38 S&W problems

[Tubac]

Hi fella's.

I bought a box of smokeless .38 S&Ws. I pulled the bullets and reloaded them with 12gr FFG.
I used my Lee single stage press with Lee dies.
I loaded 'em in my Merwin-Hulbert revolver and the trouble began.
After firing two rounds, the remaining three rounds had the bullets loosen up allowing the cases to move back enough to jam the cylinder.
With some finagling I was able to open the revolver and remove the cartridges.
I tried five more with the same results. The bullets wre loose enough to push them in with my hand.
This has never happened with any other rounds that I've loaded, from 7.63 to .50/70.
Are the dies bad? Did I screw up some how? All advice welcome.

Tubac

[Pettifogger]

Sounds like they are not crimped.  What kind of dies are you using?  If you are using .38 Special dies they won't crimp a .38 S&W.

[St. George]

Right load, but you've got to crimp them in order for them to work for you.

Once you do - you'll enjoy that little Merwin, Hulbert.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[rifle]

Yep, sounds like a job for "CRIMP MAN"!   The cases aren't crimped or aren't crimped enough. Yer expander that expands the case after it's resized may be too big fer yer bullet too. The expander should open the case back up so it's about .001-.002 less than the diameter of the bullet. Of course maybe yer bullets aren'r the right size. Are you using a .356 bullet by any chance? Check to see if ya got a .357-.358 bullet. Make sure it's a bullet with a crimp groove too. Not a 9mm bullet for acp's (semi-auto pistols)
Expanders can be bought in different sizes to screw into your die. C&H in MT. Vernon ,Ohio has all you would ever want in the expander dept.

[Wills Point Pete]

 Your problem is that you pulled the bullets and then did not size the cases. There is only so much that a crimp can do, the cases must be sized a few thou smaller than the bullet. Once you pull those bullets the case is stretched.
Pull the decap pin out of the size die, pull those bullets and then size the case. Then seat and crimp the bullet.

[Tubac]

To answer everybody's questions, the dies were .38 S&W, the bullets were the ones that came off the cartridges.
I'll try resizing them, like Pete said.
Thanks for your help.

Tubac