I have loaded for a lot of years and a lot of calibers, tons of 45 ACP, 45LC and the various rifle calibers. Now I'm loading for an 1894C 357 Mag and thought it would be nice to load up some 38 Spcl plinking rounds - cast bullets with 4.7 Gr of Green Dot, and that's when I ran into the problem. I cleaned and sized 50 cases, powdered them and started the bullets [175 Gr Keith SWC} then found out I can't push them far enough into the die to crimp the cases. What am I doing wrong here? Set the die to touch the shell holder, back off a quarter to half turn, then set the seater to the depth I want the bullet - case is as straight as anything. Even if I let the shell holder 'bump' the bottom of the seater die I still get no indication of a crimp what so ever. I checked the cases for length and they are spot on so ruled that out.
I loaded 150 3578 Mag the same way with 100 using same bullet and 50 with 125 Gr JFP and they came out with a beautiful crimp.
And BTW, I have RCBS 38 Spcl dies and Redding 357 Mag dies, not that it should make any difference.

Are you trying to crimp the Specials with the Magnum die?

quote:

And BTW, I have RCBS 38 Spcl dies and Redding 357 Mag dies, not that it should make any difference.

Yo Trap,


Oh, it makes a BIG difference.....


+2 on DocEd's suggestion above which is absolutely correct - if you are attempting to crimp a 38 Spl with a 357 Mag die your finished cartridge wil be .10" too short of engadging the crimp portion of the bullet seating die!

I that's the case don't bother to read further - go back, start again & use the correct 38 Spl or 357 Mag die set.

If you're already using the correct die set then try to set the die using the routine below.......


I load for my .44 Mag Marlin 1894, both lead & jacketed SWC's & WC's crimp just fine. My Marlin also shoots both types of bullets great.

I've also purchased dies (not many) that were either mis-marked (F/L dies that were actually Small-Base Dies) or had bits & pieces missing. Glitches do occur.

I'm not familiar with your 174 gr. Keith SWC but I assume it has a crimp groove?

Anyway, here's how I set up my seating dies (excluding sizing and case mouth die set-up) for .38 Spl, .357 Mag & .44 Mag's with each specific bullet (w/o primer). Afterwards I've a case, bullet seated & crimped correctly to adjsut the die to for when I decide to load this bullet combination again.

I'm sure there's plenty of other favorite methods, also.

Remove the seating stem from the seating die and leave the lock ring loose.

Put an empty case in the shellholder and lower the ram so the shellholder/case is all the way up.

Take the seating die and screw it into the press until the lightest resistance is felt (=begining of crimp portion).

Lower ram and adjust die another >1/4 to <1/2 turn down and tighten the lock ring. This ought to set the crimp on the seating die to the correct depth & crimp pressure.

Insert seating stem, leaving the bullet seater below the level of the crimp portion of the die.

Then I adjsut the seating of the bullet until the bullet is seated to the depth where I want it.

Now I've got a case that is still flared with a bullet in it set to the right spot.

The I take the seating stem and raise it above the level of where the bullet is seated and run the case into the die. The bullet should now be crimped.

Then I take the bullet seating stem and turn it down onto the arleady crimped case/bullet.


Whew! Long winded but hope this works for you.....

OK, I'll try and expand this a bit:
1] This is the 173 Gr Keith bullet I'm loading
2] I have both 38 Spl dies and 357 Mag dies - I've loaded 357 with the 38 dies but not vice versa
3] I measured cases (W-W) and they come out at 1.125" which is in spec
4] I set the dies to bump the ram then back off 1/4 to 1/2 turn - works fine on everything else I load.
I've never had this problem before and it is driving me nuts. I'm going to pickup another seating die and try it as soon as my buddy gets back in town, may even buy one if the shop has a crimp die. This is getting to me as I know I will need a good tight crimp when I shoot them from the tube magazine of the Marlin.

You should be able to use the same 357 die set for 38 Special. I have for years. I suspect that your problem is the length of the bullet you are trying to load in the 38 special. You have stated that other bullets load and seat fine. The 175 grain is a litle heavy for 38 special, however I have loaded up to 180 in my 38 special (a long time ago), however it was a round nose and not a SWC.
Also your procedure for the seating die is not correct. The touching of the shell holder is irrelevant. Just adjust the die to seat the bullet to the correct depth (without crimp), then adjust for crimp, per the instructions.
Peter.

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I have both 38 Spl dies and 357 Mag dies - I've loaded 357 with the 38 dies but not vice versa

I have seen dies that will adjust to size & seat both 38 Spl & 357 Mag. My 38 Spl dies can be adjusted upwards to compensate for the longer 357 Mag but my 357 bullet seater die is too long to accomodate the 38 Spl. if I desire to use the crimping feature.

quote:

The touching of the shell holder is irrelevant.

I agree 100% with Peter; the bullet seating process & die has/should have nothing to do with "bumping" the shellholder. "Bumping" is used for the sizing process and usually a straight-walled revolver case can be F/L sized anyway without having to "bump" the shellholder. You can if you prefer but whay put the strain on the equipment if not necessary?

I venture to offer if you are "bumping" the die/shellholder you may have already significantly gone past the point where the crimp starts and are effectively crimping the bullet prior to allowing it to be seated correctly.