Oops in a 73 Winchester

[ajjohns]

I had an interesting thing happen to me this weekend with my old 38 WCF Winny 73. No, I didn't wreck it. But I took it out for the first time since last fall/winter and like a dummy, I had not ejected the last fired round in the chamber. All loads are made from new Starline brass and I noticed it looked a little tarnished on the neck. My guns are in a safe all the time, in my old house, no heat in the winter. I decided I would start resizing my brass to have some loads for the summer, got to that piece of brass, and the neck pulled off? What or what? Do any of you know what went on there? How do I get the brass neck out of my die? It made the full trip to the top of the stroke, on down stroke came off. And the brass was lubed. Thanks for any answers guys.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Sounds like the inside of the neck had "oxidated" sufficiently that your neck expander (maybe not the smoothest finish) placed enough resistance on the case to overcome the tinsel strength of that particular case.
38 WCF cases are thin up there. I have collapsed a few in my life reloading them so there is no reason to think one just might decide to shear off rather than have that expander ball slip through.

Remove the expander. add some penetrating oil to the interior of the die body (ATF works well) so it can soak around the stuck neck / case. let soak a couple hours. If you have a broken case remover in caliber 38 insert into the case neck and out it comes. A dental tool with a hooked end may also be plenty. A stiff thin wire (bicycle spoke) with a hook bent onto it will hook the end and tug it out.
Mike in Peru

[ajjohns]

Thank you. I was just thinking of turning an alum plug that I could tap on the case mouth with lube through the top after removing the stem. I'll try your methods also if I don't succeed. I thought of oxidation too, just never thought it would happen so quick in a house that's freezing for all those months.

[gnostic]

A large brass brush and solvent is best, work it in and reverse the process and the pieces usually come out. Treat it like a broken case in a rifle. I've had brass that I babied for years fall apart and I wondered why, because it looked so good.

[country gent]

Sometimes the brass brush will pull them from a chamber but the die may have more tension on it than that. a close fitting punch could be turned from softer materials ( aluminum brass or copper) to use. what I would do is find a brass round head screw and a nut and washers. Fit the head into the die as the above punch, set in with screw thru the die add washers and nut and walk the neck out nice and square and even with solid pressure. This makes a jack similar to the stuck case removers and should easily pull the broken neck. A wing nut may even provide enough force here for this.

[Multigunner]

If you are extremely careful you could use a threading tap of the right size to pull out or punch out the broken neck.
Just don't let it cut through the brass or otherwise touch the inside of the die.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Threading tap... That is a good one.
An easy out may also get it.

[BK7saum]

Is it actually stuck in the top of the die or is it stuck on the neck expander?

[Tatume]

Sounds like the inside of the neck had "oxidated" sufficiently that your neck expander (maybe not the smoothest finish) placed enough resistance on the case to overcome the tinsel strength of that particular case.

I know it's a spell-check gotcha, but I can't help myself; the pun is too inviting. Yes, it does indeed sound like the problem is "tinsel strength." :-)

Sorry Mike.

Take care, Tom

[missionary5155]

Greetings Tom
That was written after making a 4am wake up to get to the airport for an early flight out by a couple who are headed north there...
That was a jewel ! Maybe we need a sticky for some of those "oops" to be recorded and easily found. A good laugh does the heart good.
Mike in Peru

[WebMonkey]

Broken shell extractor

[ajjohns]

Is it actually stuck in the top of the die or is it stuck on the neck expander?

It was just the neck, stuck in the top (neck) area of the die. The expander pulled out ok. I thank you for the advise, I got it out using a brass punch from the top. It caught just enough of the neck piece to grab and come out.

Thanks!