I know I must be doing something wrong....

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Collegefour

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I am still new to reloading, and so far have only done a bunch of .223. I bought 1000 rounds of PRVI 5.56 ammo awhile back, and have been shooting it when I go to the range. I've started to reload the brass, but I'm having serious problems with it.
I have broken/mangled two RCBS die interiors (the screw part in the middle that holds the expander button), and I've broken no less than 5 de-capping pins trying to push primers out of these cases. I know that military brass primers are crimped, but three out of the first eight cases I tried to re-size/decap got stuck, and I had to take apart the die and drill the case end out to get the expander button assembly out. I know I'm using enough lube, so why are these stupid cases getting stuck and breaking my decapping pins?
 
Not .223 related but I have some 6.5 Carcano ammo by PRVI that puts my dies through the paces pretty good. Never ruined them but it definitely takes more work than the Norma Brass. The PRVI feels thick, like a sturdier built case if that makes sense, compared to the Norma. I know it does not answer your question, but I have to say the PRVI brass is beefy.
 
Sounds like you are trying to resize/decap Berdan primed cases. Shine a light into one of those cases to see if it has one or two flash holes. You will quickly have your answer. :)
 
If you get sticking cases you aren't lubing them properly. Nothing else can cause that.
 
I was getting .223 stuck using Lee dies causing the expander to slip out of the collets. A liberal application of Hornady One Shot to the inside of the mouths cured my problem.

You may also want to measure the expander ball to see if something is out of spec.
 
Get a big bottle of water based wire pulling lube from home depot or lowes. Its $5 and so far I have done about 8,000 rounds and I am not even half way through it. I have done PRVI brass and it has never given me any problems. I agree that you probably need more or better lube. Also, another thing that causes this is not having the expander button screwed on tight enough. Those things have to be snug. You will break pins when doing military cases, but bending the decapping rod is most likely because you didn't screw the expander on tight enough. I bent one because I was just finger tightening the new decapping pins on. You need to use pliers or something to get them tight enough.
 
Try this as it worked well for my stubborn PRVI brass. lube it up with one shot, then run it up into the die till you feel resistance, then come back out. Do it again only a bit further, and repeat till it will go back up without resistance. I also had stuck cases with the PRVI but the Lee dies make it easy to get out.
 
Wire pulling "lubes" work (they're actually a liquid soap) but they aren't nearly as good as Imperial Die Wax or anhydrous lanolin. I suspect Hornady's "Unique" lube is the same soft waxy type stuff as Imperial but I haven't used it so I'm not sure.

No case gets stuck in a die because it wasn't lubed internally, that only comes into play during extraction, well after the case is free of the die wall.
 
Well, sounds like the consensus is not enough lube, so I'll try putting on more. I'm a little leery of doing that due to some warnings I've read about denting case shoulders, but I guess I'll try it....lord knows I'm thrashing enough cases anyway.
The brass does seem to have small flash holes, but I don't know if they're any smaller than any other type of case. I DO know that they aren't berdan primed, tho!
I'll try using pliers to tighten down the expander button as well....Thanks everyone!
 
To check if your primer hole is smaller than normal, you might try seeing if the decapping pin passes easily through from the primer side, or if it's very snug, having had to resize the hole as it decapped the case.

You might find that you could use the small pins instead, if it's normally using large, or that another brand uses a smaller decapping pin.


Or, if the holes are the problem, you might find it easier to just use different brass, though it sounds like the Privi brass is heavy enough that it might reload more durably that some.
 
Also, once you have extended the replaced/repaired expander stem down to where the decapping pin sticks out the bottom of the die about 3/8 inch, and tightened the jam nut, take the assembled die out of the press. Roll it on the bench and make sure there is no run out (no wobble) of the pin when rolled.

As far as lubrication, I think the folks are saying lube the inside of the neck, not necessarily the outside, for this problem.

As a side note, I wish RCBS would find a way to keep the expander stem centered in the die better than what they have now. This is not a new problem (turning the expander stem and decapping pin into an "S" curve). And, RCBS is very good at supplying repair parts, but it is still a nuisance.
 
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