What am I doing wrong w/ resizing?

[Zeede]

I got a Hornady Lock 'N Load single stage press. I'm trying to resize some .30-06 brass, but the shell won't go all the way up into the die. The last 1/4" or so won't go in.

I've tumbled the brass for hours, wiped it, sprayed some One Shot on it, even a little inside the neck...what gives?

I followed the directions. I adjusted the decapper spindle down so it shows 3/16" below the bottom of the die. I raised the ram to the highest point before it cams, and adjusted the die against the shell holder (yes, I remembered to put a shell holder in first), then locked the die down.

Cameron

 

[res45]

Did you take the die apart and clean it before you tried to use it,also check to see if you die has a small pin hole in the side and that its open. Also take the decapping pin out all together and see if the case will resize if so you needto adjust the decapper up a little more.

 

[Zeede]

Yes, I cleaned it as best as I could, the shoulder part up inside the die is hard to get to. Mostly it's just a very light coating of rust preventative inside, as far as I can tell. I will try and take out the decapping pin and see how that goes.

Cameron

 

[snuffy]

I followed the directions. I adjusted the decapper spindle down so it shows 3/16" below the bottom of the die. I raised the ram to the highest point before it cams, and adjusted the die against the shell holder (yes, I remembered to put a shell holder in first), then locked the die down.

The area in bold is where your problem is. The decapper PIN should be about 3/16 below the bottom of the die, not the whole spindle! I hope you didn't try to force it, you might have bent the spindle rod. Back the whole decapper rod up so that just the pin is 3/16 below the bottom of the die.

 

[Zeede]

Sorry, I used the wrong terminology. Yes, just the tip, the pin, shows down that far.

Cameron

 

[Powderman]

Take a REALLY close look at your sizing die. You might be trying to size .30-06 with a .308 Winchester sizer die.

 

[Zeede]

It says .30-06 on it. I took out the decapping assembly completely, the pin and the collet, and it still gets stuck at the same place. My friend thinks I have a die labeled for .30-06 but isn't. I have absolutely no resistance whatsoever until WHAM it just gets stuck with about 3/8" of shell still sticking out.

Cameron

 

[Horsemany]

Does it feel like other cartridges you've resized? I don't usually feel a "wham" when the die bottoms out. Usually you feel several small resistance points as the sizer ball passes through each way. You should put a caliper on the expander ball and see what size it is. Then I'd call Hornady. There customer service is top notch. The bad part is I've used it enough to know this. Hornady has a very high rate of "not right" products myself and a reloading partner have bought. They can usually have the right thing in your mailbox in a few days though. My guess is the die body is the wrong size. The one Hornady die I bought was this way and they sent me a new one.

 

[Eric F]

sprayed some One Shot on it

Had the same problem your having with my 50-90 sharps got rid of the 1 shot and went with traditional wax type case lube problem solved, Might want to try changing lube.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Eric F has it...I had the same problem with One Shot and .30-06. For some darn reason One Shot has a problem with .30-06 cases.

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

Just for chuckles look at the neck and see if it has been fully resized.

This should tell you a little more about the die. I realize the die should come to the shell holder.

 

[WhisperFan]

I would try to 'diagnose' the problem a little bit more ....

The first thing I would do is to completely remove the decapper/expander and just run the lubricated casing into the die and see if that makes any difference.

Secondly, have you used your die before without this problem? Is your die new, or used? If it is used, it may have the neck of a shell stuck in the die.

Try changing your case lube. If you are trying it without the expander, you won't need to lube the inside of the neck.

Lastly, you have your press adjusted so the shell-holder contacts the base of the die, right? Don't laugh, I have sometimes wondered why the shoulder of the brass wasn't set back far enough, only to find that I didn't have the die screwed in far enough.

 

[rcmodel]

One-Shot isn't keeping you from sizing the case.

Your press leverage will put a 30-06 case all the way in a .308 sizing die with no lube at all.
Of course, it won't come back out!!

The other thing with One-Shot is, you have to wait a minute or two for the solvent to dry off before sizing.

If you spray and immediately try to size the case, the solvent doesn't act as a lube, or allow the lube to act as a lube.

If I were you, I would force a case in with the press leverage and see what comes out. If the shoulder is pushed way far back like a .308 or something, the die is mis-labeled.

If it crumbles up the case, there is something else wrong with the die, like it missed the finish reamer stage during production.

rcmodel

 

[Zeede]

Thanks for all the replies. I have taken out the decapper pin and the collet it screws into, still no dice.

I will try and lube a case again and give it like 5 minutes to dry, then try again. Is there anything I need to do to remove the old lube, like if there is some inside the die?

