I did a really dumb thing (stuck case related in the utmost sense of the words) ...

[Airborne Falcon]

So I rolled up a bunch of 5.56 - several hundred - of which 298 went as planned, passed the case gauge check .... lovely.

Two did not.

And now I have gone and done probably the dumbest thing I have ever done in thirty years of reloading.

They were only off by a couple of mm ... so what did my idiotic ?????? do? (*** was I thinking ... I am SUCH an idiot!) I'm embarrassed.

I decided to run the first case back up in the resizing die and I greased'er-up good before I tried this ... I deserve everything I get for this. This is a warning to all noobies .... NEVER EVER do something this stupid.

Loaded stuck case ... live primer. I AM AN IMBECILE! I AM A MORON!

No way to reach down in the die and pull the pill, dump the powder and deactivate the primer.

No way to tap the flash hole and extract the case without risking ignition.

Only things I can think to do is ...

1) Accept my punishment, trash the die, pay the price.

2) Think of some way of cutting-off the base of the case that is exposed, dump the charge and go from there trying to get the case and seated pill out. But my danger meter is pegging with the thought of that.

Call me names. Fire away. I deserve everything thrown at me. This is my official cyber walk of shame.





Mods: Wasn't sure which forum to post this in so I rolled the dice .... feel free to move it if there is a more appropriate place to illustrate my stupidity.

[trails4u]

I have no idea...… But watching with interest!

[trails4u]

Wonder if you could rig some kind of inertia based gizmo to get the bullet out? That would certainly open up more possibilities?

[TyGuy]

Since the expander rod has been removed I would think there is enough room for the bullet to drop out through the top hole. Could you use the die as an inertia puller by tapping the top of the die on a lead ingot? If the bullet goes, so goes the powder. Then you can knock out the primer and bullet from the top.

Be very careful however you decide to proceed.

[CraigOK]

I wanted to save the die i would toss the die in a vise and hacksaw off the base of the brass with the live primer, proceed from there. Then dump powder. Then if I could get the rest out yeah, if not at least when I was trying there wasn't powder and a live primer involved

[Airborne Falcon]

I have no idea...… But watching with interest!

This is me.

shame, shame, shame, shame, shame

[trails4u]

If you've done this long enough.....you've done something, uh...less than ideal. We all have. Kudos to you for owning it!! If there's a group of people anywhere on earth that can solve this (and save your die!)...this is the place!

[Airborne Falcon]

Wonder if you could rig some kind of inertia based gizmo to get the bullet out? That would certainly open up more possibilities?

Thought about that but then I thought that pill being squeezed in that sizing die like it ... looking down in there .... no way I could possibly generate enough inertia to cause that bullet to release. Plus I factory taper crimped those bad boys. Just slightly, but still.

[CraigOK]

It hasn't hurt you yet, as long as it doesn't its all good. Everyone else gets a teachable moment at your expense and you had the stones to talk about it even though its embarrassing. Stay safe

[Airborne Falcon]

I wanted to save the die i would toss the die in a vise and hacksaw off the base of the brass with the live primer, proceed from there. Then dump powder. Then if I could get the rest out yeah, if not at least when I was trying there wasn't powder and a live primer involved

That's the way I am leaning at the moment. My only concern is the "what if" ... what if the brass gets hot enough from the friction of the hacksaw to ignite the powder?

Right now I am wondering if I lube it up real good with some WD-40 and I go really slow and light with the saw ... get a little hole/slot cut in the brass, enough to let some hot soapy water seep in and soak it all over night and then possibly that would even soak into the primer ... I dunno. It's a thought.

[remy3424]

So what was supposed to happen when it went to size the neck with a bullet in it? Looks like a lapse of cognitive brain activity for sure, accept it and buy a new sizer...or you could drive the bullet back into the case...assuming there is room with the load of powder, if the case doesn't fall out, shake out the powder or pour in something to keep the powder from igniting and pound it out. I think I would write-off the cost of the die to an education. I am not sure I could have posted this...quite humbling I am guessing, just glad it wasn't me and sorry it was you. Good luck, let us know if out get it out...once the bullet is out, it might come out easily.

[M-Tecs]

Friend of mine lost a thumb trying to remove one when is stuck one in the same manor. Chemical inverting primers is spotty at best. On FL dies the neck gets overworked and ends up being undersized. The expander bring it back to proper size. Bullets don't compress as easily as neck do.

[maxreloader]

Maybe run cutting oil/water over it while you hack saw it... or drill a small hole in the side of the case and squirt oil or WD in there...

[Airborne Falcon]

So what was supposed to happen when it went to size the neck with a bullet in it? Looks like a lapse of cognitive brain activity for sure, accept it and buy a new sizer...or you could drive the bullet back into the case...assuming there is room with the load of powder, if the case doesn't fall out, shake out the powder or pour in something to keep the powder from igniting and pound it out. I think I would write-off the cost of the die to an education. I am not sure I could have posted this...quite humbling I am guessing, just glad it wasn't me and sorry it was you. Good luck, let us know if out get it out...once the bullet is out, it might come out easily.

