after better then 35 years of reloading

[bigted]

yep after this amount of time i thought that these things happened to other folks.

was loading some 458's the other day and needed just 1 more to make a round number for the test i was doing so i dug out 1 more fired case and thinking i had enough lube in the die as well as the extra lube hanging out on my fingers i...after rubbing the case with my lubey fingers...shoved the ofending last case into the sizing die to re-size and de-prime. it went kinda hard but didnt think much about it untill i started to bring the handle back down to bring the sized n deprimed case back outta the die.......guess what happened.......yep the damn rim let go and with the offending POP i had a stuck case in my size die. couldnt get it out even with turning the shell holder and trying again so i soaked it in penetrating oil for 24 hours but still wont budge. so guess ill have to purchase a stuck case remover or just get john wayne with it but point is i slipped by for over 35 years before this dasterdly deed was accomplished.

next thing that ive never done happened tonite when loading some 45 colt rounds...after sizing and flairing i began to set up to prime them and wouldnt you know it...my rcbs priming hand tool with the tray and the stud that moves into battery when you squeeze the handle...you know the one with the rounded end and the square end on eack end?? well you guessed it...got the rounded end up and with the first squeeze it wouldnt seat the primer like it has for the last how many thousands of times so i weirilly removed the case and seen the rounded dimple in my primer...now this didnt go off and for a second i just sat there and wondered why the stupid thing didnt explode but...taking no chances it now resides in the smow bank where ill retrieve it when the weather gets a bit warmer and will play with it so as to not lose the cartridge but MAN do i feel like a dip-&#!- about these stupids that ive had happen in the recent past.


I ONLY RECOUNT THESE THINGS AS IVE BEEN GUILTY OF MAKING FUN OF OTHERS WHEN THEY DO SUCH THINGS and now i see just how it happens so fellers beware....this crazy **** can happen just when you think some things are alll ironed out in life.

be carefull

[Reload3006]

I have gotten them out by unscrewing the decaping rod out the top (RCBS) since you obviously arent worried about ruining the case. Get a long punch and insert it in the hole and drive it out with a hammer I have gotten several stuck cases out that way
Good luck.

[Jim]

Ted, I'd be proud if I went 35 years without sticking a case!

I say congratulations to you, Sir!

[smoked turkey]

You know the old saying.."People who never make mistakes are people who do nothing"..or something like that. I agree with Jim, if you haven't done any worse than that in 35 years you were long over due! Sounds like you came out of it OK. Thanks for posting though, because we all need a reminder from time to time.

[fixit]

i haven't gotten a case stuck, but i've been told that you can use dry ice to shrink the case and the remains will just drop out! if you try it, let us know if it works!

[1Shirt]

Learned the freezing trick from Beagle with a 375 H&H that I stuck. Sent the die to him. He did his magic and sent it back with case removed and no damage. Have since done it in my freezer twice when I failed to lube adequately. Once with a k-Hor, and once with a 223. Like the Pa. Dutch saying, "Ve get to soon olt and too late smart". Will probably stick another one sometime down the line.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[MGySgt]

you can deprime that live primer in the normal way - just go slow with it and it will come out fine.

By the way that snow bank won't break down the primer material. And if it does get wet and dries out before someone hits the primer - it will go bang. Been there done that.

I soaked live 30-06 in WD 40 for a week - put one in the gun and pulled the trigger - you guessed it - it went bang!

[Le Loup Solitaire]

The reason that freezing works well with case removal is based on the difference in what is called the "co-efficient" of expansion (and contraction" of various metals. It is large between brass and iron/steel. The brass case stuck in a die or chamber will contract more than the steel/iron around it and will come out easily. Freezer temps will work, but dry ice is better because of the extreme lower temp. LLS

[Mk42gunner]

Ted,

I bought one of the RCBS stuck case remover kits, and used it once before a friend offered me twice what I paid for it. Since then I use a socket that will slip over the head of the case (9/16 IIRC) a washer and a bolt. Drill and tap the casehead, I use 1/4-28 but any size close to that ought to work.

