the case of the recalcitrant case

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coondogger

coondogger

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I have some 270 winchester cases that, despite cleaning and lubricating, will not fit all the way into a re-sizing/decapping die. One of them even got stuck part way in the die. It's almost like the dies are for a smaller cartridge. They're Lee pacesetter dies. I thought they might have simply mislabeled the dies. But that's just crazy, right?
 
Is this a new die? Or have you resized any brass with them before? If new they might be the wrong die and/or marked wrong. Or did you confuse dies when putting them away and try to resize with say a 243 die?
 
FROGO207 said:
Is this a new die? Or have you resized any brass with them before? If new they might be the wrong die and/or marked wrong. Or did you confuse dies when putting them away and try to resize with say a 243 die?
Click to expand...
Brand new die set. Never used it before.
 
Did you clean the dies before 1st use? Lee dies can be pretty grungy from factory.
Make sure a touch of the lube makes it to the lip of the neck, and that the neck and shoulder is lubed. the body of the shell doesn't need so much once the mouth, neck and shoulder are slippery enough.

Also, if you're super-cleaning the shells it can make the surface less slippery and harder to size. SS pin tumbling some jewelry?
 
Last edited:
splattergun said:
Did you clean the dies before 1st use? Lee dies can be pretty grungy from factory.
Make sure a touch of the lube makes it to the lip of the neck, and that the neck and shoulder is lubed. the body of the shell doesn't need so much once the mouth, neck and shoulder are slippery enough.
Click to expand...
Possibly. But I would think a dirty die would still allow the the case all the way in but just stick a bit pulling it out.
 
Does this happen with all your 270 brass or just WInchester brass? If it happens with all your brass call Lee and have them replace your defective dies.
 
Pacesetter dies (and most rifle dies) are not carbide. You need to use plenty of a good lube. Lee’s ALOX will work as will several others. Many like Imperial sizing wax.
 
I’m going to try some other brass. If there’s still a problem I’ll call Lee.
 
The lee lube is pretty crumby if you ask me. I would try some RCBS lube or Hornady one shot. The secret to Hornady one shot is to spray about 30 cases in a gallon bucket liberally and shake them around. Make sure it gets all the way to the base.
 
someguy2800 said:
The lee lube is pretty crumby if you ask me. I would try some RCBS lube or Hornady one shot. The secret to Hornady one shot is to spray about 30 cases in a gallon bucket liberally and shake them around. Make sure it gets all the way to the base.
Click to expand...
Good idea. I’ll give it a try.
 
Is there about 1/4 inch of the pin sticking out of the top of the die. Also there should be the same amount of decapping pin out the bottom. You could be pinching the case necks if it is not set up correctly. You could take the decapping pin out of the die and try sizing one brass and see if it works. Might be problems with sizing pin.
 
Did you place a small amount of lube inside the neck? Sometimes the case can get stuck on the expander ball. How does the expander ball feel? Rough or smooth?
 
OK. I talked with the guys at Lee. Sez the tech: "Rifle cases take a lot of pressure on the loader.' Sez me: 'Not that much. Methinks something's amiss." So I thanked him for his time and bid him adieu. Then I went into my shop, found myself a 3/16" pin punch, loosened the collet a mite, then proceeded with a controlled wailing on the decapper pin head with a ball peen hammer. That got the shell out. Then I sprayed wd-40 inside the case, relubed the outside, and reinserted it and re-tightened the decapper in the collet. Bingo. Problem solved. I fiddled with the position of the ball and reset the decapper pin. Took four more 270 husks, reapplied lubricant outside and in, and the die resized and decapped all four without further drama. If there's any moral here, it's that I'm starting to feel a little warmer toward RCBS dies and a little frostier toward Lee.
 
Lee lube is excellent, folks that say it's not do not know what they say. Been using it for years diluted with Iso alcohol, put in pump sprayer and spritz away.never stuck a case yet.
It is water soluble.

You need to put some in the case mouth.

But folks can debate case lube and case cleaning until the cows come home.

All these reviewers were paid off by LEE to write good reviews.o_O

https://www.amazon.com/LEE-PRECISION-90006-Case-Sizing/dp/B0013Z7S6K

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012835675/lee-case-sizing-lube-2-oz-tube
 
Rifle cases need lube. Outside and inside the neck.
New dies need more lube than old well-used dies and should be cleaned of shipping oil/grease and thoroughly coated with good case lube on the first use.

Glad yours worked out!
 
Sounds like you needed to lube inside the case neck? lubing outside does very little if it is not lubed inside they will get stuck.
 
I dump brass in a plastic box, spray on lube with a quick pass, and then shake the box a bit. Enough "lube" gets into the neck to keep it sliding. I do tumble off my lube though because what I use is not optimal... and the wife gets mad when she can't find stuff to spray her cake pans with.
 
Just so you know, if you continue to use WD-40 as a lube for inside your dies you will end up with loads that don't go off. It can ruin your powder and primer if it comes in contact with it.
So clean you cases well before loading them if you did use it for a lube. I don't use WD-40 for anything around my loading press.
But I understand your frustrations for doing so and it was a means to an end for finding your problem. Just clean the cases that you used it on with a good brake cleaner or something you can flush them with that will evaporate and leave no residue.
 
My bias is showing, but WD-40 is terrific at doing what it was designed to do, namely Water Displacing, NOT lubricating, hence the name of the stuff. I use one of the commercial lanolin/alcohol spray for case lube chores, silicone or Teflon lubes for general lubrication chores around the house.
 
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