I just got through reloading some 454s for my Freedom Arms. Often times, out of 50 rounds I'll have about two that won't fit. The rim is left protruding from the chamber. It looks like the last 0.07" is not getting sized. Today I used Laser Cast bullets for the first time. Out of 50 rounds 15 didn't fit. I compared the case dimentions of the rounds that didn't fit to those that did. They were all pretty close. Here's where it gets weird for me. I took a round that didn't chamber and I pulled the bullet out. The empty casing chambered fine. I compared the bullet dimentions (.4525") with other bullets of the same lot and they looked ok. I'm using Lee dies, Starline brass (it's been fired 5 times). Any thoughts?

Oh yeah, I'm letting the ram / shellholder come all the way up to the resizing die. The dies are relatively new, about 800 rounds old.

Are you over crimping?

I'm not sure.

Would that cause the round to wedge into the chamber before the round was all the way in?

I need just a little more info. What type of bullets are they, brand and style? I had a similar problem with a load I was doing for a 357 and 38 special. These were cast half jaket bulltes 160gr swc in design. Even seating the bullet to max oal they woulld fit in the cylinder. I found out the the bullet shoulder was hitting in the cylinder and wasn't letting the cartridge completely seat. It was an easy fix, just seat the bullet a bit deeper, just enough to chamber. No more problems. Give that a try.

Sounds like inconsistent case length or case mouth thickness.

Are you seating and crimping in one operation?

And the winner is:

OVERCRIMPING

I took the cartridge that I disassembled and reassembled it without as much crimp. Worked fine.

In the past, I have applied more crimp and the rounds worked fine, difference is that I was using a different crimper.

Thanks a bunch!

If ALL your brass is not trimmed to the same exact length, set up your crimp die to work with the cases that are the longest OAL.

Don't seat and crimp in a single operation. If you do so, you'll be pushing your bullet deeper into the case while simultaneously squeezing the case mouth against the bullet. This will cause bullet deformation or at least shave lead (or jacketing material) from the bullet.

First, back your seating die off so that the bullet seats without the crimp ring contacting the case and adjust the seating stem to seat the bullets to the desired depth. After seating all bullets, screw the bullet seating stem out so that it no longer contacts the bullet and adjust the die deeper in the press so that it gives you the desired amount of crimp on a second pass. This is one reason that the separate Lee collet crimping die is so popular.

Two separate operations to seat, then crimp, slows the process a little, but then you are doing two SEPARATE things which don't go well together.

Thanks everyone for the advise. I am using the Lee factory crimp die. I've had better success with my 44 mag Lee factory crimp than with my 454 Lee factory crimp. I'm guessing the tight fitting chambers on my Freedom Arms 454 are less forgiving than my S&W 44 mag chambers. Also, I've noticed that too much crimp on the 454 will buckle the case. I haven't had a 44 mag case buckle yet.

[ 05-14-2003, 04:52: Message edited by: recoiljunky ]