Lead bullets

alpharius

alpharius

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2022
Messages
1,071
Location
Wake County
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I'm very new to reloading. I decided to start with .38 special, figured that would be simpler.

I bought some hornady lead 158gr bullets. I noticed they are .358 not .357.

I cleaned, deprimed, and resized my brass.

I used a case prepper to put a slight bevel on the inside of the case mouth.

However, when I go to load the bullets many of them will end up having lead shear off the sides of the case. Is this normal?
 
No. You should have a die that, among other things, can put a slight flare in the mouth of the case mouth so the bullet can enter the case without shaving lead. That flare will be removed with a properly adjusted crimping die. It is very advisable to seat and crimp lead bullets in two different steps with two separate dies.
 
^^^ What he said.

Expander die (powder-thru expander in the Lee die set, for example) will expand the inside of the brass for proper neck tension, and will flare the mouth of the case open larger than the bullet. The amount of flare is controlled by the die adjustment up/down.
 
Check for an expander die in your set of dies. It will allow you to keep increasing the amount of case mouth flare, until you get to where the bullet is not getting shaved during seating. Do Not over-expand the cases more than needed to easily seat the bullets.
It also helps to chamfer the case mouths with a small hand held tool, before you expand the case. This tool trims the case mouth at an angle, makes bullet seating easier.
 
Last edited:
Crimping is a wonderful topic with numerous angles. One size does not fit all. For a 38 Special with lead bullets, the goal is to get rid of the flare put into the mouth of the case to keep from shaving lead while seating the bullet and to keep the bullet from pulling forward during recoil so that it locks up the revolver. The die should have a slight shoulder on the inside to produce a roll crimp that rolls the mouth of the case in slightly. The Hornady bullets do not seem to have a crimping groove, so the crimp should be applied just ahead of the lubricating hatching they use the instead of crimping grooves. You do not need much of a crimp. Enough is enough. More is not better. Look at a factory round to get an idea of how small a crimp is needed.
 
38 spec....nice, 158gr Round Nose or SWC?
Slight bevel on case mouth.... "correct"
As some have mentioned "Flare / Bell" the case mouth is what you need to do.
Some use a Lyman "M" die for that, comes in real handy when loading "plated or
lead bullets.

"I used a case prepper to put a slight bevel on the inside of the case mouth." then expand the
case mouth.

a snippet:

You want to flair or bell out the case mouth a little to let the base of the bullet start to enter the case.
In most instances that I can think of, you DO want to at least slightly crimp the bullet. This helps hold
the bullet in place and also removes the flair or bell. If you don't have a slight flair, you will likely shave
lead during bullet seating and maybe crush the case mouth.

-Snoopz
 
Last edited:
Where are you located? I’m also in Wake County. I’m happy to help out if you need it just ask.
Eddie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom