Failure to Kerplunk in case gage??

[MoAmmoPlease]

I'm building .45 rounds on a Dillon RL 550b and they run just fine out of a Remington R1 but they just don't drop into a dillon case Gage the way I like. I've got the station one die turned down as much as I can and it looks like it is being resized its full length but still tight in the Gage. Minimal bell and very light crimp so any suggestions. Thanks.
5.0 W231 @1.25 w/230g LRN

 

[swampy]

Glocked brass?

Dirty case gage? You'd be surprised how dirty they can get. Especially if you've been loading lead cast bullets or using case lube.

Are you using oversized lead bullets?

Is the brass length within spec?

Did you check the sizing die travel with a case in each station or just in the sizing die?

 

[Steve Marshall]

See if they'll enter backwards to eliminate crimping issues as a cause. Of course the bottom line is if they function in your firearm.

 

[greencobra]

Never used a case gauge, just kerplunk into a barrel. If it fits, it ships.

 

[MoAmmoPlease]

Right on Swampy! Dirty case Gage was spot on but when I broke down station three to go from RN to SWC this is what I found. Don't know if that was the problem but I just never would have thought.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Right on Swampy! Dirty case Gage was spot on but when I broke down station three to go from RN to SWC this is what I found. Don't know if that was the problem but I just never would have thought.

This is fairly common when loading lead bullets. Watch the overall length of rounds as you load - if they start coming out shorter than expected, it may be time to clean the seating gauge.

Case gauges are generally "at spec", whereas chambers can be a bit loose. This is one reason shooters in competition with no "alibis" (IPSC/USPSA, IDPA) often prefer checking with a case gauge rather than a chamber.

The only way to be sure your rounds will fit a case gauge is to use some sort of case sizer like a G-Rx die (40 cal only), Case Pro, or Scharch or Magma role sizer. A Lee "U" (undersized) die can help, but probably won't resize all the way the case rim.

The real question is - do these rounds feed and chamber reliably in your weapon?

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

+1 on the make sure they chamber in your gun not a gauge.
make sure the crimp is sufficient but not enough that you squeeze the bullet down and undersize it, that will cause poor accuracy and leading in most cases. take a loaded dummy cartridge and pulled the bullet, measure it to make sure you didn't over crimp.
i've found with some lead bullets they have a little bit of a bore ride section or a longer bearing surface i guess, so the finished cartridge is ok, but the lead is actually interfering with the rifling and stopping it from chambering. might need to seat shorter.
when i run into issues like that i rub the finished cartridge with a sharpie or similar and push it into the chamber. wherever the sharpie rubs off will show where the interference is
goo luck. let us know how you make out

 

[MoAmmoPlease]

The rounds have run great through a couple of .45's so no problem there. I think the rounds would have fit the gage just fine if the gage had not been all crudded up with everything from lube to dog hair. Dropped into HOT water and melted all the old lube out. I've changed over to SWC for a run but I will be keeping an eye on things to see if the finished rounds get shorter with time.
I did pull a finished round apart and the crimp was light (I thought light was the way to go with

The issue raised when pulling the seating die apart is that I was clearly shaving some lead off the bullet when seating. I didn't notice it while seating the 500 LRN I just built or shooting them but I sure see it was happening. Lots of shaving mixed in with lube. I thought I was being careful when placing a bullet on the bell of a case but I guess I was counting on the die to align to bullet.
it's all good. Live and learn I guess.
thanks for your help gentlemen.

 

[Gammon]

The rounds have run great through a couple of .45's so no problem there. I think the rounds would have fit the gage just fine if the gage had not been all crudded up with everything from lube to dog hair. Dropped into HOT water and melted all the old lube out. I've changed over to SWC for a run but I will be keeping an eye on things to see if the finished rounds get shorter with time.
I did pull a finished round apart and the crimp was light (I thought light was the way to go with

The issue raised when pulling the seating die apart is that I was clearly shaving some lead off the bullet when seating. I didn't notice it while seating the 500 LRN I just built or shooting them but I sure see it was happening. Lots of shaving mixed in with lube. I thought I was being careful when placing a bullet on the bell of a case but I guess I was counting on the die to align to bullet.
it's all good. Live and learn I guess.
thanks for your help gentlemen.

The shavings mixed with lube are evidence of insufficient flaring of the case mouth. A little more flare will solve the problem.

 

[38ExtraSpecial]

The rounds have run great through a couple of .45's so no problem there. I think the rounds would have fit the gage just fine if the gage had not been all crudded up with everything from lube to dog hair. Dropped into HOT water and melted all the old lube out. I've changed over to SWC for a run but I will be keeping an eye on things to see if the finished rounds get shorter with time.
I did pull a finished round apart and the crimp was light (I thought light was the way to go with

The issue raised when pulling the seating die apart is that I was clearly shaving some lead off the bullet when seating. I didn't notice it while seating the 500 LRN I just built or shooting them but I sure see it was happening. Lots of shaving mixed in with lube. I thought I was being careful when placing a bullet on the bell of a case but I guess I was counting on the die to align to bullet.
it's all good. Live and learn I guess.
thanks for your help gentlemen.

inufficient flare does cause this. also if you seat and crimp with one die that can happen too.
i prefer to seat on station 3 and crimp with the fourth station if you're not already dong that.

 

[MoAmmoPlease]

Thanks again. I will flare the cases a bit more. Still pretty new at this reloading stuff so I like picking up more " Hints from Heloise" go a long way. I got a whole bunch of them off this thread a day I will address them one at a time.
Most of the brass I use is range brass so what exactly is "Glocked brass" and what do I look for to separate it out??

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Glock brass has a more case expansion. If it causes problems in your gun, look for a square imprint around the firing pin mark on the primer.