Oh crap got my case stuck in my die

J

jamesf553

New member
So I shot my first manually loaded 20 rounds today and it was awesome. I'm hooked on reloading now.

What's not so awesome is what just happened when I tried to resize my cases. I wanted to resize and deprime them in the press before I put them in my ultrasonic cleaner. I sprayed both my die and my brass with lube as instructed and began to resize them. The first 2 the case neck was completely crushed. I disassembled the die and noticed the deprimer cap was loose so I tightened it and readjusted.

The next case was better but the neck was still a little crushed down. I wondered what the neck I was doing wrong so I watched hornady's YouTube video guide to make sure I was doing it right and I followed it exactly. I am using hornady's 338 neck bushing.

So I decided instead of just using the deprimer cap I'd try using the elliptical expander thinking maybe that'd work better. Well, if better means my case is now stuck in the die then yes it worked phenomenally lol. It went fine in the upstroke but I couldn't get the lever back down and now it's stuck.

Any advice? I have no idea what I did wrong.
 
35ish years of reloading and I never stuck a case. I use RCBS lube. Others will have to help you with the stuck case, but I can help you avoid the next one. Take that spray lube and toss it in the trash and buy some RCBS Case lube. I can’t even guess how many times i’ve read a post like yours, and always it’s that spray lube. The next thing to happen is that someone will defend the spray lube and say that it wasn’t being used properly. My advice is to toss it and get some good lube like the RCBS stuff.
 
35ish years of reloading and I never stuck a case.
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I started handloading in April, 1963.

Have always used RCBS case lube from day one and I have never had a case stuck in a die.

I have removed stuck cases for others.
 
go to the search tab and do a search using "stuck", title only and there are pages of threads on this issue. It seems to happen to everyone at least once
 
So I was able to get it out by unscrewing the decapping die from the expander which was stuck. I wonder if I'm not supposed to use that expander. It really seemed to not be right. Maybe that's for if I'm not using the neck bushing?

Anyway, I took of the expander and backed the die out a little bit. I also cleaned rubbed the excess lube off as well. It worked much better but on some of the cases the very top of the neck is a little dented or "peeled back" a tiny bit. Is that normal? I will post a picture soon. They're in the cleaner right now.
 
In my experience the spray lube like One Shot is fine for straight wall pistol cases but when you reload rifle cases, straight wall or necked, use Imperial Sizing lube or something similar.

Seamus
 
I got the Hornady stuck case remover. I hadn't stuck a case in more than 47 years of reloading and last year, I stuck two.
 
I use One Shot for all my 223 sizing but RCBS pad and lube for 22-250, 6.5 CM and 308.
I have had a couple 223 cases stuck, but made my own tool to remove them. It works and I saved a few bucks.
 
I've used One Shot on everything from .223 to .300 H&H and have never stuck a case. The trick to using One Shot is to always shake the can good before spraying the brass. I also don't like to let it sit to long after spraying.
 
Any advice? I have no idea what I did wrong.
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Put away the can of One Stuck. As previously mentioned, it's fine for straight walled pistol cases, but not up to the task for bottlenecked cases. Guys who say "I've haven't stuck a case with it" have left off an important word - "yet".

Don
 
jamesf553
Been reloading for 25+ years , two years ago I Ordered the Redding S Type bushing dies . First case went in an that was it ,ripped the rim right off . I called the company they advised me to send the die to them , they removed it N C & I bought a stuck case removal tool , Now whenever I feel a case that has a little resistance , I lower the ram an add a little more lube. Your problem started with " before I " Hopefully it only will happen once , its a bummer. No short cuts in reloading . Been there , Chris
 
Thank you for the advice guys. Yeah, I really am not sure yet what the issue was but I definitely took the expander out. I am left with 2 concerns/questions:


#1. The neck size. According to the Lymans book and Hornady's book as well, the width of the neck should be .371 inches. The lapua brass I was shipped had a width of .365. The bullets seated great and had good tension. After resizing (I did not use the eliptical expander, I only used the .338 hornady match bushing. The neck size is now .335 inches. You can tell when you look at the size of the lapua vs my resized brass it's noticeably smaller. Is this still a normal size though? Can I try seating a bullet like this?

#2 Some of the cases that did properly go through the resizing die ended up with a little bit of a peel back on the tip of the neck. Is this normal? Pictures are below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XEnKazhCIH9B0KG9tm2osGiCzdpCuscq/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JJQB2jBVaWgfeIQUHwn8pusSi_1si572/view?usp=sharing
 
On one of your other threads, the very first post advises to use RCBS case lube 2 rather than one shot to prevent stuck cases.

However, it may not be clear if the "stuck case" was a classic case that prevented pulling the base of the case out of the die, perhaps ripping part of the rim off, or was it difficulty in pulling the case back over the expander, the latter being the lesser of two evils? It sounds more like you are describing an expander problem rather than a true stuck case.
 
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I understand that but I do not think it was the lubricant which was the problem. I think it was an issue of the expander with the bushing. I think I had it set up wrong.
 
You know what. After all of this I think the problem was I got sent the wrong neck bushing. I ordered a .338 neck bushing thinking that's what you need for the .338 caliber lol.
 
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Take your caliper and measure the inside neck diameter. If the neck is properly sized, the inside neck measurement should be 0.336".

If it is smaller than that, then you are using the wrong bushing.

Normally, the inside measurement will be 0.002" less than the bullet diameter.
 
If the problem continues to require excessive force to pull back over the expander with all cases, you might try lubricating inside the case necks with the Hornady One Shot. That's the one thing I have used the one shot for. Another thing that can work is powdered graphite, preferably white but black is fine also, just messier perhaps than white.
 
I stopped using the bushing dies , my runout was average .004 even though it was for a different caliber 308 , the way to order the right bushing is the same . caliber 338 yours , measure case thickness no the case mouth in the 12 & 6 o'clock position , thickness .015 x2 .030 = .368 if I wanted .002 neck tension bushing would be .366 this is only an example . If your not neck turning your brass use the expander ball. The bushing dies didn't work for me , went back to standard RCBS F/L die runout dropped to .001
 
To use the one shot for lubing inside the neck, I should have added to spray some in a small container and then apply inside neck with a Q-tip and let dry.
 
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