Too quick with the lever.

[Captain Quack]

I was decapping/sizing .38 brass when a 9mm case snuck in. I didn't look, and I now have a 9mm case jammed in my .38 sizing/decapping die. Needle nose. Vicegrips. Nothing. I already screwed up a powder die and Lee Autodrum powder measure this week. I don't want to have to buy another .38 sizer/decapper and wait another week. Any one here run into this before?
Captain Quack

 

[AJC1]

The sizing die your using will be a big help to fixing. You might be able to slide a 9mm shell holder in your press and onto the case to get it out. That's what I'd try first.

 

[FROGO207]

Turn the decapping pin rod back out of the die and purchase a stuck brass remover. Or get some 1/2 inch ID washers and fender washers with a 1/4 center. Buy quarter inch fine tap and a matching screw with an allen head. Drill and tap the brass at primer pocket, stack washers so you can pull the brass up through them. With the last one being the fender washer. Tighten the screw and pull the brass out.

 

[AJC1]

Turn the decapping pin rod back out of the die and purchase a stuck brass remover. Or get some 1/2 inch ID washers and fender washers with a 1/4 center. Buy quarter inch fine tap and a matching screw with an allen head. Drill and tap the brass, stack washers so you can pull the brass up through them. With the last one being the fender washer. Tighten the screw and pull the brass out.

I may have used a 1/4 20 tap and bolt with a socket before in a pinch because that's what I had laying around.

 

[WrongHanded]

Honestly, if I could get the decapping pin out, I'd try dropping a Phillips screwdriver down that hole, and punch out the brass.

 

[ttittle]

I've had great luck putting stuck cases in the freezer for a couple hrs. I think it's because brass shrinks faster than steel.

 

[AJC1]

I've had great luck putting stuck cases in the freezer for a couple hrs. I think it's because brass shrinks faster than steel.

I think you could do the same thing with airless keyboard duster turned upside down. Shoot the liquid co2 on the case and it transfers heat much faster. Haven't tried that one myself yet.

 

[PWC]

Use a stuck case remover. If you don't have one and you have a moderately stocked tool box / garage...remove the die with the stuck case, drill out the primer hole 1/4" bit, tap hole with 1/4 - 24 or what ever tap you have that fits. Find a socket that will sit around the edge of the die; find a washer with a 1/4" hole and a screw to match the threaded case. Put the screw thru the washer then the socket hole and screw it into the case. Make sure the socket sits on the rim of the die and turn the screw down. It will pull the case.

If you have been reloading for awhile, why don't you have a stuck-case-remover?

Sort better and do use case lube.

 

[WestKentucky]

I generally drill and tap a sticker and then use a carriage bolt that slips into shellholder slot and pull it out. My worst sticker I had all kinds of fun with though. I ripped the casehead off with the carriage bolt and then had to use a broken bolt extractor on the remnants. That one was a .308 and I think I ended up with the extractor locking into the inside of the neck and I turned it with a wrench before knocking it out with a piece of brass rod with the extractor still in place.

 

[FROGO207]

Honestly, if I could get the decapping pin out, I'd try dropping a Phillips screwdriver down that hole, and punch out the brass.

This is not to remove it but to get it out of the way so you can drill and tap the case head. Often you will damage this assembly anyway. On some of the older RCBS dies there was a bushing so large you could completly remove the stem from the die through the top.
With a Lee die you loosen the collet and use the decapping rod to push the brass out of the die, no case remover needed.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

The sizing die your using will be a big help to fixing. You might be able to slide a 9mm shell holder in your press and onto the case to get it out. That's what I'd try first.

This exactly. If you’re using a Lee die, just remove the decapping pin and collet and use a standard punch to drive the 9mm case out.

 

[Atavar]

Leave the die in the press. Unscrew the decapper pin. Fill the die with oil or water. Find a dowel very close to the size of the threaded hole. Wrap a rag around the dowel to contain the splash and authoritatively smack the dowel with a mallet.
The case will pop out spraying water or oil all over your bench.

 

[Atavar]

I've had great luck putting stuck cases in the freezer for a couple hrs. I think it's because brass shrinks faster than steel.

Wart remover freezing spray from the drug store works too.
When you freeze it the case will get smaller and surprisingly the opening in the die will get larger as the steel shrinks.

 

[MEHavey]

....slide a 9mm shell holder in your press

^^^ THIS ^^^
- Remove the 38 shell-holder
- With the resizing die & protruding 9mm in the press, raise the ram to where it's roughly even with the 9mm case
- Now slide a 9mm shell holder into the ram/over the 9mm rim.
- Pull the 9mm out of the die.

If necessary, rotate the die slightly to get a clean grab on an unmangled portion of the rim.
(Ask me how I know this stuff )


.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I had a stuck .7.62x39 case in my sizing die. I was using the wrong shell holder. I but the right one in. By tapping it in with a blunt punch. Then pulled the case out. When i can't do that i have a RCBS stick case remover. I ruined a vintage Bear sizing die stem the 1st time i had a stuck 30.06 case. After that i bought the tool.

 

[Varminterror]

Open the top of the die, tap the brass out with a punch. We’re talking 9mm in a 38 sizer, regardless of brand of dies, they all open from the top, and with this case/die combo, we don’t have an expander plug stuck in the case as we could with a bottleneck cartridge. It should have taken less time to remedy this problem than it took to type this.

Plan B would be to slide in a properly sized shell holder, assuming you’re not using a progressive press.

Plan C is to thread the brass and use washers and a wrench socket to screw-jack the die off of the brass.

But plan A should take under a minute, and isn’t destructive.

 

[Captain Quack]

So much great advice! I don't have a clue how to tap and drill so I'll leave that for a last resort. These dies got stored in a shed when we were forced to move on short notice, and it pretty much rusted out and the pin nut won't turn on any of the sizing dies. It might just be best to buy new ones anyway and get rid of the confusion. Somehow I ended up with three sets of .38/.357 dies and 2 sets of 9mm dies and carbide sizing dies for both, and universal crimping dies. Lee isn't much help with figuring out which are the carbide dies. I'm thinking just 2 new sets of dies and 2 new carbide sizing dies and be done with it. I couldn't get the 9mm plate trick to work. Couldn't get the die in the head and the plate with the case in the machine at the same time (Lee Loadmaster). Canned air and a set of vice grips did work. Thank you much AJC1. I never would have thunk of that. If I go the new dies sets I'll be putting the old ones up for who ever needs them. Pay it Forward.

Captain Quack

 

[Bush Pilot]

I was decapping/sizing .38 brass when a 9mm case snuck in. I didn't look, and I now have a 9mm case jammed in my .38 sizing/decapping die. Needle nose. Vicegrips. Nothing. I already screwed up a powder die and Lee Autodrum powder measure this week. I don't want to have to buy another .38 sizer/decapper and wait another week. Any one here run into this before?
Captain Quack

If none of the ideas work just make a road trip to Black Sheep.

 

[Captain Quack]

I would. That's where I scored 6 boxes of primers on an opening day special (HUZZAH!), but alas that's about 85 miles each way.

 

[King Medallion]

remove the decapping stem, tap the shell out with a brass punch.

 

[Captain Quack]

Got it out with the Canned Air and vice grips. And I just got my new powder measure and riser die that wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow! Off to the reloading press!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

^ All's well that ends well, as Billy Shakespeare once wrote.

 

[Captain Quack]

About 60 .357 cases sized and deprimed and the shell plate nut oring tears. I thought I had spares. I think they are in the box I haven't found yet. I think the gods of reloading are telling me to take it easy today.