I'm inexperienced at reloading the .45 ACP cartridge. I'm having a problem at the expander die stage. I understand that the case mouth only needs to be belled slightly--about 1/16 of an inch. However, I'm finding that in order to bell the case mouth sufficiently to insert the bullet that far (1/16 inch) the expander die travels down into the case about 1/4 inch and produces a noticable bulge in the case side. Will this "iron out" in the seater die? Do I just have bad brass? I'm experimenting with some cheap brass "Amerc" --American Brand cartridges. Do I just have the expander adjusted wrong? What's the proper method of determining the expander adjustment? To ME the RCBS instructions seem vague.

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"Don't let so much reality into your life that there's no room left for dreaming."

First of all, AMERC brass sucks...that being out of the way, you are inserting your expander plug too far. You only need to bell the mouth of the case enough to allow the bullet to seat without shaving the sides of the bullet or without crunching the side of the case.

A little goes a very long way...

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http://stevespages.com/page8.htm

[This message has been edited by ricciardelli (edited 02-21-2002).]

I agree, AMERC brass does suck. Thats why I'm using it to learn on. I think I will toss it all. So, if I understand you correctly, the expander should enter the case no further than the amount I want the bullet to seat. About 1/16th inch? This is going to temporarily exceed the OAL, right? In other words, this depth is just to keep it from falling out until it goes through the seater die?

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"Don't let so much reality into your life that there's no room left for dreaming."

Steve is right, your allowing the plug to go to far into the case. I just like to expand it enough to start the bullet. No need for a 1/16" start. Less will do. I have never used the RCBS expander. Lyman 'M' dies work great. Don't forget to taper crimp enough to remove the bell, or you'll have feeding problems.

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

plainview, What you discribe is normal when using a RCBS tungsting sizer. The expander must open the brass to the correct inside dia. and flare the mouth at the same time. Because all brass is different, the sizer must size MORE then necessary to work with ALL brass. I find that Remington brass will not do this, but at the same time will not hold the bullet tight enought. I can NOT load rem. brass. The buldge does't look good , but the ammo will shoot fine. 243winxb