I Didn't Shoot My Reloading Press Last Night

[crapsguy]

Can you post a few details!!!!! I'm just kidding.
What lube are you using and how are you applying it?

I stumbled on a utube a few years ago where a guy would spray a bit of Pam or any other non-stick olive oil, etc inside a quart zip lock bag
toss a bunch of cases in and roll around in your hands to get a good coat on all the cases -- works great - have not had a stuck case in years and it washes off easily

 

[alnpar]

But I thought about it. Let me tell you the sage of "The quest to make 30/06".

It starts a few days ago when I picked up two bags of 100 pieces of brass from a local place. Didn't need it, but also figured it'd be good to have. The price was right and I didn't want to do the 22-250 project I've been delaying. So there we go. We have started.

I recently changed my presses out, so doing 30/06 would involve calibration of my dies. So I decided I'm going to go all out, full match over zealous mega prep. This means, decap, ultrasonic, dry, tumble, clean primer pockets, trim, chamfer, deburr, size, polish, clean again. And I want to do all of this before I leave on a trip.

Start by setting up the universal decap and setting up the shell plate, etc. Decap the first hundred, ultrasonic, dry, so far so good. Until I start trying to trim. Turns out that I find a cracked neck on one piece and then a piece of 270 brass. Dang it. Now I check all headstamps. There are 7 pieces of 270 brass. I don't own a 270.

Sort those out, trim, chamfer, deburr and polish. I like a nice glossy super finish, so when I say polish, these puppies do on the lathe and spun with 0000 steel wool to a shine that would make a drill Sargent proud. I'm back on track.

Until I lube these up and get a stuck stinking rotten case with the dang god forsaken rim ripped off. I address that. Add extra lube everywhere, eat dinner.

Finish about 40 more. Another. Stuck. Case. The clouds of language are now forming over the reloading bench. Get it out. More lube.

Get through the rest of the "100". I have 92. I want an even number. I get some cases from the next batch of brass. DANG IT SONOFA. I have to go through the head stamps. More 270. A 30-30. A random piece of 9. At least I checked.

Smear these things down with lube, say some preemptive curse words, and get three in before another dang stuck case. This might be a good time to mention this die, which was worked well for a long time, is also at least 250 years old. A Pacific brand that is no longer made (owned by Hornady but those jackholes won't honor Pacific's lifetime warranty from my past experience with some 220 swift dies). With this case, the decapping pin has broken. And it's smaller than most replacement pins. I have to drill the hole out a teeny tiny bit more.

My stubbornness knows no bounds as I go another round, and lose another round. I've now lost 4 pretty cases in an evening. I've got lube in all the right spots. I used the good stuff. I did the right things. Said the ancient incantations, burned the incense (in spirit, not near a workbench with powder on it).

I admit defeat. I switch to some fancy dancy RCBS dies I picked up a few month ago and never used. You know, the kind with the precision mic on top and what not. Schmancy.

I run through the rest of casings with only one small issue.... the stem was slightly out of alignment. I fixed it. No more issue. I've got 100. My goal has been reached, but I have no suffered enough. I put them in a bin, labled, clear the bench and look at the remains of the 100 minus the 270 and 30-30 and 9mm and ones I needed to complete the 100. I lube em up and go to town.

These dies are promising!! I get through all the rest. PRAISE GOD IN HEAVEN IT'S AN EVEN NUMBER OF 80 EVEN!

I tempt fate. I take a boolit and go to setup the seating die. I was able to press the bullet down into the neck. I. was. able. to. press. the. bullet. into. the. neck. The cloud of curse words over the reloading bench nearly blocked out all the shop lights.

Turns out the bell had crap on it and it was slightly misaligned still. I corrected those. I tested. Re-tested. Third test. Did 20 casings tested again, 20 casings tested again. Finally. 80 done. I drank a Guiness, wrote a note on where i left off. Forgot all hope of getting through the prep on the remaining 80 before the trip. I guess sometimes it's possible to win and lose at the same time. I met my goal of 100. I paid with effort in the chills of the garage. I attoned for my sins though the wretched and cruel punishment of the stuck casings and wrong casings, and dirty bell and everything else. I survived.

MAN... I'm not sure I want to get into reloading now!

 

[Rez Exelon]

MAN... I'm not sure I want to get into reloading now!

That was a dark day. Sometimes I still can look up and see the remaining clouds of curse works hanging in the air over the reloading bench.

 

[Snattlerake]

I usually will do the T/C after, but this time I opted to go backwards because of the step of hitting them with the 0000 on the lathe. In the past, I've noticed that usually gives it a nice super smooth surface and works well. I only do that when I get new brass, or maybe every couple of firings if they're getting ugly.

I'll look into the machine glaze too. I've done a similar procedure with the dies, but never quite settled on a system I think worked as well as it should, so yours is definitely going to get up there in the test list.

I'd fire your brass procurement QC guy.

 

[Rez Exelon]

I'd fire your brass procurement QC guy.

To be honest, it's been so long that I can't remember if that batch was from Jerry's or American Reloading, or both.

 

[turkeyrun]

Resize the .270 to .30-06 and trim.

.30-30 is a bit tougher.

The stuck cases I have had, are due to NOT letting lube dry completely.
Using RCBS lube and pad, I've never had a stuck case. Reforming .270 to 7x57, you use a good lube, clean, anneal then, trim.

 

[dennishoddy]

Knock on wood, never had a stuck case since reloading from 1982 to present. I have removed stuck cases for others as there is a pretty good machine shop at home in the shop building.
Started using the RCBS case lube on RCBS dies for years until needing to volume load for matches.
Then switched to Hornady one shot. The instructions say to let dry, but I load when wet. Amazing how easily the cases go through the dies now.
30-06, 300 Savage, .22-250, .243 WSSM and a plethora of bottle neck cartridge’s.
My curse word days are usually on the set up with the progressive press primer loader or shell plate bolt working loose.

 

[thor447]

Same here. I haven't had a stuck case yet. I ended up just making my own case lube with lanolin and 99% IPA (1 to 8 mixture). About $10 worth of material and I have enough to make case lube for the next several years. Throw the brass in a big zip lock bag, spray in some case lube, and just shake the bag for about 30 seconds. Let them sit for a few minutes, then they are ready to go. They clean up easily after sizing by throwing them in a tumbler for a bit.

 

[Forgalspop]

thor447 said: I haven't had a stuck case yet. I ended up just making my own case lube with lanolin and 99% IPA (1 to 8 mixture). About $10 worth of material

Works for me!

 

[BobbyV]

MAN... I'm not sure I want to get into reloading now!

Same . . . and I even have a bunch of the stuff I'd need to get started.