Hard to get brass into resizing die

[Glenn J]

I have been reloading for years with the same dies I bought back in the early eighties. I don't think any of them are carbide. When reloading pistol I never lube the cases, and they go into the resizing die with no problem. I recently bought another set of 44 mag dies on ebay that were never used, but quite old, since they had a price tag on them when bought new of $14.00. I wanted them so I could have a setup for 44 mag, and one for 44 special in seperate heads for my dillion 550b.

Here's the problem. I have to do a chin up on the press lever to get a shell to go into the sizing die. When I look in the bottom of my lyman die, the shinny resizing ring is about 1/2 inch deep. When I look into the new dies I bought, the resizing ring is about one inch deep. What did I buy?

Thanks Glenn

 

[ReloaderFred]

What brand are the new dies and do they have a carbide insert in them? You can tell by looking at the bottom of the die and if they're carbide, there will be an insert, which is indicated by a ring on the bottom of the die that is about 1/8" wide.

You may have purchased steel dies, and if that's the case, you'll need to use case lube with the sizing die.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[ants]

The dies you bought back in the eighties are nicely polished inside (after 25 years) and methinks you're spoiled by them. They sure work nice, don't they?

Your new dies might likely have a teeny bit of roughness (sorta like micropitting) after sitting unused and idle all these years. Use lube and both of you will be happier. Although I would enjoy a video of you doing those chin ups.

 

[Steve C]

I don't think any of them are carbide. When reloading pistol I never lube the cases, and they go into the resizing die with no problem.

You have carbie dies, steel dies have no resizing ring and if you ever run an unlubed case into one you'll likely pull off the rim before you will get it back out.

As ants suggested, use a bit of die lube. I use a bit on every 10th case or so even when using carbide dies as it makes sizing effortless. Imperial sizing die wax works great and is relatively clean and easy to use.

 

[cajun 48]

steve c.
I thought the whole reason for getting "carbide" die was so you didn't have to lube! Guess you could lube if you wanted to but. . . .
ajb

 

[ReloaderFred]

I lube some of the calibers I size in carbide dies, and it's amazing how much easier they go through the die. If you're only doing a hundred or so, it won't make much difference, but if you're doing a couple thousand in a session, it makes a world of difference.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[SASS#23149]

I thought the whole reason for getting "carbide" die was so you didn't have to lube! Guess you could lube if you wanted to but.

I"m with Fred on this one.The difference in sizing cases is AMAZING even if just lubing every tenth case,using carbide dies.Hittting ALL the cases with OneShot,etc, would reallllly make the press fly .

as to the OP,I'm sure your 1st set was carbide or you would have stuck a case long ago,imho

 

[rcmodel]

When I look in the bottom of my lyman die, the shinny resizing ring is about 1/2 inch deep. When I look into the new dies I bought, the resizing ring is about one inch deep.

1/2" ring = Your old Lyman die is carbide.

Your old "new" die is all steel.

You have to use case lube with steel dies to prevent hard sizing, brass galling inside the die, and stuck cases. There is no way around it.

rcmodel

 

[Glenn J]

Ok from what you people are saying I think both sets may be carbide. Both sets are lyman dies. I just rechecked the first set I have had for years that works great. It has a thin polished ring about 1/4 inch inside the bottom of the die. It also has the letters TC on the resizing die. Would that indicate tungsin carbide? The second set I just bought has the same ring inside the resize die, but it is about 1/2 inch deep. The die has the letters FL on it.

Would these polished rings be there if they were not carbide?

I also just tried using case lube, and it got a little easier but not much. They go in very hard, but come out fairly easy. I'm not sure what's wrong with these dies, but I think it's time to buy another set.

Thanks Glenn

 

[ReloaderFred]

It sounds like both dies are carbide. The TC does stand for Tungston Carbide. The FL stands for Full Length sizer.

If the dies were regular steel dies, there would be no "polished ring" inside the die. They would be one piece of steel, and the interior of the whole sizing area of the die would have been polished.

Try cleaning the new die and see if that helps. You can always lube the brass, too.

