UPDATE-Dents in shoulders

[RetiredArmy]

Not sure what caused the dents in the shoulders of once fired 6br brass. Peterson, tumbled, annealed, sized in Redding full length sizing die with expander button removed. Sinclair expander mandrel in the neck. Was lubed using Hornady one shot. About 75 out of 100 have dents. Your thoughts? Is this brass ruined?
Thanks Bill

 

[bob smeltzer]

Not sure what caused the dents in the shoulders of once fired 6br brass. Peterson, tumbled, annealed, sized in Redding full length sizing die with expander button removed. Sinclair expander mandrel in the neck. Was lubed using Hornady one shot. About 75 out of 100 have dents. Your thoughts? Is this brass ruined?
Thanks Bill

Too much lube, they should be fine after firing!

 

[M-61]

No pics? Therefore answer would be too much lube and no the brass is not ruined.
Sort of like asking for an estimate of on dent in a car. Everyone's idea of a 'dent' varies.

Personally I've found Peterson brass to be #1

 

[bob smeltzer]

Too much lube, they should be fine after firing!

Forgot to say , make sure you take your die apart and clean it!

 

[butchlambert]

Grains of powder in your die. Doesn't hurt.

 

[RetiredArmy]

Sorry fellas, forget to attach. Photos added!
P.S. Sorry the are out of focus.
Thanks Bill

 

[tred1956]

Too much lube

 

[Enosiophobia]

These dents were present post firing or post sizing?

 

[RetiredArmy]

These dents were present post firing or post sizing?

Post sizing

 

[THBailey]

Pretty much purely a cosmetic issue. The rounds should chamber and fire fine. When you lube prior to sizing don't lube the shoulder and neck. If you have a sticky expander ball use a dry dry lube inside the neck.

 

[Bill K]

Normally it is a little too much lube on the neck/shoulder area. Can also be caused by a small amount of debris in the die body.
Use less lube and also ripe the inside of your sizing die.

 

[Oso]

Hornady One Shot dries as a very thin layer. Usually the denting related to lubricant is when using something like Imperial Wax that collects at a particular area. The dents are to large and consistent. An obstruction in the die seems more likely...

There is another possibility - I think there is a chance that your brass and die are forming an air tight seal, which is causing trapped air to become compressed denting the neck. I assume you resized the brass case with one downward push of the handle (upward raise of the ram). You might consider doing the resizing in 2-3 partial strokes. Try raising the case into the FL sizing die about 75%-80%. Then back off the ram a bit to break any seal and let trapped air escape and complete resizing the case. Some reloaders have claimed to hear a light hiss as pressurized/compressed air is set free.

 

[1bamashooter]

Get you some sizing wax

 

[ronemus]

There is a small vent hole in the sizing die at the case shoulder - if it's plugged, lube will eventually accumulate and produce dents. Clean the inside of the die after running a fine wire through the vent and you should be good to go.

I also favor Imperial die wax because it's so slippery that only a very small amount is needed, and because it doesn't dry so the vent hole in the sizing die doesn't get plugged.

 

[rardoin]

I have a custom die that did the same regardless of lube type, application thickness and whether or not I applied it to just the body or entire case. I noted that if I ran the case in the die painfully slow the dents were reduced to a shallow ripple or non existent. I drilled a 3/64 hole just below the shoulder body junction and deburred the interior opening of the hole (as mentioned by @Oso and @ronemus). Works fine now. The cases being sized are a wildcat with very little body taper left in the case so too tight of a tolerance with lube present to allow air to escape. Even though air is compressible too much was being trapped.

 

[Rule 243]

All the replies can be spot on, however I had the same issue and it was none of the above.
Drawing from experience of reloading for 50 years my first thought was the lube issue, so I took my die apart cleaned it again put it back together and installed it back in the press.
Very first round I had dents in the shoulder again like yours in the picture.
So I started backing the die out and settled on the die being .012 from the shell holder, the dents stopped.

I contacted Redding about my situation their customer service requested I send my die, four pieces of fired unsized brass, and my shell holder.
They checked everything out and my die was a 243 improved 40 not a 243 Ackley Improved 40 as advertised from the place I bought it.
So Redding being the stand up company they are cut me a shell holder .012 , spent time checking everything, did an excellent job of keeping me informed, returned shipped my parts on their dime.
You might want to try what I did if so check to make sure you don't create a head space issue.

 

[K22]

Use One Shot for years and never had shoulder dents due to lube. If lube is the cause, you must be applying an awful lot to obtain dents with this product since it relatively much less viscous than other lubes.

I switched to Imperial Sizing Wax several years ago because it sizes better and is considerably cheaper. A can last me about 4 to 5 years sizing about 1000 to 1500 cases a year. However, if you don't apply this product properly it will enhance the chances of dents considerably since it's much more viscous than One Shot. The one advantage Imperial has over One Shot beside being more efficient in sizing, is that you can avoid apply any lube to the shoulder / neck area which cause dents. If you go the Imperial route, make sure you brush out your die after ever 30 to 40 sizing as this stuff can accumulate and cause dents. I use a nylon bottle brush which does an nice job of removing any excess lube between sizing sessions.

As others have said, clean the inside of your sizing die. Also the "trapped" air inside the die is worth investigating although I've never had that happen to me.

 

[marchboom]

Looking at the size of the dents, at least you're consistent with too much lube.

Those cases will be fine.

 

[Northridge]

to much lube as stated, over annealing can have a similar affect I have found.. where these cses annealed before sizing?

Shawn Williams

 

[RetiredArmy]

to much lube as stated, over annealing can have a similar affect I have found.. where these cses annealed before sizing?

Shawn Williams

Yes they were.