You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
expander problem ?
- Thread starter rebs
- Start date
I attribute the whole thing to work hardening of hard brass? Lake City is about the hardest brass you can get your hands on.
Likely incorrect....
Reloading them the 1st time i use whatever case lube i have on hand, & and graphite for inside the neck with satisfactory results. Graphite lube cleans up easy.
I have noticed much harder pulls back through the expander ball after the 2nd firing. For my 2nd firings and up i use whatever case lube i have on hand and Redding imperial wax only for the case neck. Then it goes smooth!
No matter which way you shake it, putting the expander in your electric drill and polishing it with emory cloth will help you out.
Forster and Redding dies won't lose much if any material. RCBS will. Be careful not to polish too much on RCBS balls.
Those hard pulls can, and will affect your accuracy. I normally chuck them if the pull is too hard.
You will find the Forster die to hardly ever pull hard no matter what. It has the least bearing surface of them all. (that i can tell anyway) Redding has the most.
I have not experienced to many hard pulls on 1X fired and first time reloaded LC
Likely incorrect....
Reloading them the 1st time i use whatever case lube i have on hand, & and graphite for inside the neck with satisfactory results. Graphite lube cleans up easy.
I have noticed much harder pulls back through the expander ball after the 2nd firing. For my 2nd firings and up i use whatever case lube i have on hand and Redding imperial wax only for the case neck. Then it goes smooth!
No matter which way you shake it, putting the expander in your electric drill and polishing it with emory cloth will help you out.
Forster and Redding dies won't lose much if any material. RCBS will. Be careful not to polish too much on RCBS balls.
Those hard pulls can, and will affect your accuracy. I normally chuck them if the pull is too hard.
You will find the Forster die to hardly ever pull hard no matter what. It has the least bearing surface of them all. (that i can tell anyway) Redding has the most.
I have not experienced to many hard pulls on 1X fired and first time reloaded LC
It's more than likely that Hawaiian thing... Lacka-Lube .
Make sure every case is well lubed , especially when resizing military cases .
I was resizing some 303 British military that the spray on lube failed miserably at... I had to resort to STP Oil treatment , a lube pad and rolling the cases across the pad for a even film . If the case starts to go into the die hard....STOP , back the case out and apply more lube . The spray on stuff is okay for light resizing and straight walled cases but for some jobs like military cases ...get some heavy duty good lube.
Gary
Make sure every case is well lubed , especially when resizing military cases .
I was resizing some 303 British military that the spray on lube failed miserably at... I had to resort to STP Oil treatment , a lube pad and rolling the cases across the pad for a even film . If the case starts to go into the die hard....STOP , back the case out and apply more lube . The spray on stuff is okay for light resizing and straight walled cases but for some jobs like military cases ...get some heavy duty good lube.
Gary
rebs
I wet tumble with SS Pins , does a nice job in removing everything brass looks brand new , you can see and problems with the brass , looking inside the brass it's like a mirror . Once fired brass may have been shot from larger and tight chambers , it's a crap shoot . After sizing and shooting in your rifle things may go smoother after the first go round .
You shoot alot more then me , I only benchrest get my brass from my shooting friend the shoots the same caliber , I get all his brass . Some sizes fine and some have more resistance sizing and when the expander ball goes through the neck , after firing in my rifle they all size and expand the neck just as smooth. I do lube the inside of the necks and wash off after .
I full size with the expander ball every time , I don't lock down the expander post , I leave little wiggle room to let the ball self center , works good for me . If you don't neck turn your brass stay with the expander ball . I forgot to ask , what dies are you using and for what action , semi or bolt .
I wet tumble with SS Pins , does a nice job in removing everything brass looks brand new , you can see and problems with the brass , looking inside the brass it's like a mirror . Once fired brass may have been shot from larger and tight chambers , it's a crap shoot . After sizing and shooting in your rifle things may go smoother after the first go round .
You shoot alot more then me , I only benchrest get my brass from my shooting friend the shoots the same caliber , I get all his brass . Some sizes fine and some have more resistance sizing and when the expander ball goes through the neck , after firing in my rifle they all size and expand the neck just as smooth. I do lube the inside of the necks and wash off after .
