Well I had some Bertram brass that I had trashed and thought I'd set my die with one..
Bingo it went up so far and got a bit sticky so I pulled it out and got the base and about 1/2" of case, the rest is in the die!! I know I can send it back to RCBS, but would like to get it out as opposed to that...

Any solid suggestions..I have a stuck case remover but that requires a base, so thats out...

broken case extractor for rifles. grabs the case mouth from inside. what caliber?

My first attempt might be to get a tight fitting wooden dowel "screwed" in to the stuck portion of the case. Then apply a good dose of penetrating oil so that it seeps between the case and the die.

Put the whole thing into the freezer until it's frozen. Pull it out and heat the outside of the die. A pot of boiling water might be enough, maybe a propane torch if more heat is needed.

Good luck in any event.

It is soaking in Kroil as we speak, and I have been considering just what you suggest but I don't want to mess with the die too much and was concerned about the heat makeing a soft spot or scale inside..

Delloro,
10.75x68, I have a stuck case remover but it requires a base..

I thought there was such a thing as a stuck case remover for a case that is pulled in half like this one but Huntingtons just told me there ain't no such animal..??????

If you can get access to some dry ice, put a bit of it in the brass case part only, this may/should cause the brass to contract at a faster rate than the steel and might enable you to punch it out with a wood dowel. You might also try a hooked (perferably a pair - three) type of puller to catch the neck. Some risk to the die if the hooks are too hard. You probably could fashion them out of a brass screw from the hardware store and spread them with a pointed wood dowel. Just my .02, hope you find a soultion and please let us know what it is. Haven't been there yet but you never know when stuff is going to happen

Can you get a grip on it with a chamber brush and drive it out?

Last resort - check with a chemist and find an acid that will attack brass and not tool steel.
You might try some of the copper solvents used to clean barrels. You have to be very careful in the selection of the acid.
I have carefully cut brass with a scraper in a couple of places to weaken the walls of the case without cutting through to the die. I then pryed the brass away from the die until the case was grippable with needle nose pliers. Add some Kroil and pull.

I drill out the primer pocket and thread it with a tap.then put a deep well socket big enough to miss the case but making good contact with the die mouth,over the case ,thread in the proper size bolt and pull the case out.thats a mighty simplified description ,but it works every time.Use a half inch drive socket so you can use a bigger bolt.

Ray, Fine tip on oxy/acy torch. Copper alloys are selfish. They'd steal all the heat if they could so you run a lengthwise heat line on about 2/3 of the brass. This expands it with no place to go, and the die body will chill it some causing a wrinkle in the brass which relieves the tension. Most of the time it simply falls out. Just keep in mind you are not trying to preheat the brass for a brazing operation. It is about as quick to do as reading this.

I have on occasion used a fine probe, like a dental tool, to lift up a small piece of the brass while holding the die in a vice. A very small access will let you use a brass brad to enlarge the fault, then work out the stuck brass. Good luck! All provided the temp change doesn't work, of course!

Mr. Burgess, I learn cool stuff every time you post!

Thank you.



Another way is to remove the decapping stem, degrease, drop a bullet or ball into the case, then fill with molten lead. When cool drive it out with a rod.

I had this happen to me recently, for the first time in 30 years of reloading

What I did is I unscrewed the decapping assembly and backed it out as far as I could, then sawed off the base that was protruding, flush with the base of the die.

Drilled a hole large enough in the remaining web so I could remove the decapper and expanding ball through the bottom, and then the decapper mount could be removed from the top. This was an RCBS die BTW.

Now I am left with just a die body and stuck case. I used a tap of the right thread and diameter to make a thread in the inside of the case body but which did not touch the die body.

Screwed in a bolt to match the thread, then drove it out from the top with a long punch.

Took 10 minutes.

Go down to the hardware store and buy some household ammonia, the stronger the better. Put the die in in a jar and cover with the ammonia; change the liquid every couple of days or when it goes blue. Your "copper fouling" will be dissolved out of the die.

large easy-outs are designed for exactly this. there's one for 1/2 inch taps, that will run in, very aggresive LEFT HANDED threads... then taps it out... or you might have to use a gear puller, if it's really badly stuck.

jeffe

My club handed self would try to get the edge of a small flat screwdriver under the edge of the case, then lift/pry it away from the die. that should both give you something to grab with needlenose pliers and relieve most of the pressure. It might scratch the die if one isn't careful though...but dies are pretty hard.

I like jeffe's idea too. If the brass is thick at the split, a regular tap might be able to grab it...but a tap WILL scratch the die if run in too far.

