Michael
Active Member. Uh/What
I made up a batch of Lee 338-220-R bullets out of COWW + 5% lino a little over 2 years ago before I started PC-ing, then about 6 months later I coated them. Now when trying to size and gas check, holy cow! Using a Lee push through .339 sizer I lightly coat them with case lube and run them through using my trusty Rock Chucker, even then it takes a bit off effort sizing from .342 to .339 without the gas checks. Trying to put on the gas checks is another story, the Hornady checks slip right on, but when running in nose first the die pushes the check down the shank before it crimps in place and the bottom edge of the check extrudes slightly around the top of the punch leaving what looks like a sharp edged cupped base. I even put a dab of lube on the sides of the checks. For who are wondering if I water quenched after coating.. i don't remember.
Running them through base first works better when it comes to seating and crimping the checks in place, however the amount of force required to do so causes the nose to flatten out a bit creating "new" meplats of different diameters resulting in bullets of different lengths. I thought about using my LAM with a top punch to avoid flattening the nose, although considering the amount of force it took with the RC I quickly dismissed that idea.
Having a couple of thoughts here.
1. As mentioned elsewhere PC adds a significant increase in hardness over naked bullets.
2. Size and check soon after coating i.e. hours vs years.
3. Try a different gas check.
I am open to suggestions here. Many thanks.
Michael
Running them through base first works better when it comes to seating and crimping the checks in place, however the amount of force required to do so causes the nose to flatten out a bit creating "new" meplats of different diameters resulting in bullets of different lengths. I thought about using my LAM with a top punch to avoid flattening the nose, although considering the amount of force it took with the RC I quickly dismissed that idea.
Having a couple of thoughts here.
1. As mentioned elsewhere PC adds a significant increase in hardness over naked bullets.
2. Size and check soon after coating i.e. hours vs years.
3. Try a different gas check.
I am open to suggestions here. Many thanks.
Michael