Reloading Rifle Ammo

[JDA58]

It might not have busted.. but it is now missing

[JDA58]

Found it..it was with all the spent primers...

[Delkal]

With a full length resizing die you cant push a case in "too far". Screw the die in with no case till it hits the shellholder. Then give it another 1/8 inch turn. When you use the press empty you should feel a SLIGHTLY harder bump at the end when it bottoms out. That is taking up the slack in the press. If you don't feel anything try another 1/8 of a turn. There is some spring in all pressed and with progressives it is even worse. Look at where your shellholder goes empty then look where it is while sizing a case. It will probably be lower so screw your die in more.

A good way to see if you are full length resizing or just neck sizing is to take a dry erase marker and blacken the neck and shoulder. If the die is not screwed in enough (like i am suspecting) you will see the black rubbed off on just part of the neck. For hunting ammo you want to adjust the die so it barely bumps the neck.

[Walleye Hunter]

With a full length resizing die you cant push a case in "too far". Screw the die in with no case till it hits the shellholder. Then give it another 1/8 inch turn. When you use the press empty you should feel a SLIGHTLY harder bump at the end when it bottoms out. That is taking up the slack in the press. If you don't feel anything try another 1/8 of a turn. There is some spring in all pressed and with progressives it is even worse. Look at where your shellholder goes empty then look where it is while sizing a case. It will probably be lower so screw your die in more.

A good way to see if you are full length resizing or just neck sizing is to take a dry erase marker and blacken the neck and shoulder. If the die is not screwed in enough (like i am suspecting) you will see the black rubbed off on just part of the neck. For hunting ammo you want to adjust the die so it barely bumps the neck.

I got a shell stuck in there with the tail hanging out so bad that I had to knock it out with a hammer and a rod. Is that normal?

[Delkal]

I got a shell stuck in there with the tail hanging out so bad that I had to knock it out with a hammer and a rod. Is that normal?

No it is not normal. It means you didn't lube your case enough. I don't understand how the case got stuck with the tail hanging out. Was it still in the shellholder? What kind of lube are you using?

If a case goes in and bottoms out smoothly but when you extract it it comes out some but then hangs up with a "swuack" it means the interior of the case neck is dry. They sell fancy neck prep stations with mica but I just put a VERY small dab of lube into every 5 or so cases. I always tubule the lube off after sizing rifle cartriges.

[Walleye Hunter]

OK, I did a little examination and looked inside the die with a flashlight. I wasn't getting the throat of the shell up into its channel. I got the Dillon lube and schmeared a shell up sloppy and drove it all the way in with a hammer and back out with a hammer and a rod. Of course I couldn't get the decap pin in at that point. It took a bit of oomph to get it in and out. Is it possible that the Dillon 550 is just not heavy enough for this job? And the table it's mounted to works fine for pistol rounds but I might need a heavier one for these. And this press might not be heavy enough to handle this round. I do have a heavy single stage press, might have to set it up out in the garage.

[85MikeTPI]

OK, I did a little examination and looked inside the die with a flashlight. I wasn't getting the throat of the shell up into its channel. I got the Dillon lube and schmeared a shell up sloppy and drove it all the way in with a hammer and back out with a hammer and a rod. Of course I couldn't get the decap pin in at that point. It took a bit of oomph to get it in and out. Is it possible that the Dillon 550 is just not heavy enough for this job? And the table it's mounted to works fine for pistol rounds but I might need a heavier one for these. And this press might not be heavy enough to handle this round. I do have a heavy single stage press, might have to set it up out in the garage.

I believe you wrote you got the dies second hand, it could be that there's some rust built up inside the die that's adding to the friction?
Maybe some scotchbrite inside the die ?

Is the dillon lube the spray and dry type? I've had poor luck with that in my cool basement, because it needs a lot of time for the
alcohol to evaporate off unless it's hot. (In my case the die would heat up during the pressing and evaporate the alcohol and leave
the case dry and stuck..)

I believe the 550 should be up to the task, but I always use my single stage for large rifle.

[Walleye Hunter]

I believe you wrote you got the dies second hand, it could be that there's some rust built up inside the die that's adding to the friction?
Maybe some scotchbrite inside the die ?

Is the dillon lube the spray and dry type? I've had poor luck with that in my cool basement, because it needs a lot of time for the
alcohol to evaporate off unless it's hot. (In my case the die would heat up during the pressing and evaporate the alcohol and leave
the case dry and stuck..)

I believe the 550 should be up to the task, but I always use my single stage for large rifle.

I don't think there's any rust, I had to clean an oil coating off...but I might not have gotten that far in with the solvent to get it out of that channel, I'll work it more tomorrow. Lube was spray and it was probably not completely dry. I have a dust lube I can use too or I can spray and leave it go for a while.

[Delkal]

OK, I did a little examination and looked inside the die with a flashlight. I wasn't getting the throat of the shell up into its channel. I got the Dillon lube and schmeared a shell up sloppy and drove it all the way in with a hammer and back out with a hammer and a rod. Of course I couldn't get the decap pin in at that point. It took a bit of oomph to get it in and out. Is it possible that the Dillon 550 is just not heavy enough for this job? And the table it's mounted to works fine for pistol rounds but I might need a heavier one for these. And this press might not be heavy enough to handle this round. I do have a heavy single stage press, might have to set it up out in the garage.

Dillon are best for pistol and 223 but i have used mine for 30-06. So stop playing with the die and definitely don't hammer a case in. It is OK. Screw the die into the Dillon and full length size a lubed case. When it is all the way up look at the shellholder. It should be touching the bottom of the die. if the shellholder is touching the die and the primer is almost out screw the expander rod down 1/4 of a turn at a time till the primer does pop put.

This thread is getting convoluted but if you say your not getting the case into the die enough so the neck wasn't even getting sized you need to stop everything and do some basic reading (and watch videos) of how to set up a die. Then look up how to lube rifle cases. Nothing should hang up on the upstroke. The force should gradually go up but not be excessive. But you also don't want to drench your cases with lube or it will put a crease on the shoulder if there is enough excess to get trapped.

[rkrcpa]

I'm sorry but I really don't understand. Why is there a hammer involved?

In 40 years of reloading I've never had a need or desire to use a hammer to drive a case into a sizing die and can't imagine a circumstance where that would be appropriate.

What type of die are you using. I understand it is a Redding die but which one? They sell several styles. The decapping rod should only need to protrude about 3/16" from the bottom of the die.