Bought a set of the Lee dies for .450 Bushmaster at an ACE hardware store/gun shop 50 miles away. Got home and was going to work up some loads for my new rifle when I realized I totally forgot to buy the proper primers (CCI 400 Small Rifle).
So I was bummed but figured I might as well prep the cases and flare the mouths in anticipation of getting the proper primers.
Went to size the first case and it stopped about 5/8"... Odd. Took it out and added some case lube and tried again. Same results. Made the mistake of trying to give it some more pressure and it moved about 1/8" inch and got stuck. Broke my press table trying to get it unstuck.
These are unfired Starline cases. I tried the three fired sample cases that came with the upper and they, of course, were worse. Tried to insert a brand new Hornady Black unfired round and same results.
Tried all other cases in the other dies and they fit perfectly.
Got the calipers out and the cases are within spec but the die is simply undersized.
Attachment 227530
Attachment 227531
So it appears I got a bad die...
Since driving back down to the store and returning the set will cost me $22 in gas, and the fact that it was the only set they had (it was a miracle they even had one), can I return the set directly to Lee? Or can I return just the one die? Or do I have to go through the retailer?