Robert

[DragoonDrake]

I have to remove a stuck 223 case about once every other month. I use lube on every case, but I keep breaking the rim off. I use the driving pin and hammer method.

[Janoosh]

+1 on using the freezer. Only stuck one case, an 8x57 mauser, because I read "only use a little lube, watch out for oil dents", and stuck a case. I left the die in the freezer for a week, the case popped right out. Yes, it was a little extreme. I was a newbee. I'll deal with oil dents anyday.

[bigted]

very cool ...ill try the freezer er....maybe just outside for a week here...- degrees now and later in jan. it will be in the -40's and -50's so that oughta freezeit out if anythin gonna...thanks for the tip and as for the bulged primer....ill have to treat it with kid gloves next spring when i can find it in the 4 feet + snow but then ill just put the dang thing in my pistola and pull the trigger like i shoulda when it happened but the 1 lbs of lose powder that was in a bowl on the bench when this took place just about made me sweat for a second and i threw the case out the window for saftey sake...more like the brown stain allowed me to move fast to the window after which i sat down and then the sweat started...LOL

[Hang Fire]

If one has ever used the old original whackem Lee loader very much, they would have become immune to being spooked by a primer going off.

[rr2241tx]

If one has ever used the old original whackem Lee loader very much, they would have become immune to being spooked by a primer going off.

Been There, Done That. Nearly caused my mother a coronary when I was a teenager since she was convinced I was going to kill myself making my own cartridges anyway. Fifty years later she has calmed down a little. My dad and I were inspecting an old .22 the other night and what do you know, it had been stored nearly 60 years loaded and cocked. He installed a nice new roof vent from the walk-in closet and mom only lectured us for half an hour.

Stuck my first case last year with some spray lube and ended up using a socket and a bolt to get it out of the die. Bought a stuck case remover the next day which is still in the little green sack where I hope it stays. Spray lube went in the big stinky truck.

[Fredx10sen]

.223's are the worst. LOL Also had to break down and get rid of 50 or so, very old 45 Colts that had a very soft rim. They kept tearing off from the shell holder even with lube and carbide dies. If I remember right they were some very old "Westerns". I put the knurled end of the die in the vice and used a very small pipe wrench on the brass. Quick twist and the 45's came right out. Had to use the dry ice trick on those stupid little PITA 223's though LOL. Thank you Save Mart Foods for having dry ice for sale. Good luck on getting yours out.

[Janoosh]

Rr2241tx, that's how I stuck my case. Used an aerosol spray lube. I discovered since then that the part of the case in the loading block receives no lube. That's where the case grabbed and stuck. Now, I just put some lube on my fingers and "massage" the cases. Or, if using alcohol and lanolin spray, I put the cases in an old bread pan. Works just fine.

[hornsurgeon]

i only got a case stuck once, shortly after i started reloading years ago. i had the bright idea of swaging down a case head. i figured it would just pull right out. well, i broke my lee press and had a case stuck in the die.

lesson learned.

[moondog911]

Greetings,

Some years back, I was at the local gun shop to buy some case lube. The owner-gunsmith did not have any to sell. However, he did have some very good advice.

He said that he had been using STP for years, and it works great, and even has the same honey color. A pint of that stuff last a long time, and it is cheaper than bullet lube. I have been lucky in that I have never stuck a case with it in my short 35 years of reloading.:bigsmyl2:

moondog

[Mk42gunner]

I have used a lot of different case lubes over the years, most work pretty good, some are a real PITA.

RCBS- worked okay, but I never liked rolling cases on the lube pad, plus after a few times the pad looks like the floor in a shadetree mechanics' garage.

Midway spray- first can worked great, second can I stuck three .223's in a row.

Hornady One Shot- first can worked great, I stopped using the second can after the first stuck .223. (See I can learn).

WD-40 in an aerosol can- worked for processing milsurp 5.56, had to tumble to remove it prior to loading.

STP- NV Curmudgeon's recommendation. Best so far, I put some on a rag and wiped my fingers across the rag then the case.

