Case dentals

[burch]

Can anyone explain why I’m getting dents in my casings. I’m using plenty of case lube inside and outside

[garandsrus]

Too much lube!

[762 shooter]

Yes. Lube dents. Lube has no where to go.

762

[country gent]

Most dies have vents to help relieve this, most reloaders never clean them out. To much lube or to heavy in the wrong areas cause this. The cause can be added to if the dies have a build up in them.

Disassemble and clean your sizing die. A nylon bore brush works well with some solvent for this the wipe clean with a soft cloth wrapped around the brush. make sure cases are lubed when staring out as this removes all the lube from the die leaving no cushion.

Apply lube in the thinnest of coatings needed. I seldom use the spray ons but prefer to lube large batches with a bath towel and imperial sizing die wax. Again starting with a clean towel you need to be careful to nit under apply as the towel is becoming treated as well. once the towel is impregnated 400-500 cases a finger full of lube grab 2 corners in each hand and agitate raising and lowering hands for a few mins and your done. A friend had a big tumbler he used for this cases lube and run for 5 -10 mins.

[1Hawkeye]

What everyone else said and don't worry about the dents they will fire form out.

[burch]

Can I neck size with a standard Lyman 3 die set. I think what also may be happening is my chamber dia. might be big and the die body might be too small to resize it back down. That’s just a guess though

[burch]

I do clean my die bodies

[recumbent]

Take the die apart and clean it good with solvent.

[William Yanda]

Man, you ruined my vision of a case with a big bright smile.

[burch]

[Thin Man]

Sometimes when I re-lube my lube pad I get too much lube on it. If I roll every case on that pad the excess lube fills up the sizing die. With careful attention I often size one lubed case, followed by one not-lubed case. This process usually works out well so long as the cases are not heavily oversize when starting out and require all of them to be lubed before sizing. After a few rotations of this process the lube on the pad thins out so then every case gets its own lube.

[pworley1]

Can I neck size with a standard Lyman 3 die set. I think what also may be happening is my chamber dia. might be big and the die body might be too small to resize it back down. That’s just a guess though

Your problem is too much lube, but you can neck size only by backing off the size die from the shell holder so that only the neck is being sized.

[toot]

yes too much !! cut back!

[rbuck351]

Cut back on the lube on the neck/shoulder to a very light film but make sure to get the base of the case covered and the inside of the neck. These are known as lube dents for a reason.

[farmbif]

might think about switching to wax lube, added benefit your almost forced to examine every case as you apply wax. or lanolin/alchohol in a spray bottle if your doing large quantity in progressive press.

[Mk42gunner]

Can I neck size with a standard Lyman 3 die set. ...

Kind of. You can partial size, i.e. not fully resizing the case by not fully screwing the die down to the shellholder. This is a trial and error system, where you size a case then try it in your particular rifles chamber. If it fits freely, fine. If not adjust the die down a bit more and try again.

If I am doing this, I size at least the length of the neck the bullet is going to be seated.

Sometimes the shoulder gets kissed by the die, sometimes not. And you will probably need to full length size once in a while.

Robert

[robg]

lube the body of the case and neck inside and out.dont lube the shoulder.

[rbuck351]

Very lightly on the outside of the neck as it will be pushed down to the shoulder if more than a thin film.

[fcvan]

I lube my rifle cases with vegetable oil in an empty plastic nut jar. Light dribble, screw down lid, shake until coated. Every 5th case I wipe my finger across the case mouth to lube the expander ball. No dinged cases in the last 5000 cases. Wash in hot soapy (Dawn) dish soap. Dawn cuts grease, vegetable oil isn't that tough to remove.

A secondary rinse in hot soapy water with lemon juice, 5 minute soak. Strain, dump wet into tumbler with ground walnut treated with 1 - 2 tablespoons of Turtle Zip Wash. Brass comes out dry, shiny like new, and stays that way due to the thin coat of wax from the zip wash. Wet brass helps make the walnut swell up and lose the shiny smooth look.

Every 1000 cases or so, I put in another tablespoon of zip wash, media gets washed every 5000 cases or so in a zippered burlap bag until water runs clean, hang out to dry. I haven't bought more ground walnut in over 10 years, I have a second zippered bag of already dry walnut. Once, I just put the wet media in the tumbler and it dried in 4 hours. Ground Walnut is from the pet store.

[gnostic]

The best way to reform cases is with a trim die. I make 221 Fireball from 223, 6.5Mag from various belted cases, 243Win from 308Win and 7.65Arg. from 270 or 06. I run them thru the trim die, cut them off with a hacksaw. Neck ream while trimming the case mouth and then full length resize. The cases I reform are as good as a factory case...