Problematic Resizing Die

Cadvan

Cadvan

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So I have a 3 die set of lee 9mm reloading dies. When I first got them, I loaded about 10 dummy rounds while dialing in the dies, so I know all the dies used to work fine. They then sat for 2-3 months. I just recently went and tried to reload some bullets and found the shells would get stuck in the resizing/ depriming die, which has the carbide collar. I had to put my full body weight on the press handle to get it to go all the way into the die.

I am currently using a Holleywood single stage turret press. I have reloaded lots of 45 acp with it, so I know nothing is badly misaligned.

For things I have tried to fix it:
I removed the depriming pin and shells still get stuck. I visually inspected it for rust and oxidation of which there is none. Following that I took it to a friends house and we set it up in two different presses if his. The die performed just fine. So I went back to my press, and decided to try the die in multiple locations on the turret, including where my 45 die is, with no luck. So, with some case lube from the friend, I tried using the die again and found that shells run though the die fine with a little lube on them. The previous steps show that shouldn't be necessary though, and I don't want to have to use case lube on them forever.

Does anyone have any other ideas on what to do? I will be looking at used progressive presses in the coming months.

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Never ever use that much force on a reloading press. The best that can happen is nothing. There are lots of bad things. 300 Win Mag might take some force. If you are using your full body weight on a 9mm case, then you are way past the point where the problem should be diagnosed and fixed first.

If the die works fine in other presses, it is probably the press. How many times have you used your whole body weight to force it to do something it was telling you not to?

Does it still actually load 45?
 
@JimP42 I have never used anywhere near that much force before. Nothing was flexing, so I assumed it could take it. I have no intention of doing it again.

It does actually load 45 acp, no excessive force required, and with precision and I am trying for it.

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Resizing effort can vary depending on the brass and the size of the chamber that produced the fired brass.

Just use some lube, it makes it easier on you and the equipment, and won't hurt a thing. RCBS Case Slick or Hornady One Shot are my favorites.
 
Have you mic'd the die and a fired case?
 
@ronn47 I assume you mean measure the OD of the fired case and the ID of the die? I have not. I could use a caliper for the case, but would a caliper also work for the die?
 
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Not familiar with that press, it may not have the same leverage advantage your friend's does.

Could possibly be the brass, or cleaning method, wet tumbling makes resizing stiff for me, dry tumbling the dust acts as a lube of sorts.

Anymore I usually just spray lube all pistol brass after cleaning.
 
At the risk of making a stupid suggestion, when you tried the dies at your friends did you use his shellplate or yours? Not sure that it makes any sense, it’s just a part that you haven’t mentioned.

If you decide to get rid of your current press please let me know, I’ll come take a look at it.
 
When you mentioned 9mm, my first thought was the brass itself, specifically which headstamp(s). If you are trying to size Maxxtech, or IMT, or Ammoload brass, I would not be surprised. These are the 9mm cases that have internal steps, so they have really thick walls down low.

Is the die adjusted so that the bottom of the die just barely touches the brass when the ram is at full travel?
 
Cadvan said:
@ronn47 I assume you mean measure the OD of the fired case and the ID of the die? I have not. I could use a caliper for the case, but would a caliper also work for the die?
Click to expand...
Yes
OD of fired case and ID of die.
Most calipers can read both OD item 1 in picture
ID item 2 in picture
upload_2018-5-11_8-3-30.png`
 
Are you sure you are using the correct die with the correct case?

If your used your body weight to jam the case in it sounds like you was trying to jam a 10mm case in to a 9mm die. I have loaded 9mm on both a LnL and Lee single stage press and I think I ran in to an issue your having once or twice out of 6000 or so rounds lol.

If it worked on your buddy's press then the issue might lay in your press.
 
I'm reloading mixed brass. It seems to be mostly Winchester, with some CBC, FC, and Xtreme mixed in. It was tumbled with plain, very fine ground walnut media. The die is adjusted to barely touch the shellplate, and I tried backing it off a partial turn too. The headstamps confirm it is 9mm brass.

@JimB At my friend's house, we used his shellplate and brass.

@ronn47 I assumed the measurement for the die would be deeper in than the caliper could go. The shells measure between 0.3775" and 0.3800". The die measures about 0.3700".

Also, this is a picture of my press with the 9mm dies in front.
69fa71bd636ab5f93f056194310e05c9.jpg
 
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Neat press, I'm thinking it may not have the mechanical advantage of some other designs, just my feeble mind looking at the linkage, not a mechanical engineer by any means.

The Hornady dies in back your 45 dies? That TiN they use instead of carbide is super slick, my Hornady pistol sizing die takes no where near the effort of my Lees, dry, easily less than half. Lee dies are a great value and work well, but I will eventually be upgrading to Hornady for all my high volume I think, they're that much better IMO.

Get some One Shot, or Dillon spray lube or whip up some Ethanol Lanolin home brew, toss clean brass in a bag, spray, shake, let the alcohol flash, load.
 
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Beef15 said:
The Hornady dies in back your 45 dies? That TiN they use instead of carbide is super slick, my Hornady pistol sizing die takes no where near the effort of my Lees, dry, easily less than half. Lee dies are a great value and work well, but I will eventually be upgrading to Hornady for all my high volume I think, they're that much better IMO.
Click to expand...

The back ones are my Hornady 45 dies yes. When I bought the Lee 9's, the store was out of stock of the Hornady dies. I assumed TiN was basically the same as carbide. So case lube is probably the way to go then. I still wonder why it worked fine in other presses without lube though.

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