I am loading some .308Win on my Hornady LNL press. When I try resize and deprime, the cases keep binding up in the die. When running the case in to the die slowly I noticed that the case starts to tilt slightly and it starts to shave a burr in the case. I am using a RCBS shell holder in my Hornady press. Is this a problem? Should I not be interchanging parts between brands?

the parts are interchangable, sounds like a bad shell holder

quote:

sounds like a bad shell holder

WHAT! CAN'T BE! Oh, the shame of it, suggesting anything from big green may possibly be out of tolerance! How can that be? Oh, horror...be still my heart...don't tell anyone.

And they will replace it, just as they always do when they screw up. Pretty much the same as anyone else does.



(Excuse me. I just couldn't resist! Not that I tried very hard.)

Are you using the RCBS #3 shell holder. The numbers are different between brands. Here is a chart. http://www.handloads.com/misc/shellholders.asp

Ok today I made a run up to Cabelas and picked up the #1 Hornady shell holder, it works great. Jim C, I noticed your comment about RCBS products being out of tolerance. I am fairly new to reloading. Is RCBS known for this type of problem?

quote:

Originally posted by Dead Eye Dick:
Ok today I made a run up to Cabelas and picked up the #1 Hornady shell holder, it works great. Jim C, I noticed your comment about RCBS products being out of tolerance. I am fairly new to reloading. Is RCBS known for this type of problem?

NO!! Not since I started loading.The biggest shell holder problem for me has been the primer rod clearance hole dia. not being the same in all manufacturors.Forces me to use a hand priming tool at times. roger

he was being ironic .. rcbs makes great products .. this time, though it sounds like just a lemon

They all have a screw up from time to time. I have set of Lee dies in 338 WinMag. Aparrently the F-L resizing die is WAY undersized and maybe my TIKKA chamber is at the outer edge of SAAMI specs., but anyway the FL die would shave the brass and leave a sharp edge just ahead of the Mag belt. I have since bought a set of Redding 338 WM dies and have absolutely NO problems. I need to send the bad die back to LEE but when you figure shipping cost it almost isn't worth it.

"Jim C, I noticed your comment about RCBS products being out of tolerance. I am fairly new to reloading. Is RCBS known for this type of problem?"

Not at all. Jeff is correct. So is Rae59.

I was only poking a gentle finger in the eye of those Kool-Aid drinkers who feel that anything green is the epitome of prefection and never makes anything out of tolerance. And, from that, they sometimes show a hint of disdain at other makers as being lessor products. So my weak joking is aimed at them, not RCBS itself.

Those vocal few are wrong, all our producers make good stuff - ALL OF THEM! - on average, and that's really my message. And an average imples that they all sometimes screw up. When it happens, they fix it. Seems they ALL stand behind their stuff and replace valid maker defects, sometimes even for foolish damage done by the buyers!

All things are made to tolerances. Sometimes they "stack" in our favor and sometimes they don't. I've found individual dies of all brands to vary as much as they do between brands. Rae59 could have gotten another .338 FL die from Lee and found it to fit his Tikka perfectly. Fit between a rifle and a die is luck of the draw, not brands.

Most dies and shell holders produced in the last fifty years are made according to NMRA (National Reloading Manufactoring Association) designs so they can fully interchanage. If a tool of the standard design won't interchange all we need do is contact the maker for a replacement.