The brass is, as far as I can tell, not being really worked at all. There are some marks on the body down near where it gets stuck, where the tarnished Greek surplus brass is getting shined up by the die rubbing the surface, but that's it.

I called Hornady they're going to send a new die body. I'll try the "let the lube dry a bunch" tonight.

Cameron

 

[rcmodel]

Greek surplus brass

See if a magnet will stick to your Greek surplus "brass".

It could possibly be steel, not brass?

Are you sure it is Boxer primed (1 flash hole) , not Berdan (2 flash holes)?

The other thing is, you might try sizing some American name brand cases of known quality for your first attempt at reloading.

rcmodel

 

[Zeede]

No, it's not steel, it's brass, and yes, it is Boxer primed.

I have some Federal .30-06 brass from my friend, and I tried one of those cases, same problem. Stuck in almost the same place as with the Greek surplus military brass.

Hornady is sending me a new die body.

Cameron

 

[Zeede]

I received another die body from Hornady today, same problem, same place the cases are getting stuck.

Maybe I haven't cleaned the inside of the die well enough? I ran patches through, soaked with gun cleaner, and then dry patches...repeat until the dry patches are spotless.

Other than trying a different lube, I'm dumbfounded

Any other suggestions?

Cameron

 

[Doug b]

Any other sugestions

Yep get a wax lube,either Imperial or Lee and don't look back.Use it sparingly a little goes a long way.

 

[Sport45]

Without a case in the shell holder does the ram go all the way up to the bottom of the die before it "cams over?" It should take a little effort to cam over even without a case in the die. I agree with rcmodel. You should be able to push a lubricated '06 case through or crush it into just about any die. I'm thinking the die isn't adjusted down far enough.

Try lubing one with clear dishwashing detergent if you don't have some old-fashioned lube pad type case lube.

 

[cpttango30]

The only thing I can think of is something is interfering with your press (IE not letting the ram reach the top of its travel). Or you need to change lube. I have never had too much problem with One shot.

When I clean a die I spray gun scrubber in it and let it dry and give it a shot or two with one shot and call it good.

If you have a digital camera take some pictures and post them. It will be easier to see what your talking about.

 

[ranger335v]

"I'm trying to resize some .30-06 brass, but the shell won't go all the way up into the die. The last 1/4" or so won't go in."

There are only two reasons your "shell won't go all the way up", you don't have the case properly lubed OR you are quiting too soon. As has been mentioned above, a lubricated case can be completly changed into another pretty easily, such as when I make .22-250 from .30-06. But I don't do it with poor lube and some significant lever pressure.

What many newbies do is carefully lube the neck/upper body but neglect the lower body. It is much more important to lube the lower body than the upper. And with spray lubes, which I only use for pistol stuff, we must shake the can frequently or all we will be spraying is propellant.

Get some Lee or Imperial die lube and try again.

 

[Zeede]

Yes, with just the shellholder in place, the die has been adjusted that the shellholder just touches the bottom of the die, before it cams over. In other words, when I pull the handle all the way down, the ram goes up, touches the die, then comes back down a teensy bit, due to the camming over movement. This is correct, right?

I'll try shaking the One Shot for more than a minute and spraying again. I spray it pretty liberally on the case, especially paying attention to the lower body, as that's the point that keeps getting stuck.

I have not been spraying One Shot up inside the die body, should I do that? How often do you spray it again?

Cameron

 

[snuffy]

as that's the point that keeps getting stuck.

What do you mean by "getting stuck"? If you mean by that phrase, it starts to get hardER to push in, then keep pushing! Yes it will be difficult to push all the way in, it's SUPPOSED to be! That's when the die is squeezing the brass back where it belongs. Don't be a wimp, get muscular and shove it home.

 

[floydster]

I have picked up some 30-06 cases at the range and found the same problem.
The bottom of the caes was bulged about 1/4" up from the ejector groove, I could not no way even force the case to be resized because the thickness of the brass in that area was too heavy.
These cases must have been fired out of an auto with a bad chamber.
Anyway, this is what I have found.
Floydster a.k.a. Smokeyloads

 

[Zeede]

snuffy: I'm making the wood creak on my reloading bench I'm using that much downward force. I almost couldn't get the case back out the last time I tried to muscle it in, so that is what I mean by "stuck".

floydster: I have some Federal cases (as opposed to the Greek surplus stuff) that my friend fired in his Browning BAR. It gets stuck in about the same place. While it is possible, I find it unlikely that both of our chambers are bad.

I'm going to try a different lube and see if that doesn't solve the problem. With One Shot, do I need to tumble it to get the old lube off, or just wipe it w/ a cloth?

Cameron