Started reloading last year. Bought dies and components and reloaded on my friends press with his mentoring.

Fast forward to now got my own press and have been setting up the dies on my rig. After 2 different caliber reloadings with no problems got to my third and there is trouble.

Using a redding full length resizing die for a 300 win mag form fired once fired federal cases.

Prepped and lubed all of my cases and resized the first 2 with no problems. But I noticed it seemed a little harder than normal at the bottom of the pull of the press. Got to my third case and it seem extremely hard to pull the press 3/4 of the way down so I stopped and didn't force it. Tried other cases same problem. Tried the 2 previously full length resized cases same problem.

What is going on and how can I fix this?

Thanks

The ram of presss does need to be lubed ocasionally. I use SAE 40 motor oil (not 10w40), about a drip per month. Slather it on he ram and run it up and down about 10 times. May be your problem maybe not.

Maybe a touch more lube on the cases, perhaps? Without being there and feeling it myself, it's hard to diagnose

Remove the decapping stem and give the FL die a good clean out with some white spirit or even CRC and wipe out dry, it may have picked up a speck of material from a case that is causing the tightness. Inspect the die internally for burrs or galling, maybe not be harden correctly?

Check that the decapping stem and button is not screwed too far into the die and bumping on the case base. I don't know the Redding die set up but maybe the stem is held in place with a collet and has slipped down slightly if you have not used enough lube on the inside of a case neck?

I prefer the Lyman and RCBS dies for the reason that the decapper stem is screwed into the top collar and locked in place with a lock nut or collar i.e. cannot move once set and locked.

Imperial sizing wax is one of the best I have found for the resizing job.

The other posters are on the right track. I had similar problems using Hornady One Shot case lube. I even found brass streaks inside my die. I used some flitz on a round cotton wheel for a dremel tool to polish the inside of the die and remove the brass streaks. I now use Imperial sizing wax as it's easier to apply and wipe off than the sticky RCBS case lube and pad.

I once had a set of Redding dies that would not full length resize my 338 WM cases down far enough for easy chambering. I gave em to a buddy and started using RCBS dies and haven't had any other problems. I'm not knockin Redding dies as they are very well made, they just didn't work for my rifle chamber which was just a hair tighter than minimum SAAMI spec according to my RCBS Precision Micrometer and once fired cases.

The hesitation you're experiencing is the expander ball passing through the neck, it may be too large in comparison to the size the neck is being reduced to.
I would unscrew the decapping stem and measuring the expander ball to determine it's diameter, it should be .002"-.0015" UNDER bullet diameter, no more, no less.
An easy fix if it is too large, is to put the decapping pin with the expander attached into a drill press and using 800 wet/dry and copius amounts of WD40, polish the expander to be .0015"-.002" under bullet diameter.
You did not mention what brand dies you're using, an easy way to lessen the amount of dragging of the expander through the neck is to use a dry type lube on the inside of the necks, I use powdered graphite on a nylon neck brush, a little goes a long way and I tap off any excess and only use a couple of passes through the neck before sizing.
One thing the new loader should realise, neck tension is important, it determines initial start pressures that are consistent and makes finding an accurate node easier due to consistent ignition/barrel times.
Neck tension only needs to be sufficient enough to hold a bullet from moving in the neck when bumped etc.
The factories only crimp their ammo because it boosts their initial start pressures with the powder charges they use, most handload recipes use powder with slower burn rates than the factories use, this is not always true of course, but is more likely than not.
Hope this helps.

Cheers.
416.

Some dies come with a preservative oil on them.
This oil will stick cases until it is cleaned
off. By oaal means use Imperial and pitch every
othe lube. Remenber to lube the inside of the
case neck. A littel Imperial on Qtip applied
at the inside shoulder junction does wonders and
it wwon't effect anything.

I had the same problem with two new sets of Redding 300 wby die sets. I failed to clean the shipping compound out of the fl die and this was my problem. Played havoc with the necks on several expensive cases until I read the damn directions!

Thanks for all of the advice. The thing that I can't figure out is I have resized 25-30 cases over the winter on my friends press working up a load no problem. But now that I am trying to load a box on my new press I am having problems.

I think the advice on cleaning and inspecting your dies. (Take them apart first), plus a lack of lube in the right amount in the right spot are your 2 best bets to self diagnose this. I use the old style lube goop and I put some inside the neck, because with cheaper dies, I got less hang up and resistance.

