Reloading Bulged Cases

J

jflies

Inactive
I picked up some brass from my local range but discovered that a lot of it (40%) has a slight bulge near the bottom of the cases (about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom). I don't know if someone has a bad chamber on their gun or if they used too much powder, or if it's completely normal to have a bit of a bulge (since so many cases are like this it makes me think that it's normal).

The structural integrity of the brass looks very good. If they can be resized, is it 'proper' to reload these bulged cases?

Just fyi, I'm seeing this on 380 ACP, 9mm, and 40 S&W cases, and the bulges seem to average about 7 thousands thicker than the bottom of the case.

Thanks!
 
Look at the firing pin indentation. Is it a centered round dimple? or an angled dent with corners?
The latter is the Glock striker. Glocks are notorious for bulging brass due to varying degrees of unsupported chamber, caused by the "feed ramp". Older Glocks are worse. For around the past 10 years Glock has improved the chamber support.
Yes, they can be resized and loaded. If they are a minimally bulged, you can process as normal. Size and use a case gauge.
Some die makers sell bulge buster dies, usually a push through type. Redding and Lee, maybe Hornady too.
 
This has been brought up in new threads many times.

What you have are cases that have been fired in a firearm that does not have a full supported fireing chamber. A common term is bulged or Glocked.

There is nothing wrong with it. I just ran 400 glocked cases of 9mm last night through my sizing die. All of them came out just fine.

There has been some discussion about slightly decreased case life but who is so OCD that they track every case. Just inspect for problems and if it looks good once sized use it.
 
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Thanks for the replies. It has perhaps been discussed a lot, but not tagged as part main theme of a thread? The search tool didn't bring up any threads about bulged cases for me. I didn't find anything on Google either since all of the results concerned bulging from seating bullets.

Anyways thanks a bunch! The Lee Classic Loader that I have has a really hard time sizing the bulged brass (in addition to its other pitfalls... see my other recent thread) so it's time for a press.
 
If your standard sizing die won't take the bulge out (case too short or won't chamber correctly),
Then try a full length, 'Small Base' sizing die to push the bulge back in where it belongs (and bring the case back to acceptable length).

I picked up two barrels of .45 & 9mm brass passed over by a commercial reloader for half scrap weight cost because they didn't want to small base resize them,
This was a real deal during the brass shortages!
They reloaded fine.
 
A slight bulge can be straightened out on most any standard die...if it's more than "slight", chuck it. Rod
 
He's using a Lee Loader, not dies in a press, so his options are more limited.


Jflies,

Check out eBay. I've seen Lee Hand Presses that use normal dies going for less than $22. Same with an old Challenger press that looked pretty heavily used. But these things don't normally wear out. And even if you can't afford the dies right away, they can be got over time.

See if you can find a 25/64" (0.3906" ID) drill bushing that's inside your budget. You can apply a little STP to your cases and knock them through it with a punch. The 9mm Luger case head diameter spec is slightly bigger at the rim at 0.3920", but most will be a little smaller than that, and for those that are not, you can stop when you get to the rim and knock them back out the other way. That will remove any bulge not meant to feed into a chamber.
 
I might as well post it here. One thing that I liked about another gun forum is that had this thread called Pass it On.

I understand being broke as I have been the much of the time. I already made the offer for the ram prime. I may take a look in my dies and see what I can find. I used to have a 9mm non carbide set. I may be able to piece together a set of dies since I used a roll crimp for 9mm. I will have to look. I am sure that someone has a $15 o frame press. I would pass on my old Reloader 3 but I perminantly converted it to a 12 gage resizer so I can make my 2 1/2 inch shotgun shells for my Marlin.

I would not use Studebaker Tested Product (STP) as a case lube as it is sticky stuff. Yes those are the correct words for STP as some of us old farts remember that STP was just a small subdivision of Studebaker that was started when viscosity breakdown became a problem.
 
It's not the only sticky stuff, and nowhere near as sticky as bar chain oil. Original pad case lube from RCBS was like that, too, as are some spray-on case lubes. STP is a lot less expensive, though. Straight from the bottle it actually works very well as a case lube. Some use white lithium grease. Lots of makeshift stuff out there.

A pass-it-on forum sounds like a possible idea, as long as it isn't abused. It could conceivably turn into a moderating headache, though. For now I would simply post the offer in this forum and see if anyone is interested in it. You could also PM the fellow in need and make the offer that way.
 
Yep, you got some Glock brass. Glock even warns you to not ever reload their rounds. Whatever, my guns are made of metal and I reload what I want when I want. A friend had his Glock backfire in his hand, blew-out the bottom of the case and blew the clip apart, but just some light burns and bruising. I have never had that problem, and I only p/u my own brass. NEVER buy range brass.
 
Yep, you got some Glock brass. Glock even warns you to not ever reload their rounds.
Click to expand...

Actually Glock recommends not to shoot reloads period, as do most manufacturers. Theres nothing in their owners manuals about reusing their own brass. Oh and fyi I have close to 20k rounds through one of my Glocks. Not a single one was a factory round, all reloads with brass that's been reused numerous times.
 
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I have the Bulge Buster for 40 S&W. It works really well and it will work in any press. It doesn't take a huge amount of force to push the case through the die but it would be a lot less than desirable with a hand press as opposed to any bench mount press.
 
Lee bulge buster is available for
380 auto, 9mm, 40 cal. and 45 acp.

Or an undersized die is available from Lee
( the die is milled so it goes further down the case than a standard die
and sizes 1 thou. smaller dia. )

both work on the bulge

the bulge weakens some cases so cation should be used
 
The Bulge Buster works in conjunction with a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp die. You unscrew the die's crimp adjusting plug and remove the crimp ring, then put the Bulge Buster's extension on it for using the container the kit comes in as a case catcher. The other part of the Bulge Buster is just a short ram with a rim that slips into the slot on a press ram normally occupied by a shell holder. It then drives cases up through the LCFCD's cartridge max OD sizing ring. But you really do need a press of some kind to use this device, in addition to the LCFCD for your chambering.

Note on the Lee site it advices against resizing Glock bulges because the brass is thinned. That is, however, a matter of degrees. As already pointed out, the Glocks have a little more chamber support than they used to, and you can buy aftermarket barrels with fairly complete support. Even with the old barrels, how much bulge you get depends on the load pressure. 45 Auto in a standard 1911 will bulge a little, too. Again, in depends on load pressure, so you have to use some judgement about this.
 
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