If you can get the decapping part out, that is why I always size mine without the decapping unit in place; as this happened to me too much..

I just use a slim punch and tap the case out of the die, with a small brass hammer....

If I leave the decapping unit in, I run it all the way to the top of the die so it does not decap.. this was a tip from RCBS customer service....

I then decap the case in a second operation, using a Lee Universal Decapping Die... I go the long way around the barn to avoid stuck cases.
In a lot of Calibers I reload, I originally had RCBS dies, but started buying the Lee's especially the RGBs for $10.00, just so I was not "down" in loading that caliber when the die went back to RCBS to get the case out that I had stuck, and then mangled everything else trying to get the little monster out of there....

cheers
seafire

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:

Any solid suggestions..I have a stuck case remover but that requires a base, so thats out...

Ray,

Buy and/or use a fine thread pitch tap that will cut a thread inside the stuck remains. It may need to be a metric configuration. You want the threads about half way through the brass. Go as deep as you can without case taper getting you too close to the die wall. Your threads will not be full depth.

Screw in a piece of threaded rod of the same pitch and put a short 1/2" (1 1/2"-2") pipe nipple over the rod. A couple of washers and a nut has a home made puller constructed that has gotten some tough ones out for me.

A bolt can be used instead of threaded rod but you are working the delicate threads you just made in this case and have a greater chance of stripping them.

BigRx

Ray, Buy a easy out set at Ace Hardware. They work great on Dies and also on brass stuck in a rifle barrel when you have head seperation. CHEERS

quote:

Originally posted by 8MM OR MORE:
I have on occasion used a fine probe, like a dental tool, to lift up a small piece of the brass while holding the die in a vice. A very small access will let you use a brass brad to enlarge the fault, then work out the stuck brass. Good luck! All provided the temp change doesn't work, of course!

I would do it as suggested above. You said there is no case head. Work a wrinkle in the side of the case. Increase the size of the rod you are tapping in there as you go. I am thinking of using increasing size nails. they should be softer than the die. If you keep the probes free of sharp edges you should not damage the die. I use my buffing set up to shape such things. The 120 grit cuts fast. It will leave a rounded smooth surface. Once the wrinkle is sufficiently large put a pair of needle nose pliers between the case and the die. Grab on and give it a twist. That will reduce the diameter of the case. It should then come out very easily.

Well I wouldn't put any metal inside a die other than perhaps brass..polished steel is one of the most tender substances in the world believe it or not..I know this from polishing actions...

Tom Burgess emailed me and told me to run a strip on the die with my torch..I did that, turned the torch off, didn't get it red, just hot, short of red, and the case fell out and that puppy was tight as first I tried tapping a 3380-06 case in it then tapping it out, that just made it tighter..The heat ran to the copper, the copper shrunk and fell on the floor, slicker n snot, so thanks Tom...

I figure if Tom doesn't know how to do something with metal, we're all in trouble.

Oh yes, and thanks to all....

I realize that what I am about to say will not help your existing problem, but will help to avoid the same problem in the future. Use Lee resizeing lube and the problem will go away. Also there will never be another dented case.

Sorry Roger when a case has inseped seperation from head space or a hot load and you don't catch it visually and sometime you will not, then its going to come into when you try to pull it out of the chamber or the die, depends on your luck....Dented cases are the product of too much lube, plain and simple..Bett you see that ring than trust Lee anything...

Glad the problem is solved for you! I have used the technique I described, it is no fun, and could easily lead to damaging a die surface if you slip or get to agressive. The heat/cold method works well, sometimes you don't have that as an option. I once had a batch of 30/06 cases that I threw away after having 4 out of 5 cases rip apart in the die on me. Friends and "could you load up a few for me?".

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Tom Burgess emailed me and told me to run a strip on the die with my torch....

Glad that worked for you. I was just getting ready to tell you how to do it using a Cutting Torch, hacksaw, sledge hammer and (your favorite) a boresnake.

Ray,

I had this problem a couple of years ago with a 375 die, and later with my rifle. Apparently, I wasn't sorting brass very well and had a couple snap off at the belt, one in a die and another later on in my rifle. Luckily it was at the range, not on a mountain somewhere. Anyway, my gunsmith got me a broken case extractor that works like magic. It is from Brownells, and is called an "Echo" extractor the address on the tube is in your neck of the woods,

W.J. Riebe Co. 3434 Tucker rd. Boise ID 83703.

