Lee Bulge Buster

[Darth]

I just ordered one along with a .40/10mm Lee Factory Crimp Die.

Why? Here was my issue:

Until recently I've only reloaded 10MM for my G20C. No issues. Now I have 2-10s to load for, at quite the opposite end of the spectrum. My G20C and my Dan Wesson Kodiak. Recently trying out batches my G20C would eat everything, but my Dan Wesson would hang up. It wouldn't go fully into battery with maybe 5% of the rounds. Tight tolerances? So I adjusted the crimp and COAL, same thing. Wtf? So I loaded up a batch just tonight and did a "plunk test" with both barrels. 50/50 plunked into the G20C barrel. 42/50 into the DW. I looked at each failed DW round. Glock Bulge. Starline brass(which means these were balls to the wall hot Buffalo Bore loads) On each one. Doing some research on this the way to save the brass and ensure this isn't an ongoing issue with mixed brass is to run the loaded rounds through the Lee Bulge Buster.

Any experience and/or insight?

 

[repete]

I've used them in 9 and 45 with good results when used before loading, I tried like others to use them on loaded cases to "iron" out imperfections like a bullet started a bit crooked. It worked but it also has a tendency to "iron" out any crimp and size down the (lead)bullet and that doesn't spring back like the brass case causing the bullet to be loose.

 

[Darth]

I've used them in 9 and 45 with good results when used before loading, I tried like others to use them on loaded cases to "iron" out imperfections like a bullet started a bit crooked. It worked but it also has a tendency to "iron" out any crimp and size down the (lead)bullet and that doesn't spring back like the brass case causing the bullet to be loose.

Better to use pre load?

 

[togmaster]

The only way I know of to completely get rid of the Glock bulge is roll sizing. The machines are expensive for a hobby reloader so your best bet may be to just keep your brass separated for the 2 guns.

 

[1911guy]

Get rid of the Glock.

 

[Robin]

Looks like a good work around to me. Is this something unique to a Glock? I am currently loading only the .45ACP for a SIG but plan to do 9mm in the near future and don't like having doubts about functionality of my ammo. Years ago all my reloading was for revolvers and never had a 'bulge' problem, so this is new to me.
Robin

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

From everything I've seen the bulge buster works. It's very simple. It's like sizing bullets. How bad is the bulge in the casings? Any pics? If it's so small that you can't even predict when problems will happen I wonder if a small base die would be a solution. This way you could skip bulge busting and reload as normal.

 

[Darth]

From everything I've seen the bulge buster works. It's very simple. It's like sizing bullets. How bad is the bulge in the casings? Any pics? If it's so small that you can't even predict when problems will happen I wonder if a small base die would be a solution. This way you could skip bulge busting and reload as normal.

Every other round has the bulge, starting with #2.

As I noticed it's just the Starline, I think it's probably just the nuclear BB loads that did this, but the bulge buster will add consistency.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

View attachment 103026

Every other round has the bulge, starting with #2.

As I noticed it's just the Starline, I think it's probably just the nuclear BB loads that did this, but the bulge buster will add consistency.

Holy hell. Those look like they're belted. I was picturing fat guppies. With guppies it can be so slight you may not even notice from case to case. Is it an optical illusion or can you snag that line with your fingernail? If it's bulged that much the buster or undersized die may or may not be able to help. IDK. On another note is the 10mm glock an older gen? I think those are the ones that were notorious for the bulge.

 

[Darth]

Holly hell. Those look like they're belted. I was picturing fat guppies. With guppies it can be so slight you may not even notice from case to case. Is it an optical illusion or can you snag that line with your fingernail? If it's bulged that much the buster or undersized die may or may not be able to help. IDK. On another note is the 10mm glock an older gen? I think those are the ones that were notorious for the bulge.

You can catch it with a nail.

Or more to the point, it stops going in to the barrel at that point.

It's a Gen 3 G20C, so it's pretty recent.

If I have to chuck my Starline brass I will, but I hate loosing supplies in these times.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

You can catch it with a nail.

Or more to the point, it stops going in to the barrel at that point.

Damn. So it's a 50/50 chance then. At a certain point even the buster won't be enough to make the case "one" again. You would need something that could actually pull the case from the top to straighten out that crease. I'll be curious to see if the buster works. Keep us updated.

