Josmund

Ok, I have the bench built, the starter kit plus a few accessories. The first die purchase was the Lee Classic Die Set for the 270 Win. It comes with three dies, one of them being a collet shoulder die.

I hook up the full case die and set it to the manufacturers specs. Clean off 40 cases, lube them as instructed and go to work. I still haven't bought powder, primers or bullets but I gotta use the new bench for something.

They all punch up nicely but snag on the way down. I can pull them all out but it takes some force. Some are tougher than others. None stick but I wouldn't want to use much more force. Inspection of the brass reveals signs of shaping at the shoulders or just below where it tappers to the neck.

Is this normal or is there a hitch in my system? I rerun a few and its about them same pressure, perhaps a little less.

Big Z

A standard full length sizer undersizes the neck at the top of the ram's stroke; on the way down, the expander ball sizes it from the inside. So you should just feel a squeeze going up (after or with a slight force from popping a primer out). Then a little force releasing the press from its cammed-over position. Then you feel the expander ball.

It sounds like you're just feeling the expander ball doing its thing. Just be sure to lube inside the necks. Or get a bushing die. If you're using a lube pad, push some case mouths into the pad to lube the inside of the neck. For wax, put a little on your fingertip and scrape a case neck across it to gather it up. For aerosol/spray-on, just make sure the brass isn't all facing azz-up.

I tried the Lee case lube when I first started. Hated it. Went to one-shot and stuck with it for a long time. Now I'm using a home-brew that mocks Dillon case lube.

alleyyooper

It is the expander ball dragging on the inside of the neck. You can reduce the feel a couple of ways. One is to apply lube in the inside of the neck, I used to use a Q tip to do about every 10th case. I finally broke down and bought a neck lube kit that has 3 of 4 brushes of different calibers and a well that they stand in that holds a dry graphite lube. After about 50 cases I put the lid back on and turn it over to charge the brushes again.

Some dies are worst than others at that scraping.


Al

Pawildman

I agree with what the others have told you.. It's the expander ball causing the drag, and you need to lube the inside of the case necks and you'll see a difference. I use a q-tip and Imperial Sizing Wax for my lube.. A little on the case body, and a twist inside the neck with the q-tip. I resize the case,then flip the q-tip around and wipe the inside of the neck out, removing any wax so powder doesn't stick to the inside of the neck when charging. Be careful not to get lube on the shoulder of the cases, or you're most surely going to get dented shoulders when you resize.

UncleNorby

Some expander balls can be polished to improve this condition, just be sure not to remove material. Graphite is probably the easiest option. That way you won't get lube in a case that could lead to a contaminated powder charge.

Josmund

Thanks guys.

I did do some lubing with a brush and the RCBS lube pad. I'll step it up some.

rjhans53

if you are using a pad, just put the mouth of he neck on the pad and scrape a little lube inside the mouth every 5th case or so, just keep in mind that you have to wipe out the inside of the neck before you run powder and wipe off the lube on the outside of the case or you will get dimples on the neck

alleyyooper

All my cases get a quickie bath and measured Trimmed if needed and champhered before resizing so I don't get dirt and other junk up in the sizing die. Once all the spent primers are out and they are all resized they get a real good bath and rinse, Put in one of those mesh bags onions come in then hung in my wood burning furnace room for a couple days. Next step is the tumbler full of no name rice to tumble shiny clean. No worry about contaminated powder or primers that way.






Then they get sorted by caliber and reloaded with the powder and bullet I have chose for that caliber.
Been using the same proven load for the 308 for 50 years and 45 years for the 243.

Al

Pawildman

I forgot to mention that if you do short mag cases, it is absolutely essential that you lube the inside of the case necks. A sticky expander plug can actually pull the shoulder of the case forward slightly when removing it from the sizer die, causing the shoulder angle to change slightly and also increase case length which can cause the reloaded case to be difficult to chamber or will not chamber at all.
Best thing to remember, just lube inside of necks regularly, and you should have less problems....

buffybr

I can't remember where I bought it, many years ago, but I have a quick and simple way to luge the inside of case necks before sizing.

It is a 1/4"x1" Round head screw that has a hole drilled in the head and is threaded for a nylon bore cleaning brush. It is screwed into the front of my bench next to a press.

Edit: A size 10 x 32 "T" nut (less than $0.50 at a hardware store) could easily be attached to the front of your loading bench and a nylon bore brush could be screwed into it.

To lube the inside of cases, I simply put a little Imperial Size wax on my finger then wipe the lube onto the brush. Then I push a case onto the brush, give it a half turn, pull it off, and put it into the shell holder and size it. I'll add a little more lube about every fifth case.