Snake Bite Bullets

[Charlie Bowdre]

Hi , Nother silly ?? . I just received my SB mold fro DD . Love the way it works and drops out the food for the Black Dragons...

I do have  question , I had been shooting a Bevel base(??) 158 gr SWC which I could drop easily in to the flared .38 case . Now the SB's have a much wider flat base which no matter how I try I can't seem to open up the case enough to sit them in before seating and crimping.

Is it the expander die . My press is a Lee Turret , nothing fancy and I use the standard Lee 38 9.357 set of dies. I have the expander screwed down as far as it goes and it just won't open up that fraction to allow the SB to rest in a flared lip prior to seating. Is there another die of something I can do to adjust the one I have??

[Gun E Bear]

Lyman makes a "M" expander die designed for cast bulltes, it works like a charm on the Big Lube bullets.
Gun E Bear

[Howdy Doody]

I am assuming that you are loading as cast boolits then? I run my Snakes through a Lee .358 sizer after pan lubing them and that gives all mine the same .358 diameter and packs the lube a bit too. I have never had to bell my cases more than just a bit and the boolits fit just fine. The Lee sizers are really inexpensive, but you need a single stage press to use them. After sizing, I load my ammo on a Dillon 650.
As cast will vary with the lead mix and whether air cooled or quenched after casting. 

[Arcey]

Size the Lyman bullets I cast on a Lyman 450 to .358. The round balls loaded in cartridges go thru a Lee .358. They all load easy usin' a Lee expander die. That thing'll make cases look like a funnel if ya ain't careful.

Could it be the one ya got ain't right, Dutchie? Defects happen with the best of tools. Ya got a pard ta borrow one ya know is right ta find out?

Edit....

Just thought of sumthin'. Ain't sure what set of dies yer usin'. If they're .357 Magnum only they ain't gonna properly expand a .38 Special. The .38 sets will load either. The Magnum set won't. I got both. .38 Special cases ain't long 'nuff ta get ta the full part of the button in a Magnum die.

[Charlie Bowdre]

HI Guys , thanks for the tips . I picked up a Lee Sizer  kit for .358 and the problem is solved. Works like a charm and I run the SB's through them after pan lubed and they fire like a dream .

I banged off several hundred on Saturday and not a problem ...fouling was min. and NO jams or seized cylinders .

I did have a few jams in my Marlin 38-357 ..using the SB's and 38 cases. Someone told me if I ran 357 cases with the SB's or used the 38's and don't seat so deep the problem will go away?? Make sense??

Thanks again for the help.

dutchie

[Arcey]

Had a vendor awhile back sellin' a TC bullet lookin' like it was designed for a 9mm. Very similar, by sight, to the SB. I have none to measure now for a comparison. I understand the vendor has passed away.

They could be loaded to an OAL of 1.5" in a .38 Special case. The '94 CS loved the things. Didn't have the '94 CB then.  Try loadin' them to 1.5" 'n see what ya got. 

[Charlie Bowdre]

tks Arcey ,

I had been loading my 38 to about 1.43 - 1.45 . It seemed like they were a tad short and just wouldn't pick up . I'll run off some at 1.5 as see what gives .
Thanks
Dutchie