Cross section of a smiley

[sqlbullet]

You need to be careful who is selling brass as well, they run the brass through a roll-sizer, you may not even know just how bad the brass was stretched out prior to the sizing?

For the cost of new brass, compared to what most guys want for once-fired, I just stick with new brass when buying.  That solves the problem of how used brass was used before I got it.

[gandog56]

Well, I just run any used brass through my Bulge Buster dies, and have had no problems.

Of course, both my 10mm pistols have full case support, unlike Glocks.

[Mike_Fontenot]

[...] both my 10mm pistols have full case support, unlike Glocks.

What are your two 10mm's?  (Just curious).

[gandog56]

[...] both my 10mm pistols have full case support, unlike Glocks.

What are your two 10mm's?  (Just curious).

[Mike_Fontenot]

[...] both my 10mm pistols have full case support, unlike Glocks.

What are your two 10mm's?  (Just curious).

[...]

What's the lower one?  (I couldn't tell just from the pic).

[gandog56]

That's because I fooled you. That's the box from my 1911 Springfield Armory 1011A1GI. The gun in it is my Dan Wesson Razorback 10mm.

[cwlongshot]

I got some of my first offensive "smiles" today from my new Mech-Tech.  

I need to check my loadings but it was my 175 TC cast bullet... I did not believe it to be even warm...

CW

[rw]

You have to really look to see the smiley on brass out of my glock 20, in most cases you cannot feel it at all. If i ever find my good calipers i will measure how much it averages. Its a late gen 3 gun so maybe it has better tolerances than older guns. I dont remember if my 23 leaves bad ones or not, only shot it a handful of times, if my theory on the 20 is right it wont be bad either. Its only 6 months or so old.

[The_Shadow]

If there is a distinct line they are "smiled", rounded bulge can be ironed out by pass-through sizing.

I have heard of others havings "SMILES" from the Mech-Tech and in one instance a case blowout.  The chamber does lack some support and as such the slower burning powders should produce better results getting the bullets moving and building a head of steam.

Faster powders tend to pop the brass out, before the bullets get going.

[gandog56]

I have heard of others havings "SMILES" from the Mech-Tech and in one instance a case blowout.  The chamber does lack some support and as such the slower burning powders should produce better results getting the bullets moving and building a head of steam.

Every piece of brass I recovered from my last Mechtech range time was OK, so I'm not sure where you heard that Mechtech causes them is correct.

[cwlongshot]

You need to remember the MT is a blow back NOT a locked breech design...  It relies upon the mass of its large bolt. The 10MM as we know is a magnum without the name.  37.5K compared to 21, 19, 25 for other ACP calibers...

I will play with different powders looking for a pressure curve more inline with the blow back.. IF I need to load lighter, so be it, ill be getting a gain in energy and vel from the 16" barrel anyhow.

CW

[halfglocked]

Okay I know this is an old thread but I do have some questions that I feel I need to gets some feedback on ihave a late Gen 3 G20sf  dated July 2014 Dom so I don't know how much more my barrel  is supported but I did notice after 2x hot loads the case expanded to .428 with no obvious  smileys and I just got.my bulge buster kit,and I want to run it through to get rid of the bulge. My question  is I know the lee instructions  say to install the pin in the Shell holder and pass the cartridge  threw butt end first, but I have also read on some previous  posts that you should run it mouth first  so you stretch the brass towards the Web of the case instead  of stretching it towards  the mouth and causing the case to become progressively  thinner,so I guess I what Iam asking which end should I pass through the die first?Please explain your answers so I can make a educated decision.
thanks  all.

[The_Shadow]

I run my cases through the FCD as a pass through die mouth to the head.  The pin I use is the same size as a 40 cal bullet and would get stuck inside the cases if I tried to push them head to mouth.  I do this with 10mm, 40S&W, 357Sig and 9x25 Dillon casings as I want to insure the best reliable feeding with my ammo.  Yes it is an extra step, but it is also another chance to inspect the casings.  Thousands and thousands of them and yes I have even tested the reconditioning of SMILED cases, while it does size them to fit, It will not fix them.

The Glock 20SF has a good FACTORY chamber support but the hotter loads will get to 0.4340" (about 0.012" over a sized cartridge), any more than that and SMILES will appear at the feed ramp... keep in mind this is with good quality brass.  Not all brass cases are equal, some are softer some can be more brittle.

Measure you chamber with a good set of calipers, side to side and up and down and deep and shallow and you will get a better idea of your chamber's support and what you see on fired brass.  Also remember brass when fired fills the chamber to seal it, then slightly shrinks as pressure drops.

Good luck with your process. 

[halfglocked]

Thank you Shadow ,I  have already tossed anything close to a smile,aand now I will try passing through the bulge buster as you suggested, btw all the info I have gained from knowledgeable  members from here has saved me tons of headaches.

[DM1906]

Okay I know this is an old thread but I do have some questions that I feel I need to gets some feedback on ihave a late Gen 3 G20sf  dated July 2014 Dom so I don't know how much more my barrel  is supported but I did notice after 2x hot loads the case expanded to .428 with no obvious  smileys and I just got.my bulge buster kit,and I want to run it through to get rid of the bulge. My question  is I know the lee instructions  say to install the pin in the Shell holder and pass the cartridge  threw butt end first, but I have also read on some previous  posts that you should run it mouth first  so you stretch the brass towards the Web of the case instead  of stretching it towards  the mouth and causing the case to become progressively  thinner,so I guess I what Iam asking which end should I pass through the die first?Please explain your answers so I can make a educated decision.
thanks  all.

I have the Lee Bulge Buster kit, complete with the instruction sheet. Unless the kit has been significantly updated/changed, your description doesn't make sense, for a couple reasons. My instructions describe, and show an image of, case mouth up, with case head down against the ram. The ram pin is too short to pass 10mm or .45ACP cases fully through. The ram pin is sharply/squarely cut, meaning that if significant force is required (not unusual), it would score the web base radius, creating a dangerous condition that may lead to case head separation at high pressure. The instructions also suggest, "Now slide a resized or loaded cartridge into the base of the Factory Crimp die and raise the ram to push the case completely through the die." Doing this with an inverted (bullet down), loaded cartridge would be ill-advised. Nowhere in my instructions does it suggest they should be inserted case head first.

That said, I'd like to see a pic of your kit and instruction sheet, as well as the measurements of your ram piece. Mine measures .362" dia. and .497" from top to press ram surface, so any case smaller than .40 won't fit inverted, and .40SW case mouths actually contact the base of the ram before fully engaged. If it has been redesigned, it may be less dangerous (and possible) to do them inverted. I've done this as The_Shadow described, with a .357 bullet sizing ram (because the BB kit ram is too short), and measured cases were the same, case head up or down. My thought at the time was similar to your instruction's suggestion that case demensions would be affected differently, but they weren't. Since then, I've always inserted cases mouth first, and will continue this method.