I am sure there have been others, probably best forgotten.

Imperial Sizing Die Wax- I have read about this stuff for years, but hadn't tried any. I found a small can in the semi-local gun shop/ pharmacy (40 Miles away). THIS STUFF WORKS. I cannot believe how easy it is to resize cases with this. I keep using less and less on a case and haven't stuck one yet; I'm reasonably certain I will eventually, but who knows.

Robert

[lbaize3]

Ahhh... Imperial Sizing Wax. I have been reloading well in excess of 35 years and while Imperial Sizing Wax is a bit slower to use than the spray on lube, it is excellent.

The formula has changed in recent years from the older green wax to a white wax that I do not like near as much, but it still works very well.

[Mk42gunner]

The small can I bought is the white wax. If the green worked any better, I would think it would pull the handle fo the press for you.

Robert

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

I take the die out and drill a 1/4" hole in the bottom of the case. Then I thread the hole and reinsert the die in a vise. Double nut a 1/4" x 2" bolt and bottom it out in the case. Then tighten the double nut and just use a socket wrench or box end wrench and turn it out.

Two buck and ten minutes work...

Rich

[Russel Nash]

I did an image google search and found this website:

http://www.stu-offroad.com/firearms/reloading/rcbs/stuckcase/stuckcase-1.htm

a pic is worth a thousand words.

You can make your own like what he ^^^ said above.

use a 1/4X20 screw/bolt.

I think if you buy a coupling for metal electrical conduit, you will find it is just the right size to fit over the die. Then using a 1/4" fender washer over that will give you the same results as that grey cylindrical looking spacer sold in the RCBS kits.

[nanuk]

I take the die out and drill a 1/4" hole in the bottom of the case. Then I thread the hole and reinsert the die in a vise. Double nut a 1/4" x 2" bolt and bottom it out in the case. Then tighten the double nut and just use a socket wrench or box end wrench and turn it out.

Two buck and ten minutes work...

Rich



I'm usually pretty intuitive, but I've been stumped by Rich!

[bbqncigars]

The only case I've stuck in over forty years was the first .50BMG case I tried to resize. The Unique case lube failed to do the job. I stopped when the case rim started to bend. Soaked the die with Kroil, and it came right out the next morning. I got lucky, and now only use Imperial wax on those monsters.

[bigted]

I'm usually pretty intuitive, but I've been stumped by Rich!

he is just describing what we used to call a yankee puller...we used to pull swing-arm bushings the same way...get a socket the size of the real hole and use a allthread to then make a puller to withdraw the bushing from the bore of just about anything...thanks for the reminder so if the freezing thing dont work ill for sure use the puller to good advantage. dont know why i didnt think about this before but ya know that the memory is the second thing to be affected by age.

we dont talk about the first thing...

[nanuk]

bigted: nope.. still stumped.... I need a diagram

is Rich just adding a hex head to the cartridge case and turning it to break it free from the die? not really pulling it?

[TCLouis]

I made it for many years without a stuck case reovr then hung one when I really needed to get some ammo loaded. Luckily I had some things that could be put together and make a remover.

Have had to use it several times since. I have always recognized the need to stop the sizing (except for one exception) process because of the amount of effort to get the brass in the die, but kept right on.

[DHB]

I have made and used stuck case removers a few times over the years. Bought an RCBS, then one time was not at home and used a washer, socket, and a bolt. I've been working on a can of Imperial Case lube (green) for ever, works real good. I did not even know it was now white. There are many references to 223 cases getting stuck in this thread. I've formed 6 X 45 cases out of 223 cases many times. Had maybe 5-8% separate. Getting a case stuck in a die is a lube problem. But do you think the 6 X 45 cases separating is a similar problem?
Thanks
DHB

[Mk42gunner]

DHB,

Like I said earlier I had an RCBS untill my running mate thought it was the neatest thing since sliced bread. After you see one, it is easy to make your own.

There are two types of people thatr load their own ammo: those who hafe stuck cases, and those who will.

