30 Carbine/550b

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dahermit

New member
I have loaded all my stright-wall cartridges with my 550b for about fifteen years, RCBS single stage since the sixties. But, I have recently started to use it with a Lee carbide .30 Carbine die...they are full-length carbide, not a "ring", and have damaged three cases by catching them on the die. When I raise the ram, I can see the problem is with the shell plate not the die (before someone starts Lee bashing). Some of the cases do not sit straight in the shell plate. I have tightened the shell plate down more...no difference, still some sit slightly crooked until I wiggle them. I have loosened the shell plate, no difference, still some sit crooked until I wiggle them. There is no dirt, etc., that is interfering with the cases. I have taken to operating the ram slowly, and somethings have to guide the case into the die, but that really slows down production. Is this a common disease with .30 Carbine cases? Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
Yes, catching the case on the edge of a die, usually the sizer, can be a rather common problem, not the fault of the die, but is not restricted to the .30 carbine. A recent thread discussed the subject relative to the .380. As you pointed out, looseness within the shell plate causes the case to tip and about the only known solution is to carefully guide the case into the offending die. Probably the longer cases like the carbine are more prone to that problem than shorter cases like the mentioned .380. I've experienced that situation with several calibers.
 
If you look at Dillon dies, they typically have a larger mouth radius than Lee. This is to allow for the extra play in their shell holding system, I presume.
 
If you look at Dillon dies, they typically have a larger mouth radius than Lee. This is to allow for the extra play in their shell holding system, I presume.
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Yes, some years ago I swapped out my 9mm carbide sizing die for a Dillion for that exact reason. I was hoping that I would not have to go that route with the carbide .30 Carbine die...an additional $72.95 is a little steep.
 
It's a big steep, actually. The Lee die's mouth could probably be flared a bit by lapping with diamond compound. Not worth buying the stuff just for that one job, but if you know any home machinists who have it in in several grades anyway, it could be worth an inquiry.
 
...but if you know any home machinists who have it in in several grades anyway, it could be worth an inquiry.
Click to expand...
It so happens I was a machine shop teacher. But, now retired with no machine tools.

I think I will just guide the cases into the die and be happy with it.
 
I use Lee carbide die for 30 carbine. True that I have to guide the shells into the die from time to time. It is actually usual for straight wall casings of all calibers.

Not that it matters a whole lot, my carbide die has a ring.

-TL
 
If you check in your copy of Cartridges of the World you will find that the 30 Carbine case is not straight but tapered. The same hold true for the 9mm pistol case.
 
Tapered yes, the .30 carbine case, but calling it a straight walled case is just usually a loosely applied description in opposition to a bottle necked case. Most everyone probably does the same thing even if they know better.
 
Check your press alignment.
I'd been reloading bottleneck rifle brass on my 550 for years then when I tried .357 mag the case mouth was slightly offset from the die, not helped by the powder funnel misaligning it at station 2 either.
I realigned the press & all the problems went away.
The lee's wont help either because the Dillons have that wider entry radius so its more critical to align with the lee dies.
If you case looks like this at station 2 as you raise it to meet the funnel then you need to get the (free) alignment tool from Dillon.
DSCF0944_zps341b0f27.jpg
 
I think that your biggest problem is a loose shell plate. If you do not have them to where you can barely turn the plate you tend to get a lot of slop. Even if tightened correctly at start they will sometimes loosen up and need retightened.
 
I am afraid it could still happen even everything is aligned. The brass could deform during firing. It could hit the ejection port and bend itself slightly. The only thing that will work is to fare the die mouth slightly. Chucking the die body to a drill press and work the mouth with fine sand paper.

-TL
 
On the calibers that I use a sizing die with a small entry radius, I reach around
the press with my left hand and "jiggle" the brass a bit to make sure it
enters the sizing die. I hesitate the press stroke just until I'm sure the
case is started into the die also.

Something no one has mentioned is the spent primer. I've had fired
cases that had a little bump on the primer. Case flow into a
worn firing pin hole usually. If the bump is higher than the brass,
the case will not sit straight no matter how tight you have the shell
holder set.
 
Regarding the shell plate tension, here's what I do, but YMMV.

Load all stations with unloaded brass & tighten the shellplate center bolt till you just feel resistance to rotating the plate.
Now "jiggle" the hex bolt small (1/16~1/32 turn) back & forth while turning the plate & replacing the ejected case back at station 1 so its always a loaded setup.
There will be one "sweet spot" where the plate never quite drags at any position.
Lock the grub screw in the ram to keep the setting.

Earlier someone mentioned the shellplate loosening in use. If that's happening to you I'm guessing the lock grub screw is not tight or is missing.
 
I load .30M1 Carbine ad 9mm Luger on my 550 too. Haven't experienced your alignment issues but I found that the Dillon size dies didn't size my cases enough and had to get a Lee 9mm carbide sizer and a 30M1 Redding carbide sizer to size my cases full length. The funnel portion apparently prohibits sizing the cases completely.
 
Doesn't your 550B have a little spring on the case entry chute that looks like a paperclip with one end straightened out?

IME, that thing is priceless for preventing the problem you describe. But with .30 Carbine and .357 Mag I still need to guide the case in a few times--1:10 or so. Counting loading the primer trays, I can do 400 rounds per hour with it...if there are no complications.
 
Since the .30 Carbine case is long, narrow, and needs to be lubed during resizing, I resize off the press, then prime, dump powder, and seat the bullet on my 550. Anytime I load cartridges, some needs to be guided into dies, which is no big deal.

However, I may try resizing on the press and will have to figure out when i will clean lube off them.
 
I must correct myself. Did about 60 .30 Carbine the other day (to the end of my bullets) and had only one instance where the case didn't go straight into the sizer.

Lee die at that station.

Wogpotter: If Dillon is still using pot metal for the advancement star, yes, they do work loose in use even with the set screw tightly engaged. That metal compresses in use (from the primer seating operation and sometimes getting the case mouth off of the expander). The deformed metal mushrooms into the bolt hole and makes it harder and harder to get the advancement star off of the center bolt. Mine is ready for its second "boring out" of that pot metal piece.
 
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