Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933

Based on everything you have posted and some ideas from other shooters with similar problems my guess is that your powder charge is simply to light. Kinda like guys with primers popping out on their wuss loaded revolver rounds. Smokeless powders require a certain amount pressure to ignite and burn properly. The position sensitive comment really raises a concern. The wad does not have to have any signifcant amount of pressure on it but it should be seated on the powder. Try bumping your powder charge up a grain and making sure the wad is seated on the powder. To see what the wad is doing dump your powder charge and seat the wad but do not put any shot in the hull. Take it out and stick a dowel or something else down into the hull and push on the wad. If it moves there is your problem.

Just got back from my daily trip to Sportsman's. If you are looking for 9mm or .223 the stores are awash with them. Hopefully some of the other calibers will start showing up in greater quantity. 9mm is starting to go down. $14.99 a box is not bad.

I see Mike Harvey on the left. Who is the guy on the right? The Walmart greeter?

Unless something has changed all the bent tab loading gates I tested a few years ago are junk unless they have been reinforced. Photo below. Top OLD style 66 loading gate with solid tab. Middle broken bent tab gate. Bottom bent tab gate with reinforcement. If you get a new gate get a new screw. They have two different screw diameters so order the screw with the gate so you are sure to have the correct screw.

You keep saying this but this is not the case. First have you measured your Dillon powder funnel? We have given you the dimensions. It should be .354-.355. The case mouth SHOULD be .355 as that is what is needed for proper case tension on the bullet. If the case mouth is .355 after sizing and expanding that is what it should be. The bullet is not swaged down, the case expands up. I have had several sets of RCBS Cowboy dies and other than being pretty and case hardened they do not vary from the normal range of specs you will get with any brand of .357 dies. Just buy a set of Dillon dies. The sizing die is beveled for use in a progressive machine and they come apart easily for cleaning. Case mouth flare is not something you can measure with a caliper with precision. There is no set dimension. Flare is set by EYE. You flare the case and then set a bullet on the case mouth. The base of the bullet should be a few thousands below the case mouth. One other thing MIGHT contribute to your problems. (Again MIGHT contibute.) The bullet you are using is a Hornady. If the advertising photo is correct this is a flat base bullet. Most bullets used in progressive machines and for CAS shooting are bevel base. Flat base bullets are harder to align and seat properly and generally require more flare. This bullet is from a Magma Engineering print. Magma makes the vast majority of molds for the commercial casters. Notice the base has a distinct bevel.

I do not want to hurt any feelings but most of what the OP has posted is hypothetical bull. The expander does NOT expand the case to bullet diameter. If it did the bullet would not have enough case retention and it would fall out or get pushed back when loaded in a rifle. The sizer compresses the case to well below bullet diameter. The expander brings it back up to the proper diameter for proper bullet retention. For example this statement shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what happens when you load a round. The expander is NOT expanding the top portion of the case to .375". It is expanding the inside of the case to some dimension slightly below the bullet diameter. Here are two .38/.357 expanders and a 9mm. The .357s measure .354" and the 9mm measures .353". Seating the bullet is NOT going to swage it down to .355. The case is going to expand to accept the bullet. The case ID is set by the area of the blue arrow. The case neck is expanded for lead bullets by the funnel at the red area. If you are not getting enough funnel lower the die body just a bit. If you are squashing the cases with too much crimp raise it just a bit. Before you go crazy and wonder about the groove in the left .38 expander that was put in to help keep the case from sticking on the expander and bumping power out when it was pulled off the expander. MILLIONS of rounds of .38 have been loaded with Dillion equipment. The problem is not the equipment.

Ah, here it is. I am sure Gail can provide more details. https://ccsa-az.com/cas-history/

There is a history of Cowtown written somewhere. Call Gail and ask her. The bleacher bases are from the grandstands when Nix use to put on a show in the arena.

It looks like alll he has in stock right now are for .45s. Maybe send him an email off the website contact box.

Boogie moved from California to Arizona. I just tried the website and it appears to be working. He was out for EOT but is home. I was just over there a couple of days ago. https://sbgwllc.com

I just got back from the Texas Roadhouse. My steak ate vegan. That is as close as I am going to get.

Check the rule book. It is specifically addressed.

Fiocchi USA has been around for a while. They just recently purchased land in Little Rock, Arkansas to build a primer manufacturing plant.

You must be a die hard. I despise cleaning paint rollers and trays.

Steve McQueen was in The Hunter. He was the hero. I think it was his last movie.

This is part of the problem with diagnosing shotshell problems. You are using Federal Top Gun hulls. Top Gun hulls are not listed on the Hodgdon loading data website. One reason is that a couple of the big reloading sites don't list Top Gun because just in the past couple of years there have been at least three variations of the Top Gun hull. The base wads are different so the interior volume is different. You did not list what wad you are using. Top Guns are straight walled hulls and perform best with wads designed for straight hulls. I clicked on every Federal Hull listed on the Hodgdon website. None showed any Titegroup loads. Hodgdon does show Titegroup data for Winchester AA and Remington STS and Gun Club hulls. These are all tapered hulls with less interior volume. Where did you get the data? Without more data basically the only thing you can do is double check your reloading procedures and if everything is OK toss the Wolff primers and use what works for you.

Explain this in a little more detail. What makes you think the powder isn't being touched off fast enough? Do you have a good clear photo of the primer coating?

The lever would have been case hardened like the hammer. Nice case still on hammer. The fire blue on the loading gate is very nice. The one screw visible is pristine. Hard to tell with one photo but it looks pretty done nice.

Australian lifeguards circa 1930.

Your question is not very clear. Are you saying the primers are not igniting at all? Most modern shotshell primers have the flash hole covered. Photo blue arrow. This is because many modern ball and small grain powers can go down into the flash hole and cause ignition problems. This cover is normal. I have never had a Wolff primer fail to fire but have not had any Wolff shotshell primers for a while and cannot remember. Is the flash hole sealed? If it is not sealed try priming a hull and putting it in the gun and seeing if it goes off. Titegroup is a fairly fine power and may not be compatible with open flash hole primers. Have you tried the primers in a different gun? If you can put primed hulls into different shotguns and none are going off then you have a bad batch of primers.

This is the gun he uses in a goodly portion of the movie. The Pit Viper.

Just got back from the theater. It is long at almost three hours. When you go to a John Wick movie it is exactly like going to see one of The Expendables movies. You know exactly what to expect. Each movie gets more and more improbable. In this one he is hit by at least six cars, falls out a four story window and tumbles down the longest stairchase in Paris, some 272 steps. Yet he gets up and kicks butt and kills at least five hundred bad guys.

You better hope they are "not that loose." That is your revolver headspace.