On your 6x45, where do the cases separate? I haven't sectioned a .223 case, but from what I remember they tended to get stuck going in with about a half inch of the case sticking out of the die. I would think if the brass was sticking even slightly in your die, it wouldn't chamber.

The 5.56 that I had problems with was all Lake City, fired from M16's not a SAW; I know because I was the rangemaster. I have had other calibers stick occassionally, but it seems like most of them go in fine and stick all the way in.

Robert

[Reload3006]

all the above will work. but why not just pull the decapping rod and drive the offending case out that way? freezing may work.
as far as lube goes I have tried about all of them RCBS case lube was all I used for years until i decided to get lazy and got some Hornady one shot spray lube guess what started sticking cases. So I went back to RCBS but the RCBS lube has a bad tendency to oil dent. Later when I got into swaging I started using swage lube. It by far is the best thing I have ever used and you can make it your self pretty inexpensively. 50% anhydrous lanolin 50% castor oil. both of the ingredients can be had at most pharmacies if not get the lanolin at a candle making supply store and the castor oil well all of us old timers know were mom used to get that nasty stuff.

[MGySgt]

Reload3006 - The Decapping rod also has a expander plug on it - can't get it out through the neck.

You have to loosen the decapping rod - punch the primer out with it, allow the decapping rod free movement, tap the flash hole, and with a socket, that has a lager opening than the case but smaller than the out side diameter of the die, put the bolt through a fender washer, put the socket on the end of the die and tighten the bolt to extract the case from the die,

Takes longer to explain than to do it!

[Reload3006]

on RCBS the ball expander will screw off dont know about Hornady and Lee funny too because i have both dies. just have never stuck a case in one. I am sure just by luck.

[DHB]

Mk42gunner:
The cases separate when they are fired. I've had it happen with LC fired in an AR 15 and Winchester commercial. Both split about .75 inch up from the bottom of the case. I know both case types were once fired. It happens all the time on my reloads. I do not seem to have the problem with commercially reloaded rounds. As my cousin used to say "I seed alotta thangs in my time boot dis jus don't look right ta me!" Me, I don't know either. Maybe my dies are bad.
Merry Christmas to all. Jesus loves us
DHB

[Tazman1602]

Ted, I'd be proud if I went 35 years without sticking a case!

I say congratulations to you, Sir!

What Jim ^^^ said.....................:drinks:

Art

[bigted]

bigted: nope.. still stumped.... I need a diagram

is Rich just adding a hex head to the cartridge case and turning it to break it free from the die? not really pulling it?

yes it appears that he is tapping the case to the 1/4 inch threads and the course threads will be better in soft metal like the case brass. he then runs a nut up against the stuck case and tightens it against the head and turns the case in the die to free it from the die...this is what i got from his post.

i however am reminded of what we used to call a yankee puller where you do the following... drill and tap the case to as large a thread as possible. then run all thread into the case where there is 2 or three inches of all-thread sticking out from the stuck case. ...now find a socket that will set on the die mouth but clears the stuck case and slip it over the protruding all-thread...place a washer on the top of the socket that is resting on the die mouth and run a nut up against the washer...as this nut is tightened it will gently pull the stuck case from the die in a pulling motion.

thanks all for the many ideas and suggestions. i believe i will freeze the whole shi-bang and having built the yankee puller i will then exert preassure on the stuck case with the puller and hope it will pop free...been working my tail off so will be a bit before i can get back to it.

also i would just back out the de-priming post if it wernt for the nut on the inside that holds the de-priming pin in place...the rod is too small to allow this nut to clear the threaded hole that the de-priming assembly is threaded into. if i could do this then an old fassioned hammer and punch would definetly solve my stuck case problem.

[Mk42gunner]

I will attempt to do a drawing in Word that I can paste in a post.

Robert

Well that didn't work, I can't get the shapes to post.

