Bent rims on 6mm rifle cases

[waltherboy4040]

Using a lee single stage, lee shell holder, lee lube, and rcbs small base dies. On some of the remington cases I'm getting getting bent rims on one side of the case. How do I stop this? I followed the die instructions and don't want to mess up anymore more brass.

[trails4u]

I don't think I've ever bent a rim on press, with the exception of 1 or 2 5.56 cases early in my learning curve, due to sticking cases in the die.

My guess is something is not right. Ill fitting shell holder, maybe? Maybe try a different lube? I use Imperial Sizing Die Wax exclusively, and have not had a stuck case or other such sizing issues since I went this route....

[waltherboy4040]

I don't think I've ever bent a rim on press, with the exception of 1 or 2 5.56 cases early in my learning curve, due to sticking cases in the die.

My guess is something is not right. Ill fitting shell holder, maybe? Maybe try a different lube? I use Imperial Sizing Die Wax exclusively, and have not had a stuck case or other such sizing issues since I went this route....

Checked the case in both of my lee shell holders and they both seem lose. Does anyone have a recommendation for a tighter shell holder?

[tazman]

I have never used the Lee case lube so cannot comment on how good it is. I use Hornady One Shot spray on case lube. I use Lee loading dies and shellholders. Never had a stuck case or a bent rim.
There are so many variations in case rim size that you need the shell holder to be a bit loose.

[trails4u]

Checked the case in both of my lee shell holders and they both seem lose. Does anyone have a recommendation for a tighter shell holder?

I don't think vertical play should affect things too much, but if you have a bunch of side to side play, maybe that could be an issue? I have shell holders from just about everyone, and some do seem to be tighter fitting than others. I've been using mostly Lyman lately (got tired of hunting them and bought a kit), and they seem to be very consistent and well fitted. The more I think about it....if they're bending on the same side every time, could it be a press alignment issue? Is it requiring a bunch of force to lift the handle after sizing? I'm also thinking about your case mouth expander, and wondering if it's not buggered somehow? I'm interested in learning how this is resolved, as I don't think it's a terribly common problem.

[waltherboy4040]

Well I backed off the decapping rod, re-adjusted the die, adjusted the shell holder, and used a little bit more lube. I'm not sure what fixed it, but its working great now. I'm thinking maybe I had the decapping rod set to deep. Thanks for the help!

[Lloyd Smale]

make sure you lube the inside of the case mouth. Ive seen it to and it was caused by pulling the neck expander ball through the case without lube.

[tazman]

make sure you lube the inside of the case mouth. Ive seen it to and it was caused by pulling the neck expander ball through the case without lube.

What Lloyd said is very possible. With the spray I use, that part gets taken care of automatically.

[6bg6ga]

All good points.. Maybe selection of a case lube that actually works correctly. I had problems with lube until I made my own lanolin/isopropal achohol mix.

Since going to this over the one shot I have experienced no problems.

[blikseme300]

I have noticed that the Lee universal shell holders are a bit generous in size for some calibers. This is probably done on purpose to fit a wider range of cases. The Lee sets are useful but I have changed most of my often used holders to Hornady as these work in their case trimmer.

Glad you got the problem resolved.

[Bama]

make sure you lube the inside of the case mouth. Ive seen it to and it was caused by pulling the neck expander ball through the case without lube.

For a while, I was getting major resistance when the ball was pulled back through the new. A thread on this site talked about using a vibratory tumbler and "NU Finish to clean brass. I had been using SS pins in wet tumbler. I tried the Nu Finifh and it did a great job with nice shinny brass. I also noticed that I was no longer getting resistance when expander ball was pulled through the neck. I did not want to add lube to the inside due to messing up bullet pull.

[Drm50]

The expander is probably causing undue force because of friction with drawing through neck. When you combine this with loose fitting Lee shell holders = deformed rim. I don't lube inside
case necks, I brush them. Also I'm not a nut on mirror polished casings. I want clean cases.
Mine goes into vibrator / crushed walnut, then vibrator with AC coil cleaner solution, rinse and
let air dry. Brass is clean inside and out with no need to have anylube inside the case. I'm not
loading for ARs, usually 100 at a time for BA rifles. I load on Rock Chucker for all rifle loads.