9mm Cases Getting Stuck in Sizing Die

soloman02

soloman02

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My dad has been reloading for some time and last year we bought him a Hornady progressive press. I have started using it to feed my competition shooting with a load close to 130PF. I had some issues with some cases getting stuck in the sizing die and many requiring more force than they should. Stuck such that the rim shears off and I have to disassemble the die to extract the case. The die being used is a Lee carbide sizing die. This has occurred on range brass we tumbled and washed and on semi-processed brass purchased from Action Brass Co.

The inside was checked and there didn't appear to be anything inside the die. I have not lubed any cases to see if that makes a difference. Should I be using lube? Should I try a different brand of die?
 
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It can happen with carbide Dillon dies on a 550/650/1050 so I don’t think it is a problem with your dies. Not sure why. A very small amount of spray lube (1/4 what you would use for 223 for example) in a tray or box of brass then shaken around will pretty much eliminate it. Maybe lube the first couple cases to get the die when you start.
 
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I'd try putting Imperial wax on every 10th case. If that works try every 20th.
I've never had 9mm stick, but I'm using either Redding or RCBS carbide dies.
 
Agree with that ^^

You'll come to recognize the interval when you need to lube but it makes all the difference. I just use a RCBS pad .

I bought a roll sizer for 9 and 45 and that really ended the stuck case events.
 
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Knock on wood Hornady 9mm dies haven‘t stuck one yet. I feel for you man it sucks. I got real good at getting rifle cases unstuck before I got the hang of it starting out and I’m still pretty new to the reloading world. Maybe try a different sizing die If you can get your hands on one.
 
JohnFreeman said:
Agree with that ^^

You'll come to recognize the interval when you need to lube but it makes all the difference. I just use a RCBS pad .

I bought a roll sizer for 9 and 45 and that really ended the stuck case events.
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I'll try the case lube on some cases in such intervals. We do have an RCBS lube pad lying around.

The Action Brass was roll sized so it shouldn't have been from a lack of that,
 
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I have run into range pickup brass that was fired in a pistol with a oversized chamber that can be very difficult to resize as well.
That said I will lightly lube a handful of cases and mix them with the batch of brass and this makes the process go smoothly.
 
Yeah, glocks are really bad at bulging out the brass near the base. Know why glocks are so reliable? They have the loosest chambers of all my 9mm (other than a SMG) .

Can't understand why roll sized brass would stuck in a sizing die. If you were near here I'd lend you another 9mm die to check just to see if yours is really picky.
 
I had a similar issue years ago with my Dillon SDB press. I thought it was a defective or worn shellplate which Dillon replaced for free, well that didn't solve the problem. I soon figured out that the stuck cases had been shot in one of my or a friends submachine gun. The old open bolt Mac10 in 9mm was the culprit. Apply some spray on case lube and no more problems.
 
I roll size 9mm and 45acp, but 38/357, 41, 44, and 45 all get a quick shot of Hornady before going into the case feeder. I used to be opposed, I didn’t want anything between the cartridge and the chamber. Mostly it doesn’t matter, sometimes I’ll dry tumble it off. I’m decidedly undecided about best practice.
 
soloman02 said:
This has occurred on range brass we tumbled and washed and on semi-processed brass purchased from Action Brass Co.
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This may be one thing causing your issue.
I had 9mm’s sticking in my Lee sized on my Dillon. I got Dillon 9mm dies, same problem. Called Dillon frustrated and they informed me about washed and virgin brass (mine was new Starline) not having a lubricant coating, run the brass ins vibratory in used corn/walnut dry media for 10+ minutes.
Voila, problem solved.
 
I certainly know a Norma case the moment it hits the die. I'm sure everyone else is probably more spot on, but certain types of brass are absolutely harder than others. Never had a stuck case with my Hornady (it uses TiN) and resized tens of thousands of cases with it; but like I said, I know the second a Norma case is in the die!
 
Grits said:
Squeaky clean brass will stick. The small amount of spent powder residue alleviates the sticking issue.
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Interesting. I wash everything before I load and don't have this problem. I'm thinking it may be due to the fact I use Maguire's Gold Class car wash soap that's got some conditioners in it so it leaves the brass quite slick when dry.
 
soloman02 said:
I'll try the case lube on some cases in such intervals. We do have an RCBS lube pad lying around.

The Action Brass was roll sized so it shouldn't have been from a lack of that,
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If you loading on a progressive, just give it a light coat of one shot so you don't need to tumble it again. Why make life harder?
 
As others said, liquid cleaned brass tends to stick more than tumbled. I use an LnL with Lees in 9mm, no torn rims but it really messed with seating depth. Tried homemade lanolin lube, welcome to the good life, now I use brass juice, one spray into the brass hopper every fill and good to go. No need to clean off.
My Hornady dies are smoother, but lube helps with them too.
 
Slacker said:
Do you have to tumble it off?
Do you tumble loaded ammo or wax' size & tumble?
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None of that. I just make sure there's a dab on my finger when I pick up a case to size it. I don't schmear it all 'round or make any attempt to coat the case. just the slightest bit so it will transfer to the die when it goes through. I'm using carbide dies so it doesn't need much. Whatever remains on the case stays there and doesn't bother me going forward.
 
