Cheap Press = Stuck Case?

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What I'm understanding is that if properly lubed all cases should pretty much take the same effort to size, regardless of type.

Is rcbs the only company that recommends not using imperial wax, or is this consistent across the industry?
 
Maybe try swabbing a little RCBS lube inside the case mouth before you start the resizing process.
 
What I'm understanding is that if properly lubed all cases should pretty much take the same effort to size, regardless of type.

Is rcbs the only company that recommends not using imperial wax, or is this consistent across the industry?

I'm not sure I would go quite that far. Some cases take significantly more force to resize than .223. Machine gun fired 7.62 brass comes to mind.

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I never had a problem with the hornady one shot. Is one shot better?
OneStuck is probably the most oft-cited problem lube; it works, barely, if you use it just right. It's very unforgiving.

Any of the paste waxes, Imperial, Redding, Hornady, Creedmoor, etc are excellent. The Lee Lube is ok, but not as outstanding as Imperial et al.
 
Check your shell holder. I got a very sloppy #4 shell holder from Lee for their bench primer.

In the picture, both of the brass cases are pushed to the left of the shell holder. You can see how big of a right side gap there is on the bad shell holder.

View attachment 916202
My auto prime holder has half the play that my press shell holder has, so maybe that is part of the problem.
 
I am struggling to understand why 556 brass is more sensitive to lube than 7.62x63. I always assumed the bigger the case the more lube needed.

How often do you clean the wax out of the die when using imperial?
 
Never.

Once you've progressed to a lanolin-based spray lube, you might wipe the die out occasionally, but there's nothing to wipe when applying by hand.
I was more curious about removing wax buildup when using imperial sizing wax. They say the wax buildup will stick cases really bad, so I've avoided it in the past.
 
Its not a wax like bullet lube. It's very thin and I have never had it build up to the point a die needed to be cleared of it. Same goes for the Hornady unique lube (not to be confused with the much less effective Oneshot) as for spray on lubes, the Dillon one is the best I have used.
 
I use Hornady One Shot case lube on straight wall cartridges. For bottle neck cartridges I use a mixture of lanolin and ISO HEET.

I've never stuck a case with that mixture.
 
I was more curious about removing wax buildup when using imperial sizing wax. They say the wax buildup will stick cases really bad, so I've avoided it in the past.
I cant tell you the minimum requirement but if you clean the die every time before you install it for use you will never have a dirty die problem.
 
Clean the inside of the sizer die with mineral spirits and a bore brush including the expander. Try it again.
You could also polish the inside of the die with Flitz or Mothers.

Per Redding: "Use #400 or #600 wet/dry auto body paper wrapped around a small wooden dowel. Keep the paper wet with a thin petroleum product with the consistency of WD-40 or kerosene. Using this method, you will easily be able to remove any foreign material or brass build-up from the inside of the die."
 
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They say the wax buildup will stick cases really bad, so I've avoided it in the past.

Most of my stuff I got used. I have 2 sets of .357 dies and one set is gummed up with a waxy lube. I’m not sure what it is, but I used them as-is for a while and they worked fine even with a little buildup. One thing I did notice though, after chamfering a few funky cases there were a few tiny remnants of brass that got stuck in the die and started scratching the cases ever so slightly. Not a functional issue, but visually ugly. Whoever said that cases stick was wrong, but wax does hold debris more. Shouldn’t have debris getting to the press, but with rifle cases especially, it will happen.
 
How often do you clean the wax out of the die when using imperial?
I don’t. It helps prevent stuck cases. :)

In my personal experience .223 take more force to size than .30-06. Maybe it is because the case is a smaller diameter and therefore more rigid compared to the thickness of the brass or something. Or maybe my sizing dye is particularly tight or something. I may be totally imagining it. But I do not like reloading 5.56 so much that I basically stopped.
 
I think another shell holder with a better fit will cure your stuck case problem. As far as cleaning dies goes, I just wipe them out by screwing the corner of an oily rag into the die mouth. If they are really crudy I will use a bore brush and some solvent.

If I get something in the die that scratches the case I'll start with a bore brush and end up with some polishing compound. Something mild like Flitz or Semichrome.
 
I just happened to look a piece of lake city that got stuck and noticed 5 elongated dents just below the shoulder. I have read about excessive lube causing dents in the shoulder, but I'm not sure if that's what this is? Any ideas? Thanks for all the input.


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My 2 cents worth, a properly lubricated 223 Rem case does not take alot of effort to remove from the sizing die. But, if the expander button is not lubricated the effort to remove the case raises alot. Carbide expander button can be used dry, but I use a little lubricant anyway. The effort to pull a dry carbide button through the case neck is more that I prefer to experience.

A poorly fitted shell holder will more easily rip the rims off the cases when the effort to remove a cases increases. A poorly fitting shell holder has less rim to grip.

I've never has issues with too much lubricant causing a case to stick but I use lubricant that is designed for case sizing. You can get too much lubricant built up in the die and the usual result are dents in the neck and body area.
 
After looking closer, it has similar dents on the shoulder. Other than excessive lube, I have never heard of such a thing.
 
Yea, that's probably to much lube, at least in the wrong spot.

But it is a lube problem, no doubt in my mind. I have not cleaned the inside of a sizer die in a long time.
 
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