I was recommended to use 8mm Rem Mag brass for resizing in my 358STA. I just was trying this for the first time and it took alot of effort. Any hints/ideas? I have 100pcs of brass and expect to ruin a bunch til I get the hang of it but the effort required seems excessive.

ScottinPa
What are you using for lube?
What press?
Where in the stroke does pressure seem excessive?
Does your sizing die have a tapered expander ball?
Guy

Did you aneal the necks? The softer annealed brass forms easier. But STAY AWAY FROM heating the head end. You need the brass to stay strong there.

Rockchucker Supreme press and equipment. RCBS lube. Necks are not anealled. I imagine the expander is tapered. RCBS recommended using 8mm brass instead of .375 H&H but I don't recall why at the moment. Will call and ask again. The most force is required right from the start, as the expander is opening the neck. Thanks.

Scott, you shouldn't use 375 brass because you would also have to fireform the brass. The standard 375 H&H has much more body taper than the 358 STA or the 8mm Rem. Yes annealing your necks should make things easier, you could also sizing lube, but since you are expanding that much it will be hard to press.

ScottinPa
Sizing up the neck from 8mm to .358 is not a huge jump so it shouldn't be a strain with a rockchucker.
A couple of suggestions.
Play with lubing the inside of a case neck and see if that helps, try a little and then try more. You need to remove the lube from inside the neck before loading
Don't do the complete sizing all in one pass, if you thread the die up away from the ram you will have more leverage when you push the neck over the expander ball. You will have to finish running the case all the way in as a second step but it might be better.
Take apart your die and confirm that the expander ball is tapered. With it out of the die put it up to the mouth of an 8mm case. If it is a correct tapered expander ball you will be able to see that the area of the ball that touches the brass is part of a smooth curve that continues to full diameter.
Let us know how it goes.
Guy

If it is a standard RCBS expander button, then it is not tapered, and IMHO, the regular buttons are a crappy design.

I've necked up a fair number of cases, even made 35 whelen ai cases out of 270 and 280 cases (270's are iffy, 280's pretty easy, and -06 no problem) in one fell swoop, so have some suggestions.

#1, make sure it is truly a tapered expander button. Believe it or not, Lee tapered buttons are the best I've used, if they make a 358 Norma die, just order a 358 norma fl seater from lee to use as a neck up die. If that isn't an option, get a Redding 35 cal tapered button, not quite as good as the lee, but it'll do the trick.

#2, polish the expander button. Chuck the expander rod/button in a drill press or hand drill. Use 500-600 grit wet dry to take off any tooling marks but dont' get carried away. Once smoothed up, use some simichrome to put a nice polish on the button. You'll immediately feel the difference.

#3, lube the inside of the neck with Lee water based case lube. Apply sparingly with a q-tip. Lube on the inside of the neck makes a big difference, don't use RCBS lube on the inside of the neck as it is oil based, and oil doesn't belong on the inside of the case.

You should have no problem necking .323" to .358", you shouldn't loose any cases, it is a minor change in dia, all things considered.

Got to try one case last night. Lubed the inside of the neck. Definately reduced some of the effort required. Noticed there are grooves on the inside of the neck. Is this normal? Will play more later this week, I hope. Thanks for the replies.

Grooves would be bad!
Sounds like you probably have a standard expander ball, take the die apart and check.
Guy

I agree with Paul H. I've used lee lube and rcbs dies to neck 338 up to 416 with no losses. Hornady makes a really nice elliptical expander for RCBS dies. They work great but cost a lot $22.

Scott,

I like to use Imperial Sizing Die Wax for an outside case lube, and their powdered graphite to lube the inside of the case neck. You can apply it with a brush, or dip the case in the powder.

A tapered expander will definitely make for a smoother stroke too.

jim dodd

Scot,
If you are cutting grooves you definately need to change to a tapered expander or put a good polish on what you have.
Jim

Finally got a chance to take the die apart. The expander is tapered but RCBS put knurling on the ball for removal that is at the point where the most work is being done. No wonder it was so difficult and left grooves on the inside of the neck. Very poor design in my opinion. Will call RCBS today and see what they can do for me.

[ 04-02-2003, 17:06: Message edited by: ScottinPa ]

Apparently I bought a die set with an old design or bad component. Compared measurements with RCBS and they will send a new replacement to me, no charge.

Imperial Sizing die wax is the best outside case lube on the market. It's easy to use and lasts a loooong time. Never had a stuck case with it and never had to use a lot of elbow greasewhen full length sizing or case forming.

Good Hunting,

Glad to see progress being made,in case you are curious, we all had problems of one kind or another when we started.(There are just fewer of them as you learn)
Just remember to use a powdered lube in the neck for sizing up and you should be fine.
Guy

Just to follow up, the new expander came today. Wow, it takes alot less force to resize now. Now to get things set up correctly and start load development. Thanks for the input.

scott, glad to see your up and running with your sta.
i do have a question though. i thought the 358sta was an ackley case[i.e. taper removed]and a shoulder change from an 8 mag. i know the first version was a simple neck up but i thought fireforming was mandatory with the "production" stuff out there now.
did i miss something?
woofer

I was considering the same thing. As I haven't loaded any rounds for it yet, I'll take some measurements from the once fired brass and compare it to the resized brass. According to RCBS there wasn't any fireforming required.

Anybody else have any input?

Try something that I have used with great success since I began playing with 357 Herrett, when it was new. Take some LEE case lube, pull off an inch and place in tiny dish, then mix in 5 to 10 CC's of water, mix thourghly. when you have a thin, milky mix, it is right. Now, take a case and touch the neck in it. Notice that a film forms over the mouth ? When this film hits the tip of the expander ball as you run the case up to it, it will of course burst, spreading the film over the inside of the neck. This is the best solution I have ever tried, and I tried lots. This is a Non-contaminating lube, but if you wish it can be removed with a clean patch on a cotton bore swab, replace the patch as needed, and the swab stays clean.

BUT !!! Dont use a regular expander ball. I once bought an entire set of Forester tapered (ELLIPITICAL like hornady's works too) expander ball sets. The use of these makes the neck expand in a small gradual motion. This has worked for me wonderfully. Need to move the neck up many calibers up the scale ? Move the neck a couple calibers at a time, clean and sort, then restart the process. case loss is usually a very small percentage, if you make a smooth move with the press as you expand the neck.