I would inspect the stuck brass, the press components and then follow the advice above if nothing significant showed up.

quote:

Originally posted by MN Hunter:
Thanks for all of the advice. The thing that I can't figure out is I have resized 25-30 cases over the winter on my friends press working up a load no problem. But now that I am trying to load a box on my new press I am having problems.

So it seems you had no problems when using all sets of dies including the 300 WM dies on your friends press and no problems with other dies on your own press. Just the 300WM dies giving problems. Can't be a die problem then unless you have changed the de-capper position or the sizing button. If you have not changed anything on the FL die, or somehow damaged it then it must be a lube issue. Once fired cases from another firearm maybe over-sized from a chamber with generous specs so you may need a better lube and a bit more of it, Imperial Wax, and I too use it inside the neck applying with a cotton bud rolled in the lube. You can't seem to use too much Imperial as you can other lubes which dent the cases.

quote:

Belted magnum cartridges have been around for over 50 years, and most shooters that reload them are familiar with the case bulge problem that occurs "just above" the belt. This usually happens after just 2 or 3 firings - wasting perfectly good cases. Many shooters have discovered this problem when they find their handloads begin to stick in their chamber, or when they no longer chamber at all.

Unlike non-belted cases, the belt prevents conventional full length dies from traveling far enough down the case. This limits the amount of resizing, and brass is plowed rearward. The brass builds up just above the belt at each reloading, and cases expand. Neck sizing dies don't bump the shoulder back or resize the tapered case wall. The best solution is to full length resize accurately, and use this collet die to reduce case width.

Read about the Belted Magnum Die.

Imperial case lube

If that doesn't end all of your problems aneal your necks

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:


So it seems you had no problems when using all sets of dies including the 300 WM dies on your friends press and no problems with other dies on your own press. Just the 300WM dies giving problems. Can't be a die problem then unless you have changed the de-capper position or the sizing button. If you have not changed anything on the FL die, or somehow damaged it then it must be a lube issue. Once fired cases from another firearm maybe over-sized from a chamber with generous specs so you may need a better lube and a bit more of it, Imperial Wax, and I too use it inside the neck applying with a cotton bud rolled in the lube. You can't seem to use too much Imperial as you can other lubes which dent the cases.

Again thanks for all of everyones help and advice. As I am sure you all assumed to learn this myself I had to go and get a case stuck. And then learn how to get one unstuck. On one hand this was a huge hassle on the other a great learning experience. Here is what I learned...

Just as eagle27 said it was a lube issue.

a RCBS die in .264 Win Mag is fine with Lee case lube

a Hornady die in .270 Winchester is fine with Lee case lube

a Redding die in .300 Win Mag HATES Lee case lube.

The only variable from using this die at my friends house was we were using his case lube. It happened to be Hornady One Shot spray lube. So after unsticking the case and cleaning everything out I put it all together and sprayed some One Shot on the case and like magic worked perfectly smooth as butter.

Here are some photos of the carnage. And in case your wondering yes after I drilled it out the first tap I tried to put in broke. Good times.

Thanks again,

Jason

Next time use a 1/4" tap instead of the 3/8" tap. It makes the job go a lot smoother.

I use Lee Case Lube and love it. I load .300 WM regularly and never have a problem.

Hornady case lube in a tub; rub on with your fingers. Slicker Than Owl Sh*t (which used to actually be a brand of case lube).

Like hitting your thumb, when it quits hurting it sure feels good.

I used part of a tube of Lee Lube about 30 years ago. I was not too impressed for heavy duty sizing. Imperial is much better.
Mystic JT 6 is so slippery that the case will force itself back out of the die when you lower the handle. However JT 6 is too messy for normal use.

Hornady Unique in the little tub is very good too.

Hornady One Shot is known all over the web for stuck cases and pulled off rims - especially on the dinky .223 case.

If you use Hornady One Shot do it on a 45-70 or a .348 or something with an industrial size rim that will tear the top off of your shell holder.

The best case lube I have used is Imperial Sizing Die Wax. It is now sold by Redding.

Quick curve-ball. I use a Moly Slip product called Copa-Slip as a case lube. The product was developed to prevent binding in engineering press fits. We do have machinists on the forum - they may want to chip in?

