Having several issues, they may stem from the same thing, there may be several things I am doing wrong.
First I am new to cast boolits, throw in a new Hornady Lock and Load progressive press coming from a Rockchucker single stage press, and trying to work the bugs out thru the process. There is a lot going on with the AP press, I seem to go slow while I try to keep an eye on each station each stroke.
I am casting boolits from a Lee mold, 124 grain 6 cavity mold. Powder coating them with Harbor Freight red powder, #5 tub shake, 20 minutes in toaster oven at 400 degrees and sizing them thru a 0.357 Lee sizer. Whole process seems pretty easy.
I just got the new press set up and about every 5th shell doesnt like going in the resizing die #1 position, If I dont reach around there and help guide the shell into the die, it likes to eat them. Not sure how when the case is in the holder, the spring is in position holding the case, and it is facing up, the case doesnt go perfectly straight into the sizing die.
As the shells work their way around the circle, all goes well until i get to the bullet seating die. My other pistol dies are RCBS and I have never had a problem, but I have only used store bought components in my rockchucker. I am experiencing two items in the bullet seating die. I am using a Hornady custom grade dies, (Hornady 546515) there is a floating bullet guide on this die which I have never used before. My cast boolits tend to get stuck in the die and I have to drill them out. Something like one in 40 boolits get stuck. I have tried using some lube in the die, it doesnt seem to last long and I find myself back on the drill trying to unstuck the boolit. Maybe I need to lube the boolits before seating them, so it is there each time when I need it.
The next issue with the bullet seating is some of the loaded shells have a shaved ring of lead boolit and powder coating on the case.
Maybe I am not enlarging the case mouth enough to receive the boolit?? Maybe they are not going in straight?? But one in 10 boolits have a little shaved lead ring around the mouth of the brass, the other 9 look perfect. The brass case seems to be cutting the cast boolit. I measured the mouth of the brass case after going thru the expander die, and I am about 0.010 larger after the expander die than before. Maybe more enlarging will quit shaving some boolit off, and the boolit will go in the case and not stick in the die??
Looking for suggestions on what I am doing wrong, or how to fix it.