45-70 help,base of the case is getting fat

[runfiverun]

I'm pretty sure I sent you some lanolin.
a thin smear of that will work as case lube and has done so for over 100 years now.
I know it worked for guy's like Charles Haskins, Elmer Keith, Jack O'Conner, and the good colonel.
I use it cut with castor oil to make bullets with, if it's good enough to go in a 450.00 point form die it's good enough for a 19.00 size die.

[EDK]

IF you have access to a drill press OR other machine tools, you can make an adapter to size all the way to the die mouth. You use three flat bars drilled with all thread and nuts to adjust. Bar attached to any shell holder; another bar holding ejector rod; top bar to push down the ejector rod. It was shown in a pistol book by Stebbins (sp?) It looks rube Goldberg but works. No

[John Boy]

when I chamber the round, the last 1/4" has to be pushed in by squeezing the lever into place.

Take a permanent magic marker and draw several full length lines down the case from the rim to the bullet nose. Lever chamber the round - extract - see where the marker ink is scratched off.
* if at the mouth, the bullet diameter is too big
* if at the web or any part above the mouth, case needs to be FL sized

[Sanchez]

Please be advised that performing the procedure quoted below will result in dangerously soft scrap brass: annealing a base destroys the metallurgy (hardness) of the primer pocket & surrounding head/rim.
Upon ignition, it will swell to a grossly oversize condition & the primer may completely flatten-out.

Best to utilize small-base FL dies, a bulge-buster or else the scrap bucket.

.......... zap their base with a propane torch till you see the orange, tben drop them into the water.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

You have had a lot of good advice, some of which is nearly sure to solve your problem. A useful trick when a lot of people have advised you on an issue with various possibilities, is to go through the thread with an old-fashioned piece of paper and make a list of four or five things you have to check. It is easy to miss one out, and if you do, it will surely be the one that matters.

If the tightness is in the hollow case body, where the powder is, this is what should occur and be squeezed back a trace under chamber size every time you full length size. With most cartridges you can just neck-size quite a few times before this becomes necessary. A failure to do so means either an unusually tight chamber or an unusually large die. If it is the former, polishing with abrasive on a cartridge case could help, but shouldn't be done until all other possibilities are exhausted. If it is the latter, have you owned these dies from new? If not, someone may have polished a little larger to suit his oversized chamber.

The die shouldn't have to reach the solid head around the primer, behind the powder. Any expansion in this area would normally arise only from dangerous overpressure. I doubt if this is your situation though, especially if you are accurate in the tightness beginning a quarter inch short of complete insertion in the die, because that solid web won't have reached the die yet. Annealing the case neck and body is fine, but it really must not reach that solid part of the head.

Another possibility, the easiest and cheapest to deal with, is that if you crimp the neck too much, you can produce a slight swelling immediately behind it.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

yeah, runfiverun you did! I forgot about that, thanks! that definitely better than pledge. you know starline cases are so cheap, if this doesn't work, It is time to get new brass. ok thanks for all the help guys! Travis

[PHyrbird]

I'm with the early post, You really should mike the cases. The Marker trick to find the hi spots is good but gives no documented measure. I also suggest a read of Ken Waters Pet Loads series (3) on the 45-70 and loading for the Marlin. You will find how important those micrometer readings can be.
One last thing, I know cash is tight, but does the rifle do the same thing with new factory rounds? It might not be your reloads. Just for the record I respect the marlin, but I really am affectionate for my Siamese Mauser. 2" groups at 100yd using Lyman receiver & globe sight. Plus It don't break my glasses.

[BigEyeBob]

I'm with BIS , I had similar problems when I first started loading for the 45/70 worked out to be the crimp , less crimp easy chambering .

[buckshotshoey]

Im with a previous two on annealing. Do not anneal the case head. This part of case needs to be harder. You shouldnt anneal more then half the case lenght.

Also, you, and everybody else might be overlooking something. Is your chamber perfectly clean? I would make sure you dont have a build up of sizing or bullet lube. Try a 4.10 bore brush (or properly sized pistol brush) and scrub it out with solvent. Might not be it, but a possibility. And it wont do any harm if not it. Mic the case to see if it actually is too big.

As said before, it might be the crimp area, and not the base. Try a factory new round and see if it chambers. Or/and, as stated earlier, try to chamber a FL sized empty case (no powder or bullet). If the crimp area is the problem, it should chamber easily without the bullet inserted.

Also, 8 reloads may be at the end of the case life. Some may get more, but i would say that is about average. I got new Starline for 46 bucks for 100. Midway also sells in a 50 count, and even a 20 count, but you will pay more per case.

[gwpercle]

you know, I have a lee loader kit for the 45-70 and the cases get pounded all the way flush in it, I wonder if that's the ticket, just run the all through that. that's gonna be a workout, and a lot of mallet swingin' what do yall think?

Don't pound the case in.....use a vice , slowly close the jaws untill the case is in as far as it will go, then remove by tapping out. If the Lee die dosen't size it enough, use your regular resizing die in the vice.
Another trick to getting the case deeper in your press sizer is to use a thinner shell holder , I had a problem like yours and fixed it by using another brand of shell holder...it was thinner and the case went in farther. You can also , file/grind/surface the shell holder top to make this happen.
But the regular sizer in vice will get the job done for sure, I've done it .
Just be carefull to not size too much , slip the case in the shell holder and mark on the case where the shellholder top is, this will give you a reference of how far to go in.
Gary