Hornet help

11 February 2014, 00:05

JonP

Hornet help

Never reloaded for Hornet but got my hands on some Lil Gun and thought I would give it a try.
Problem is the pin gets stuck in the primer holes on the Hornady brass I have saved. What's the fix? Using RCBS dies - is this often a problem?
Grind the end of the pin down? or are there better dies for the Hornet?

11 February 2014, 00:19

mike_elmer

Jon, perhaps the flash holes are a little too small. One thing that may be a fix is to buy the Lyman Flash Hole trimmer.

It's a cheap ( Link ), hand held tool that has a cone shaped adjustable guide. The end looks like a countersink drill bit, and the guide slides up and down the shaft, so you can set it to the proper depth. That way it only trims the bur that is left after the flash hole is punched at the factory. It may just make the flash holes more uniform.

It adds one more step to case preparation, but once you do it, you don't have to do it again to the same case. It may also alleviate the "sticking depriming pin" situation.

RCBS dies have never caused me any problems, although I currently use Lee dies for almost all my reloading.

11 February 2014, 01:07

ted thorn

Can't cut them bigger till he gets the primmer punched out.

11 February 2014, 06:03

Stonecreek

By "the pin gets stuck" exactly what do you mean? Does it fail to penetrate through the primer hole and eject the spent primer? Or does it pull out of its seat when you begin to withdraw the case from the die?

If the latter, then your expander button is not turned down firmly enough to adequately squeeze the split end of the decapping stem against the decapping pin in order to hold it in place. Remedy: Tighten your expander button.

I've used quite a bit of Hornady .22 Hornet brass but haven't experienced any problem. Of course, different lots of brass can vary.

11 February 2014, 08:16

mike_elmer

quote:
Originally posted by ted thorn:
Can't cut them bigger till he gets the primmer punched out.

True that.

Based on his post, I assumed he was able to remove the primers, but that the decapping pin was sticking, or binding.

In the past, I had a whole box of 357 Mag brass that had all the flash holes punched off center... it caused a similar situation.

A Lee Decapping tool would have worked wonders in that situation, because it is not part of a resizing die, and can be inserted into the flash hole, even if it is not on center.

I took those things, drilled out the flash holes, and made them into brass for loading wax bullets.

I will wait till JonP posts additional information.

11 February 2014, 08:17

Saeed

We get this sort of thing with a number brass, and the easiest way to sort it out is by thinning the depriming pin.

Very easy to do with some sand paper and the pin chocked in an electric drill.

You only need thin the part of it that goes into the flash hole.

11 February 2014, 10:17

SR4759

Sure can, it's so easy a ....
The flash hole uniformers have a drill point.
Especially the Lyman - because it appears to be manufactured using a #2 center drill

quote:
Originally posted by ted thorn:
Can't cut them bigger till he gets the primmer punched out.

11 February 2014, 14:05

Gerry

quote:
Problem is the pin gets stuck in the primer holes on the Hornady brass I have saved. What's the fix? Using RCBS dies - is this often a problem?

S&B brass used to have this built-in feature, too - what a pain."§$%&/!; primer holes too small and the RCBS decaping pin would stick in the brass.

I've never reduced the size of a decaping pin but Saeed's pin reduction idea certainly has some merit.

I did use the Lyman tool thinking that would be the solution but the brass with the "improved", opened-up primer holes never shot reasonably well thereafter - my take-away was that the Lyman tool opened the primer hole up too much for a cartridge case the size of a 22 Hornet. Not real scientific, I know but still the brass shot better loads without the holes opened up.

I've shot alot of 22 Hornet in my day and overall we found W-W Super to be the best; for overall spec and for volume as well (thinner). Remington 6 1/2 primer, too.

Good Luck with your Hornet; the small, light 30 & 33 grain pills with Lil Gun is a pretty good combination.

11 February 2014, 15:58

ted thorn

quote:
Originally posted by SR4759:
Sure can, it's so easy a ....
The flash hole uniformers have a drill point.
Especially the Lyman - because it appears to be manufactured using a #2 center drill

quote:
Originally posted by ted thorn:
Can't cut them bigger till he gets the primmer punched out.

like I said....you have to get the primmer out first....hmmm

11 February 2014, 16:02

mike_elmer

I know this thing will work for just such an occasion.

11 February 2014, 17:01

mike_elmer

quote:
Originally posted by Gerry:
quote:
Problem is the pin gets stuck in the primer holes on the Hornady brass I have saved. What's the fix? Using RCBS dies - is this often a problem?

S&B brass used to have this built-in feature, too - what a pain."§$%&/!; primer holes too small and the RCBS decaping pin would stick in the brass.

I've never reduced the size of a decaping pin but Saeed's pin reduction idea certainly has some merit.

I did use the Lyman tool thinking that would be the solution but the brass with the "improved", opened-up primer holes never shot reasonably well thereafter - my take-away was that the Lyman tool opened the primer hole up too much for a cartridge case the size of a 22 Hornet. Not real scientific, I know but still the brass shot better loads without the holes opened up.

I've shot alot of 22 Hornet in my day and overall we found W-W Super to be the best; for overall spec and for volume as well (thinner). Remington 6 1/2 primer, too.

Good Luck with your Hornet; the small, light 30 & 33 grain pills with Lil Gun is a pretty good combination.

Gerry, I have used the Lyman Flash hole tool on all my 22 Hornet Brass. Never a problem, but keep in mind, the tool is to remove the bur on the flash hole, not really to "open up" the flash hole itself. I have never tried using it without using the "mouth guide" to control the depth and alignment of the cutter.

Don't misunderstand, I am not disputing your observations or experience. Flash hole dimensions are critical for proper performance, and the Lyman tool should not exceed SAAMI specs.

11 February 2014, 18:48

JonP

I've tightened the expander button as far as it will go. and still managed to pull the pin.

Gonna try Saeed's recommendation and reduce the last 1/4" or so of the pin.

Seems to me that RCBS should provide a die set engineered for the caliber.

11 February 2014, 20:02

ramrod340

quote:
I know this thing will work for just such an occasion.

Works great for Military crimp as well.

13 February 2014, 01:44

SR4759

No you drill right through the flash hole.
The primer does not stop the drill point until it goes through the flash hole.

quote:
Originally posted by ted thorn:
quote:
Originally posted by SR4759:
Sure can, it's so easy a ....
The flash hole uniformers have a drill point.
Especially the Lyman - because it appears to be manufactured using a #2 center drill

quote:
Originally posted by ted thorn:
Can't cut them bigger till he gets the primmer punched out.

like I said....you have to get the primmer out first....hmmm

13 February 2014, 02:22

JonP

Looks like the ticket. What you can't learn here

13 February 2014, 02:27

Alberta Canuck

My suggestion is to just buy an expander ball and decapping pin for the .22 PPC. Lots of European-style brass has flash holes of about .068" diameter. American-style brass usually has flash holes of about ,080"-.082" diameter. Because the PPC cases are still often made by benchrest shooters from older Sako, Norma, or Lapua brass, the dies normally have the smaller diameter decapping pins.

As the American dies hqave a decapping pin to fit the larger hole, naturally the decapping pin sticks in brass with the smaller holes. It's kind of like the problem you'd get if you tried to put a 1" drill bit through a 7/8" drill guide, without the drill tuned on to enlarge the hole.