To flare or not to flare that is the question

[Meatwad]

Alright I need a bit of help reloading some .45 Colt.

I believe I have the sizing dae all set up. Didnt think that one was so hard.

So in I am not running off the book data for the O.A.L. but using a a store bought cartridge for the length. The reason is the Hornady book seems to leave the ring on the bullet still exposed. I'm using Harrison cast bullets but I cant find any data on them. The guy at the reloading shop said to use the Hornady data. I am also having some issue with the flaring die.

The picture is as follows (left: factory, Middle: My load, Right a crappy flare)



Bullet Seating Middle Pic: It seems that the bullet is still not seated as far as the factory. If you look you can still see bit of that indented ring, however the factory and my load are almost the same size. Any thoughts? Should I seat the bullet more?

Flaring right picture: I either seem to have a too much flare as pictured or maybe not enough as when I seated the middle bullet it was shaving a small amount of lead off. I thought I had the die adjusted however when I pushed the ram up to the top the cartridge on the right came out. Again is there a trick to adjusting the flare die? I ran the ram with a cartridge to the top. Screwed the die down until it touched the shell then screwed it down a bit until it felt good but again the shell came out belled.

I am just begining and these are my first loads so any help would be great. If there are any loaders in the Chicago burbs let me know if you need a student.

[TedH]

Don't worry about comparing your handloads to factory loads, you're not shooting the same bullet. That case on the right has more flare than needed, you will prematurely wear out your brass like that. It doesn't matter if you can see some of the crimp groove after seating and crimping your bullets. Just make sure they are seated deep enough for your crimp to grab the groove. If you can't see a tad bit of the groove, you might be going too deep and not getting the crimp in the groove, but past it instead. You can use load data for any cast bullet of the weight you are using. The brand matters little.

[Pisgah]

You want to flare just enough to allow the bullet to just enter the case mouth -- just barely, but all the way around the circumference of the bullet. I would bump the bullet in just a hair more in the loaded cartrige shown, so that a crimp would curl the case mouth in to the center-to-upper-half of the crimp groove. Overall length is not super-critical, and different bullets may seat + or - a few thousandths compared to factory loads or an OAL given in a particular recipe.

[Blaine]

With those lead/cast bullets, just enough flare so you're not shaving lead, and it will go in snugly, but, freely....

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

With those lead/cast bullets, just enough flare so you're not shaving lead, and it will go in snugly, but, freely....

I agree. What you will find, though is bullets with flat bases require more flare than bullets with bevel bases.

[Griff]

Proper Rollcrimp Adjustment with pictures.

[AJMD429]

What others said about seating depth and crimp.

Different brands of dies adjust differently in terms of ease-of-fine-adjustment. I use Lee dies, and they are very easy to adjust for precise changes. Most likely you just need to turn something 1/4th turn instead of 1/2 turn, etc.

[Tycer]

What matters is the volume of airspace below the bullet. Some calibers (.358 for instance has different 200 grain bullets for 35 Rem/35 Whelen/350 RemMag), have crimp grooves in very different places for different cartridges. You might find two bullets of the same weight and nose profile with the groove in different places. This is one place starting well below a max load and a chronograph can be beneficial.
Those particular bullets seem to have the crimp groove in the proper place for .45 Colt, so when buying bullets of different brands but the same weight, check that the area below the crimp groove is the same as those. If not, you can seat the new ones so that the base of the bullet is at the same depth as those and still get the same pressures upon firing.
Remember when hand loading that accuracy, not velocity, is what matters. Pay no particular attention to max load other than to stay below it. A critter won't know the difference in fps.

[Twodot]

I have never loaded 45 Colt
Do they "grow" with mulitple re-loading?

I know from reloading other cartridges that to get a uniform flare & crimp you need to have a uniform case length.
..

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I have never loaded 45 Colt
Do they "grow" with mulitple re-loading?

I know from reloading other cartridges that to get a uniform flare & crimp you need to have a uniform case length.
..

In general straight walls like the 45lc will grow in length but not near as much as bottlenecks. Unless you are after extreme accuracy from you ammo, ( requires an extremely accurate gun, too.) 45lc really doesn't grow enough to be a factor.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Do as those fellers said and you will be in like Flint.
Have fun!!!

Anyone remember Flint? James Coburn , I believe.

[3leggedturtle]

Do as those fellers said and you will be in like Flint.
Have fun!!!

Anyone remember Flint? James Coburn , I believe.

Yes "In Like Flint" Considering some of the ladies he got to act with , I watched him whenever I could.

I always seat a bullet or 2 to see if I flared enough without shaving. I also use and unsized cast bullet to set my die. Just enough so base of it goes below the case. Sized and lubed ones should be fine after that.

[Meatwad]

Thanks for all the responses. I finally got a chance to sit down and load some lastnight. The seem to have come out great. I only loaded 4 and now I want to test fire them to see how I actually did. After than mass production here I come.

[1894c]

With those lead/cast bullets, just enough flare so you're not shaving lead, and it will go in snugly, but, freely....

+1...what BlaineG said... :)