Just tried re sizing, with a brand spanking new set of Redding 300 winmag dies ...... straight off got every case with a dented shoulder, why do these dies not have a vent in the body???

What kind of case lube are you using? It sounds like you are getting an oil dent in the cases from too much case lube. You need enough to keep the cases from sticking in the die but not so much that it collects in the shoulder and causes a pressure dent when sizing. I use Hornady One Shot case lube very sparingly with great results.

I have tried one shot spray, I have tried my usual Royal case lube, never had problems with resizing using R.C.B.S dies, but then they have vents to release pressure build up.

Same problem with my redding FL die only I had two sets both sent back to redding recently. I am using imperial on my cases. Got some dents just below shoulder cleaned the dies ran a small amount of imperial on a q tip and stuck case in both sets of die! Have only had this with the mag fl die of redding. Have not heard from them yet.

You can get dents in dies with vent holes; you are using too much lube and put none on the shoulder.

Goofy question perhaps, did you clean the dies out before using them? The RCBS dies I,'ve used have all been grab and go, Redding dies have all had shipping gunk. All the Redding dies, I pull them apart, solvent and bore brush for the innards,little bit of gun oil on the threads. Haven't yet had a problem with dented cases..

When it first appeared I did clean out with birch wood gun scrubber and replaced with small amount of imperial on q tip. Then stuck cases!

I clean the dies thoroughly before every use. The cases get Imperial Sizing Die Wax on the case neck and body only. I have had only 1 stuck case in 30+ years, as a side note, I prefer Redding dies.
Doug

quote:

Originally posted by drm-hp:
I clean the dies thoroughly before every use. The cases get Imperial Sizing Die Wax on the case neck and body only. I have had only 1 stuck case in 30+ years, as a side note, I prefer Redding dies.
Doug

I think it's due to the lube on the case neck. Try not lubing the neck.

If FL resizing, I use an RCBS pad and never lube the case necks. If neck sizing only, I might lube the inside of the neck, but never the outside.

When neck sizing my 6mm Rem cases, with lube equals dents, without lube equals no dents.

If I read post correctly you never lube inside or outside of the neck? Only lube the body from the belt to the neck? Right?

1. The reason it's easier to get dented cases with Redding dies is because of the lack of a vent hole. Not to say you can't get dented necks with RCBS but the vent hole helps.

2. Unless you wish to get stuck cases, don't use Hornady One Shot.

3. I use Imperial Sizing Wax. If you don't use too much, you won't get dented cases even with Redding dies.

4. I reload for multiple cartridges. Some cases need a little lub on the necks (outside and/or inside) while other cases don't need any lube on the neck. If there is squeaking and groaning when the sizing button is pulled through the neck, then you need lube on the inside of the neck.

I have been using One Shot for several years and have yet to get a stuck case with it. I prefer Redding FL rifle dies when they are available but also have RCBS and Hornady. I threw the last set of Lee dies in the trash so nobody would have to deal with the junkers.

quote:

Originally posted by muygrande:
If I read post correctly you never lube inside or outside of the neck? Only lube the body from the belt to the neck? Right?

When neck sizing, I will sometimes lube the inside of the case necks depending on how much friction I sense when raise the handle of my press.

When neck sizing, I never lube the outside of the case neck.

If the neck looks particularly grubby, I will use 0000 steel wool to clean the necks.

When I FL size, I lube only the case body, using an RCBS pad and RCBS lube. Again, if the resizing button seems to stick, I'll lube the inside of the case neck.

I do this with .223/5.56, 6mm Rem, 270 Win, .225 Win and .300 Savage. Haven't FL sized my .338 cases yet.

EDITED: To add .223Rem/5.56

Back off a 1/4,then a 1/2, if still a 3/4 turn from where you get dented shoulders. Sometimes it is not vents or lube but tolerances.

Tolerances speaking of: redding instruction say screw die to shell holder and then 1/2 turn more while Dillon says come up from shell holder 1/4 turn so between the two the starting point is 3/4 turn difference!

I think if you use the Imperial lube sparingly , like every few cases , then you will see the problem go away. That is for small and medium size cases.

