# 357 mag brass?



## mezner1 (Nov 19, 2007)

After fl sizing my 357 mag brass, Just above the base .155 or so there is a line or a bulge that you can see and feel. not all brass is doing this. I have cleaned the die and checked the adjustments of the die. Anyone have any ideas? are these safe to shoot or should a pull the bullet and powder and throw away the brass? Picture is not great but you can see the bulge, line or what ever it is. Thanks in advance 
Jeff.


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## El Matador (Dec 21, 2007)

How many times have they been reloaded? How loose are the chambers in your gun? With repeated stretching and resizing of the brass right there it's common to get "case head separation". This happens a lot with rifle brass if the shoulder is pushed back a lot when sizing. Usually with handgun brass the mouth will split before you get head separation, but with loose chambers the brass could fail at the base first. If it looks like a separation is imminent do not shoot the brass. When a case head does come loose you get a lot of gas back through the action which can be dangerous.


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## mezner1 (Nov 19, 2007)

The pistol is a S & W 686. most of the have only been loaded two to three times. I have used a bent Paperclip to feel the inside of the case and do not feel anything. I think just to be on the safe side I will be pulling all those that are like that one. thanks for the help.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

If the empty case is fine then the problem may be the reloading die. Are you using a carbide or standard die for sizing? Also are you shooting full power .357 loads or light loads in those cases?


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## mezner1 (Nov 19, 2007)

This problem happens every 3rd or 4th time. I have cleaned the dies. they are Dillon Carbide dies.


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## Huntoholic (Sep 17, 2008)

I think if you try to put a crimp before the bullet is at the desired depth, you will get this type of out come.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Huntoholic said:


> I think if you try to put a crimp before the bullet is at the desired depth, you will get this type of out come.


That is what I was starting to think. There has to be something in the reloading process that is doing it and a crimp die out of adjustment could be one of them. I would start by inspecting the case as it goes through the dies and see when it appears.


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## chet (Sep 7, 2007)

hot loads = short case life. 
also, my two 686's have larger chambers than my gp100.
My brass is segregated into two lots, standard and oversize


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## mezner1 (Nov 19, 2007)

This is coming right out of the Resizing die. 
Thanks everyone for all the info.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Call Dillion and let them know what is happening. You might get a new sizing die out of it. I had a problem with one of my dies from RCBS, called them and sent it in and in a week I received a new set for no charge.


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## Frisco Pete (Sep 22, 2007)

My 686 has larger chambers than Ruger .357s I've tried. I need to adjust the sizing die down more for the reloaded round to chamber in Rugers because the slight oversize bulge at the base prevents them from chambering. But they drop in the 686 just fine. This is true with both my older RCBS and newer Dillon carbide dies.

With a Dillon press it is a little harder to figure out where to adjust the sizing die down to because of the springiness of the shell holder system.

I would guess that you need to screw the die in a little more. But if the cases chamber easily in the intended gun it probably isn't a big deal. Sort of partial FL resizing.

If the sized case or loaded round drops in a .357 case gage, that is good enough for me. Any minor bulge has never affected my brass. It always seems to split or crack vertically from the case mouth when the end arrives for the multi-fired case.

You can get case gages from Dillon and places like Midway etc.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Another suggestion, I have a couple Redding push-through dies for 45ACP and 9mm luger that will take care of those bulges. I can't remember what they're called and I'm 2000 miles away from my reloading room so you may have to look them up. Basically you push the case up and out the top of the die so it sizes the whole case instead of stopping short of the web. These do not fix case separation so if you feel a groove on the inside just toss the brass.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

WAIT! Duuuuuh, I just remembered, it won't work on 357 Mag because of the rim. (I'll just back away slowly into this dark corner...there, you can't see me.)


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