I full size with the expander ball every time , I don't lock down the expander post , I leave little wiggle room to let the ball self center , works good for me . If you don't neck turn your brass stay with the expander ball . I forgot to ask , what dies are you using and for what action , semi or bolt .
Last edited:
Depends on the gun they were fired in the first time. Machine gun fired brass is often pretty big due to the "generous" chambers and forceful extraction/ejection. BTW, brass can be too clean. Clean, bare metal brass, often even lubed, can "drag" on dies. If the case neck ID is pristine, nekkid brass, the expander can be difficult to move through the neck...
mikld
I hear that alot about clean brass , it could be I use 0000 steel wool sometimes after chamfering , my way of thinking the expander isn't rough its smooth and the inside of the case neck is smooth , it could be from the wool but that's after the sizing , maybe helps in the following resizing steps . I do lightly lube the inside of the necks and my sizing has very little resistance after the first reload . I'm sure alot of things come into play , even chamber size .
Chris
I hear that alot about clean brass , it could be I use 0000 steel wool sometimes after chamfering , my way of thinking the expander isn't rough its smooth and the inside of the case neck is smooth , it could be from the wool but that's after the sizing , maybe helps in the following resizing steps . I do lightly lube the inside of the necks and my sizing has very little resistance after the first reload . I'm sure alot of things come into play , even chamber size .
Chris
Rebs,
Check that the expander is correctly located. If it gets too close to the neck portion of the die, withdrawing the case can be very difficult. If you have a Lee sizing die, check to be sure the collet at the top hasn't let the expander and decapper shaft slip upward.
If these cases were fired more than once, you could have an internal donut ring formed at the base of the neck. Multiple resizings will do that. If that happened, inside neck reaming will clear it. If the brass is springy from multiple reloadings, then you may have to anneal the necks and shoulders to get smooth resizing.
The only other suggestion I have is to use a sizing die that has a carbide expander ball. Just as with carbide pistol dies, the inherent slipperiness of brass on carbide makes operation easier and smoother and lets you skip inside neck lubrication (though it works even better if you use it).
Check that the expander is correctly located. If it gets too close to the neck portion of the die, withdrawing the case can be very difficult. If you have a Lee sizing die, check to be sure the collet at the top hasn't let the expander and decapper shaft slip upward.
If these cases were fired more than once, you could have an internal donut ring formed at the base of the neck. Multiple resizings will do that. If that happened, inside neck reaming will clear it. If the brass is springy from multiple reloadings, then you may have to anneal the necks and shoulders to get smooth resizing.
The only other suggestion I have is to use a sizing die that has a carbide expander ball. Just as with carbide pistol dies, the inherent slipperiness of brass on carbide makes operation easier and smoother and lets you skip inside neck lubrication (though it works even better if you use it).
Work hardening of brass takes repeated firing and resizing.
Expanders being hard to pull out of the die is normal. Lubing the inside of the case neck/mouth fixes it. Nothing fancy is required. Just screw the case mouths into your lube pad every 5th or so case. Or when it happens. No need to re-clean either.
Expanders being hard to pull out of the die is normal. Lubing the inside of the case neck/mouth fixes it. Nothing fancy is required. Just screw the case mouths into your lube pad every 5th or so case. Or when it happens. No need to re-clean either.
rebs wrote:
I am sizing some Lake Caty 5.56 brass and everything was going as usual when I started getting a few that were very very har5d to pull out of the die. The rest went as usual. Why would some size great and a few very hard to extract ?
A few things that can cause variation in sizing force are:
* Inconsistent lubrication.
* Dimensional variance of the brass.
* Inside of case neck not lubricated.
* Inside of case neck dirty to varying degree.
Nope, nekkid, bare brass isn't necessarily slick/smooth. The term used is galling, bare brass against fairly bare/clean steel will "grab". Possible with any bare, clean metal against another (or same) metal can cause galling...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galling
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galling