Sizing die problems

[Leo]

The only difference I can think of is that i cleaned about 2/3 of a five gallon bucket of 9mm in batches and then put it in a bucket under my bench and have been using that brass. Probably cleaned it 5-6 months ago.

Could the the polish maybe get sticky sitting that long?

I would not think that would be a problem unless you had some noticable corrosion. At the same time, my habit is not cleaning the brass at all or cleaning it shortly before a loading session. Maybe try running the next batch through the tumbler for maybe 20 minutes and see if that takes care of the problem.

I cannot think of anything else. Let us know what you come up with.

 

[Indy-Mike]

I did that today, tumbled for 2 hours in fresh media, cleaned the die, hit with one shot of case lube, then ran 400 rounds with no issues.

maybe sitting in the bucket for a few month picks up some grit or something.

 

[billybob44]

Cheap Trick...

I load a lot of handgun rounds on my RL550.

I use the new style Dillon dies, with the "Hair Pins".

All of my brass gets a shot of my own homemade case lube. This is 1 part of hand lotion to 9 parts 91% rubbing alcohol. Spray down and let set for a few minutes and then load as normal.

Lube is not a must with carbide dies, but it SURE makes them A LOT easier to size...Bill.

 

[Leo]

I load a lot of handgun rounds on my RL550.

I use the new style Dillon dies, with the "Hair Pins".

All of my brass gets a shot of my own homemade case lube. This is 1 part of hand lotion to 9 parts 91% rubbing alcohol. Spray down and let set for a few minutes and then load as normal.

Lube is not a must with carbide dies, but it SURE makes them A LOT easier to size...Bill.

Good tip, I have never heard of hand lotion. I have heard about lanolin and alcohol. Might get me out of a jam some day.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I store my bulk brass in five gallon buckets (unprocessed) until they get moved to the tumbler and polished for loading within a month or two. Once they are polished I store them in the $1 plastic shoe boxes purchased from menards or Walmart. I normally keep about 2,000 polished of each caliber that I reload in the shoe boxes.

I have never been a fan of long term storage of polished brass. Now I think I have some history, thanks to the OP to back up my concerns.

 

[85t5mcss]

The lube helps with the loading process, but doesn't cure the sticking issue. Also, the shell plate is correct and is getting a good grip and rips off the rim 2/3 of the way around the brass.

My brass is tumbled in corncob/walnut media. It's got a little NuFinish in with it. It's been in the garage all winter inside of the plastic Folgers cans with the lid on. Nothing has changed on how I prep or reload. I've almost 10,000 rounds through that die with no problems and about 10 rounds on the new die before it had problems. I inspected both dies and cleaned them with rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip just to make sure. It requires a lot of force to remove the stuck case.

Once I got the alignment issue figured out and a bad shell plate for 45sthis press has been near flawless. Occasional problem with the case feeder is about it. I'm going to reretumble me some brass today, and report back. I need to go sight in a couple rifles first, though.

 

[Indy-Mike]

I'm going to reretumble me some brass today, and report back. I need to go sight in a couple rifles first, though.

That seemed to cure my proble, of course I only loaded the 400 rounds once, but it went well.

Not sure what might me happening with the clean brass stilling for a few months, but I'm thinking a quick tumble prior to loading can't hurt.

 

[85t5mcss]

Andrew at Profire let me borrow his 9mm sizing die for an hour or so. It didn't feel much different but sized the brass .001-.002" different than my die (1 has 10,000 rounds through the it, 1 was new, his has hundreds of thousands of rounds through it). I can only assume the difference is due to wear on his die but they still pass the plunk test from my dies and his.

I did retumble the brass but couldnt tell if it helped.

Im back to lubing every tenth to twentieth case.

 

[85t5mcss]

I've loaded a few thousand more. Lubing every 20th case or so. I have had a few tight ones still and a couple still get stuck. I've retumbled brass and cleaned everything. Checked alignment and used multiple dies. I give up. It's better since lubing the cases every so often, but I'm still at a loss. If anybody else has any suggestions then I'd like to hear them. Thanks for the help.