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[Seth Hawkins]

 

[Trailrider]

The only reasons for resizing loaded ammo is to remove a bulge or reduce the outside diameter of the case that has been expanded too much by seating the bullet.  The problem is that with cast bullets (and to a lesser extent jacketed), you reduce the diameter of the bullet as well.  The cartridge case will spring back slightly larger than the sizing die, but the bullet will probably NOT.  The result will probably be a loose bullet.

The question is, why do you need to do this?  If the bulge is at the base of the crimp, reduce the amount of crimp.  If it is due to the bullet being too big in diameter, causing the round to be too tight in the chamber, you might want to (1) ream the case; (2) have the chamber diameter increased by reaming or polishing;(3) use thinner brass!  Winchester brass tends to be thinner than most others.

Hope this helps...

[Howdy Doody]

Good advice Trailrider.

BUT............................ what's up with that avatar? It is hard to make out, but is that you on a prehistoric something or another?

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Looks to me like he's riding a triceratops.

Trailrider's advice is sound. It's not a good idea to resize loaded cartridges. When you size brass in the first place, you reduce the diameter in the neck area back down from the fired/expanded size to the factory/SAAMi spec size. Normally the inside diameter of resized brass will be just a couple of thousandths under the diameter of the bullets intended for that diameter. Once the bullet is seated, the brass expands slightly to 'swallow' the bullet. This allows the brass to exert good neck tension to help hold the bullet in place. It also allows the brass to stretch again slightly, resulting in a slightly larger outside diameter than when the brass was sized.That is the key. After the bullet has seated, the brass has expanded slightly in diameter. Running the completed cartridge through the sizing die again will squeeze the brass back down somewhat, but it will also squeeze down the bullet inside, reducing it from its intended sized diameter.

As Trailrider said, a better solution for rounds that do not chamber well with the correct diameter bullet is thinner brass, or a slightly larger chamber. It may also involve slightly resetting seating and crimping dies so that they do not create bulges at the crimp.

[Old Top]

Evening All,

I find with my 44-40's that I have to put them back through the sizeing die to have them chamber in the pistols, I have done both the tightening and looseing of the crimp die and useing a factory crimp, back through the sizeing die is the only way I have found to be sure that they will chamber.

Old Top

[Dusty Morningwood]

I do this for my 12.7x44R Husqvarna rolling block.  It is a commercial sporter and has a much fussier chamber than the military model.  I have not had problems with the case spring back out and leaving a loose bullet.  When the .429 bullets would not chamber in my .44-40 73 and GW IIs, I ran them all back through the sizer just so I could shoot them and switch to .427 bullets.

[Trailrider]

Good advice Trailrider.

BUT............................ what's up with that avatar? It is hard to make out, but is that you on a prehistoric something or another?

That's "Tricie".  Just shows you how old I really am! (According to the "gubmint", I'm now officially "old"...got my Medicare card!  )  I'd like to enlarge the picture, but not sure just how to do it.  The original photo is callendar size.  Was taken when they had an exhibit of audioanimatronic dinos outside the Pepsi Center in Denver several years ago.  You sat on a sawhorse with a green or blue (forget which) background, and the confuser does the rest!  Got another picture with me and my grandsons riding with me!

BTW, a tricerotops is much easier to ride than Alley Oop's dino.  You don't tend to slide off when they graze!    Plus, them three horns help when ol' "Rexie" comes around looking for a meal!   

[Trailrider]

Evening All,

I find with my 44-40's that I have to put them back through the sizeing die to have them chamber in the pistols, I have done both the tightening and looseing of the crimp die and useing a factory crimp, back through the sizeing die is the only way I have found to be sure that they will chamber.

Old Top

What pistols are you using?  Might they be #55-XXXXX Vaqueros? What are the throat diameters?  And what brand of brass? If they are Rugers OMV's you might want to consider sending them back to the factory.  The early 55-series had extremely tight chambers and .425" throats.  Later they enlarged the chambers but not the throats!    Final #57-series had larger chambers AND .430-.431" throats.  I still use the middle issue with the .425" throats and .430" hard-cast (well about SAECO #8-9, or BHN 15), which will squeeze down and then re-expand in the forcing cone.  They are very accurate, dispite what folks think.  But you have to use relatively hard bullets.  I use nothing but Winchester brass, which is the thinnest, but strongest.

[Delmonico]

Athough I shoot Nitro in it, I had some problems when I got my Single-Six 32 mag in 89.  I had to run them through the sizing di to get them to chamber proper, a fine line between no crimp and too much in a gun with very tight chambers.  solution was simple, a Taper Crimp Die.  Will nover do another roll crimp on any round I can get a taper crimp die for, the chamber slick and give far more bullet pull.

[Springfield Slim]

The main affect is the you are now shooting .425 bullets. Took some apart to find out. I was having the same problem, so I had a machinist friend of mine take one of my sizing dies and open up the front portion .005. Still reshaped the cartridge but didn't reduce my bullet size. I finally learned how to crimp properly with Winchester brass, and now I run .429 bullets with a regular crimp die.

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

I shoot 44 Rem/Colt C.F.'s 44 Colt brass and an Old West Moulds heeled bullet .451 dia. I have to resize after loading and crimping because my original Remington 44 C.F. Conversions cylinders are picky...So was the same cal. R & D conversion that Tomasnomas now has. My Kirst wasn't so picky. I resize them in the 44 Col sizier die almost full length. My cases were never malformed after loadign or crimping.

[Noz]

I loaded some 38 special rounds for my grandson using 9mm bullets with no crimp groove.  the roll crimp created a bulge that would not allow the cartridges to seat in Gaucho cylinders. I ran them back through the sizing die to solve the problem. Low pressure loads, no harm.

[Grapeshot]

What is the effect on a cartridge if you remove the decapping pin from a sizing die and run a loaded cartridge into the sizing die?

Anyone ever try this?

I did this with a .44/40, 1860 Henry.  loaded a batch of .430 bullets into some Winchester .44-40 cases.  When I tried to shoot them I found that I couldn't chamber them.  So, I went back to the bench and screwed in my .44-40 sizing die to a Lee single stage press and applied a generous coat of Imperial Sizing Wax to the cases.  After taking out the decapping pin, I slowly inserted each case into the sizing die.

All went well, except for five cases, they buckled at the shounder.  I found that they all chambered, so I tried them out.  The five cases that buckled, I fed into the chamber one at a time, thinking that when I fired it, they would fire form back to their original shape.

I fired the first one, and the case separated at the shoulder.  After cheching the chamber and barrel for the missing case neck, I reasoned that I had just made those cast lead bullets into jacketed ones.  The necks separated from the case, and went down the barrel gripping the sides of the bullet like a jacket.  I suspect that when the brass buckl;ed, it folded inward around the base of the bullet and stressed itself so that when I fired it, the brass broke at that point.  All five cases showed a clean and even break, almost like they were made that way from the factory.

Bottom Line:  It's not a good idea.

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

UH.....
There's a big difference in straight cases and necked cases. Myself, I'd have pulled the bullets and recovered what powder and lead I could have out of those buckled cases. I would not chance trying to fire a buckled case in anything. Especially a 44-40 necked case. 44-40's are hard enough to load when they are right on the money.

JMO erring on the side of safety.