Sizing issue

[Coyotefurharvester]

Has nothing to do with brand of brass. Setup dies correctly problem will not happen.

 

[KMart]

I have managed to do this a few times over the years. Agreeing with several others here that said he has the seating die set up wrong and collapsing the shoulder.

 

[jpjulian]

The brass and other components can certainly be salvaged, but the above appears to suggest sizing a loaded round. Not a good idea.

Sizing a loaded round is a good way to get it stuck in the sizing die, if it doesn’t stick, you end up with an under sized bullet that won’t shoot worth a spit.

I do not disagree that a round can be stuck. I have used a regular, non-bushing die, for a few loaded rounds without problem, but, I have also removed the neck bushing from another die. I should have made that distinction.

 

[Old Navy]

A friend is having a problem with chambering some rounds that have been full length sized and reloaded. It appears that when the shoulder is being bumped back that the body of the brass is getting crushed at the shoulder/body junction. In the two photos you will see where the brass was marked with a marking pen. That brass was then honed to reveal the high and low spots. Relevant known details are:

Cartridge: 204 Ruger
Die: RCBS
Brass: Remington. The problem does not happen with Winchester brass.

The bullets are flat based and the bottom of the bullet is set at about the neck/shoulder junction. There is no donut getting pushed to the outside that I could detect. It looks like the crush expansion was causing the difficult chambering.

In comparing shoulder bump, most of the sized brass is 1-2 thousands shorter than the fired brass (1-2 thou bump that is). On these that have the crush, there does not appear to be any shoulder bump. They measure the same as the fired brass.

The only thing that comes to mind is that the die shoulder/body junction has a wider diameter than the chamber and the brass is weak at the point.

Anyone ever run into this? If so, were you able to determine the cause?

Had that problem with a Foster seating die. Since I had several Foster dies that worked just fine. I decided to put my man pride aside and read the instructions. You can solve a lot of problems by reading the directions.

 

[ronsatspokane]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've got him looking into the issue a little deeper. I should have thought about crimping. That would explain why it happened with some brass and not with other brass. Different lengths and no triming to the same length among the different brands of brass. He is not aware of his die doing any crimping but we will see. I've actually run into this problem with pistol brass in the past and I didn't think about it. I'll report back what was found.

 

[ronsatspokane]

Had that problem with a Foster seating die. Since I had several Foster dies that worked just fine. I decided to put my man pride aside and read the instructions. You can solve a lot of problems by reading the directions.

Don't ya just hate having to RTFM? I do.

 

[Lee Whitsel]

A friend is having a problem with chambering some rounds that have been full length sized and reloaded. It appears that when the shoulder is being bumped back that the body of the brass is getting crushed at the shoulder/body junction. In the two photos you will see where the brass was marked with a marking pen. That brass was then honed to reveal the high and low spots. Relevant known details are:

Cartridge: 204 Ruger
Die: RCBS
Brass: Remington. The problem does not happen with Winchester brass.

The bullets are flat based and the bottom of the bullet is set at about the neck/shoulder junction. There is no donut getting pushed to the outside that I could detect. It looks like the crush expansion was causing the difficult chambering.

In comparing shoulder bump, most of the sized brass is 1-2 thousands shorter than the fired brass (1-2 thou bump that is). On these that have the crush, there does not appear to be any shoulder bump. They measure the same as the fired brass.

The only thing that comes to mind is that the die shoulder/body junction has a wider diameter than the chamber and the brass is weak at the point.

Anyone ever run into this? If so, were you able to determine the cause?

My reloading die made by Lee does that at times and when it does I have to take apart clean and lube and good to go again. Are you using Lee Dies?

 

[ronsatspokane]

My reloading die made by Lee does that at times and when it does I have to take apart clean and lube and good to go again. Are you using Lee Dies?

They are RCBS in Ruger 204.

 

[Old Navy]

Don't ya just hate having to RTFM? I do.

I worked as a Millwright for a big part of my career. A lot of the time we didn't have a manual. Two man crews and we we had to do the best we could with what we had. No Google to help.

 

[ronsatspokane]

I worked as a Millwright for a big part of my career. A lot of the time we didn't have a manual. Two man crews and we we had to do the best we could with what we had. No Google to help.

I think those are called the good old days.

 

[DHD]

Had that problem with a Foster seating die. Since I had several Foster dies that worked just fine. I decided to put my man pride aside and read the instructions. You can solve a lot of problems by reading the directions.

No fun in that mess. It is more fun to screw something up and then go back and have to fix the screw up. In my case, this usually involves an expensive part.

I isn't dumb, I just learns from doing....it wrong. If this isn't "the way", then why do they make touch up paint, stuck case removers, bullet pullers, taps, pliers, and hammers?

Not related to the OP's topic by the way.

 

[dellet]

I do not disagree that a round can be stuck. I have used a regular, non-bushing die, for a few loaded rounds without problem, but, I have also removed the neck bushing from another die. I should have made that distinction.

Getting alive round stuck is only half the issue. Again using 30 caliber as an example.

In a non bushing die, the expander is roughly .306”. So the sizing die will reduce the inside diameter of the case enough so the thinnest brass available will be less than .306”.

That means bullet diameter will be reduced .002-6, depending on brass thickness. You can fire it, but it certainly won’t perform as a .308 diameter bullet. And you run the risk of a compromised jacket. Great for fouling rounds, but not something you would want to shoot through a suppressor or other muzzle device.