Rookie Reloader needs help

T

Tom Thumb

Inactive
I recently purchased a Hornady classic reloading kit. I'm trying to get set up to reload 45-70 rounds. I have a bunch of once fired Remmington 45-70 casings but when I try to punch the old primers out, the casings are getting stuck in the die. The brass is getting stuck a good half to three quarters of an inch above the base of the casing. I measured the outside diameter of the brass and it wider on the bottom than on the top. Is this something that Remmington does to their casings to prevent you from reloading them, or am I doing something wrong? I'd appreciate any help or advise. Thanks.
 
Welcome to reloading and thanks for asking our advice.

45-70 is not straight-walled. It is a tapered case. Are you using lubrication? If not, that could be the entire explanation for your difficulties. The depriming takes place in the same die and at the same time as re-sizing. Since the case is tapered, a carbide ring will not do, so your sizing die is tool steel. It will need lubrication. But just a little. Too much is almost as bad as too little.

Remington does realize full well that their cases will be reloaded.

Lost Sheep
 
It is late on a Saturday (Happy Pi day, by the way). It may be too late for you to go out and buy a proper sizing lube and I don't know offhand what household lubes might suffice (assuming your difficulty is a lack of lube). Perhaps another member will rescue us.

Count yourself lucky that you have been able to pull the brass back out of your die. Sometimes the case gets stuck in there and you REALLY do not want THAT complication. There are many solutions to a stuck case, but occasionally a new die is required.

Lost Sheep
 
one shot

Since you got the hornady kit, it comes with one shot case lube. When you use it make sure you let it dry before resizing your case. not letting it dry will result in stuck case
 
At the risk of being thought a weenie, might I suggest you get the reloading manual you have, sit down and read the first 1/3rd of the book? All the manuals I have use at least that much space to educate the user on what's going on during the reloading process. Also, when that part is well understood, there are usually drawings that accompany load data that will answer the other question you have about the case.

Reloading is serious business, and an understanding of the processes is a requirement. The web and its many forums are a great source of help, but you really need to understand the basics first.
 
Thanks for your assistance

Just so I don't sound like a complete dummy...I did read the first third of the manual.
I did use some of the One Shot lube, but I must not have used enough? The book talked about the ills of over-lubing so much, that I must have erred on the side of being to skimpy.
Anyway, I"ll re-lube and give it another whirl. Thank you all for your help. Maybe twenty re-loading years from now, I'll be in a position to help a future rookie.
 
One indicater that yo used to much lube is dimples in the case. This happens because the extra lube bubbles and hydraulically dimples the case. So if you see dimples unless your are reforming brass back off the lube. Often is is not much lube that makes the difference between stuck and sizing correctly.
 
Maybe twenty re-loading years from now, I'll be in a position to help a future rookie.
Click to expand...
Really?_ I hope its a lot sooner than that!!
Frankly: I would like to suggest your buying a RCBS Lube Pad and a small bottle of RCBS Case Lube 2 for the purpose. Then there will no longer be sticking case's to worry about period. Lots of problems incurred and commented here by those having used Hornady's One Shot Lube incorrectly or too sparingly.

So your reloading for 45-70.~~ Great cartridge. That's a whole lot better choice than I made. I started out fumbling 32 acp in & out of a single Stage Pacific Press. :D

BTW: Nice to see a new aka >Handle here on TFLF also.:)
 
One last thank you.

Well, enough lube did the job.
We're sized, de-primed and ready to go.
I'll check into some RCBS lube.
Thanks again.
 
I have found through unhappy experience that One Shot lacks the film strength to be a really great lube like RCBS and Imperial. With a straight walled case with generous taper it might be on the marginal side, but I only use it in conjunction with carbide dies. It is awesome in that application. For everything else, it's RCBS and the pad.