Only for big cases and a tough sizing job do I apply the Imperial to every case. I have from time to time gotten a dent but it was from too much lube as is noted above. I also cleaned the die with both some Hoppes and some of the Gunscrubber type and the denting went away.

I have and use almost exclusively the Redding dies and just a few Dillon dies that I use in the Dillon machine.

If you haven't already clean the dies pretty good too as was said above. Some of them have a fair amount of packing and storage grease in them.

As a reloader of a fair spread of calibres, for at least ten years, I would reckon I have a baseline of knowledge to help with this problem, Having tried three differing lubes in amounts varying from almost zero, to an amount I consider enough & no more...I conclude these dies are possibly as tight in tolerance as you could get, without being outside spec, along with maybe a chamber cut on the opposite side of tight? This situation arose from sizing about fifty .300 WinMag cases using some second hand R.C.B.S. dies (My favourite brand), those dies suddenly started giving dents in the shoulder, the dies exhibited what looked like rust coloured gunk, I reckoned that the re use had disturbed some hardened muck/rust, nothing was moved settings wise, nothing changed lube wise, I scrapped the dies & bought the new Reddings as R.C.B.S were unavailable, I cleaned the dies as required by the makers, I set the dies the same way, not one case came out without a dent, I then decided to vent the die, I carefully broke through the case hardening, & put a small drill bit through, back in the press, no improvement, I await delivery of a set of Lyman from Europe.

reload for 20 some different cartridges. Part of my dies are Redding and part RCBS.
I certainly have more "denting" problems with the Redding, especially in 17 and 20 cals. They seem to be super sensitive to the amount of lube used. Its easy to lube too much or too little. And my new die purchases will be RCBS.

I dip the neck in Imperial Dry Neck Lube (graphite), and lube the body with Imperial wax. The dry lube eases the passage of the neck expander plug. Just don't spill it!

quote:

Tolerances speaking of: redding instruction say screw die to shell holder and then 1/2 turn more while Dillon says come up from shell holder 1/4 turn so between the two the starting point is 3/4 turn difference!

Pay no attention to those generic recommendations. They are designed so that every case sized will fit in any chamber.....often with excess headspace the result. You are a handloader, set your dies to match your chamber, seldom will it be correct set below the shell holder...



.

Redding FL dies dent my brass as well.

Also their employee tried to tell me off when I called them.

No Redding products for me.

I have used RCBS since the 1960's and Lyman since 1953.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage_99:
No Redding products for me.

Don't have any Redding FL dies, but have quite a few neck sizers. Just can't understand why you want a huge bull prick of an expander button. How can that be a good thing? No more conventional Redding dies for me either.

I am FL sizing the 7mm WSM brass for now and not using an expander button. I have a rod and decapping 'button' in there now from a .270 die that does not touch the inside of the neck nor need any lube, of course.

I had similar problems with Redding Dies and it is regarded as the top brand. Their expander balls are made in such a way that it needs very proper lubrication on the inside of the neck. And yes I do not know why they had not put the vent hole on the shoulder after all other famous brands has done so. And yes their lock nuts drives me NUTS! I replaced most of my dies sets with Foster and RCBS.

Redding responds in its usual first class manner. I received two new fl die replacing my two. Note says they were unable to polish my two to their specs!? Also included the small sample of imperial wax (which I stuck cases with) and replaced the 1/4-20 tap that I broke while trying to remove the stuck case. They further state if it happens again to send them a couple of my fired cases! Thank you redding, I think!

I use their dies in three different presses. Dents are from too much lube. If get a dent it is to me to clean the die or check cases. I guess every ones milage varies.

Contact RCBS - they would probably replace it free of charge,

To get dents out of a case neck you can load low load with say 7gr of Unique and decron on top. No bullet. I use all my decapped live primers for this job. Just clean the barrel properly after you shoot the dummies.

One trick (not mentioned yet) for eliminating lube dents on the shoulder. If you use a lube pad (I have not in over 10 years), or even Imperial - after you have lube on the case body, take the case head in one hand and then take a clean cloth or cleaning patch and wipe ALL lube off the neck, shoulder, and about 1/2" on the TOP of the case body. You really need the lube in the middle and down near the case head. Lube tends to migrate up the case body during FL resizing and that why you get the dents. Just my $0.02 and YMMV.

