This has NOT been my week when it comes to sizing rifle brass. Now, this was the first time I've ever reloaded for rifle having been doing pistol for almost a year.
So, Sunday night I get my 223 brass tumbled and sorted. I open my brand new X-Die and <gasp> read the instructions! I clean the die, I clean out the vent hole, I screw it back together, pop it in my turret, adjust it according to the directions. I trim some brass according to the directions, .020" under max, IIRC. I put a few pieces of brass in a reloading block, shake up the One Shot, and spray 'em down. Slide one into the shell holder, raise the ram to the top, lower the ram...
Crunch! There goes the rim of the case, the body of which is now firmly planted in the die. To make a long story longer, I more or less butcher the die, failing miserably to remove it. I learned the hard way and had a fresh die in my hands on Wednesday.
Fast forward to Wednesday night: This time I'm going to try some 7.62x39 with some plain-jane Lee dies. Success! I get about 60 sized and trimmed. Interestingly, the FC brass was much easier to size than the Fiocchi. "Why did Lee give me two expanders???" Duh! One is for .308" bullets, the other for .311". I was using the .308" when I should have been using the .311." Oh well, no big deal.
Now it is Thursday. I'm itching to use my new X-Die but I have all the x39 on the bench. Let me finish the x39 brass first. Set some in the block, spray 'em with One Shot, size three of them, then...
Crunch! I think they heard me cursing over in the next county. The Lee instructions say if you get a case stuck, loosen the collet and tap the decapper with a hammer. Try that... no dice. It also says they'll remove the case for $4. Bah! I call a friend who has a stuck case remover. "Sure, bring it over, it's real easy!" Well, part of using one of those is that the decapping pin can't be in the flash hole but the Lee ones don't unscrew... it's all one piece of metal. "It's okay if we mush this one up, it's the one for .308" that I'll never use." So we dremel the end off the best we can but it's still there. So we try to drill and tap it anyway. We ending up mangling a drill bit (those Lee decapping pins are tough!) and snapping the screw part of the case remover. I left it with him to bring to his father's house where a whole bunch of tools and what not exist. At worst, the die gets ruined. At best, it's saved. It's useless to me now, so let's give it a whirl.
I think this is a sign that I shouldn't be reloading for rifle. Or, maybe I just need to soak those puppies with lube.
The moral of the story: send the die back to the company, especially if it's an expensive one.
So, Sunday night I get my 223 brass tumbled and sorted. I open my brand new X-Die and <gasp> read the instructions! I clean the die, I clean out the vent hole, I screw it back together, pop it in my turret, adjust it according to the directions. I trim some brass according to the directions, .020" under max, IIRC. I put a few pieces of brass in a reloading block, shake up the One Shot, and spray 'em down. Slide one into the shell holder, raise the ram to the top, lower the ram...
Crunch! There goes the rim of the case, the body of which is now firmly planted in the die. To make a long story longer, I more or less butcher the die, failing miserably to remove it. I learned the hard way and had a fresh die in my hands on Wednesday.
Fast forward to Wednesday night: This time I'm going to try some 7.62x39 with some plain-jane Lee dies. Success! I get about 60 sized and trimmed. Interestingly, the FC brass was much easier to size than the Fiocchi. "Why did Lee give me two expanders???" Duh! One is for .308" bullets, the other for .311". I was using the .308" when I should have been using the .311." Oh well, no big deal.
Now it is Thursday. I'm itching to use my new X-Die but I have all the x39 on the bench. Let me finish the x39 brass first. Set some in the block, spray 'em with One Shot, size three of them, then...
Crunch! I think they heard me cursing over in the next county. The Lee instructions say if you get a case stuck, loosen the collet and tap the decapper with a hammer. Try that... no dice. It also says they'll remove the case for $4. Bah! I call a friend who has a stuck case remover. "Sure, bring it over, it's real easy!" Well, part of using one of those is that the decapping pin can't be in the flash hole but the Lee ones don't unscrew... it's all one piece of metal. "It's okay if we mush this one up, it's the one for .308" that I'll never use." So we dremel the end off the best we can but it's still there. So we try to drill and tap it anyway. We ending up mangling a drill bit (those Lee decapping pins are tough!) and snapping the screw part of the case remover. I left it with him to bring to his father's house where a whole bunch of tools and what not exist. At worst, the die gets ruined. At best, it's saved. It's useless to me now, so let's give it a whirl.
I think this is a sign that I shouldn't be reloading for rifle. Or, maybe I just need to soak those puppies with lube.
The moral of the story: send the die back to the company, especially if it's an expensive one.