Need Help-Brass Keeps Jamming in Lee Decapping/Resizing Die

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gerrym526

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I've been reloading on my Lee Classic Turret Press for about 6yrs now, and every so often the brass case will get jammed in the decapping/resizing die. Becomes a real pain to get the jammed case out.
Reloading 9mm, and the die has been performing well all year (about 2,000 rounds loaded), until now. It seems to require more pressure on the handle of the press to get the case into the die, and it has been jamming repeatedly.
I took the die apart each time it jammed, reset the decapping pin so the top was flush with the collet, and re-tightened. Recently built a new garage workbench that I'm using part time for reloading, and it doesn't yet have a bench vise. So I might not be tightening the collet enough (but the decapping pin is staying put).
How can I remedy this?
I ran paper towels throught the center of the die and they came out with old powder on them (not much). Even after cleaning, the brass is still jamming.
Need your help-thanks in advance.
Gerry
 
The depriming pin should extent 3/16" -1/4". It it's too short you run a greater chance of the primer sticking on the end and being jammed back into the pocket. You can also round the tip and polish it to keep it from sticking. Now if the brass is sticking not due to primer are you using carbide dies? Is brass clean, Squeaky clean from wet cleaning. If so the use of soap with wax in helps lubricate the brass preventing sticking.
 
Sounds like you die is fouled out.
Clean it like you would your barrel and don't be afraid to use copper remover on it. I can't imagine what else could have happened to it. Give it a good cleaning out. If it started to pick up copper it will do nothing but get worse. Put the solvent to it and scrub it out. A simple cleaning patch won't do it.
 
Carbide dies or steel dies?

My guess is your brass is “too clean”.
Do you wet tumble your brass?
 
It could be a brass plated STEEL case if it's range pick-up "brass".
Pass a magnet over one of the cases that stuck to find out.
Also, look inside for a step, which indicates thicker brass at the base.
it could happen :uhoh:
:D
oops
 
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I agree, first give the die a really good cleaning
Are you using range brass?
I have noticed brass shot in blowback 9mm PCCs is harder to resize/brass from people shooting 9mm "Major" can be an issue as well.
(the more it is out of spec the more effort it takes to make it the right size/shape)
You usually won't run in to "Major" brass or much PCC brass unless you are getting left over brass from matches.
If you are wet tumbling with Dawn/dish etc soap the brass can be "to clean"
Auto wash and wax puts a bit of wax on the case to they are not "to clean".

If the die is clean and it is non of the above issues a little bit of the Spray case lube (I like the lanolin/alcohol kind, Dillon/Frankford) makes a big difference it the amount of resizing effort.
As mentioned there are the brass coated steel cases out there, a magnet is your friend when looking for them.
 
The resizing operation on my Lee 9mm die slowly gets stiffer and stiffer over time.

I first began to notice it after a few years and thousands of rounds. It eventually got downright difficult to size cases, but the progression of it was so slow that I hardly noticed it until it got pretty bad. I was even beginning to wonder what kind of toll this kind of pressure was taking on my turret press.

After struggling for some time I decided to hose it all out with brake cleaner. Little to no change. So I struggled some more. In the mean time I kicked around the idea of buying a new die, probably by a different maker.

But before that, I tried cleaning the die again. This time with Hoppe's. I basically treated it like a pistol barrel. And Bingo! She's like butter again.
 
I'm with Tilos....
► You may have brass plated steel cases. Run a strong magnet though your brass collection and discard anything that sticks to the magnet. Your dies weren't designed for use with steel cases of any description.

► If you see cases with an internal step, throw those into your scrap brass bin. These are common to Freedom Munitions brand ammo. They are not only hard to reload, but present you with a safety hazard since the case wall is known to split right at the step.

► Try using a spray lube, such as Hornady One Shot or Dillon Case Lube. Or, a old standard Lube Pad. You may be using carbide dies, but that doesn't mean you can't lube your brass. There's a huge difference between "don't lube" and "don't need to lube".

;)
 
► If you see cases with an internal step, throw those into your scrap brass bin. These are common to Freedom Munitions brand ammo. They are not only hard to reload, but present you with a safety hazard since the case wall is known to split right at the step.
This was my first thought. The internally stepped cases (FM, Ammoland, IMT, some of the Maxxtech) have internal steps, and I have seen some of these that are very difficult to resize. Part of the problem is with carbide sizing dies, that have just the ring at the bottom that resizes the brass. 9mm is actually a tapered case, but the carbide resizing ring sizes the brass more like a straight wall case, so it ends up resizing the case smaller than it needs to be down near the head. The stepped cases have very thick walls down low and can be very difficult to resize.
 
all my range pickup brass gets set upright in a big crowd, that way I can easily see where a 380 or 9x18 mak might have snuck in. Then it's flashlight time, looking down the mouths for stepped brass, berdan primers etc. After than I grab a handful, turn them over and check for crimped primer pockets. It takes less time than it sounds and it saves a lot of headache on the progressive press.

