Topic: Case stuck in sizing die

[fj40mojo]

First time in 25 years of reloading.  I've got a case stuck in my Hornady full length resizing die.  Anybody know a quick way to get it out without damaging my die?

[luvmy45]

Go get a RCBS stuck case remover... You only need it about once every so often, but when you do, it's worth it's weight in gold.

Essentially you drill a hole in the case, then thread it with their tap, then fit a collar over the case and thread in a bolt and the pulls the case out, simply easy and no damage to the die.

Brian

[fj40mojo]

Go get a RCBS stuck case remover... You only need it about once every so often, but when you do, it's worth it's weight in gold.

Essentially you drill a hole in the case, then thread it with their tap, then fit a collar over the case and thread in a bolt and the pulls the case out, simply easy and no damage to the die.

Brian

Got one I could borrow?  I'm severely crippled financially at the moment.

[Lefty_OMorrow]

I got a .204 Ruger case stuck in a Hornady die. I sent it to them and they sent it back better than new. Beautifully polished inside. The fee was $4 to cover shipping.

[fj40mojo]

RGI,
Ya, I was a machinist in my past life.  I think I can drill and tap the case to 10-32, and rig something together.  Does the RCBS outfit use the ram to pull out the case?  If so, I'm farelly sure that 10-32 screw will pass thru the larger primer hole in a shell holder and I can use that to couple the ram to the stuck case.  I'll let you know how it goes.  I've got taps and what not in my tool box.

[fj40mojo]

Thanks,
I think I've got something that will work, but don't have the opportunity until this afternoon to work on it.

[fj40mojo]

It's out, drilled and tapped to 1/4-20 ( couldn't find a 10-32 bolt) and used a large heavy duty washer that I made a while back for compressing the clutch pack on my Harley.  Worked like a charm.

[luvmy45]

Good call RG, I hadn't thought about a socket as the collar to pull the bullet, that's pretty slick. I'll have to remember when I can't find my puller. Seems like when I need it, it's a chore to figure out where I put it last.

Brian

[fj40mojo]

Almost as easy as putting lube on the cases

Not quite that easy, but you're right on-I forgot to lube.  BRAIN CRAMP!

[TrooperBrian]

This thread helped me out today. First time I managed to get it out with Vise grips. Second time I drilled and tapped a 1/4"-20 hole and used a spacer, popped right out!

[Joey]

Not quite that easy, but you're right on-I forgot to lube.  BRAIN CRAMP!

It's little life lessons like these, that will help you never to forget to lube your cases again!

Happens to every handloader once or twice, but then you usually remember that step next time 

Happy that you are back up and running - Happy Loading
 

[TrooperBrian]

It's little life lessons like these, that will help you never to forget to lube your cases again!

Happens to every handloader once or twice, but then you usually remember that step next time 

Happy that you are back up and running - Happy Loading
 

I was using the spray stuff with alcohol and lanolin, after it dries I guess it doesn't work quite as well, I managed to get SEVEN stuck yesterday before I gave up.

The process up to getting a stuck case is like stepping on a landmine. You know what's going to happen next, even if you don't want it to.

[WTF]

perhaps you suck at reloading? lol,  roll them around and spray a couple more times, I've never had a stuck case yet...

[fj40mojo]

perhaps you suck at reloading? lol,  roll them around and spray a couple more times, I've never had a stuck case yet...

Knock on wood! Sooner or later it will happen.

[TrooperBrian]

Knock on wood! Sooner or later it will happen.

The thing about a Dillon is..when it works, its works GREAT. When it doesn't work, it makes you want to smash your head on the bench.

Today I managed to crank out about 500 rounds with only one stuck case, just have to use tons of this Cabela's spray on stuff.

[RGinIdaho]

Hornady One Shot is decent.


.223 tends to stick a bit more than others. The rim is minimal to start with and takes a beating in some SA rifles.

Think about how easily AR extractors pull through the rims leaving cases stuck in the chamber. A double feed is a common malf in an AR. One left in the chamber after the rims tears through then the next round pushed up by the returning bolt.

