30-30 Full Length Sizer (Lee challenger Breech) Dimpling casings?

[shovel99]

HI guys,
Relatively new to reloading rifle ammo. I have been loading pistol successfully now for year+, and some reloaded ammo worked fine this weekend in 243 and 30-30. I sized these with the collet sizer, and the 30-30 balked at chambering in my brother's 30-30. We also mixed up the empty casings from the reloaded ammo for my gun and my brothers, so decided we needed to full length size them.

This was my first attempt at full length sizing.

I set up the die just as prescribed by Lee: contact with top of shell holder at the top of the stroke plus 1/4 turn. Lubed the casings with Horndady One Shot (spray).... ran the casings all the way to the top of the press stroke. When I remove the casings, on most shells there are a pair of approx 1-1.5 mm "dimples" or indentations... approximately 120 to 150 degrees apart. Every casing. They are not exactly the same distance apart, but close, on each and every casing.

Any ideas? First.. what's doing this? Can these be fired even though there is some plastic deformation? I am really bummed that I didn't notice these until I have run at least 30 of them, and the thought of pitching $6-8 of usable brass really scalds me.

I just went back to the bench and surveyed the situation. My unsized casings are in a plastic box where they were sprayed with lube. There are some pieces of corn cob media in the box with the casings. There was at least one casing that had a small piece of media temporarily "stuck" to it half way down.. by the lube. Do you suppose that one of the early casings had a couple of pieces of corn cob stuck to the shoulder (oh, say, about 120 to 150 degrees apart!).... and the clearances are small enough that the media is denting the casing? Or faulty die?

Hopefully there is a simple fix from one of you knowledgeable guys.

Thanks in advance,

Shovel99

 

[GP100man]

sounds as if ya over lubed em & the dents are formed hydraulicly (no where for the lube to go) look for a vent hole & ensure that it`s open ,if not back off the lube a bit ,but don`t force a case in the sizer with excessive force it may stik.

I usually over lube rite after applying lube to my pad & dent a couple myself.
I ensure they`ll chamber ,then load as usual with no ill affects .

 

[cberge8]

This was more than likely caused by excessive case lube.

I personally would just fire them as is and allow the cases to fire-form to the chamber.

 

[brow_tines]

kinda sounds like "grease dents" to me, nut wait for a more experienced person to chime in.

 

[Mule]

Sounds like excess lube to me also. Flush out the interior of the die before using it again. There may be some debris of some kind in there.

My experience with oneshot was disappointing. I prefer Dillon lube in the pump sprayer. If you are daring, mix your own. Alcohol and lanolin.

In an effort to prevent dimples I wipe the case neck with my fingertips to remove excessive lube when slipping the case into the shellholder.

 

[sugarmaker]

Make sure to clean the rust preventative off the die first. Not sure if that die has an air hole on the shoulder or not - if so it should be clear of gunk. Sounds like lube or trapped air.

 

[shovel99]

Thanks guys .... what to clean the die?

What should I use to clean the die? And once it is clean, is there anything I can use to preserve it... i.e. if it screwed up because it had oil on it when it arrived, putting any back on would seem to be a bad idea.

Thanks again.

shovel99

 

[bigedp51]

You can clean the die with paint thinner, lighter fluid, WD-40 "OR" by boiling it, then spray it with WD-40 and wipe it off with a dry rag.

 

[shovel99]

Thanks.... Big Ed...

Sounds like WD 40 is the best choice. Will do that.

Paul

 

[gamestalker]

10-4 to the lube dents, should have noticed this in your reloading books. Keep the shoulder's completely free of lube and don't over lube.

So far as using them, as long as they will chamber your good to go, and the dents will iron out when fired.

This is also why I switched to Lee dry lube. And now that I am using a spray on lube, I don't have to worry about it happening ever again!

 

[shovel99]

Thanks GS....

Thanks Gamestalker for the tips. A lot of great tips from everyone. I gotta run down to my bench and try these good suggestions.

