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Stuck case, wrong tap.

EdHarley

Gold $$ Contributor
I have a stuck case and have drilled and tapped the case in the sizing die. Problem is I grabbed the wrong tap and now it is threaded for 5/16-36, which is for the Hornady gauge. Anyone know where to find a bolt with these threads? I can find a lot of taps for sale with these threads but no bolts, which is odd.

FYI it is a 300 WM case, I was thinking of redrilling it for a larger bolt if I can't find one in 5/16-36.

Thanks in advance, Ed.

Edited to change seating to sizing die.
 
Last edited:
I have a stuck case and have drilled and tapped the case in the seating die. Problem is I grabbed the wrong tap and now it is threaded for 5/16-36, which is for the Hornady gauge. Anyone know where to find a bolt with these threads? I can find a lot of taps for sale with these threads but no bolts, which is odd.

FYI it is a 300 WM case, I was thinking of redrilling it for a larger bolt if I can't find one in 5/16-36.

Thanks in advance, Ed.
have u done a google search. you might try retapping in standard 5/16 threads.
 
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I have a stuck case and have drilled and tapped the case in the seating die. Problem is I grabbed the wrong tap and now it is threaded for 5/16-36, which is for the Hornady gauge. Anyone know where to find a bolt with these threads? I can find a lot of taps for sale with these threads but no bolts, which is odd.

FYI it is a 300 WM case, I was thinking of redrilling it for a larger bolt if I can't find one in 5/16-36.

Thanks in advance, Ed.
I assume it's a bullet seater die. Can you take the top of the die off and knock out with a rod.
 
You drilled thru a primer in a live round in the seating die? Luck is with you, I guess. After pulling the case rim off lowering the ram(not that compares to drilling a live round).
 
5/16-36 UNS (United National Special) Thread, probably won’t be for a bolt. UNS threads are one-off special purpose threads. Probably easier to find a die and make something.

ETA google says microphone thread.
Dies are available
 
I had a stuck case this week, but am forming a wildcat so this is not typical
The head area was too large to size all the way down
So - stuck case
1. I started off by first heating it up to try and anneal the brass and dripped ATF fluid on for penetration
---then tried to pound it out with a rod, this just made the brass easier to deform and blow out the bottom
2. Next I slit the head area with a dremel, to relieve pressure where the brass is thickest and least likely to compress,
yes once I got through I did nick the die ever so slightly but oh well, still usable.
3. I then plugged the bottom of the stuck case with Solder, I machined the bottom head area pretty thin so allow it to collapse easier, this can be done with a dremel
Then soldered where the inside of the brass was just freshly machined/dremeled so it was nice and clean to stick to.
4. I then pounded it out, came right out after a few attempts, and turning while tapping the rod with a small hammer.
This may be a worst case scenario but it worked,
You can see the shiny area on the head of the brass where majority of the case was stuck.
I believe slitting this area helped a lot
I may have to turn the brass 90 degrees upon sizing and give it two strokes since I nicked the inside of the die
But this was all for an experimental woldcat anyway so the die itself was sacrificial.
-----------------
The brass really embedded into the striations of the machining marks inside the sizing die
I may, try to hone or lap this smoother if need be, although the inside is very very hard
 

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Stick it in the FREEZER!! It'll shrink (die and brass) and make things easier to work with. Better trying that than nothing.
And if that doesn't work, wipe the egg off your face and send it to the die maker. They KNOW how to get the case out WITHOUT damaging the die. ;)
 
“Tapping it to 5/16-18 would only leave about a 40% thread, most of which has already been sliced up by the 36 tpi tap. I would just drill it out with a 5/16 drill and tap it 3/8-16. The case head is plenty big.”

Sounds good. I have bigger taps.
 
5/16-36 UNS (United National Special) Thread, probably won’t be for a bolt. UNS threads are one-off special purpose threads. Probably easier to find a die and make something.

ETA google says microphone thread.
Dies are available
Figures, I used the one tap not associated with a bolt
 
I think the easy button is to just go with a 3/8-16 bolt. The tap you used is a pretty rare bird aside from it being what Hornady used for their modifies cases. Being a magnum, you should have plenty of room in there and can probably pick up a 3/8 bolt at any hardware store. You could use 3/8-24 and it will hold more but you'll need to open the hole up to about .332(Q bit). If it was critical, that's what I'd do, but it's not and being brass, you shouldn't have much trouble tapping straight through the existing threads but best to run a 5/16 bit through it first and just go 3/8-16...if it were me, anyway
 

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