Holy crap, what am I doing wrong or what is not working properly?

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Gasitman

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I am trying out my .223 dies, and the spent shells are so tight, I have to use brute force to get it into the sizer die. I set it up as per the instructions, seating the die just so that 3/8" if the primer removal pin is down, and also set it so that the die is just touching the shell holder.

I tried brand new, never fired brass, and it too had some difficulty, but no where near the once fired brass. Is this typical of the rifle brass? I took out the zip spindle and re-threaded it, that did nothing. however looking at it from the bottom side if the die, it is not exactly center.

Any thoughts? :banghead:
 
Are you using case lube? What brand lube?

What brand dies? What is the zip spindle?

.375 seems excessive I think 3/16" is more like it. I usually set the decapping pin til it is just long enough to work reliably plus a bit more. I then set the locking ring for the decapping rod while it is in the flash hole.
 
Yes, I am using cabelas case lube. I also have some lyman lube that I tried also. Neither really helped. I was told that using Hornady's carbide dies do not even need case lube, but I figure using it cant hurt.
 
Its all in the lube...

I reload 223 and I used hornady's custom grade die set with Dillon spay lube. Sizing was OK, still required a bit of effort, despite trying different methods of applying lube (ie brass in plastic bag, spray and shake) and I would still get some cases stuck. So a couple couple of weeks ago tried a Redding resizer with some imperial wax. Oh... my... God... It was bliss. so easy. Just out of curiosity tried the wax in the Hornady die - just as pleasant!

Moral of my story- Its all in the lube - not the resizer! Get Imperial wax lube. seriously.

EDIT: AFAIK Hornady doesnt make carbide dies for the 223, its steel. The only one thats carbide for the 223 is made by Dillon.
 
I have not seen this wax anywhere, only spray type items. Other than midway, where can I pick some up?
 
Unfortunately, I couldn't find it locally, so I had to order it online. Cabelas, grafs- all the usual online places carry it. Maybe someone has a local suggestion...
 
Hands down the best lube I've used is plain Jane nonstick cooking spray.

If you have any in the house lay a row of cases on a towel and give em a liberal spray. Then fold the towel over the cases and roll em about.

Try that and see if it helps.
 
For sizing brass I have used STP for long as I can remember.

I still have the same old stamp pad with a cut to fit piece of lamb skin and the wool cut close. Work in a little STP into the wool, roll 4-5 pieces of brass back and forth, take a cotton swab with a little STP to lube inside of the necks. Have never stuck a case yet.
 
Even with carbide dies a tapered case HAS to be lubed. Only straight walled cases such as 9MM, 45ACP, .357Mag, 44 Mag and other straight walled cases can be sized without lube using carbide dies. Imperial sizing lube or Dillions case lube are what I'd recommend. I like Dillions myself and still roll the cases on the lube pad to apply the lube. Also a nylon RCBS neck brush is handy to apply lube to the inside of the neck. Make sure the expander ball is not hitting the inside bottom of the case. If it is back out the deprime rod.
 
Mink Oil in the shoe dept at Wal-Mart works very well if one can't find Imperial sizing lube. They both contain lanolin which does the lubing for you.

Its not an oil tho, its a paste.
 
Are you also lubing the inside of the case neck with something?

Most any lube designed for reloading works well, although I have found Imperial Sizing Wax and their Fry Moly Case Neck Lube to be less messy to work with and seems to work extremely well.

I am wondering if you are using too much lube and the dies are really tight.
 
Gasitman wrote: I set it up as per the instructions, seating the die just so that 3/8" if the primer removal pin is down, and also set it so that the die is just touching the shell holder.
Click to expand...
Surely you mean 3/16" - that is what the instructions prescribe.
 
I bet his decapping pin (expander button) unit is bottoming out on the inside of the case bottom.
 
If you had the zip spindle/expander too far down, you could have bent it on the bottom of the case; I did this once. There is a possibility the decapping pin may not line up with the flash hole if this has happened.

Adjust dies per the instructions for now; decapping pin should be visible out the bottom of the die, but the expander should NOT be; it needs to be recessed up in the die enough to not hit the bottom of the case.

Once this is done, spray lube on the entire outside of a case, and make sure to get some inside the case mouth also, as the expander needs lube too. Run it through the die, and if you are using lots of lube, it should go through pretty easily. I've found that the more Hornady One-shot I use (another brand of spray lube) the easier the case goes in and out of the die. If you are using too much you may get some small dents in the neck from hydraulic pressure, but this isn't really anthing to worry about for now, and the case should go through the process easily.
 
No matter what brand of spray lube you are using, you have to wait for the solvent to evaporate off the cases before you can size them.

I think the #1 mistake people make, and the leading cause of dissatisfied spray lube users, is not waiting long enough after spraying for the solvent to evaporate.

And it actually doesn't take much lube to do the job.

I spray, wait 10-15 minutes for the solvent to dry, then wipe excess lube off the cases with my fingers as I pick them up to size them.
All you need is a thin film of lube you can't wipe off with oily fingers.

rc
 
I will try to answer all of them. The zip spindle is out enough to take the primer out, any higher and it wont, any lower and it does bottom out. I am not spraying the inside on purpose. I have 50 shells in a tray and I spray on one side and then the other. I waited about 20 minutes, even though it said it would only take 5 minutes to dry. Maybe this is normal for sizing necked down brass and since I have not sized anything other than 45 auto, it is a bit more difficult.
 
Yes, it will take more force than a pistol cartridge.

If the cases are in a loading block rather than layed out flat, you may not be getting lube on the casehead, and that is one of the three areas (along with the shoulder and inside the case mouth) that really need the lube. If you don't have lube on two of the three highest level of contact areas, that could explain the difficulty. Just clarifying in case that is what you meant by "tray".

For what its worth, I don't really let the spray lube dry first, and haven't had any problems with it. YMMV of course.
 
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