 

[jcwit]

Another case of OneShot again with bottleneck rifle cases.

Get a small tub of Unique case lube or Mink Oil from the shoe department and a little wipe of the cases with your fingers is all you need. You could also use lanolin, get it from the baby section at WalMart, if you can take it to the check-out girl. hehehe

 

[Bmac1949]

+1 on the mink oil. I've been using it for a few months. Doesn't take much and I swab the inside of the neck with a light coat and have had no problems. I had a lot of dimpled 30-30 cases from using too much lube when I started reloading about a year ago and was wondering if it was ok to shoot them. I ended up shooting them with no problems and cut back on the amount of lube I use. I've used 4 different lubes and the mink oil works best for me.

 

[The Bushmaster]

DO NOT use WD-40 to preserve your dies. Just disassemble them and wipe the access lube off of them and reassemble. Use less case lube and get away from Hornady's One Shot. Use a good lube like RCBS lube and pad or one or the other lubes, but get away from One Shot and put the WD-40 back into your shop and out of the reloading cave.

 

[bison]

Happened to me this weekend. First, minor dimples are annoying but won't affect a thing. Absolutely switch lubes - I was getting dimples using a spray, switched to Imperial sizing wax and problem disappeared. Use a tiny bit, it doesnt take much at all. I've also used a q-tip to clean the inside of the die, once I found a bit of corncob had gotten stuck to the die due to too much lube. 30-30 is the only case I've had this problem with.

 

[shovel99]

More info.... suspect corncob "bit" in die... first 10 casings were fine.

Hi Guys,
Thanks for additional info. I went back and started checking casings, and found that 10 had sized OK before they started "dimpling", even with massively too much lube. I had been merrily "banging away" at the press and around the 40th casing noticed I had been dimpling for quite a while. I checked many casings in reverse order, but did not go all the way back to the beginning. Cleaning with WD40 without disassembly did not solve the problem. I am assuming that there is a corn cob blob in there, and will disassemble and swab it out.

I have ordered the RCBS kit with pad... since we are not to get any on the shoulders, it makes a lot of sense. I will use that, although in the future, I will keep brass from my 30-30 Marlin 336 separate from my brothers winchester, and just neck size it anyway. That worked fine on brass exclusively from my gun. On the rest of our calibers.... 223, 243, 30-06, we have only one rifle in each, so neck sizing will be the order of the day for everything going forward. But still good to know how to do it all, and do it correctly.

I also suspect that the one shot might work OK if I spray in on the RCBS pad... when the RCBS lube is gone. It will then roll on carefully instead of "flushing" all over the casing when sprayed.

Thanks again!

 

[T Bran]

Toss the oneshot into the circular file there are many better lubes out there lanolin minkoil even STP which I use allmost exclusively. A little dab on my fingers will do a dozen or more cases but you must clean it off. The majority of problems I read here involve One Shot and I fell into the same trap myself. It must dry evenly and completely or it will cause you massive headaches. Easier to just avoid it and move on to better things.
Case life will be much better if you can keep your brass seperate from your friends. Neck sizing will help to extend the life of your brass and his. When you are done loading just mark the bottom of half the shells with a sharpie and give him the other half.
LUCK
T

 

[shovel99]

Thanks TBran.... out it goes... today!

Sounds like whale poo would be a better lube than (Gotcha with) One Shot!

 

[GooseGestapo]

Like T Bran, I too use STP.
I've used it on an RCBS lube pad I bought in college in 1976. Still using the same partial bottle of STP now for 15yrs. (put the most of it in an old woods truck I had at time). I put about a tablespoon on the pad and rub it in really well.
Lasts about 500cases lubed, assuming '08 or '06 size cases.

 

[archer1214]

I use Hornady's 1 Shot and havent had any problems. I leave my cases upside down in the block after tumbling anyway,so the shoulders get little/no lube when I give a few quick, light sprays from different angles. I do like the idea of mink oil..might try it after I run out of 1 shot