Processing .45ACP Brass with Lee Precision’s Bulge Buster Kit

Processing .45ACP Brass with Lee Precision’s Bulge Buster Kit

If you’ve ever found yourself with a handful of pistol cartridges that just wouldn’t feed or chamber right, it may be that your ammo is suffering from case bulge.  Case bulge is a phenomenon where brass casings begin to ‘swell’ at the base after multiple firings and reloadings, particularly in cartridges like .40S&W and .45ACP.  Even running them through a resizing die won’t correct this, as the reloading presses shell plate prevents the entire casing from being sized.

In order to combat case bulge, Lee Precision produces and sells a tool called the Bulge Buster.  This kit comes with a guide sleeve, punch and case collector.  In addition to the kit itself, you’ll need to purchase a Lee Factory Crimp die.  Referring to the instructions that come with the kit, you’ll see that Lee includes the appropriate part number for use with each supported caliber.  When writing this article, I opted to perform my tests using a handful of .45ACP casings; with this in mind, I selected part number 90864– the Lee Precision .45 caliber Factory Crimp Die.

Installation

Before installing the bulge buster into a single stage press, you’ll need to assemble it.  Beginning with the crimp die, remove the crimp adjustment knob, and crimp sleeve.  Make sure you note the sleeve’s proper orientation for re-installation later, as it can be confusing to first-time users.

Locate the bulge buster’s guide sleeve, and thread it into the crimp die until snug.

With the bulge buster assembled, slide the included punch into the presses ram, and raise it up to it’s maximum height.

You can now thread the bulge buster into your press; having the punch fully extended just helps to ensure everything is lined up nicely, and avoid damaging parts should something be out of alignment.

Lastly, drop the case collector on top of the bulge buster and you’re pretty much ready to go.

Operation

In preparation for this review, I used a vernier caliper to take some measurements from my .45ACP brass.  All of my casings measured 0.469″ in the middle, and an average of about 0.472″ on the bulged portion near the base.  It’s worth noting that although there is a difference of several thousandths of an inch between these two points, they’re still within the maximum diameters of 0.473″ and 0.476″ specified by SAAMI.

To use the bulge buster, we’ll begin by placing a casing right-side-up on the punch and raising the ram until it’s fully entered the die.  If you’ve ever used one of Lee’s Lube & Size Kits, this is essentially the same methodology being used here.  We’ll continue with this in exactly the same manner until all the available brass has been processed.  As more and more brass is pushed through the bulge buster, you’ll begin to see it emerge from the top, where it falls into the case collector.  Should the level of resistance offered by the casings become too much, you can always opt to lube them, however as this is a carbide die it’s not really necessary.

With the last of the casings processed, I once again used a vernier caliber to measure them and compare the data with the initial readings.  After a handful of tests, the processed brass measured and average of 0.467″ at the middle, and 0.471″-0.472″ at the bottom– nearly identical to their original diameters.

Conclusion

So what’s the verdict?

Overall I like the bulge buster as a tool.  It’s neat, it’s innovative, it’s affordable, and I’ve seen nothing but positive reviews for it online.  I love the way Lee Precision keeps finding ways to make tools that reuse equipment I’ve already got to help me save money and space, but ultimately the real question is, does it work?

All the brass I processed with it did indeed size down a bit, however ironically the change occurred in the middle, rather than at the base where the actual bulge resides.  From a physics point of view that makes sense, as the casing has far less support in the middle than at the bottom where the base lends it extra strength, making it harder to resize.  The brass also chambered and cycled properly in my 1911 after processing, so I can’t fault Lee there, although I don’t generally have a lot of issues with that to begin with.

In terms of why I didn’t see more impressive results, I suspect that my brass just really wasn’t that bad to start with.  Had either dimension had been outside SAAMI’s specified tolerances, I have a feeling I’d have seen a more pronounced difference.  It would be interesting to run this test again using some brass from a Glock, or other pistol notorious for abusing casings; however in the absence of this, it’s going to be pretty hard for me to gauge how effective it is.

As cheap as the bulge buster is, I’d say if you’re having a lot of issues with case bulge, definitely go ahead and try it.  Being as the only .45 I own is a 1911, which seems to take it pretty easy on brass, I doubt if it’s something I’ll get a lot of use out of.  That said, for folks who favor Glocks, or other pistols that are notoriously abusive towards casings, it’s pretty hard to argue with owning one for the price of it.

If you’ve got some experience with the bulge buster and some case diameter measurements to share, I’d love to hear from you so please sound off in the comments section below.

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