stuck .44 Special case

[exile]

So, I am priming .44 Special cases with the Lee hand prime, and get a case that will not come out of the hand priming shell holder. Thinking that the problem is an improperly seated primer, I set the hand prime shell holder on top of the place where the regular shell holder sits, screw in the depriming die and punch out the primer.

However the shell holder will still not come off the case and now I cannot remove the depriming die from the press. My next idea is to remove the decapping pin and drive out the case, but I cannot get sufficient purchase on the top of the decapping pin to do this. In addition, I don't want to mess up the threads on my press trying to get this done.

My next thought is to cut off the bottom of the case with a hacksaw, remove the die and go from there. But I don't have a hacksaw and if I remove the bottom of the case, how will I get the rest of the stuck case out?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Unlike most on this website, I am not very mechanical so please be kind. In six or seven years of reloading this is my first stuck case, but I am truly baffled, mostly because the hand priming shell holder prevents any forward progress in the matter.

Thanks for your help.

exile

[44Vaquero]

Picture please, It helps me think. Most likely its a burr on the shell that has wedged itself tight in the shell holder.

Do you have brass rod/drift punch that can be used to push against the shelll holder in the direction it needs to go to come off the cartridge head?

You may also want to rap on the shell holder all the way around to try and shake it loose.

[exile]

Thank you. That is exactly what happened. I finally got the decapping pin out and was getting ready to drive the case out of the die and the Lee prime shell holder FELL OFF! There was indeed an iregularity in the case rim that was causing it to stick in the shell holder.

I used up my years quotient of profanity and my .44 sizing die looks terrible, but I finally got the stuck case out. Next time it will be easier. It seems that the key is having a wrench that will fit the flat part on the top of the die.

I live in a town with one stoplight and the hardware store did not have a 3/4" wrench in stock. I borrowed the neighbor's crescent wrench, but that did not work so well.

What a day!

exile

[canyon-ghost]

Cheap case lube (even with carbide):
http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx228/3rdshooter/contenders/22Hornetcases005.jpg

Ed Harris at CBA suggested this, I tried it and a little 1/4" diameter dab on a rag will lube 100 cases. All you have to do is roll the case mouth in it. At about $3.79 a tube it's less expensive than anything else and can be found in grocery stores too.

I use this on all my brass, the only drawback is the scent. Otherwise, it lasts a long time and works better than you think. Contains Lanolin.

Good Luck,
Ron

[Bullet Caster]

Lots of great ideas for case lube. When I run out of Imperial Sizing Wax, I plan on using mink oil. Works great on leather too. BC

[exile]

Tried doing a little more priming this morning, got two more stuck primers. Can't figure that one out. I have been reloading for about seven years, and priming with the Lee hand primer has been a breeze so far. I am priming twice fired Starline .44 Special cases at the moment.

exile

[CATS]

Is your problem happening with the same brand of brass? *When I had one of those, tight primer pocket brands had more hang ups unless I was gentler/slower with primer starting. *They also needed more seating effort to fully seat the primers. You may also find that if you do not seat a primer all the way and release the handle then try again to seat the first primer, a second primer may have been let in and the two may jam. Are your primer pockets clean? *I found that ash residue could prevent a primer from being seated deep enough. * I had trouble getting CCI primers to seat deep enough some times. * * * * AND you are wearing protective eye wear correct? **

[exile]

Just finished priming the 275 or so Starline .44 Special cases I was working on. I had a total of about 20 stuck primers in all. If I had not had to remove the decapping pin from my resizing die yesterday, I don't know what I would have done.

A word about these primers (maybe these primers). Back during the primer scare of 08, I managed to get ahold of some primers from a reputable supplier. When they were delivered however, the delievery guy left them in a puddle on my front steps, After talking to some guys here, I calmed downed, left the ones that may have gotten slightly damp (maybe) out for a couple of days, marked them as such and went on.

Everyone here said that if primers did get damp it was no big deal, and I agree with them. How that would relate to difficult seating I have no idea.

The cases being primed were Starline .44 Special cases, twice fired, resized three times. I have not had any problem priming these exact cases in the past. In fact I have never had trouble priming any cases except for Sellior and Bellot nine mm cases.

Anyway, being armed with prayer and a loose decapping pin, I managed to get the job done.

My Lee hand priming tool was properly lubricated and eye protection was worn at all times. These were CCI primers, but like I said, no problems in the past. I always deprime with a universal depriming die and then clean and polish my cases, so clean primer pockets were not an issue either.

Upon driving out an offending primer, the next one always seated fine, not too hard, not too loose, so I can only conclude the primer was at fault, not the case, not the priming tool and apparently not my technique.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

(I can't prove that these primers did or did not get wet and I don't think that is the issue. Essentially I have never seen this before. Priming is something I really enjoy, as long as I can get a rythym going, but if I have to stop every five minutes it is a pain.) :happy dance:

exile