ETA: I predict after being busted you will still see that line but the bulge may go down just enough to chamber

 

[Darth]

Damn. So it's a 50/50 chance then. At a certain point even the buster won't be enough to make the case "one" again. You would need something that could actually pull the case from the top to straighten out that crease. I'll be curious to see if the buster works. Keep us updated.

ETA: I predict after being busted you will still see that line but the bulge may go down just enough to chamber

Plus, the way I see it, if the gun blows up, your body heals. Thrown away components do not.

 

[repete]

Better to use pre load?

Yes, most defiantly.
Darth, that brass is BAD! something is wrong, might be the chamber maybe the load or maybe the brass itself. I have a bunch of Starline brass in .45LC that some will not even go into the sizer die and the ones that do fit so tight that I've never completely resized one. My theory is that the brass itself is much harder alloy than most others and/or has a thicker wall, in my case it may also have been fired in a larger chamber.
But back to your reloads, I'd be checking EVERYTHING again maybe even doing a chamber cast. Best to do it now while the gun and your hand is still in one piece!

 

[Darth]

Yes, most defiantly.
Darth, that brass is BAD! something is wrong, might be the chamber maybe the load or maybe the brass itself. I have a bunch of Starline brass in .45LC that some will not even go into the sizer die and the ones that do fit so tight that I've never completely resized one. My theory is that the brass itself is much harder alloy than most others and/or has a thicker wall, in my case it may also have been fired in a larger chamber.
But back to your reloads, I'd be checking EVERYTHING again maybe even doing a chamber cast. Best to do it now while the gun and your hand is still in one piece!

I'm not concerned with with chamber.

With the only rounds doing this being the super hot Buffalo Bore, I think I know the problem.

This setup will make things easier for range picks though.

 

[meketrefe]

Darth,
The truth this is very hard to predict because when part of the ramp steals space for the chamber and brass is softer at the web the potential for deformation is always there.

So swagging the base of the cases back to where they should be is the default solution.
But ultimately you want to understand what brass and/or barrels are deforming the brass and how much since you don't want that to be excessive or done more than 2 or 3 times to the same case.

Brass at the web is thicker and more brittle and cannot be annealed and don't want to risk a rupture.

Initially glock barrels can be put aside and get an aftermarket barrel with more support and find what bullets work best with it.

Leave the glock barrel for defensive ammo.
The loose fit concept is not new and parts and chambers is a way to assure huge reliability but it has some tradeoffs.
It is hard to find the best method w/o specific measures and detailed notes.
The caliper and micrometer are your best friends here.
As brass is "reconditioned" 2 or 3 times consider always milder lower pressure loads for training and to help with the issue and lean towards the safer side.
So in order to maximize in your investment, aside from the buldge buster consider aftermarket barrels with a fully suported chamber, more forgiving to chamber bulk bullets for practice and/or softer spring for mild loads but only if you shortstroke as you want to keep that bolt tightly closed for as long as possible.
For heavy hp loads you may want a harder buffer spring for the same reason.
There is no one single solution but a combination of measures also depending on what you want to do.
I hope this helps somehow.

 

[meketrefe]

Btw... Dont mix brass wash it and sort by stamp and how many uses that is specially critical if you are swagging a buldge at the base. And never reuse is a super hot load again.
Also aftermarket barrels are cheap vs a new set of eyes.

 

[repete]

With the only rounds doing this being the super hot Buffalo Bore, I think I know the problem.

I must've missed that part! Personally I've gotten away from the real hot stuff as I've gotten older and my guns and my right wrist and hand thanks me. (all joking aside)

 

[Darth]

Btw... Dont mix brass wash it and sort by stamp and how many uses that is specially critical if you are swagging a buldge at the base. And never reuse is a super hot load again.
Also aftermarket barrels are cheap vs a new set of eyes.

Cant sort by uses with range pickup.

 

[meketrefe]

Cant sort by uses with range pickup.

there is more to this. Let me get back to you on this later. At work right now...
Stay tuned....

 

[Robin]

Darth, I've heard spandex works wonders.
Robin

 

[Darth]

Darth, I've heard spandex works wonders.
Robin

It does.

 

[Phazer]

I've reloaded a lot of 9mm brass fired by Glocks. The cases certainly require a bit more force to reform in the sizing die. At the end, the factory crimp die makes everything regular. I haven't had any feeding problems with any rounds that I've processed using the resizing die and the factory crimp die on the progressive press.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

I've reloaded a lot of 9mm brass fired by Glocks. The cases certainly require a bit more force to reform in the sizing die. At the end, the factory crimp die makes everything regular. I haven't had any feeding problems with any rounds that I've processed using the resizing die and the factory crimp die on the progressive press.

