This is my first post and have joined this forum to try to solve some reloading questions. I have learned to reload only from reading manuals. I am getting some bullet deformation on my 44 mag reloads using RCBS dies and Nosler& Hornady 240 grain bullets after seating them. I read in the die instuctions to bell the brass just enough for the bullet to sit on top of the brass for seating.(Which I did) After seating, Which did not seem like I had to force the bullet in the top of the bullets are deformed. What causes this? Do they make a different seater plug to conform to the bullet better? The die set came with two of them and the one I am not using is flat. I am assuming this one is for wadcutters. The photo shows primed case,expanded case,expanded cases with bullets, And final product. What am I doing wrong? I am using 24 grains of 296 for the powder.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p47/brianswhitetail/100_1650.jpg

You said you're using the flat seater to seat the bullets but it looks more like you're using the one for round nose bullets. A picture of the two seaters would have helped, but looking at the bullet noses, it sure looks like a round nosed seater was used. The flat one is for semi-wadcutter and wadcutter bullets. You probably could bell the neck a hair more which might help. Not much, just a hair.
Personally, I use only my home cast bullets in the .44 magnum, a 240 gr. Keith style semi-wadcutter and another 250 gr. Semi-wadcutter that is gas checked. I get a slight rounding od the nose on one of those bullet as well, but it hasn't seemed to hurt anything.
Your load of .24.0 gr. of W-296 is a good one and the one that I use.
Paul B.

Paul, I said I was not using the flat plug. Here is a photo of the two that came with the die set I am using the rounded one in front of the bullet. Thanks for the reply, Brian
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p47/brianswhitetail/100_1656.jpg

Try seating a bullet to depth without crimping. It looks to me like the bullet is getting pushed down while the crimp is being applied.

Are you seating and crimping in the same step? If so, make that 2 seperate operations.

hangunnr

Hangunnr, Yes I am seating and crimping in one step. I will try your suggestion and see if that works. I also reload 454 casull loads and crimp in a separate operation and those bullets lok fine. Thanks for the tip. Brian

I pretty much gave up on roll crimping handgun rounds. I taper crimp most all of them now.

The seating plug is the cause of the bullet deformation. Change to a flat one and it will not deform the projectile.

I too like either factory crimp or taper crimp dies for handgun ammo.

I roll crimp while seating 45 colt using Hornady dies just fine, and I'll bet the RCBS dies do it just as well. Untold millions of rounds of ammunition have been crimped while seating before Dillon and Lee thought it necessary to sell us an extra die for crimping. My Hornady die actually puts on a more consistent roll crimp than my Lee CFCD did. Sure, it took a little time to get the seating/crimping set up, but once that was done, it has been gravy ever since.

I will say that the collet type FCD for rifle and bottleneck pistol is a great product, and is even worth the extra step. The CFCD and standard crimp dies are not, IMHO.

Andy

i crimped and seated alot of 44 mag with my rcbs die set before i went to a dillion and never deformed my bullets. check to see witch crimp you are using ie taper or roll. it looks like you have a taper crimp. i would also bell ur cases a little more. since you are loading 24.0 of 296 wich is a max load, i would back it down to 23.5 it may be the powder height in the case.

Thanks for the pictures of the two seaters. It helps. Part of the problem may be from seating and crimping at the same time. After seeing the seaters, I think either one would do some damage to the bullet's nose as the lead in most handgun jacketed bullets is one the soft side.
Looking at all the pictures again, I agree that maybe you should bell the case necks a bit more and crimp as a second operation when seating the bullets.
Paul B.

The crimp doesn`t appear to be a problem to me, the case shows no buckleing or bulge.

The bullet deformation I would guess, is due as suggested to the wrong seater. The truncated nosed bullets such as HP and SWC styles should use a SWC seater to get the best result, and round nose seaters are usually limited to RN bullets.

I do agree crimping as a seperate step is a better way of doing things. The 44 mag needs a good heavy roll crimp, especially with slower powders such as H110 or W296.

The crimp is important both for keeping the bullet in the case until the powder starts burning uniformly and to prevent the recoil from driving the bullet deeper in the case or allowing it to move out possibly protruding from the cylinder locking the revolver.

Thanks for all the replies guys, I will try some of the suggestions this weekend and see what happens. Brian