I was loading some .454Casulls when I noticed that with some 300grn Sierra FL SP's a bulge was created in one side of the case.

It seems that the bullets are not seating stright and pushing to one side, creating a visible bulge.

When loading 3oogrn RN cast bullest, which are shorter and do not seat as far into the case, the problem did not present itself.

At first I cleaned the die, and found it to be rather grimy from the lube and lead off the cast bullets.

This did help a bit, but the problem is persisting now that the die is clean.

I will try polishing it with the dremmel too and see if that resolves the problem.

Otherwise, can anyone offer any suggestions?

Express,

I also reload for the 454. Sounds like you might have a slight, but noticeable alignment issue, either with your shell holder, the ram in your press might have some play, or not seating your bullet square in the case mouth before you run it through the seating die? Just somethings to look for in my past experience. Also, how much larger is the bullet dia. then your resizing die is sizing your cases? I have found bullet dia. to be from .451-454, and the larger bullets will bulge, and to make matters worse you might have the problems as I mention above.

Please do not polish your die, it is fine. I suspect that you have 1 or 2 problems: 1)you have not readjusted your crimp to suit the new jacketed bullet and/or 2)your case mouths are not dead square.

When applying this much crimp on a jacketed bullet in the .454, it is easy to get just past that line where the crimp is really heavy, but where you are not yet buckling the case. In addition, if your case mouths are not dead square and even, you will crimp one side of the case more than the other, and with a Heavy crimp, that could spell trouble. In addition, lead bullets are more tolerant of crimping errors.

hope this helps,

Geo.

Also, are you shooting compressed loads? With the longer, heavier bullet you might be compressing your load more. Sometimes you can get powder (especially flake powders) to press between your bullet and brass, causing a bulge. Of course, this is usually with boattails...

Be careful not to mess up your die!

I suspect your seeing the result of a straight walled case being sized a bit smaller than the bullet diameter and expanding to size when the bullet is seated with a little more of the expantion showing where the case is thinner on one side then the other. As you use heavier (longer) bullets and they fit deeper in the case where the wall tapers and thickens this sometimes shows.

Express:

I have the same problem you do with my large diameter straight wall cases. The bulge is asymetrical. I even bought a new press to attempt to rectify the problem. No luck. I posted on forums like this with lots of replies but no solution. My neighbor has the same problem. I have to line my bullet up very very precisely to eliminate the problem. With bullets that are short and fat, it's difficult to tell whether you are starting the bullet out perfectly square with the case mouth. I think if you pay close attention to your bullet to case mouth alignment you will see improvement. I did. Still not perfect, but much better. I can take my worse three looking 45-70 rounds out of a batch and fire them into less than an inch at 100 yards with a 2X scope. In other words the bulge is unsightly and aggravating, but doesn't seem to affect my accuracy. Let us know if you come up with a solution. If there is a fix, my neighbor and I want to know.

Paul

Can you or will you post a picture of the bulge. I am still a little unclear as to just where the bulge appears. The remedy could be as simple of belling the case mouth a little more. If your cases only look like "A snake what swallered an egg" then the problem is cosmetic and is caused by a very tight sizing die or undersize expander. The expanders for .454 are made very much undersize so that there is sufficient initial resistance to releasing the bullet that the slow powders can get up enough pressure to burn correctly. This death-grip on the bullet of a .454 is usually appropriate, as is a very tight crimp. I crimp my .454 so tightly that the cannelure in the bullet cuts little marks in the case mouth.

I do not get any bulges in this caliber because I use the Redding competition seating die (it is beautiful) and the Redding Profile Crimp die to crimp. Yes, that is two stages, but the resultant ammo is very straight, with a very tight crimp, and the crimping die (Pro-Crimp) puts a slight taper on the case for easy feeding -- and could iron out and straighten out any bulges or wrinkles at the same time. Geo.