10mm is a much different beast than 9mm though.

 

[Phazer]

10mm is a much different beast than 9mm though.

A .40 on steroids?

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

A .40 on steroids?

Right. If you tried to do what you can do with a 10mm load with a 9mm load you'd blow up your gun.

 

[Phazer]

Right. If you tried to do what you can do with a 10mm load with a 9mm load you'd blow up your gun.

Agreed.

I was only speaking about some brass prep experience.

I don't use 10mm.

 

[meketrefe]

Cant sort by uses with range pickup.

ok.
In order to avoid confusion lets first define what range pickup is because it could mean different things to different people.
Lets present just a few examples. ...

A) Picking up from a shared bucket after sweeping up the floors from all lanes and maybe after several sessions of practice.
In this case one might be picking up anything not just ones brass but other people brass. Here there is no way to say who's brass
is whose. By the same token is impossible to say how many times a case has been fired or how many times has been swagged
to correct the "bulge" problem, something that is critical not just for function but to be on the safe side.

B) Another more organized way might be to pickup bras in the surrounding area and behind and in this case
one could assume that most of the brass one is retrieving might be ones brass with the occasional mixed brass of the
closest lanes. In this case one might notice if the person next to you is procuring their own brass looking by color and
size (like a 9mm vs.. 45 easy to spot) or the person might say "it is my brass you can have it" and you can say "looks like new"
at witch point we might proceed to save it if we want it along with our own brass but perhaps in a different case or bag.
One might notice our next door lanes might be shooting winchester 9mm (for example) and then the person said it was
brand new and we happen to be shooting brand new winchester 9mm so no reason not to put this together.

C) This might be the case where the person in one lane is in a well confined area where the brass naturally confined to a
small spread area whether it is because of the range configuration or we have some method of collecting the brass we
fire. In this case we can assume is easy to retrieve brass and keep track of it at the source.

D) In many IDPA-style indoors practice or leagues there is a procedure to clear all circuit of all your brass before the
next shooter comes in. There might be a couple of pieces left behind in corners but most of it is retrieved so it is
a safe surface for the next shooter to step in.

So....

If we refer to range brass as brass pickup after sweeping the floor w/o any sort of criteria or control that might
include someones elses brass that is something that might be ok for some but for mild loads, forgiving cartridges
and given one doesn't mind certain level of variability and reliability issues that might be ok for practice.
But also depending what calibers and cartridges might carry certain risk if we don't really know where the brass
really comes from.

The next level would be assorted head-stamps and years that we keep somewhat track of that we can discard before
we come to certain level of firings or when we start feeling loose primers or other defects and we might discard
an entire batch but we might also discard better quality brass (harder brass) that might take pressure better than
softer/cheaper brass. one of the tradeoffs of mixing batch aside from reliability and accuracy that might not be
a huge concern for practice anyway. But this should be safer.

Depending on what type of brass and loads one is using one might see the segregating and sorting brass
as an advantage and the process of keeping track might not be that complicated. I do this with all 40 cal
and other cases and not just rifle but pistol too.

The easy way is to segregate the best you can at the source and to keep track. for this you can look at heads amps
and primer but the easiest way is to quickly color code a batch after reloading.

There are many ways to color code and quickly spot the brass as you pick it. Ways to identify charges, specific
primers or the nr. of reloads or swags to the case...



All I need is a few red white and blue sharpies, some empty zip bags, used ammo boxes or washed yogurt containers
and I am all set to keep track of quality reloads w/o much additional work




This might seem overkill for pistol but for certain calibers and specially when you are dealing with deformed webs, swagging and
specially if you want to load hot / high performance / defense or hunting loads or just because you want them to be more reliable
and accurate you can start keep track of brass by batches and spend some time.

there is no one single procedure that fits all but it doesn't also require as much time as people think if done efficiently at the source
so we cannot just sweep the entire range and dump it into a plastic bag.

Anything that is done to be more effective (reliable and safer in your case) can be done more efficiently applying some ingenuity.

For example... next to my man cave /workshop I have a basement bathroom so in that bathroom I have small table in wheels that can move
in so while I take a dump I can sort some brass from the pickups into the corresponding containers to start a new cycle and wash,
prep and reload. So if you have 10 minutes you can read the fake news or instead so something useful. lol

I hope this helps and if nothing applies to you then who knows this might help someone else dancing the reloading tango.