Did you clean the dies out when you go them? They usually ship with a preservative oil or grease from the factory that is not meant for lubrication but for rust prevention. You want to remove all that preservative before getting started on loading, use some cleaning alcohol and wipe it all away with a clean rag or patch. Like someone said above, if you have very clean and polished brass, sometimes it's a bit too smooth and can be sticky in the die due to how clean it is. The little bits of dirt and oxides on the metal act as a natural lubricant so when you tumble them away with liquid soap and pins the brass is left very smooth and I would guess the higher surface area contact causes the sticking in the dies but I'm not a scientist.
 
Also, according to my Lee loading manual it says that cleaning brass is not necessary for carbide dies because they are harder than any dirt or fouling that would be on your brass. Although I do it anyway out of habit.
 
Do you know anybody else who has a different set of dies? Or different manufacturers set?
There are sometimes issues with the dies themselves. Out of spec. 9mm is a "tapered" case. At what stage of the sizing process has the most resistance? Beginning, half way, or the full stroke.? Dies adjusted correctly...Personally I have several sets of 9 dies Hornady takes more effort, Dillon next, RCBS, then Mighty Armory the least using Lanolin / Alcohol.
Are the loads you use near max, cases worn out etc.? Some of the Military brass I reload takes a little more effort to size, WCC, WMA, IVI, etc.
Is it the same headstamp cases having the issues. ?
To go back over things.
Wet tumbled / new...seem harder to resize as they are too clean. Dry tumbling generally leaves behind residual dust.
Case lube .. Try some ( not a fan of One Shot)
Stepped cases.. as mentioned look inside cases are they the ones with issues or all of them.
Glocks / 9mm AR's, SMG have some loose chambers. HK and the polygonal chamber which you would notice the most...they are hard to size, and yes you will pull the rims off sometimes. ask me I know.
Just some thoughts..
Where I would start would be the Dies...get / borrow another set and go from there. adjust them accordingly. Clean them with Acetone or Denatured Alcohol, then Just size them..notice when you feel the most resistance.
Process of elimination sometimes it's the most obvious, right in front of you the whole time, we have a tendency to over think things, we try to hard , then its time to walk away and come back with a fresh mindset, and start from the very beginning. I will be the first to admit that.

-Snoopz
 
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Finally got a chance to load some rounds last night. Loaded 200 rounds. Started with three cases lubed with RCBS case lube rolled on an RCBS pad. Started with three cases lubed. Felt like I needed another one after ten rounds. The interval grew from there. For the second hundred I started with one lubed case and only ran 3 more cases through that were lubed. While the first cases were rolled a few times, subsequent cases were barely rolled.

No cases got stuck which was great. Thanks for the help!
 
Before reloading any of my "range picked brass" I usually start with tumbling it in corn cob media with some Nu Finish car polish to clean it. It's not the same level of cleaning as the wet cleaning w/steel pins, but with pistol brass there is enough residue that in my experience additional lubrication is rarely needed with carbide dies. Rifle brass prepped this way will need additional lubrication. Lanolin and high proof IPA (isopropyl alcohol) has been my case lube of choice for several years now.
 
Bunsen said:
Before reloading any of my "range picked brass" I usually start with tumbling it in corn cob media with some Nu Finish car polish to clean it.
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I started having this issue after 9K on my Square Deal B. Someone told me about using Nu Finish in my media. Haven’t had any issues since.
 
Third-ing the Nu-finish.

I had issues with sticky brass. I used Dillon lanolin lube on a roll pad, and no more sticky brass… but it was messing with my powder charges, so I had to switch to a “size first, clean again, and then go through the whole progressive loading process” system. And, I had to clean my loaded rounds because they were still greasy even after the post-size tumble.

Switched to adding a little squirt of Nu-finish to my walnut media with every load of brass. I throw in some paper towel chunks as well to help limit the dust. Brass is shiny after an hour, doesn’t stick, and isn’t greasy. Can size and reload on progressive all at once.
 
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JRV said:
Third-ing the Nu-finish.

I had issues with sticky brass. I used Dillon lanolin lube on a roll pad, and no more sticky brass… but it was messing with my powder charges, so I had to switch to a “size first, clean again, and then go through the whole progressive loading process” system. And, I had to clean my loaded rounds because they were still greasy even after the post-size tumble.

Switched to adding a little squirt of Nu-finish to my walnut media with every load of brass. I throw in some paper towel chunks as well to help limit the dust. Brass is shiny after an hour, doesn’t stick, and isn’t greasy. Can size and reload on progressive all at once.
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You can also use old dryer sheets they work really well. Using paper towels is good also, the "best" I've found is "Viva" brand. due to the fibers in the towel...But a little $$$, I let them dry if I dry my hands or wipe the counter down, so it's mainly the dryer sheets, you get a 2 for...use in the laundry and then in the brass..

-Snoopz
 
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