rcbs competition die...stuck?

[SamTuckerMTNMAN]

Hello,

I am still a newbie to reloading. Just received first die set for my .308 and headed to the prepared workspace with great anticipation. Decapping was the order of the day and I put in the rcbs comp die for that purpose. I put a very very light lube on the case of the .308, stuck it in the shell holder and pressed the handle. It seemed to lock up short of knocking out the primer. I tried again. I bumped it, rocked it, did it with both less and more lube, no go. Perhaps the die has some rust up in it? I don't know, the handle was not pressed all the way down and I was pushing hard enough to almost torque the whole table and figured I better stop.
Any help appreciated. Needless to say, I was greatly disappointed

 

[308win]

If the cases you are trying to deprime are milsurp you need to remove the primer crimp first. Or, if they are foreign milsurp (or foreign mfg) they may be berdan primed in which case you can't use your decaping die at all.

 

[ocabj]

It's probably a stuck case. If you are putting massive amount of force to bring the ram back down and it's still not coming out, you're going to have to send in the die. I've never had a stuck case before, even when necking up brass.

On new dies, you should always disassemble them and clean them since they have oil all over them. I use brake cleaner or acetone (except where there are rubber o-rings).

When you lube a case, only lube the body and the neck (inside and/or out). No lube on the shoulder.

I don't think it's a military crimp or berdan primer causing the problem. If it was military crimped, the primer would pop out anyway. And if not, it would break the decapping pin. Berdan primer would also break the decapping pin if you forced it down. It wouldn't prevent you from bringing it back up.

 

[Shoney]

As was mentioned, first check to make sure they are not Berdan primed. If they were Berdan, and your decapping pin is low enough, it would have broken the pin.

Of course making sure you have boxer primed brass, then check: Is your die set the proper distance from the shell holder, as described in the die instructions?

If the die is set properly in relation to the shell holder, have you tried lowering the pin a half turn at a time?

 

[The Bushmaster]

A little lube on a bronze bore brush ran inside the mouth of the case will sometimes correct the problem...

 

[30Cal]

If I'm reading correctly, the case is not getting stuck in the die. That's good.

What sort of press? I've got an old turret press that requires an incredible amount of force to FL size rifle brass.


Ty

 

[Car Knocker]

Perhaps a long shot but it is a new die - have you verified that it is in fact a .308 Winchester die and not some other .308 cartridge die?

 

[SamTuckerMTNMAN]

thanks

It is a Win .308 competition die, just went for what I thought was best. It is used off of ebay, the guy had good feedback and the thing seems in good cond. The brass is .308 marked winchester. It is not getting stuck in the die, just sort of locks and stops. Man, first the scale problem now this. i have a friend coming over in the next few weeks who is an avid reloader, but thats still forever away...I'm going to try some Rem brass and compare, tomorrow. Not alternative primer, checked that out already. I do appreciate the help, you guys are the best.

 

[308win]

have you taken it apart to make sure there isn't a piece of a previously stuck case in the die that has had the neck ripped off?

 

[P0832177]

First off how many dies came in the box?

There should be two dies? One is a sizer die with a decapping stem, this will knock the primer out as long as the decapping pin is in place? From the sounds of your description you are not ecountering much if any resistance so I wonder if you are using the seater die?

Make sure lube the inside of the case mouth as suggested above!