[TrooperBrian]

Hornady One Shot is decent.


.223 tends to stick a bit more than others. The rim is minimal to start with and takes a beating in some SA rifles.

Think about how easily AR extractors pull through the rims leaving cases stuck in the chamber. A double feed is a common malf in an AR. One left in the chamber after the rims tears through then the next round pushed up by the returning bolt.

Can't say I've ever actually had that happen before, but I've ran the drill a lot.

A lot of my brass gets these two vertical notches in the neck of the brass, do you know what its from?

[SEVERED]

The worst we have ran into (my dad and I) was when we started loading 5.7 X 28. my dad cleaned all the coating off before doing any reading... that ended up being a bad thing. Tried just about every lube known and they still stick more often then not. The ones that still have the coating on them size just fine.

[High Wall]

Can't say I've ever actually had that happen before, but I've ran the drill a lot.

A lot of my brass gets these two vertical notches in the neck of the brass, do you know what its from?

If you are shooting them in an AR, they are from smacking into sharp edges in the barrel extension during extraction.

[luvmy45]

Assuming you are loading 223...

I have a 1 gallon zip loc bag that is my lube bag...

Drop in around 100 or so cases, that have been prepped already...

Flop bag down on bench, and kinda of flatten everything out...

Spray Hornady One Shot over the contents of the bag,

Pick bag up and roll everythign around for a minute...

Set it back down and repeat a 2nd time.

Roll the contents around again for a minute..

then open bag and WAIT AT LEAST 2 MINUTES before you start loading... the alcohol has to evaporate or the CASE WILL STICK!!!

after that, you can pretty much run them through the reloader whenever you want, day later even.

I actually use 2 bags, one is prepped as I am consuming the other, I just go back and forth, and can load 500 or so in an hour.

It's not the Dillon, it's something your doing, or not doing... once you figure it out you'll be good to go.

[birddog1989]

I'm still using my lube pad I got with my Rock Chucker Combo about 20 years ago.  On my 2nd or 3rd bottle of lube though.  Never had a stuck case.  But thats me. 

[Nealio]

I'm still using my lube pad I got with my Rock Chucker Combo about 20 years ago.  On my 2nd or 3rd bottle of lube though.  Never had a stuck case.  But thats me. 

I was going to say neither my dad or I have every had a case stuck, but we also use the RCBS lube pad.  Its messy but it gets a good coating on the cases.

[TrooperBrian]

Same, I've never had a stuck case until I went to the spray stuff. I found it actually works much better when its slightly wet, and reduces in effectiveness as it dries more and more.

[fj40mojo]

I'm still using my lube pad I got with my Rock Chucker Combo about 20 years ago.  On my 2nd or 3rd bottle of lube though.  Never had a stuck case.  But thats me. 

Me too! I'm surprised that you haven't gone over to the aerosol side though with your fancy Dillon progressive. Doesn't the pad slow down your mass production? Who resurrected this thread anyways?

[birddog1989]

We use some at work and I think it's crap.  I decided using the lube pad wouldn't slow me down as much as using getting a case stuck, so far so good.

                                                           

[NGO]

I use the RCBS lube pad....gone thru 5 tubes of lube in the last two years...

The only time it sticks has been when I didn't use enough lube and that was after washing the pad off a couple of times.

Total stuck cases has been three. my fault on those.

I like the pad method, makes me not only look at each case but also allows me to feel the one more time. I have found a couple with cracks that did show up with just a look, but when I felt "something" different when I was rolling it along.


I'm not in a hurry to load as many as possible when I reload. I don't want any problems. My kids use my reloads so I' want to be extra careful with each one. And if that means it takes 10% longer to reload, so be it.

[fj40mojo]

I like the pad cuz it keeps the lube below the shoulder where it belongs. I tumble afterwords to remove lube but I see no reason to get lube inside cases if at all possible. The sprays seem kinda indiscriminate.

[TrooperBrian]

Me too! I'm surprised that you haven't gone over to the aerosol side though with your fancy Dillon progressive. Doesn't the pad slow down your mass production? Who resurrected this thread anyways?

Hehe whoops.