But 9mm is a tapered case and is so much happier with a little spray lube on it. Lightly lubing cases that don't technically HAVE to have case lube to make life easier is really the only use I have found for spray lube. (9mm, 30 carb, 300aac)
 
Dude

What is" brass shot in blowback 9mm PCCs and what do you mean by shooting 9mm "Major?"

Thanks
 
What is" brass shot in blowback 9mm PCCs

Many 9mm PCC's are blowback designs with no locked breech. When the bolt begins moving backwards, there is still quite a bit of pressure in the barrel. As the rear of the case leaves the chamber, this part of the brass is unsupported and can get expanded past chamber size on its way out. That makes it harder to size, and bigger at the bottom.

what do you mean by shooting 9mm "Major?"

In USPSA/IPSC, making "major power factor" is possible with a 9mm only by running up pressures well past SAAMI maxes. This causes more brass expansion.
 
What is" brass shot in blowback 9mm PCCs and...
Some, actually very few, 9mm pistols are operated by simple blow-back process. That is to say, the breech is not locked in the closed position like a 1911. The resulting force caused by pushing the bullet forward then pushes the slide rearward. The mass of the slide is the only thing keeping the chamber from opening too soon. Blow-back is the simplest of all gun designs and requires fewer parts.

...what do you mean by shooting "9mm "Major?"
In order to level the playing field in many competitive handgun sports, ammo is measured by its "power factor" (sometimes noted as simply PF). This is the weight of the bullet weight (grains) X the velocity of the bullet (fps), all divided by 1000. "9mm Major" power factor is the highest PF (usually 165) and is generally used on "full race" guns found in the highest classes of competition. So a 125gr bullet has to be traveling at 1320fps (min) to "make" 9mm Major.
 
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This is the only thing I use Hornady one shot spray lube for. Spray a couple squirts into a coffee can of handgun brass and agitate them. Let them dry and they load as usual. Greatly reduces sizing effort even with carbide dies and reduces fatigue. Bonus: cases don't oxidize in storage.
 
Thanks guys for your answers to the OPs questions about my post.

OP sorry:oops:, I should have given an explanation of what I was talking about.

Either of the things I mentioned could cause the brass to be expanded more than "normal" making it harder to resize.
 
Where is RC when you need him! His advice to remove the gauled brass from a carbide sizing die was to take a length of wood dowel that you could chuck into a drill, split or notch the end and insert a 2 inch long flap of 600 grit sand paper in the notch. Power it with the drill and move it back and fourth in the die like you would a cleaning rod in a barrel. It would polish the gauled brass off the much harder carbide with ease. Clean the die, lube it and continue on sizing. Searching past posts of his will find this method mentioned several times, along with the reference that carbide dies were tougher than woodpecker lips and the sandpaper method was safe to use.:D This is why your brass is hard to size. Also if the brass is getting vertical scratches it is time to clean the die as well.:thumbup:
 
Assuming all your brass is "normal" Not some stepped or steel case I would clean the die very well and just use some case lube on your brass
Start with the simple easy solutions first before getting to complex.

Occam's razor


I use Lee dies for MANY calibers and I give all brass (yes handgun) a light spritz of diluted Lee Lube. I have NEVER stuck a case in the decapping die for any caliber and have every case brand known to man.
 
I've been reloading on my Lee Classic Turret Press for about 6yrs now, and every so often the brass case will get jammed in the decapping/resizing die. Becomes a real pain to get the jammed case out.
Reloading 9mm, and the die has been performing well all year (about 2,000 rounds loaded), until now. It seems to require more pressure on the handle of the press to get the case into the die, and it has been jamming repeatedly.
I took the die apart each time it jammed, reset the decapping pin so the top was flush with the collet, and re-tightened. Recently built a new garage workbench that I'm using part time for reloading, and it doesn't yet have a bench vise. So I might not be tightening the collet enough (but the decapping pin is staying put).
How can I remedy this?
I ran paper towels throught the center of the die and they came out with old powder on them (not much). Even after cleaning, the brass is still jamming.
Need your help-thanks in advance.
Gerry
Another possibility is that you could be trying to resize cases fired through a barrel with an unsupported chamber. A number of Glock pistols have unsupported chambers and the fired brass will have a small but noticeable bulge near the base that will make resizing more difficult.

bulged.jpg
 
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