222 Remington resizing problems

[Hays47]

Have loaded 222 Remingtons like forever. Never any problems what so ever. Now all of a sudden cases sticking to the depriming rod. Today and yesterday drove me nuts. Tried different lubes and even polishing the rod. Whatever I tried seemed to work for a bit then bang rips it right out of the case holder. Tried different shell holders also. Also lubed inside of neck of cartridge.

Finally got so disgusted ordered a new set of dies. Lee dies is what I have been using. I ordered a set of Redding dies. Anyone have the foggiest as to what might be going wrong ???:veryconfu

[grayscale]

Might need to anneal your brass.

[Geezer in NH]

Lube the inside of the neck maybe

[Milky Duck]

yip,you have done SOMETHING different... try graphite powder to lube the necks,but there is another issue going on..you yourself have said been doing it for years without issue...so its NOT the die brand that is problem... try sizing a few younger or better stlll virgin cases and see if issue is still there... the annealing thing may well be your problem. the only time Ive struck what you are describing was in .308 with S&B brass....I threw it away in discust after getting it loaded and fired... just far too hard.

[country gent]

What may be going on is if youve been loading the same brass all that time, The necks may be thickening slightly so when you size it it actually a smaller diameter making it pull harder over the expander. IN a fired case unsized case slipping a bullet in if it isnt a drop in fit this may be your issue

[DocSavage]

Redding makes a carbide expander ball for their dies you might want to look into one.

[Shawlerbrook]

Redding graphite case neck lube that you apply with the treated beads.

[uscra112]

Is the brass clean? Or are you depriming/sizing before tumbling?

[45_Colt]

It may be that the decapping/expanding piece is not threaded far enough into the die. After the case is sized and is being withdrawn from the die the case neck is still in the neck sizing area of the die when the expander enters the neck.

Bam, all jammed up...

45_Colt

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Are the cases trimmed to proper length?

[vernm]

A trick I learned from Glen Zediker. Scrub the inside of the neck with a proper size bronze bore brush before sizing. Makes a big difference.

Also, the carbide expander button helps a lot.

[Char-Gar]

With use, the pressure inside the case causes a brass migration/flow toward toward the mouth of the case. The cases get longer and the necks get thicker. That is why we must trim brass back and sometimes neck turn or ream the necks back to proper thickness.

My best guess is this is your problem.

[uscra112]

It may be that the decapping/expanding piece is not threaded far enough into the die. After the case is sized and is being withdrawn from the die the case neck is still in the neck sizing area of the die when the expander enters the neck.

Bam, all jammed up...

45_Colt

That would do it! Easy to check, too. I've had this happen with those blasted Lee dies because the stem slips in the collet. I've actually welded some of mine to stop it.

[Three44s]

It may be that the decapping/expanding piece is not threaded far enough into the die. After the case is sized and is being withdrawn from the die the case neck is still in the neck sizing area of the die when the expander enters the neck.

Bam, all jammed up...

45_Colt

I am also guessing this one

Three44s

[jmorris]

Have loaded 222 Remingtons like forever. Never any problems what so ever. Now all of a sudden cases sticking to the depriming rod.


What have you changed?

Did you start wet tumbling?

[1hole]

Have loaded 222 Remingtons like forever. Never any problems what so ever. Now all of a sudden cases sticking to the depriming rod. Today and yesterday drove me nuts. Tried different lubes and even polishing the rod. Whatever I tried seemed to work for a bit then bang rips it right out of the case holder. Tried different shell holders also. Also lubed inside of neck of cartridge.

Finally got so disgusted ordered a new set of dies. Lee dies is what I have been using. I ordered a set of Redding dies. Anyone have the foggiest as to what might be going wrong ???:veryconfu

You've proved that lubes and shell holders don't jam case mouths too deep into sizers. Working dies don't change in use.

I suspect you have your de-cap rod set much too high and trapping the sized necks in your die.

[uscra112]

You've proved that lubes and shell holders don't jam case mouths too deep into sizers. Working dies don't change in use.

I suspect you have your de-cap rod set much too high and trapping the sized necks in your die.

As I posted earlier, a hateful feature of the Lee dies is that unthreaded decap rod that is held by a collet nut. It can (and does) slip in use, unless you tighten that nut with a couple of long wrenches until you think something's going to break. O.P. won't have that trouble with any other make of dies.

[jetinteriorguy]

As I posted earlier, a hateful feature of the Lee dies is that unthreaded decap rod that is held by a collet nut. It can (and does) slip in use, unless you tighten that nut with a couple of long wrenches until you think something's going to break. O.P. won't have that trouble with any other make of dies.
One way to prevent this is to make sure there is absolutely no oil or lubricant of any kind either on the collet or the shaft before assembling the decapping rod. Another trick is to take some 80grit sandpaper or appropriate type of abrasive cloth, chuck the rod in a drill and slowly turn it while wrapping the abrasive around the shaft. This will score lines horizontally on the shaft providing more grip for the collet to grab onto. If you do this it will never slip unless it needs to for preventing breaking or bending the pin as it’s designed to do.

