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Old December 3, 2008, 02:20 PM   #1
Antihero47
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Press and Fullsizing Problems...

Ok, so I made a thread about getting a reloading kit. Well, I got one.

I ended up getting a Lee Turret Press. I set it up and put in my 30/06 Lee Pacesetter Dies. I wanted to get a start on de-priming and getting the brass into the tumbler that night.

Well, I lubed up my first rifle cartridge, put it onto the shell holder and pressed down on the handle. Great! Except that when I get about 9/10ths of the cartridge down... the press gets stuck and doesn't want to go all the way.

I luckily got the bullet out of the Die, inspected it, and it seems like everything was fine. I lubed it up some more... distributed it evenly, and went into the press again. Stuck again.

I tried another cartridge that I had... did the same thing. These are all once fired brass btw.

I am thinking that perhaps there is some head separation at the bottom of the case and its not letting it go through. I am a beginner so I'm not sure what to look for exactly, just know that usually a slight buldge at the bottom of the brass may be head seperation.

Any Ideas? I will get pictures tonight.
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Old December 3, 2008, 02:26 PM   #2
maggys drawers
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Did you lube the inside of the neck ? With my Lee dies, I have found that is very important. I have an Altoids tin with about 1/8 inch of powdered mica in it, and dip the neck prior to going into the die. Imperial case lube on the rest of the cartridge.
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Old December 3, 2008, 02:34 PM   #3
Antihero47
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Sorry, Yes.. I lubed the case, lubed the neck, and ran a cotton swab inside of the neck with lube. Still Sticks.
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Old December 3, 2008, 03:13 PM   #4
brickeyee
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How is the die adjusted?

It it is further down than it needs to be the press runs out of leverage before the case is fully in the die.

The decapping stem in the die may also be down to far.

Unscrew the decapping stem upwards as far as it will go.

Screw the die in far enough that at maximum ram height the shell holder barely touches.

Lube and size a shell.

Now screw the decapping stem down until it knocks the primer out, and then a few more turns further to make sure the primers fall free.

Know try the shell in the gun it will be fired in for fit.
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Old December 3, 2008, 03:25 PM   #5
Antihero47
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Quote:
brickeyee

I have the die barely touching the shell holder at full down stroke. I however did not back the primer ram out, I just left it at the default position that it came in. I will have to try that.

Appreciate it.
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Old December 3, 2008, 07:20 PM   #6
wncchester
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Lubing inside the neck matters not until you withdraw the case.

Your problem is a failure to properly lube the lower half of the case. You need little lube on the upper case but a really good coating on the thicker brass at the bottom. Most newbies do it in reverse! No sweat, it's a learned thing.

If your die "barely touches" the shell holder with an empty ram it may very well not FL size the cases enough (not set the shoulders back enough) to chamber easily, or even at all. Lube a case properly, push it into the die as you now have it set and, before continuing, try to camber the case in your rifle.

If it goesi in properly, fine. If not, turn the die down more, but ONLY 1/16 of a turn (about 4.5 thou) before trying it again. Continue until the case chambers with just a touch of resistance. That's the right place, lube and size the rest the same way.
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Old December 4, 2008, 12:29 AM   #7
amamnn
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The expander in the Lee die is near the bottom of the die so you've already passed it on the up stroke before you get stuck. Wncc gave you the most probable cause. Lee has instructional videos on their website, or at least they used to. It might be worth watching the press and die setup vid. If you get tired of retumbling or swabbing out the cases after sizing, you might consider the Redding or Forster graphiter for lubing your necks inside.
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Old December 4, 2008, 08:29 AM   #8
MADISON
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Terret Presses

I started out with a LYMAN Spar-T press, many years ago.
When I got into rifle the press just would not do the job. I bought an RCBS JR. and it worked.
The only Terret presses I know of that will do rifle is Lyman T-Mag and Redding.
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Old December 4, 2008, 08:42 AM   #9
Don P
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Lee press's

I have found there web site to contain real good info on there products. Heres the link, and they have short how to vidios
http://www.leeprecision.com/
Here is the like to the vidios
http://www.leeprecision.com/html/HelpVideos/video.html
Good luck and stay with it.
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Old December 4, 2008, 05:11 PM   #10
30Cal
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What kind of lube are you using?
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Old December 5, 2008, 03:02 PM   #11
Antihero47
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Whew! Thanks guys, I had to really lube the sucker. I got it to go all the way and to eject the primers. Probably since the die had never had lube in it, it demanded more.

One thing though, should my brass have a edge down around the bottom of the shell where my die stopped?

I am being left with a faint edge around the bottom of the cartridge where the shell was fully sized but the shell holder contacts the bottom of the die and I am unable to go into the die anymore.

I have a tumbler, and I had another question.

Do I tumble brass with the fired primers in, then take them out and wipe them down, lube, de-prime - resize, trim, deburr, put them back into the tumbler, separate, wipe down and clean flash hole and primer pocket.

Is this normal?

I was kinda iffy about putting fired primers into the tumbler.


BTW: I am using some heavy and thick Lyman case lube.
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Old December 5, 2008, 03:08 PM   #12
rwilson452
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Quote:
One thing though, should my brass have a edge down around the bottom of the shell where my die stopped?
It shouldn't be an edge but you should be able to tell where the die stopped

Quote:
I have a tumbler, and I had another question.

Do I tumble brass with the fired primers in, then take them out and wipe them down, lube, de-prime - resize, trim, deburr, put them back into the tumbler, separate, wipe down and clean flash hole and primer pocket.

Is this normal?

I was kinda iffy about putting fired primers into the tumbler.

For me it depends, for my plinking 45 rounds I just tumble them with the fired primers in. them load them up again.

for my varmint rounds I tumble with the primers in. Then size/deprime and clean the primer pockets by hand when necessary
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Old December 5, 2008, 04:26 PM   #13
brickeyee
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If the die is brand new it probably has some shipping grease in it to prevent rust.
Try cleaning it thoroughly, then lightly oiling it (break free or whatever gun type oil you prefer) then wiping it to leave the thinnest film of oil inside and out.

It does not take much hardened grease to affect the operation of a sizing die.
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