Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading case mouth expansion?

Should a bullet be an easy slip fit into a fired cartridge case in a revolver like it should be in a rifle?

I ask as fired cases in my 629 in no way will accept a .430 bullet back into the case mouth. Loads are moderate (9 grains of Unique and 240 grain cast bullets) I thought perhaps I was not getting case mouth expansion with this load but that seems unlikely as they do take some effort to eject, rather than just falling out of the cylinder.

Thank you

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words.

45acp, 357 mag, 41 mag




Your answer is no.

It’s pretty much a guarantee that you will have to flare/bell the case mouth a bit with handgun cartridges. I try to do the absolute minimum “belling” to minimize case mouth fatigue. I learned the hard way 55 or so years ago when I had no money and losing a case due to “not belling” was a very traumatic experience! memtb

Thanks for the reply, but I am not asking about cases after resizing. I am asking about whether the bullet should slip fit into the case mouth of a fired case (as it should with rifle).

I would say YES, but it will depend on how tight the guns chambers are. I just checked three of mine...

For my S&W 629, cast and sized bullets will easily slip all the way in a fired, not resized case.

For my Govt Model 1911, a cast and sized bullet will just tightly fit to the first lube groove in a fired case.

For my S&W 66-4, a cast and silzerd bullet will just begin to tightly fit in a fired case.

You must have sloppy chambers.
New 45 ACP measures ID .449-.450, fired measure .450-.451 which means a .452 hard cast wouldn’t fit.
Didn’t measure the others are .001-.002 undersized for proper tension.

"I must have sloppy chambers." I don't think so.

I posted examples of three of my pistols where in only one of them a sized cast bullet would fit all the way inside a fired case. I think that my response to @tcp should have not have been YES, but it should have been NO or MAYBE, depending on how tight the pistol's chambers are.

Since all cases expand when the cartridge is fired, and after firing there is no bullet for the case neck to hold, there is no "proper tension" for the mouths of fired cases. There is only proper tension for the mouths of sized cases.