I bought a set of Redding Dies for my 404 Jeffery. I was having trouble sizing the cases and it took a great deal of effort to size the cases. I also got dents in my cases like I used too much lube. I used Imperial Die Sizing wax very sparingly, even to the point I thought that I was not using enough lube. I went to South Africa on a buffalo safari last October and I bought new Hornady cases to go on safari. I ran the new cases through the sizer die just to true up the necks so that I could trim all to size and remove the small dents that are on some of the necks. To my suprise I had the same trouble running the new cases through the dies. It took a great deal of effort as the dies were sizing the new cases. I thought that the cases were out of spec so I went ahead and loaded the cases. Now it's only 10 days before I go on the safari. Upon arriving in South Africa, we go to check the zeros on the rifles. I had a failure to fire in four rounds. Hey, this is really bad, but what the hell can I do now. We stalked up on a Cape Buffalo and the buffalo was facing me at 30 yards. I put a round dead center in the buffalo's chest. He spun around and took off. I chambered another round and fired. There was a click that sounded like you hit an anvil with a sledge hammer, another failure to fire! The buffalo went about 25 yards and piled up dead. I was very lucky that he did not charge me as I would have been in deep shit. There were light firing pin strikes on the failed cases. Well I finally "snapped' and it all came back to me. There is no way in hell that a new case should require sizing, especially requiring a great deal of effort to do so. The dies had to be out of spec. Upon my return, I sent the dies and 10 cases, 5 new and 5 fired to Redding. Redding confirmed that the sizing die was out of spec. It was setting the shoulder back .031. That's over half of of the firing pin protrusion or .031 excessive headspace! If I had shook the rifle with a cartridge in the chamber, I probably would have heard it rattle in the chamber. Redding replaced the die with no mention of an apology or my question as to why they did not provide a vent hole in the die. I have to say that I have not had any issues with the new die and I have loaded quite a few rounds. Needless to say, my faith in Redding Dies has been shaken and they were always my first choice in reloading dies.

Call them up and ask for Chris and send the dies back to them. I'll bet that there is something wrong with the die.

Tenga cuidado,

Hoot

Oh, one other thing, you can get dents in 404 Jeffery cases from air pressure if the die is way under sizing the case due to the very long neck and shoulderon the 404 Jeffery case. The air has no place to go. I would even take the die out of the press and take a long swab and clean the shoulder and neck after sizing every case with the Imperial Die Wax that was applied very sparingly. I would still get dents in some of the cases.

Tenga cuidado,

Hoot

quote:

Originally posted by B L O'Connor:

quote:

Originally posted by muygrande:
If I read post correctly you never lube inside or outside of the neck? Only lube the body from the belt to the neck? Right?

When neck sizing, I will sometimes lube the inside of the case necks depending on how much friction I sense when raise the handle of my press.

When neck sizing, I never lube the outside of the case neck.

If the neck looks particularly grubby, I will use 0000 steel wool to clean the necks.

When I FL size, I lube only the case body, using an RCBS pad and RCBS lube. Again, if the resizing button seems to stick, I'll lube the inside of the case neck.

I do this with .223/5.56, 6mm Rem, 270 Win, .225 Win and .300 Savage. Haven't FL sized my .338 cases yet.

EDITED: To add .223Rem/5.56

That is pretty much spot on. I also use a lube pad. Just a quick roll over a little lube about half way up the case seems to do the trick with an occasional touch in the neck to keep the button sliding smoothly. But always keep lube away from the shoulder.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Latham:
Just tried re sizing, with a brand spanking new set of Redding 300 winmag dies ...... straight off got every case with a dented shoulder, why do these dies not have a vent in the body???

Try some Lee Precision Sizing Lubricant and let it dry before resizing. And...clean the die with Non-chlorinated blake cleaner before re-using.

During the calm period over Christmas ,I had four neck sized cases that had felt a little tight in the rifle chamber, slight scuffing down near one side just above the belt, gave them a little squirt of Lyman spray lube, these cases refused to go into the fl die any further than halfway, & required great effort to withdraw them.