This thing now lives in my hunting pack, and I don't re-use brass quite so much

DGK

Thanks, 375, Boise is just an hour away if I don't tarry to long, I will pick up one of those handy gaggets...

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Well I wouldn't put any metal inside a die other than perhaps brass..polished steel is one of the most tender substances in the world believe it or not..I know this from polishing actions...

Ray,
the echo is exactly like the military broken shell extractor, which is a hard springy piece of metal you jam into a chamber and then jerk it out...

which, if you look at it, a press fit removal has a higher probability of pressing the brass back deeper than catching and pulling... when compared to using the correct tool as an easy out..


your call, but remember both are hard metal that would be jammed into a die

jeffe

never had a case seperate on me.
I read somewhere that a plug ould be super glued into the case and a grease fitting screwed into the the top of the die and grease pumpedinto the case and the pressure will push out the case.??

Jeffe,
An easy out is a dangerous move inside a die, it could possible cut too deep in a soft spot according to Tom Burgess..the torch is the way to go and it always works according to Tom..

I would not hesitate to use broken case extractor in the field as opposed to quit hunting...but most any case that has come apart in a "rifle" you can extract by simply pushing a 45 or 50 caliber bronze brush in and out, has always worked for me...its never as snug as a broken case in a reloading die.

quote:

Originally posted by hivelosity:
never had a case seperate on me.
I read somewhere that a plug ould be super glued into the case and a grease fitting screwed into the the top of the die and grease pumpedinto the case and the pressure will push out the case.??

That is an interesting concept, but I would be hesitant to put super glue into a broken case that was stuck in a die. I see the potential for a paper weight there, as in most of the methods, including mine, that have been suggested. I have used heat/cold, and know it works, you just may not have that as an option at the time. If talking about a 30/06 die, it could be a minor inconvience, some others could be a problem.

No matter what, caution should be the order of the day.

Ray,
Put the whole lot in the freezer for a day or two. The brass should shrink enough to allow for easier extraction.
rob

From this here newbie is they sell a removal tool that will remove those suckers.

Use Lee dies they come apart and you beat that sucker out.

The other company I have run for a few years was working for building industry and it gave me the idea to use a bolts and nuts metal wall inserts.

The anchoring part of the insert comprises a number of metal segments which are forced into the side of the hole by a cone which is pulled forward into the segments by the bolt or nut being tightened.

Tighten the nut or bolt until the segments begin to bite into the wall of the case and then pull the assy out of the die.

Interesting that so many did not read the question.
I will try the heat scheme next time.
I usually use Cerrosafe to extract headless cases from either a die or a chamber.
Years ago I had to remove a ,303 Savage case from a Winchester .30-30 WCF die. I had in my field kit a 3" triangular sail needle, which I jammed along side the case wall, collapsing the case as others above suggested. It came right out with a slight tug with needle-nosed pliers. The sail needle is polished smooth and quite hard. There was no damage at all to the die.
I think Cerrosafe. Cerrobend, Cerromachine, Wood's metal or any of the fusible alloys or even the old standby sulfur would be the gentlest way to do this, if available. It was not an option in the Winchester M94 die.
Cheers from Darkest California,
Ross

I like the way Tom Burgess suggested, it worked so slick and took about 2 minutes..no damage or risk to the die, no overnight in the freezer, just hit the outside with some heat, the brass case draws the heat, mush like a heat sink, and it literaly falls out...

some of these other methods would be more suitable to a rifle chamber, if care was used, but on a rifle chamber a 50 cal brush pushed in and the bristles bend back and a quick jerk back and out it comes, if not then go the cerrosafe route..First and foremost you must not scratch the chamber at all and this is easily done as polished steel is easy to scratch.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I like the way Tom Burgess suggested, it worked so slick and took about 2 minutes..no damage or risk to the die, no overnight in the freezer, just hit the outside with some heat, the brass case draws the heat, mush like a heat sink, and it literaly falls out...

That method always works well. What happens when you warm the die is that the steel expands before the heat reaches the brass inside. If you heat the die all the way around and too long, then the brass will rapidly expand and won't fall out.

You can try the same on a brand new glass jar with a stuck metallic lid: Turn the faucet to run hot water, grab the jar by its bottom and let hot water run over the lid only (two or three seconds), and then remove the lid. If you have heated the lid only, not the glass, the lid should have come off with little effort.

I try the same method with over-tightened nuts on bolts. If the nut does not wan to come out, all i do is to heat the nut with a torch for a second or two (to expand the nut only, not the bolt), and rapidly turn the nut with a wrench. It works every time.