Reloading the 56-50

[abanaki]

I've been reloading the 56-50 using buffalo arms brass and 350 grain .512 bullets and have run into a perplexing problem. The die set is a Lyman set on a Lyman turret press that I've been using for years. I can't seem to get a proper crimp on the bullet and the round can be moved in the brass. Does this round require a crimp at all? Any advise would be sincerly appreciated. 

[Ed Clintwood]

The round should have a good crimp to keep the bullet from moving in the magazine.

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!

  It's also a good thing to have the case sized enough to achieve a snug fit before you crimp the bullet; I've found that greater neck tension does improve accuracy. An increase in neck tension can be created by increasing the size of the bullet {use a .515" bullet sizer}, or backing out your expander ball & gently chamfer the case mouth to 'just' allow you to start the bullet into the case, before running the assembled round into the seater/crimper die. The first procedure 'may' be necessary if your sizing die won't size your case down enough to get a good grip on the bullet. Your bullet shouldn't be so loose that it spins in the case!

                   Be Well!

                                            M.T.Marfield
                                                 6-7-06
 

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[Hell-Er High Water]

Some earlier Lyman die sets for the 56-50 were not machined correctly.  The expander plug was their standard 50-70 expander and when the case was expanded to put a slight flare on the case mouth it would bulge the lower part of the case as the basic expander portion of the plug was too long for the 56-50.  They modified this by cutting a longer taper on the bottom portion of the plug.

Their seating/crimping die was too long to run the case all the way in to get the proper crimp.  They solved this problem by removing some material from the bottom of the die, thereby allowing the die to be scewed further into the press and getting a good crimp on the case.

I made these modificatons myself in my lathe but Lyman has fixed their dies in the past at no charge.  Check with them about getting your die set fixed.

A good crimp is needed to hold the bullet in position in the tubular magazine when loading less than full cases of smokeless powder and it helps with black powder combustion by not allowing the bullet to move until some initial pressure is built up upon firing.

HHW

[Grizzle Bear]

I am using the Starline brass, and could not get a good crimp until I annealed the case mouths.  Now they crimp fine.

Grizzle Bear

[DJ]

I have the same problem with my .56-56 dies.  A sizer that doesn't size the case enough can be annoying.  I agree with M.T. Marfield that your bullet should not turn or otherwise move in a loaded case and that a larger bullet can solve the problem, unless you're already at maximum cartridge diameter for the chamber.  Another possible solution is to swap in a smaller diameter sizer die from another reloading set.  You might try a .50-70 or .348 Winchester sizer to see if one of them squeezes the case enough.  If you don't have one of those, you might find a stray at a gun show.  The .348W, in particular, shouldn't be too hard to find, and it has enough taper, that you should be able to get the right amount of neck resizing by screwing it in or out of the press.

[Hell-Er High Water]

On page 9 of this thread their is a discussion on this subject. It is titled "Crimp on 56-60 Taylors with Lyman dies". This is the link -  http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,5225.0.html

This is not a new problem nor is it a user problem.  It is a problem that Lyman had with their early die sets in 56-50.  Apparently there are still some of the early sets still in vendor stock and are still being sold.  As far as know, Lyman will still repair/replace them.  Check with their Customer Service Department.  I have always found them very helpful in the past.

HHW

[Dakota Widowmaker]

Annealing helps, but, I might try the trick of shaving some material off the bottom of the die.

I full length resize all my 56-50 brass. I use Lee case lube and have not had ONE SINGLE STICKY case in the dies.

About how much did you take off to get your seating/crimp die to work right?

[Hell-Er High Water]

As I recall, I took about 0.050" off the bottom of the die.  You want to get a good crimp without the die bottoming out on the shell holder.  If 0.050" isn't enough you can always take a little bit more off, but that is a good place to start.

I then put a slight chamfer on the die mouth to help guide the case into the die.  Just a slight touch with the cutting tool while it is still in the lathe.

I have been using these modified dies for over two years now and they work just fine.

HHW

[abanaki]

I took your advice about shaving off some of the seating die and it now works just fine. I took about .085 off and she's crimping just fine. Because of the tighter crimp the groups at the range tightened up to about 4" at 50 yards. Color me a happy and grateful camper thanks to all of you . Abanaki