Also, measure the inside diameter of the sizing ring and see if they're the same size.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

When I spray HOS on my rifle cases I’ll set the case block on top of some my pistol cases so that the over spray will coat them also, this has made sizing them very smooth, and reduces some of the waste.

 

[Ol` Joe]

I`ve an old 3 die set by Lyman I bought in the early `70s, marked as yours - 44 spcl-44 mag TC All-American FL. They came in a cardboard box with a flat lock nut wrench included.
They are carbide.
I doubt there is anything wrong with them. The dies could be at min spec and your chamber might allow brass to expand to near max diameter. The tolerance stack could cause the cases to feel tighter in the Lyman die over another die built to a slighty larger diameter. You can call Lyman, they have a "tech" number on their web page and ask them about it. They might be able to come up with other causes or offer to inspect the die..or use a dab of lube like quite a few others and ignore it. I don`t have trouble with my Lyman or RCBS carbide dies, but I lube every 2-3 cases anyway just to keep things running smooth. I`ll leave that choice to you...

Edited to add.........
The die body is also larger inside then the carbide rings diameter, Once the brass has past the ring it doesn`t contact the die wall in mine (I`ve a set of newer 45 acp Lyman that are built the same) You might want to check and see if there is dirt or other build-up deeper in the die body that could be hindering the brass as it goes in the die. Just a thought....

 

[Glenn J]

He Joe, and everyone else who replied, I think I have come to the conclusion after getting everyone's help, that the dies I just bought are not carbide. The lyman dies I bought years ago that work great came in a hard plastic orange box, and say 44 spl mag tc on the sizing die.

The new lyman dies I just bought, which are quite old, and came in a lyman cardboard box say 44 spl mag FL. They do have a shinny ring inside the bottom of the die, but it is twice as long as the carbide ring on the dies that work fine.

It is also a different design. On the good die the carbide ring is seperate from the bottom edge of the die. The best way I can explain that, is if you took a wedding ring off your finger and slide it inside the die.

On the bad die, the shinny ring is all part of the bottom of the die. It seems to be one piece.

Also on the good die I can hold it in my hand and push a 44 shell into it far enough for it to stay without falling out. On the bad die I can't do that no matter how hard I pushed on the shell.

The bottom line is I am done with these dies. I have cleaned them, lubed them, lubed the cases, and nothing works. After loading 25 rounds with these dies, I felt like I had a full work out at the gym. There are several carbide dies for the 44 on ebay, and I will just resell these as non carbide. Case closed!

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. Glenn

 

[rcmodel]

Have you considered buying new carbide dies from Midway or somebody?

At least you would know what you have, instead of buying something off eBay for nearly the same price and not knowing.

I understand there are some good buys on eBay, but there are also folks selling stuff they had that just didn't work right.
Ancient reloading dies are one of them.

The Carbide dies being made today have been improved about 1000% over what was being made 30 years ago!

rcmodel

 

[Glenn J]

I have bought items from midway and other sites, but I have gotten a lot of great deals on ebay. These dies I bought and had a problem with were being sold by someone who was liquidating a deceased relatives assets, and knew nothing about the item.

I hate to admit it, but I have been reloading for years, and never knew my dies were carbide. They are all lyman which I bought new at a favorite gun shop over time. Maybe the shop owner told me, I don't remember. None of them say carbide on the box, so I never knew. Now that I had this problem, I notice all of my dies have TC stamped on them, and the new ones I bought don't.

So I really didn't think to ask when I bought this newest set that became a problem. They were lyman dies, and I just assumed they would work the same. You know what happens when you assume! Anyway I only paid $15.00 for them, and I got lucky on ebay today and bought an rcbs carbide resizing die for $5.50, which is all I need since the other dies work fine, so it worked out.

Thanks Glenn

 

[ranger335v]

I've played at this game for some 48 years. Haven't seen everything for sure, but I've for sure never seen a carbide die that wasn't marked as such.

The "inch long" ring you see is simply the steel sizer body for that cartridge. And it will be tapered a bit too, just as a factory round is slighly tapered.

TC dies are slick but they over-work the case bodies because they all get sized into a cylinder. And that causes premature body splits.