while attempting to form some 7TCU brass ...having a problem of the case sticking in the die so badly that the rim pulls out of the holder.
I beleive it is once fired military brass but not sure............Any ideas?
This only happens if I attempt to FULLSIZE the case.......if I just size the neck and about two thirds way down the case no problem...could the base.....OR Head of the case be too large?
Yes I am using case lube

Fireball

FB, I have had the same thing happen, sloppy chamber in the rifle it was fired in?
Did you try to chamber the 223 as is in the 7 TCU chamber?
If it would chamber I wouldn't worry about the full length yet as you don't want to bump the shoulder until afterwards, if need be. Remember the case will be blown out with a minimum of body taper.
Hope this helps some.
Jeff

yes they chamber and I have shot three rounds.

So if the problem is the brass at the head is Oversize due to being fired in a sloppy chamber..what do you do when it IS time to FL size?........Or should I just let the once fired military brass go?
I thought I read that is was better to use new brass??
Fireball
thanks for the help

Fireball,
When I had my 7TCU I always used new Winchester brass. I never lost a single case. It is what worked for me, and I continue that practice with other wildcats.
xphunter
I don't remember who, but I have been told or read that military brass is not the best option when it comes to wildcats.

Fireball
When I did my cases I used RP brass. I also lubed the inside of the neck on the cases & didn't have the type of problem that you mentioned. As far as military brass I used some of my most recent batch which was Lake City 01 Brass. I did the same thing lubed the inside of the neck & had no problem. I did tumble the brass Afterwards for 30 minutes with clean corn cobb media to get the lube off the inside of the necks before loading them.
Rich Jake

FB,I have had relativley good experiance with the mil brass as weel as commercial. Have a batch of LC brass that has been neck sized umpteen times with no problems. But then again I am not even coming close to a top end of the load. Actually I prefer the LC brass in my 7 TCU barrel, but on the other end my 6 TCU likes WW brass??
Did you try to FL size any of the once fired 7 TCU brass? If so did it work any better?
I had a 10" 7 TCU barrel that I ended up using a small base 223 die, then necked up to 7 TCU strange....
Jeff

No I have not tried to size the brass after firing as yet. the problem was not the case necks..it was that if I tried to fullsize the brass the case would stick in the die body...almost like the base is too large.

Fireball

Rich I full size three cases that I fire formed with and they sized much easier...a litter tough but they sized without sticking. So my assumtion was that you guy are right in thinking that the cases were fired in a sloppy chamber. I think It will be the end of the military brass for me. Many of the cases have thier rimes messed up just enough that the case is hard getting into the priming tool. Think I will just use new brass or some fired out of my own 223.

Thanks
fireball

Fireball, I use to compete with an AR-15 in 223. I used all military brass and would find some at times that had the head SO large that i could not resize them. I also noticed the the cases fired in a HK (with their fluted chamber) were also on the large side. Since the military brass at the time was so cheap i would just pitch any that caused a problem. I only use NEW Winchester brass in the 7TCU.

posted by MSSmagnum:
[QB]Fireball, I use to compete with an AR-15 in 223. I used all military brass and would find some at times that had the head SO large that i could not resize them. I also noticed the the cases fired in a HK (with their fluted chamber) were also on the large side. Since the military brass at the time was so cheap i would just pitch any that caused a problem. I only use NEW Winchester brass in the 7TCU.

Thanks Magnum........I am sure that is the problem...just the heads an some are way too large.
I did find that Hornady's Unique Lube makes a BIG difference in the cases not sticking so bad. It just seems slicker than the other under pressure. Well from now on I am going to use NEW unfired Whinchester or RP Brass....Having a case stick in the die is just not worth the hassle!

Fireball

ditto...on the ''new'' winchester brass,,,
buckweet

Have any of you had a problem with the rim on the ONCE fired .223 brass being abused by the semiautos extractor?...Some of mine are so bad that the case will not go into the handprimer.

Fireball

I had that problem with my 6TCU and it turned out to be the dies....

Hornady seems to want to make a lot of TCU dies so small that they are essentially small base dies.... Mine were also rough inside so the cases were not only being resized to much but trying to stick because the dies needed polishing....

They'll admit their mistake and replace them if you are polite but insistent with them.

Mike B can probably tell you how to tell if they're small base....

$bob$

Hornady seems to want to make a lot of TCU dies so small that they are essentially small base dies.... Mine were also rough inside so the cases were not only being resized to much but trying to stick because the dies needed polishing....

They'll admit their mistake and replace them if you are polite but insistent with them.

Pretty sure that is part of the problem so I ordered a set of reddings..we will se if it goes better
Fireball

got my new TCU dies today. RCBS...thought since I was really unhappy with the way forming was going I would try another brand. WOW a little lube in the neck and on the body and I got a formed 7TCU NO STICKING no problem at all.
Guess I will send the Hornadys back and ask them to repair replace?? I think the body is too small on the hornady.
But now I cannot get their website to work

Fireball