 

[Darth]

ok.
In order to avoid confusion lets first define what range pickup is because it could mean different things to different people.
Lets present just a few examples. ...

A) Picking up from a shared bucket after sweeping up the floors from all lanes and maybe after several sessions of practice.
In this case one might be picking up anything not just ones brass but other people brass. Here there is no way to say who's brass
is whose. By the same token is impossible to say how many times a case has been fired or how many times has been swagged
to correct the "bulge" problem, something that is critical not just for function but to be on the safe side.

B) Another more organized way might be to pickup bras in the surrounding area and behind and in this case
one could assume that most of the brass one is retrieving might be ones brass with the occasional mixed brass of the
closest lanes. In this case one might notice if the person next to you is procuring their own brass looking by color and
size (like a 9mm vs.. 45 easy to spot) or the person might say "it is my brass you can have it" and you can say "looks like new"
at witch point we might proceed to save it if we want it along with our own brass but perhaps in a different case or bag.
One might notice our next door lanes might be shooting winchester 9mm (for example) and then the person said it was
brand new and we happen to be shooting brand new winchester 9mm so no reason not to put this together.

C) This might be the case where the person in one lane is in a well confined area where the brass naturally confined to a
small spread area whether it is because of the range configuration or we have some method of collecting the brass we
fire. In this case we can assume is easy to retrieve brass and keep track of it at the source.

D) In many IDPA-style indoors practice or leagues there is a procedure to clear all circuit of all your brass before the
next shooter comes in. There might be a couple of pieces left behind in corners but most of it is retrieved so it is
a safe surface for the next shooter to step in.

So....

If we refer to range brass as brass pickup after sweeping the floor w/o any sort of criteria or control that might
include someones elses brass that is something that might be ok for some but for mild loads, forgiving cartridges
and given one doesn't mind certain level of variability and reliability issues that might be ok for practice.
But also depending what calibers and cartridges might carry certain risk if we don't really know where the brass
really comes from.

The next level would be assorted head-stamps and years that we keep somewhat track of that we can discard before
we come to certain level of firings or when we start feeling loose primers or other defects and we might discard
an entire batch but we might also discard better quality brass (harder brass) that might take pressure better than
softer/cheaper brass. one of the tradeoffs of mixing batch aside from reliability and accuracy that might not be
a huge concern for practice anyway. But this should be safer.

Depending on what type of brass and loads one is using one might see the segregating and sorting brass
as an advantage and the process of keeping track might not be that complicated. I do this with all 40 cal
and other cases and not just rifle but pistol too.

The easy way is to segregate the best you can at the source and to keep track. for this you can look at heads amps
and primer but the easiest way is to quickly color code a batch after reloading.

There are many ways to color code and quickly spot the brass as you pick it. Ways to identify charges, specific
primers or the nr. of reloads or swags to the case...

View attachment 103218

All I need is a few red white and blue sharpies, some empty zip bags, used ammo boxes or washed yogurt containers
and I am all set to keep track of quality reloads w/o much additional work

View attachment 103219


This might seem overkill for pistol but for certain calibers and specially when you are dealing with deformed webs, swagging and
specially if you want to load hot / high performance / defense or hunting loads or just because you want them to be more reliable
and accurate you can start keep track of brass by batches and spend some time.

there is no one single procedure that fits all but it doesn't also require as much time as people think if done efficiently at the source
so we cannot just sweep the entire range and dump it into a plastic bag.

Anything that is done to be more effective (reliable and safer in your case) can be done more efficiently applying some ingenuity.

For example... next to my man cave /workshop I have a basement bathroom so in that bathroom I have small table in wheels that can move
in so while I take a dump I can sort some brass from the pickups into the corresponding containers to start a new cycle and wash,
prep and reload. So if you have 10 minutes you can read the fake news or instead so something useful. lol

I hope this helps and if nothing applies to you then who knows this might help someone else dancing the reloading tango.

I keep my rifle brass segregated. Not pistol. I've got thousands of rounds of pistol reloads down with the "if I find it, it's getting reloaded" mindset. Mostly 40, 10 and 357.

This problem is cropping up with the match barrel of the DW. These rounds plunk in the G20C.

 

[ImpeachObama]

Are you spraying your brass with case lube?

 

[Darth]

Are you spraying your brass with case lube?

Not with carbide sizers.

I've never lubed a pistol case.