It was a light load 22 grains of IMR 4895 came up just to the bottom of the shoulder ... probably plenty of room to compact enough to allow that pill to be pushed back ... and you're right, if I can do that then I can fill the die cavity with whatever to deactivate the powder and perhaps the primer ... hmmmmmmm ... should I give that a try.

No way the powder will dump because if I turn it upside down the bullet will simply fall back into the neck and plug the hole ... but a deactivating fluid could seep down in there and heck, I might even be able to hydraulically remove it from there ... IF I can get that pill to back down. That might be worth a try.

[merlin101]

I don't know but am I missing something here? Why can't you insert a small diameter brass rod into the threaded hole the expander screws into and tap the whole cartridge out? 11 reply's and I come up with this, yeah I must be missing something!

[Polymath]

I have done something similar. I do not recommend/promise anything but here is what I would do.

1. Drill two opposite holes through the web 1/16" diameter, shake out as much powder as you can.
2. Through the two holes you drilled. Fill the primer flash hole with WD40 and leave it soak for a couple days, repeat. This should kill the primer.
3. Drill out carefully the primer, use a sharp ice pick like tool to remove the the dead primer.
4. Take a smaller that bullet diameter brass punch and drive the bullet back into case. This should relieve pressure on the neck.
5. Heat die up with propane torch and drive out case. I have done this with success.
Not cherry red, just hot enough to upset the metal and allow for separation.
As a welder I have done this many times on stuck or broken bolts and seized nuts.
Stick the die in the vice and keep tapping and heating until it lets go.

Not for faint of heart but with the powder gone and a dead primer I don't see a problem.
Let me know how you fare.

[jcduchock]

I've done the same thing. as hard as it is getting to find dies, you might want to give this a try. Safety gear is a must as always.

Here is what I did.

I put the die in my vise (away from everything)
I used a fine tooth hack saw to very slowly cut between the primer and die.

This took a few minutes of slowly cutting. I used some cutting oil to help keep everything cool.

After the primer was out of the way, I dumped the powder and soaked the die in some Kroil. I was then able to use a bolt to gently thread it into the case and pulled it out.

[pastera]

push the whole thing out with grease - I have a lathe so a threaded adapter to add a zirk fitting to the decap pin opening would be an afternoon task.

[MUSTANG]

I would consider going the other direction (down) using a drill press. Here is my thoughts/logic:

(1) Any action against the Primer could set off the "Live Round" which in essence is currently contained in a barrel (the die) with an open chamber (the base sticking out of the die). Should the primer be triggered; then the bullet will be expelled from one end with the ability to harm/maim/kill someone - while the gases generated from the other end will push the primer out at best; but probably also rupture the portion of the brass not inside the die and sending potential shrapnel out the end.

(2) If I were attempt to work this problem personally; I would place the die with the bullet end up in a drill press. Pass a small diameter mill bit (.198 or less?) onto the nose of the bullet to make a flat nose area. If this were not done then the next step could skew the bit to the side wallow the die). I would then use a drill bit of say .195 diameter or slightly less to drill through the bullet all the way to the powder. Remove the drill shavings. Take the die and shake out the powder through the drilled hole in the bullet. Then the primer could be "Popped" and use a stuck shell remover such as RCBS to pull the case and remnants.

(3) DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER Warning. If I were to attempt this - I would recognize that the Bullet End of the Die could have a live round come out of it. This would:

(a) potentially damage/ruin the drill press and could send shrapnel ut from the impact. A shield of some sort should be implemented.
(b) potentially send shrapnel from the exposed base should the round go off. A shield in this area should be implemented.


Now - In my youth I might have tried this. But; the older we get we often become Risk Averse. My recommendation is that you go to Brownnel's or other site and order a Small Base Sizing Die for $40.00 plus shipping. An order now will be placed on back order and filled when available. https://www.brownells.com/reloading/...rod111554.aspx

This is a much safer solution, and as it is 5.56/.223 we are speaking of - somewhere along the way you will probably acquire brass that was shot in Machine Guns and the base will be oversize and need to be sized in a small base sizer or thrown away.

[Airborne Falcon]

I don't know but am I missing something here? Why can't you insert a small diameter brass rod into the threaded hole the expander screws into and tap the whole cartridge out? 11 reply's and I come up with this, yeah I must be missing something!

Just tried that ... I have quite a few bullet pullers and stuck case removers and one of them, an RCBS Stuck Case Remover-2 kit (part number 09355) has a steel rod which measures 0.2175 in diameter. Just small enough to fit into the top of the resizing die and through the neck of the case without damaging the die IF I could get the pill pushed back into the case.

Failure.

She flattened-out, didn't budge ....