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Resizing Issue With 10mm?

4K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  drymag 
#1 ·
Hi all! New user here and have a question. I've been reloading now for about 2 years, mainly for the fact that I bought a .500 magnum. I'm finally getting into other cartridges including 10mm. I recently bought brand new lee carbide dies for .40/10mm. While resizing the cases I get a ring around the bottom of my cases approximately an 1/8 inch or so above the case rim. Is this normal for 10mm? Thanks ahead of time and I appreciate any input.. cheers!
 
#9 ·
You might be able to get a little more adjustment out of you dies. Run the press ram all the way up, screw the die die until it touches the shell holder, then back it out about 1/16-1/8th of a turn and set the lock ring. Always use the same shell holder with this set of dies. If you've already done all this, what you're probably getting is the bottom tenth or so of the case not being sized because of the radius/taper in the carbide insert of the die. Most dies have this so you don't have to perfectly center the case under the die opening.
 
#10 ·
Twicepop said:
".... screw the die die until it touches the shell holder, then back it out about 1/16-1/8th of a turn and set the lock ring"

I don't agree. Most die sets' instruction say to cam the press ram over. That means a slight resistance to the press handle as it reaches the top, then a relief as it comes over the top. To do that you screw the die die until it touches the shell holder, then TURN IT IN a small amount to get the cam over effect and set the lock ring.

Sizing dies have a chamfer on the opening of the mouth of the die to help center the case as it enters the die. The carbide ring is above that chamfer so you will not get sizing all the way to the rim.

40 S&W is a shortened 10mm. The common gun in those caliber is a Glock. Glock does not fully support the case above the barrel loading ramp which allows the fired cases a bulge in front of case head (rim area). No regular sizing die will remove that bulge, but there are special dies (by who???) where you push the entire fired case through the die after regular sizing to remove that bulge. Glock may have fixed the problem but I don't buy Glocks or any other plastic pistol so I don't know for sure.

It is not unusual to see an imprint of the extent of the sizing done by the sizing die. Just be sure you have the die setup with the cam over. Do check the die instructions to see if the manufacturer allows that setup. I have heard of people braking the carbide ring over doing this cam over effect. I never have on perhaps 15 different carbide pistol die sets I use regularly.

LDBennett
 
#11 ·
Here is what Lee says to do: "Screw the full length sizer in until it touches the shell holder and tighten the lock ring finger tight." http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/Pistol4.pdf

The "Glock bulge" isn't an issue in newer Glocks (at least Gen3 and newer) and doesn't present itself as a uniform ring around the case but rather a smile shaped bulge on one side of the case. I have to add this clarification for LDBennett nearly as often as he needs to clarify what the Lee FCD is and isn't.
 
#12 ·
SteveM:

It matters not what the bulge looks like but whether it keeps the cartridge from seating in the chamber. Obviously if the case distorts over the feed ramp it does not distort completely around the case.

I only mentioned the Glock problem to point out that there was a tool that completely sized the case top to bottom by driving the case all the way through the special die tool. As I have no idea who makes the tool, having only heard about here, I thought it might help for the poster to find the tool if he knew why it existed (because early Glocks made the smile in the case wall).

Note I said "Glock may have fixed the problem" in the previous post. Thank you for affirming that the Gen 3 guns have been fixed. While it may seem strange that Glock designed the gun originally with the area above the feed ramp not supporting the case walls, if this was a police or military designated gun originally then it matters not whether the case is bulged or not, as they don't reload and do not intend to re-use the brass. The same is true of the Enfield the Brits used in WWII. They made the chamber loose to allow easy and fast chambering much to the dismay of modern day reloaders. They left the empties on the battle field. So reloaders complained enough to get Glock to fix the problem....GOOD!

LDBennett
 
#13 ·
Ya know, I tend to treat all sizing die's the same way. I do screw down until the die hit's the shell holder and then back off the ram a bit and screw down a bit more. When you do that you should have a die that will return a case to SAMMI specs! In Rifles it's a bit different. Then I adjust the die to match the case to my chamber. But we are talking pistol cartridge's here. There's a reason manufacturer's tell you how to adjust their dies And I suspect all are the same.
 
#16 ·
Hello All! I'm new to this forum but not new to reloading. My special cartridge is the 10 MM in Glock, (old style) S&W 610 and EAA Witnesses. I've literally reloaded thousands of of these beasts.

I found the bulge problem years ago and found my own solution to it. I reload on a Dillon 550B progressive and started out using Dillon dies. I found that RCBS, Lyman and Lee 3 die sets do not correct the problem nor do the seating/crimping dies give a good consistent crimp. I tried a Dillon crimp die in the fourth slot and got consistent crimps, but the bulge still exist. I then tried a Lee crimp die. It not only does a great crimp but also will go all the way down on the plate ( a lot of adjustment to crimper) and removes the bulge. This also works (as I later found out) on .40 S&W (a 10 MM short :)), .380 ACP and 7.62 x25.

If you read some of Lee's instructions they have a die for resitting the bulge in calibers that are sometimes do not have a fully supported chamber (.40 S&W. short through .45 ACP (Para P-10)). It uses Lee machines or their hand press (I use that) and pushes the cartridge up through a die (yep, upward) and resizes the whole thing and then places it in a contraption on top. They have one for a .40 S&W that works well for the 10 MM.

Hope this helps.
 
#17 ·
Just to clarify, you raise the ram all the way up and then screw the sizing die in until it just "kisses" the shell holder/shell plate. Lower the ram, insert a case, resize it and tighten the lock rings while the case is in the die. This is all the sizing you can get, unless you want to "cam over the press for maybe 0.002" more sizing at the risk of cracking your carbide insert.
Lee and Hornady sizing dies go a bit further down the case than others.
If you seat a bullet and see a "coke bottle" or "wasp waist," don't worry, that is normal and, to some, desirable.
The sizing die burnishes the case and the stop point should be visible on all cases.
Other than that, take a picture so we can "see" if it is normal or something weird.
 
#18 ·
A mild cam over is max sizing. I initially set up all dies that way and never broke a carbide ring yet in over 30 years. But you can not stand on the ram handle to get cam over. You set it up so it just cams overs.

The coke bottle effect is the way today's dies are made. It maximize the neck tension and, it is said, the accuracy. Old dies from many decades back allowed the bullet to be loose in some calibers and the crimp went into a groove on the lead bullet to lock the bullet in. We use to crimp them so you could spin the bullet on 38 special cases. You can not do it that way with today's dies.

LDBennett
 
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