R

[bigted]

bigted: nope.. still stumped.... I need a diagram

is Rich just adding a hex head to the cartridge case and turning it to break it free from the die? not really pulling it?

finally got back to it so i took some photo's of the operation so here it is...

first i drilled the case head with an electric drill
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/caseremoval005.jpg

then after the drilling process i tapped the hole in the case head to 1/4x20 inch threads

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/caseremoval003.jpg

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/caseremoval004.jpg

then after finding the rite bolt ...[this one is a sockethead bolt] i find the 5/8ths socket in my tool box and with the spacer in place

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/caseremoval002.jpg

i screw the bolt into the case head and after the bolt comes up tight it began to pull the stuck case head into the socket. after the smallest amount of pulling it came free from the die.

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy55/bigted1956/caseremoval001.jpg

so there is my version of the yankey puller that works very well in this application of pulling out a stuck case from a re-sizing die.

[Mk42gunner]

bigted,

That is the way that I do it.

Thanks for posting pictures; I tried to do a diagram today and couldn't get it to copy into a post.

I thought about intentionally sticking a case to provide pictures (for about 3.2 nanoseconds); until I realized that I still haven't managed to learn how to post pictures, and my camera is broken.

Robert

[41mag]

bigted, don't let it bother you too much there bud. I have stuck many a case just as you described and seated plenty of primers every which a way when first learning the ins and outs of my progressive.

My worst time with cases was when I purchased 1.5K of once fired mil-surp in .308. I sized and loaded 20 rounds for a hog hunt, and found that out of the 20 only 4 would actually chamber in my rifle. So I purchased a SB die and set out to size the whole batch. Needless to say both the drill and tap got a great work out before I was done. I have never been so glad to finish something as I was that little chore. Seemed that after about every 25 or so cases one would hang up. I was using Imperial Sizing Wax but still ,some of those cases were simply so big, I guess it would scrape it off as they went up into the die. It certainly explained why I got such a good price on them, but they do make some nice disposable medium loads for those times when I know I am not going to get my cases back.

[MGySgt]

41Mag - I would venture to say that those 308's (7.62 NATO) were fired out of a M60 MG. Very sloppy chambers on M60's to keep them firing when needed. :)

We have the same problem with 5.56 NATO when it is fired from a M240 SAAW.

I use Dillon Case lube (Lanolin based) and usually do not have a problem - But I have stuck some 5.56. Found out that IF enough is sticking out the bottom you can lock onto them with vice grips and twist and pull and they will come out (lock die in a vice) - quicker than drilling and taping.

[Russel Nash]

it probably is just a typo, but SAW = M249

I think the M240 replaced the M60, and is in .308

I am from Illinois so I have no clue about NFA items. I have read that the M240 .308 caliber machine gun fires from an open bolt (whatever that means??) so that could explain the puffed out brass.

[MGySgt]

Fat Finger/Typo Russel Nash - thank you for the correction!

Open Bolt = means the firing pin is stationary in the bolt and when the bolt slams home the round fires,

When you take your finger off the trigger the bolt stays back.

[torpedoman]

I did an image google search and found this website:

http://www.stu-offroad.com/firearms/reloading/rcbs/stuckcase/stuckcase-1.htm

a pic is worth a thousand words.

You can make your own like what he ^^^ said above.

use a 1/4X20 screw/bolt.

I think if you buy a coupling for metal electrical conduit, you will find it is just the right size to fit over the die. Then using a 1/4" fender washer over that will give you the same results as that grey cylindrical looking spacer sold in the RCBS kits.

made one of these and it works like a charm.

[tarbe]

If one has ever used the old original whackem Lee loader very much, they would have become immune to being spooked by a primer going off.

This really made me laugh.....been there, done that! Several times as a young lad my mother had to holler "you all right?" after hearing a primer go off. First time it happened I fell over backwards off the stool I was on. Good thing I was young...I still bounced back then.

Thanks for the reminder bigted. It is all too easy to get "familiar" and get in trouble. About the time I am tempted to pat myself on the back for having never done some particular bone head move, I quickly remind myself I am a bone head move waiting to happen.

Tim