With a straight tapered case, you would be hard pressed to over-lube. The die will just iron the lube to the base.
Yes, it can be done, but seriously, who would do that to a case? :D
 
Other questions

As long as I have the ear of so many experienced re-loaders, I would be curious to learn about your experiences. I hope you all don't take this the wrong way; but I'm a big believer in the phrase "A wise man learns from others mistakes, a fool from his own", and "If we don't learn the lessons of history, we're bound to repeat them" so I'm wondering...have any of you had a primer "go off on you"? What were you doing, how did it happen? Thanks in advance for your willingness to share.
 
Never had a primer go off loading, or even decapping live primers. And I've squished a few sideways, and upside down seating them. Not saying it can't happen, and that's why you wear safety glasses, but I've never seen one.
 
Step away from the One-shot! When I started reloading about 4 years ago, I started with One Shot. First 100 cases of rifle brass i resized, I stuck 3 (major pain in the ass). At the recommendation from members here, switched to RCBS, several years and thousands of rounds later, I have yet to stick another case.

Originally, in ignorance, One Shot seemed to be the simplest and quickest to use. Nothing is less quick than having to get a stuck case off your sizing die.

-Madball
 
With respect to others,
I have to second reading a good book on reloading.
RCBS has a good book, with reloading information added,
The best reference I've found is the NRA (Not brand specific) book, but I don't know if it's in print anymore.
Amazon or Ebay will probably turn up a copy if it's out of print.

Secondly,
I shoot black powder Sharps, and you picked a case with a TON of surface area that contacts the sizer die!

It's a LARGE DIAMETER, TAPERED CASE!
It's a MOTHER to get resized without significant force on the handle of the reloader since the ENTIRE case is being tapered back down to factory size ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

All that surface area is in contact with the die at all times when resizing, so you MUST have a good lube...
The lube actually keeps a 'Hydraulic' layer between case and die,
And when you use enough, the cases will still seem to 'Stick' at the top of the stroke.

This is because you hesitate at the top, reverse direction,
And the lube gets a chance to migrate out of the case to die contact,
Leaving the case in DIRECT contact with the die.

I find it MUCH easier to IMMEDIATELY withdraw the case when it hits the top of the stroke.
If you let it sit at the top, more lube migrates out, and the case will be harder to get moving again...

You will 'Hydraulic' some cases,
You will 'Stick' some cases... Until you find out EXACTLY how much lube to use.

This is a case of use RCBS case lube on a lube pad,
Instead of spraying the cases lightly and running them...
The spray on 'One Shot' lube never worked for my long, tapered cases,
I know it's 'Slower' to hand lube on a pad,
But it takes more time to beat a stuck case out of the dies than to hand lube,
And when you hand lube on a pad, you can control EXACTLY how much lube the cases get.
 
Like they said stay away from one shot!! The RCBS is the best for me. Get your self a cheep cake pan put it half full then spray the brass then role them about in the pan give them 10 min. I like using the pan can do more faster. GOOD LUCK
 
Use the RIGHT Lube

You want an ideal lube for resizing and reloading, use what we swagers use. In fact I just made up a lifetime batch of Swage Lube. Pure anhydrous Lanolin, Either 2 to 1 or 1 to 1 with Castor Oil. If you like a more waxy-like lube, use 2 to 1, if you like it more gel-like, use 1 to 1. Melt the lanolin in a double boiler and pour the castor oil in while stirring. Scent with Hoppes #9:D and you're good to go. You will never have a problem with dieseling like you will with petroleum based products, like STP.

Small(double emphasis on small) amount on your fingertip and just pick up that 45-70 brass and roll it around in your hand. Last stuck case I had was a 30-06 that had not been properly polished prior to resizing.

I make 168 grn. full metal jackets from J4 cases from Corbin, expended 22lr are turned into 55gr .224 and used 40 S&W are turned into XTP like 200 grn 45 acp HP

Get some of those stuck, and you may have to send the swage die back to the machinist.

Bill
 
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