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204 brass problem

long40shot

Gold $$ Contributor
Just wanted to run this by you guys. I just resized 100 pieces of 204 brass. 52 of them, the necks either tore, split, or deformed a little. I checked the die halfway through and cleaned it, it was fine. The brass is Midway's Dogtown brand, Redding FL die, hornady one shot lube. I've never in thousands and thousands of rounds had this happen. Any thoughts?

Matt
 
Just wanted to run this by you guys. I just resized 100 pieces of 204 brass. 52 of them, the necks either tore, split, or deformed a little. I checked the die halfway through and cleaned it, it was fine. The brass is Midway's Dogtown brand, Redding FL die, hornady one shot lube. I've never in thousands and thousands of rounds had this happen. Any thoughts?

Matt
Is this a new die setup and first time reloading the .204 with it? If so - I'd look at the expander ball adjustment. I've never had one that didn't overwork the brass. What I do is remove the expander rod and ball and reduce it in diameter by putting in a drill and using a carbide file to take it down in size to where it just kisses the inside of the fired brass necks. If you are using it in a bolt gun, I'd get rid of the expander ball altogether. I'd look at this more so than hardened necks because brass doesn't go from being good to losing half the brass the very next sizing.
 
Good morning,

In this case, the brass had been once fired. I am running it in a bolt gun. FL die. A friend said to smooth up the expander ball first, if that doesn't help, I might just have to go to a bushing die. Funny though, I've loaded hundreds of 204s and never had this issue. Winchester, Remington, hornady brass no issues to speak of.
 
Pull out the expander and size a case and see what the outside Neck dia is then measure one with the expander pulling through the neck, my guess is its really sizing your necks down alot then when your pulling the expander back through on a hardened case its galling the inside because of 2 things hard brass and rough expander.
I've got expanders in dies to work well if you have a nice finished one along with the sizing vrs brass thickness to expander sized right. I like only .001 - .002 max under sized necks for a expander. Its why most all of my dies anymore are bushing and on brass I turn the necks 90- 100% i dont expand at all.
 
Good morning,

In this case, the brass had been once fired. I am running it in a bolt gun. FL die. A friend said to smooth up the expander ball first, if that doesn't help, I might just have to go to a bushing die. Funny though, I've loaded hundreds of 204s and never had this issue. Winchester, Remington, hornady brass no issues to speak of.
Have you by chance measured the neck thickness of this brass? This particular brass could have thicker necks then the other brass you've used and if the neck thickness is thicker your standard FL die is actually squeezing the necks down a little tighter then when you pull those tighter necks back through the expander it could be what's causing your problem. I think L.Sherm is more or less saying a lot of the same things.

Unlike a bushing type sizing dies a standard, non bushing type, sizing die the expander button is what sets the neck tension. In theory, if you take spring back out of the equation, the expander makes all brass, regardless of neck thickness, have the same neck tension.

One of the reasons I much prefer bushing dies over standard sizing dies is different manufacturers all have slightly different neck thickness and some will even have different neck thickness, within the same manufacture, from Lot to Lot. Another reason why I always use premium brass, like Lapau, whenever possible because their cases are, very, consistent from Lot to Lot and I hate turning necks.
 
I use Redding dies for a good many of my rifles and I use their carbide expander balls and it sure makes things easier. I always use the expander ball for the reasons B23 mentioned so if your case necks are uniform you can probably get away without using it without any effect, but if they're not, you'll have inconsistent neck tension.

I prefer Lapua and Norma brass because they're consistent and uniform. For all the other brands I have to sort and prep the brass for uniformity and while time consuming you only have to do it once.

Since it's x1 fired brass it would be hard to believe that the necks have hardened to the point they would split like you described but, with the shortages we've been experiencing the past few years, quality control is always in the back of my thoughts.
 
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Could be one of two reasons. Cases reloaded often enough, they need anealled, expander to large and your working the neck too much, up and down.
 
Just wanted to run this by you guys. I just resized 100 pieces of 204 brass. 52 of them, the necks either tore, split, or deformed a little. I checked the die halfway through and cleaned it, it was fine. The brass is Midway's Dogtown brand, Redding FL die, hornady one shot lube. I've never in thousands and thousands of rounds had this happen. Any thoughts?

Matt
Were these 52 pcs random during the sequence, first 52 started off that way or last 52 finished that way? During the course of sizing, was there any force difference in the press arm?
 

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