It also knocks out the spent primer-- there's no easy way to remove the old primer without running the case in to a die unless you want to pound it with a base and pin, tapping with a hammer.

Your case mouth flaring die opens the case mouth slightly. That's adjusted by moving the die in or out. Flare as little as possible for jacketed bullets. Flare a bit more for lead bullets. The idea here is to flare as little as possible to extend the life of the brass. But for lead bullets, if you don't flare enough, the case mouth will scrape lead from the bullet. That's a two-fold problem, as it can ruin accuracy and also lead to leading of the barrel, neither of which is something you want.

The seating die puts the bullet where you want it, and in the case of a round such as .45, it gives the loaded round a taper crimp. The taper crimp removes the flaring you did earlier so that your loaded round is back to spec. Skipping the taper crimp won't really affect the headspace so much, as a flared mouth will headspace just as a properly taper crimped round will, IF you can get it in to the chamber, that is.

If you are looking to skip steps and take short cuts, reloading pistol ammo may not be for you. These rounds are a bit different as they need to be shucked in and out of the pistol. They need to be built to spec so that they feed well. They need to be to specs so that the bullet doesn't set back and shoot the pressure through the roof and blow the pistol apart. Reloading for revolver really is a bit easier.

[CMKiefer]

Hey, don't get me wrong here. I'm not looking to cut corners. I just want to do this the best way. Sounds like resizing every time without question is it. That's fine.

As usually happens when questions are asked, more come up. I'm willing to learn as well as ask the dumb question.

Thanks for everyones' input. I look forward to hearing from you more on the subject

[Sevens]

No problem, and sorry if my post came off as condescending.

It's been my opinion for a long time that there's no easier cartridge to reload for beginners than .38 Special. (not saying you are a beginner)

But I say that's the truth because of all the things that make it easy:
--bullet selection is plentiful
--load data is incredibly plentiful
--low pressure round
--better still, most folks load them in to .357 Mag revolvers which can handle even a much too hot .38 Spl
--brass is everywhere and easy to get
--brass lasts forever
--don't need to worry about getting them to feed/eject in a semi-auto
--bullets don't have the chance to accidentally set back
--crimp isn't as critical if they aren't super heavy recoiling rounds

I only bring it up to compare to loading in other calibers. It's a slightly different animal.