[243winxb]

Decapping pin to large for the flash hole? Most all .222 Rem uses a 0.080" flash hole. The ones that dont may be using a 0.062" hole.

My Lee 223 die set could not deprime crimped in primer brass. The rod always slipped.

Been using RCBS since the 1970s.

[uscra112]

One way to prevent this is to make sure there is absolutely no oil or lubricant of any kind either on the collet or the shaft before assembling the decapping rod. Another trick is to take some 80grit sandpaper or appropriate type of abrasive cloth, chuck the rod in a drill and slowly turn it while wrapping the abrasive around the shaft. This will score lines horizontally on the shaft providing more grip for the collet to grab onto. If you do this it will never slip unless it needs to for preventing breaking or bending the pin as it’s designed to do.

Makes sense until you try it. Which I did. Tack welding is the only permanent solution.

[country gent]

You might try roughening the surface where the nut grabs with some coarse sandpaper to get a better "bite" Dont try to remove material just roughen the surface

[1hole]

Makes sense until you try it. Which I did. Tack welding is the only permanent solution.

Put your welder away. Welding will certainly stop rod slip but that's a drastic way to "fix" a nonexistent problem. Nothing works right is it's not used right, Lee's collet decapper system is great IF it's used right.

Lee's unique tapered clamping collet nut center's the decap rod better than any other method and the fact that it CAN push up (if necessary) reduces the chance of a pebble or other obstruction in the case damaging the most fragile part of the die - the decap pin. Lee's decap/expander rod works fine for thousands of users and their message to the world is that it will work fine for others if they use it properly.

Those who can't bring themselves to degrease the collet nut and rod surfaces properly and then actually tighten them enough to hold still don't need a "spot welder" to prevent the rod from pulling out; simply thread 1/4 inch of the rod's top #8-32 and put a nut on it! (Welding the rod will make it impossible to remove and clean inside the die. That inability alone would really bother those of us who strive to keep our reloading tools clean!)

Bottom line, the O.P.'s jammed case necks problem is his decap/expander rod is set much too high, it's NOT because the rod is dragging out. To stop rod slip we don't need to weld it; just clean it, set it right and tighten the collet nut until the slipping stops.

[uscra112]

Oh, I've put it away, all right. Have given all the Lee dies I might still use the treatment, and won't buy Lee again if I can help it. (In these days of dearth one can never say never again.)

I've been in metalworking all my life, been an active reloader for almost 30 years, and at 77 I can honestly say that I've never seen such a misbegotten scheme in a reloading tool.

BTW the more usual failure mode is not that the rod gets pushed up, but that it gets pulled out, along with the case, on the retraction stroke, leaving you with the annoying chore of getting it out. You don't need to ask me how I know. Nor do you need to ask whether any other brand of dies can do this trick.

Yes, you can sometimes stop it slipping by heaving on a pair of foot-long wrenches until your eyes bug out. Not my cuppa tea. I like to clean my dies before each use, which means the decapping rod should be easily removable without brutality, and return to its' correct setting without major tools. (A complaint I also level at RCBS dies.)

The one advantage I can see is that, when Bubba sticks a case in the die for lack of lube, he can perhaps drive it out with a big hammer applied to the protruding rod.

[/rant]

[1hole]

BTW the more usual failure mode is not that the rod gets pushed up, but that it gets pulled out, along with the case, on the retraction stroke, ....

First, I must confess that I haven't bought a new RCBS die set in 30+ years so I don't know how they are put together now. (I find green dies to be as good as any other common brand but no better and their price is more than I'm willing to pay for no statistical gain.)

Pull out is part of what I addressed but I believe the OP's problem rises from his decap rod/expander being so high he's trapping sized case necks between the die body and expander and pulling rims or necks off when trying to get them out.

There's no BTW about it, the problem of pulling the expander out of the die is the most common failure but that's NOT what Mr. Hays is being troubled with.

If you're a machinist, I'm surprised that you prefer to weld the rods in place rather than simply threading the rod stem and putting a simple "anti-pullout nut" on top of the rod.


PS -

You say you like to clean your dies. I wonder, how you do that with the center rod welded in?

[Rapier]

Make a canister with a lid for your bench with #6 shot and powdered graphite. Stick the neck down a couple- four tines. Neck lubed. Throw that Lee stuff in the trash, go Redding carbide, come on now.
The little cases can grow in length or neck thickness, but they will grow eventually. You might try outside neck turning until you have a hair line of unturned brass left full length of the neck, then turn every case neck to the shoulder with the same setting. Fired case. A Sinclair hand turner comes in handy for a 222 case neck.

[Milky Duck]

you fellas feel free to post me all you unwanted LEE reloading gear......I actually PREFER it over redding or hornady..... or lyman

the only single product that LEE makes that I detest with a passion is the crappy toothpast like case jamming white past sold as lube!!!!!!!! if that was what lube was supposed to be like no children would ever get concieved!!!!
just about every single time I hear of someone getting cases stuck,ripping off rims,pulling dies out of press (yes that is correct) its when using that horrid stuff...and YES I will conceed if you do it 100% correctly it works...but a little vasoline on fingers to lube body of case and a quick dip of neck in powdered graphite works oh so much easier and better.