Help - look at this brass please

[foxtail207]

In just bought a used set of 30-30 Lee dies here in the for sale area and I just used the sizing die on some de-primed and cleaned brass. I flew through a bunch of brass before I noticed something strange with the tapers on the necks.

In the following photos, the left hand shell is not sized, the other two were sized and show more or less flat surfaces in the taper. I cleaned and inspected the sizing die whwn I got it, and also after I found this.

Looking inside with the de-capper pin removed, I see nothing abnormal. The pin does have some wear ridges in the taper area that leads into the neck, but I see no way it could do this to the shell taper.

I tried some of the misshaped shells in my Marlin 336 and they will chamber, but I'm wondering if they are safe. Your thoughts please.

 

[JohnM]

Lube dents. Watch your lube on the necks and shoulders.
Those will soot fine and blow out the dents.

 

[rugerman]

Dents look like too much lube or lube in the wrong place to me, I'd load them & shoot them.

 

[jcwit]

Yup, to much lube at the taper and neck. Shoot them with normal loads, they'll fire form.

 

[rcmodel]

+1

Your die is full of excess case lube.
And then you added more. to the cases

1. Clean the die.

2. Then use only enough case lube on the brass that only a very thin film is all that is left.

In other words, put it on however you do it.
Then wipe off all you can with your fingers.

You want only enough left to be about the amount of oil on your nose when you rub your finger on it on a hot day.

rc

 

[foxtail207]

Whew! Thanks guys. I never thought about too much lube. I just sprayed and rolled them. I'm glad to hear this has happened before and It's OK to shoot them.

 

[Pit4Brains]

Your problem is already solved, but I just want to put in my .02 ...
Too much lube.

The nice thing is you can fire form the shoulders back out. I just loaded up some 357 pistol rounds and 3 of them crinkled. I could chamber one of them so I fired it and the brass came out nice and smooth with just a hint of discoloration where it was wrinkled. I pulled the bullet from the other two and all three casings went into the recycle can.

You should be able to reload those casings without a problem after firing..

 

[sugarmaker]

check that the little vent hole on the case neck portion of your dies is clear also.

 

[Salmoneye]

Lube dents.

Ayuh...

Too much lube...

 

[cag215]

I believe you do not have a lube problem. You've got the die set too deep for the shoulder set back. All my Lee dies do that when the set back is too deep.

You need a case head space gauge to set your die. By the looks of the brass you've set the shoulder of the case more than 0.010.......
Try to set the shoulder back 0.002 to 0.004........

To set your sizing die, run your ram to the top, turn you die down until it touches the ram. Back off the die one full turn.
Size a lubed case, and measure the case head space. At first you will see no set back, keep turning the die down 1/4 turn until you reach the set back......Mark your die and press so you can repeat the setting.

 

[blarby]

everythings allready been said.........

safe to shoot.

 

[JohnM]

Pushing the shoulders back too far shouldn't cause any dents.
When I make a 30 Herrett case I push the shoulder down the 30-30 case close to half inch plus change its angle. In one pass and don't get dents.
Unless I want to slobber on a bunch of lube.

 

[rcmodel]

You've got the die set too deep for the shoulder set back. All my Lee dies do that when the set back is too deep.

You can push a 30-30 shoulder back far enough to make .357 Herrett cases out of it and it won't dent the shoulders.
You can push a 30-06 shoulder back and make .243 out of it, and it won't dent the shoulder.

Die adjustment has nothing at all to do with the OP's problem, or yours.

The only thing there is that will make shoulder dents is:
Too much sizing lube, or powder granules or tumbler media stuck in the "too much lube" in the sizing die or on the cases.

You and the OP have too much lube, not a die adjustment problem.

rc

 

[JLDickmon]

the one time when too much lube is a bad thing..

 

[cag215]

Using less lube is easy....if it fixes his problem, then it's a great fix.

 

[TRP]

"Whew! Thanks guys. I never thought about too much lube. I just sprayed and rolled them. I'm glad to hear this has happened before and It's OK to shoot them."

You might want to try some Imperial sizing die wax.

 

[Walkalong]

The hydraulic pressure is considerable, and the shoulders are easily pushed in by the pressure.

You need virtually no lube on the shoulder. You will accidentally get more than enough on it.

 

[Jeff H]

It looks like your brass needs to be trimmed as well. The case mouths look a little rough.

 

[foxtail207]

OK, I finished of my run of 30-30 after slacking off on the lube and backing my die out a bit. That brass came out fine.

I then sized (100) 30-06 with brand new dies, doing the same thing, and had no problems.

The odd thing is, I originally did everything with the 30-30 exactly like I always do, and I have never had any neck problem before when sizing any of my 22-250 or 270 brass.

You learn something every day!
Thanks for the help.

 

[Walkalong]

It happens. Get a hair too much lube on the shoulder, and "Tag", your it. Here is a nice big one. Probably happened right after I re-lubed my fingers.

 

[Centaur 1]

I've been using Hornady Unique case lube. The consistency is somewhere between vaseline and wax, I just wipe my fingers on it about every ten cases. Just handling the cases will transfer enough lube. For rifle calibers I wipe a fingertip across the case mouth every few cases so the inside edge gets a little lube for the expander.

http://www.hornady.com/store/Unique-Case-Lube-1-Each/