Mandrel gaulling new brass

[Monday shooter40]

Anyone have a problem running a mandrel through new brass? I use dry lube and noticed my mandrel was gaulling and brass was sticking to me mandrel. 6.5cm Lapua brass with a .263 mandrel.

 

[RegionRat]

Take some magnifiers and have a real close look at your expander mandrel. Use some elbow grease to clean away any and all stuck brass.

I use Scotchbrite pads and IPA to be able to tell quickly when the material has been scrubbed off. Be careful using abrasives, you can over do it if you are too aggressive and not paying attention.

Very clean metal to metal contact without a third dissimilar body in between, like a lubricant, is a recipe for galling.

When you already have brass stuck to your tooling, galling is accelerated.

Using a lubricant (wet like Imperial or lanolin, or even dry like MoS2 or Graphite) will help get you margin or prevent it all together. However, then you may need to clean that lubricant off, YMMV

 

[243Lapua]

I use Hobo Oil when I resize them necks on the mandrel

 

[NZ_Fclass]

More Lube! ( oh - was that out loud?)

I use dry lube on fired brass - but Hornady One Shot wax for the first go on new brass. The case necks can be extra tight - and I had some Hornady wax that I don't use for sizing anymore - preferring Imperial. Seems to work OK.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Too shiny. Scuff it up with some scotchbrite

 

[mikeinct]

Keep things clean & lubed..

 

[Fuj]

A bad factory chamfer will do it.,

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

You did chamfer it before using the mandrel?

Frank

 

[B Nettesheim]

Try a rougher finish on the mandrel/ not shiny

 

[lb-ft]

I’ve had the best luck with mandrels I’ve polished in a drill motor. Only removes a one or two tenths and is buttery smooth. Granted, I always use lube.

 

[scyzer]

Happened to me a few times with graphite and carbide mandrels. Gave up. Now I only use imperial die wax inside necks with a cotton q-tip. No issues at all.

 

[jepp2]

Anyone have a problem running a mandrel through new brass?

Will be worse if the brass still shows the annealing blush. The surface tends to be sticky and collect on mandrel or neck portion of a sizing die.

 

[KMart]

Anyone have a problem running a mandrel through new brass? I use dry lube and noticed my mandrel was gaulling and brass was sticking to me mandrel. 6.5cm Lapua brass with a .263 mandrel.

That pretty blue color on your Lapua brass is oxidation left from the annealing process. It is on the inside and outside of the necks. The oxidation is scraped off and collects on the die or mandrel.

Lapua does not tumble their brass after final annealing like most of the manufacturers do.

To prevent this from happening, run your NEW Lapua brass through your tumbler using walnut media for about 3-4 hours BEFORE YOU DO ANY CASE PREP. The walnut removes the oxidation on the case and makes life much easier.

 

[JFrank]

A bad factory chamfer will do it.,

You did chamfer it before using the mandrel?

Frank

I’m in this camp

 

[Fuj]

Will be worse if the brass still shows the annealing blush. The surface tends to be sticky and collect on mandrel or neck portion of a sizing die.

That's a good thought. After I anneal, I chuck up a nylon brush
and spin clean inside the neck. Really never thought of doing
virgin brass since I assumed they have been tumbled bright
before packaging..

 

[AckleymanII]

I put a HEAVY chamfer on the case mouth. I also like Lee Sizing wax in the white tooth paste tube, water base, apply with Q tip.

Two other products, Pro Blend Assembly lube for new bearings and Hobo all work, I just prefer the water base wax lube as I just leave it in the case when I fire form...easy peasy.

I have never witnessed galling of a mandrel with Heavy chamfer and Lee Wax ....lots of ways to skin a cat!

I neck Turned 1000 cases at a time for p. dog rifles, Lee wax, no galled mandrel.

I also used the lee wax 50/50 with Water as a bullet jacket lube when I was making bullets, left the lube on....SD went down to nothing.

 

[KMart]

That's a good thought. After I anneal, I chuck up a nylon brush
and spin clean inside the neck. Really never thought of doing
virgin brass since I assumed they have been tumbled bright
before packaging..

NO, they don't. Most everybody else does

 

[Laurie]

Happened to me a few times with graphite and carbide mandrels. Gave up. Now I only use imperial die wax inside necks with a cotton q-tip. No issues at all.

My findings / response too.

Too shiny. Scuff it up with some scotchbrite

Try a rougher finish on the mandrel/ not shiny

I'd not heard that before. Interesting.

I had a Lyman 'M' die / mandrel that got in a right mess with galling on (I think) 6.5X55 brass many years back. Maybe something else, but definitely new and Lapua. Vigorous use of metal polishes would apparently clean it, but it'd gall immediately on reuse, worse than before. I assumed at the time that there was still copper on the mandrel sides, or it had tiny scratches, but on this advice I now take it that I was making the problem worse through polishing alone.

 

[RegionRat]

Tribologically, if the die metal is very clean and very smooth, you need a strong lubricant to protect it since that becomes a “high energy” surface. It then has that same problem of potentially being ready for adhesive friction that leads to galling. By texturing the surface, you can retard this as well as give the lubricants a better chance at adhering by surface tension.

This is not to say that a rougher surface finish is always the best answer, but it explains why certain hard surfaces on tools like mandrels and dies can get worse by polishing in some contexts, while in others the very smooth surface is required. Tribology is a crazy subject and is much like thermodynamics where Mother Nature is cruel.

 

[Catfur]

Gauling? Does it start talking with a heavy French accent and demand wine with every meal?

I always lube the inside of my case necks whether I’m using a button or mandrel.