I suspect that I have loaded well in excess of 10K rounds of ammo using Hornady one shot with nary a stuck case yet. Everything from 458 Lott down to 38 special. I think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread! You have to follow the directions and I spray from at least 3 directions while they are in the block and let them sit for a minute or two before resizing. The only dies that I have had a problem with shoulder dents with is a set of C&H dies in 450/400 and I have to wipe the lube off the shoulder area before resizing to prevent the dents. I really cannot understand why a die manufacturer would not put a vent hole in a resizer, seems like a no-brainer, what could be the downside except a minimal cost?

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Latham:
During the calm period over Christmas ,I had four neck sized cases that had felt a little tight in the rifle chamber, slight scuffing down near one side just above the belt, gave them a little squirt of Lyman spray lube, these cases refused to go into the fl die any further than halfway, & required great effort to withdraw them.

I'm guessing that your neck sizing die was improperly adjusted. I think you may have tried to necksize part of the case shoulder. When you do this, it might cause the case body to bulge . . . hence the friction in the rifle's chamber and the problem getting the case into the FL die.

When I neck size, I only size about ⅔ of the neck length . . . just enough to hold the bullet and no more.

quote:

When I neck size, I only size about ⅔ of the neck length . . . just enough to hold the bullet and no more.

Agreed, so do I. I also believe that the "bottlenecked ?!?" case neck tends to center itself more accurately in the chamber neck.

Now that you mention it, I have had (rarely) more stuck cases and oil dents with my Redding dies than with my RCPS or Hornady dies. That's why my stuck case remover gathers dust for years before I need it again.

For the first years, I used a thick, red lube called Eagle Blood", applied with my fingers, till I ran out and couldn't find it anywhere, then it has been Hornady One Shot, and Frankford Arsenal spray-on. I use a Tungsten Carbide expanding button, so have little/no chatter. If I do, I just get a small amount of resize lube on my finger, and wipe it across the unsized case mouth. Seems to work.

The dents are "oil dents" caused by too much lube. Not a serious problem...load and shoot'em, the dents will disappear.

quote:

Originally posted by Andre Mertens:

quote:

When I neck size, I only size about ⅔ of the neck length . . . just enough to hold the bullet and no more.

Agreed, so do I. I also believe that the "bottlenecked ?!?" case neck tends to center itself more accurately in the chamber neck.

I think of my chamber almost as if its a die: Once the chamber tells me exactly what measurements it wants my cases to be, why argue with it? Do just enough to the case to make sure you can seat your bullet, and make sure that the case is trimmed to specs. Less is more.

quote:

Originally posted by B L O'Connor:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Latham:
During the calm period over Christmas ,I had four neck sized cases that had felt a little tight in the rifle chamber, slight scuffing down near one side just above the belt, gave them a little squirt of Lyman spray lube, these cases refused to go into the fl die any further than halfway, & required great effort to withdraw them.

I'm guessing that your neck sizing die was improperly adjusted. I think you may have tried to necksize part of the case shoulder. When you do this, it might cause the case body to bulge . . . hence the friction in the rifle's chamber and the problem getting the case into the FL die.

When I neck size, I only size about ⅔ of the neck length . . . just enough to hold the bullet and no more.

I assumed that the manufacturers set up instructions were correct, & followed them, why do only four out of the many neck sized cases exibit slight scuffing around one side just above the belt?,maybe not concentric?, why would neck size / shoulder bump prohibit the case from entering a die to halfway?

What do those cases measure on the calipers versus the others at the same datum(s) would be the first question.

Try indexing some cases into the chamber and see if makes a difference. One side of the chamber could be a touch out of round. I have seen it before.

And it could be just that there were other issues that stopped you from resizing those whether it is concentricity, tolerances, lube, etc. even things like problems from a previous loading.

Were the dies cleaned well beforehand?

Sounds like a lot of lube to me. I cant say about other lubes as I only use Imperial for big case work and Dillon for lightly lubing pistol and high volume rounds and I also use carbide dies for those.