The stuff's quite costly, but I use so little of it that a tube lasts years. I fully believe that my 'stuck case removal kit' is terminally rusted, due to decades of disuse

I used the Hornady One-Shot and had several stuck cases. Switched to the Imperial Sizing Wax and haven't looked back since. I have some One-Shot that needs a new home if someone is looking for it.

The OP is saying Hornady One Shot is good.

I like Imperial and I like Lee. Never had a stuck case with Lee...use it the most.

I use Imperial for all my bottleneck loading on a single stage

I use Hornady One Shot on large capacity progressive 5.56 but I spray a very good amount on the cases in a big plastic bowl and swirl and tumble them around with each other until they dry

But this is large quantities 500+

Good to hear you have solved your problem MN Hunter. A bit of a mission to pull the stuck case but you got there in the end without damaging your die. Brass is quite difficult to tap, soapy water helps as a lube for tapping brass.

I have used a few lubes over the years but do find Imperial Wax the best I've used. It is not sticky like some but more a greasy type of lube easily wiped off with some white spirits on a paper towel. Can roll 5 or so cases together on a towel between the hands and they come out nicely degreased with a bit of a polish on them too.

I resize 404 cases often (a big bottle neck case) and with a good coating of Imperial Wax applied by rolling each case between the thumb and forefinger coated in lube and a cotton bud rolled in the lube and then applied inside the neck especially where the shoulder becomes neck and the expander button starts to size, and they are just a breeze to resize.

Cases get stuck for ONE reason;improper lubing/ ALL commercial case lubes work fine when used correctly,including OneShot IF we read and follow the instructions.

Most noobs (and a lot of old hands) apply too much lube on the upper case and too little on the lower case and that's where they get stuck.

We can't put enough case lube inside a neck to prevent sticking in a sizer, the inside of the case never touches the die's wall.

ALL bottle neck cartridges should be FL sized off the shoulder, not a belt or rim.

I've used afew lubes but I learned my lesson well the first time, dies need to be cleaned too. Some lubes might be better then others but a clean die and the right amount of lube solves the problem.

Ken....

Imperial sizing die wax is the best out there..You can ram a hoe handle up a flys butt with that stuff. Dab a tad on the inside of the case neck and see what happens before you do anything else..

The problem is the expander ball going by your description,,maybe chuck it up in a drill press and using some 220 and 400 grt. wet or dry backed with a file of flat piece of whatever turn about a thousands or two off the expander ball, or buy a smaller expander ball, or have a machinist turn a few thousands off of it..usually works....I use RCBS dies but I have a set of Redfield dies for my 35 Whelan and they certainly are quality dies.

I hope this isn't considered a hijack , but on a related note, this week I switched to imperial sizing wax. I've read " it just wipes off". I haven't found the secrete whipping technique . How do you remove any lube? I end up washing with hot soapy water and drying the cases in the sun. My limited manuals don't mention removing lube after sizing other than " wipe them off".

tumble them for 15 minutes.

quote:

Originally posted by moved2ski:
I hope this isn't considered a hijack , but on a related note, this week I switched to imperial sizing wax. I've read " it just wipes off". I haven't found the secrete whipping technique . How do you remove any lube? I end up washing with hot soapy water and drying the cases in the sun. My limited manuals don't mention removing lube after sizing other than " wipe them off".

I mentioned my wiping method in my last post above. A bit of white spirit (camp cooker fuel) on a paper towel and you can rub 4-5 cases at a time between the folded towel in your hands. This completely degreases the cases and also seems to impart a bit of a shine to them as well. A cotton bud soaked in spirit cleans inside the neck. The spirit evaporates quickly and no need to wait before priming and loading the cases.

Just don't smoke or light a match when the spirit container is open. The paper towels dry real quick and have no odour so can be waste binned straight away.

Best degreasing method I've found and used for years.

quote:

Originally posted by moved2ski:
I hope this isn't considered a hijack , but on a related note, this week I switched to imperial sizing wax. I've read " it just wipes off". I haven't found the secrete whipping technique . How do you remove any lube? I end up washing with hot soapy water and drying the cases in the sun. My limited manuals don't mention removing lube after sizing other than " wipe them off".

I sized 70 pieces of -06 brass last night. I wiped off the Imperial with an old dish towel.

I too am an Imperial fan but Sno Seal(made to water proof your leather boots) works the same.
Both are made from bees wax.

Stepchild