Resizing brass issues

[Buckshot82]

Hey, as the title says I’m having issues with resizing my brass, i am using an rcbs full length die for 6.5 Creedmoor, I just recently purchased a lyman reloading kit and am trying to work up my first load for one of my rifles, I am using once fired factory Hornady brass that was fired from my rifle.
The current issue I’m having is the shell is getting stuck inside the die, I am using the lyman spray lube that came in the kit, the shell gets between half and three quarters of the way into the die and is stopping, even if I put almost all my body pressure onto the press it just won’t budge. I removed the stuck brass and tried again, this time with a very generous amount of lubricant and same issue. I’m wondering if it’s something to do with the lubricant I’m using and if I should try a paste or if I’m just missing something here….
I apologize for dragging this out I just want to give as much info as possible

[fps plus]

Try a different lube ! Mink oil works as well

[fps plus]

You may have your depriming stem too high

[waldedw]

I hate that spray lube, always seems to leave dry spots on the brass, I use the RCBS lube on a lube pad, roll the case back and forth never had a stuck case in 45 years

[Dmay]

Sounds like your chamber may be a little generous and your brass needs quite a bit of resizing. As others have said, that particular lube isn't really great.
Try to get hold of something better. The very best, in my view, is Forster Case Sizing Lubricant. It is the go-to for forming operations, the toughest work on brass. Otherwise, Imperial Sizing Wax has been super popular for half a century, and for very good reason. One other worth mentioning is RCBS case lube, although I don't know if they still make it or if it's the same as it was years ago.
Worth mentioning is to make sure your die is super-clean inside. Also, inspect it with a bore-scope if you can. There have been cases of rough machine-finishing which will hang up brass badly.

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by fps plus

You may have your depriming stem too high

This.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by Dmay

Sounds like your chamber may be a little generous and your brass needs quite a bit of resizing. As others have said, that particular lube isn't really great.
Try to get hold of something better. The very best, in my view, is Forster Case Sizing Lubricant. It is the go-to for forming operations, the toughest work on brass. Otherwise, Imperial Sizing Wax has been super popular for half a century, and for very good reason. One other worth mentioning is RCBS case lube, although I don't know if they still make it or if it's the same as it was years ago.
Worth mentioning is to make sure your die is super-clean inside. Also, inspect it with a bore-scope if you can. There have been cases of rough machine-finishing which will hang up brass badly.

All valid points,I think its probably the die though.Even with poor lube the case should go in easier than that.Will your cases still fit in the chamber after firing and before resizing? Try measuring them to see how much they have expanded against spec.

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by fps plus

You may have your depriming stem too high

This would be my guess. If the expander button is to high in the die it will obstruct the neck from going up into the neck section of the die and prevent the case from going any further into the die. Screw your expander button rod down into the die a few turns and see if it corrects the problem. Just don't put it down so far that the expander button hits the bottom of the case.

[catnthehat]

When I am sizing brass, I stick about 30 or 40 cases in a larger margarine tub, squirt about 1" of Lee lube onto my finger and swirl it around the upper lip of the tub.
Put the lid on and turn it upside down, shake and spin the tub for about 20 seconds, and done.
that simple. Never stuck and case and never had over lube issues..
When just doing a few I use Imperial sizing die wax however
Cat

[DLab]

Remove the sizing stem and use it as a body die only, if it works then you know it's a button issue as suggested or need a change of lube brands.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by DLab

Remove the sizing stem and use it as a body die only, if it works then you know it's a button issue as suggested or need a change of lube brands.

That's what I would try first as well

[Buckshot82]

Okay I will look into all of these when I get home this evening. I stopped at cabelas and the only sizing lube they had was hornady one shot so I grabbed the last tin just for the fun of it. I’ll take the sizing stem out and see how that works as well as check the fired brass in my chamber and compare it to new brass. Thank you for all the replies I will update with my results

[Smokinyotes]

Hornady one shot works great. It’s all I use. While your taking out the seating stem clean the die. I use brake clean and paper towel.

[DLab]

Originally Posted by Smokinyotes

Hornady one shot works great. It’s all I use. While your taking out the seating stem clean the die. I use brake clean and paper towel.

Yes, excellent suggestion.
The one and only time I stuck a case in a die was in FLS die I borrowed from a buddy, after making the stuck case removal tool, I looked at the dirtiest, gummed up die I've ever seen.
Lesson learned, even new dies need cleaning before use.

[Buckshot82]

Originally Posted by Smokinyotes

Hornady one shot works great. It’s all I use. While your taking out the seating stem clean the die. I use brake clean and paper towel.

Cleaned out the die of the small amounts of grease inside of it, removed the expander and used the hornady one shot and the case went into the die smooth, installed the expander and it works perfectly now! A combo of bad lube and a dirty die from the factory will do it! Thank you to everyone who contributed!

[SuperCub]

Originally Posted by Buckshot82

Cleaned out the die of the small amounts of grease inside of it, removed the expander and used the hornady one shot and the case went into the die smooth, installed the expander and it works perfectly now! A combo of bad lube and a dirty die from the factory will do it! Thank you to everyone who contributed!

Look into getting a Lee Collet die for your 6.5. They neck size only and do not require lube. Add this to annealing your brass and you will have your brass lasting a long time and fit perfectly to that specific rifle.

There are many reviews out there on the collets dies. Well worth looking into.

[DLab]

Originally Posted by SuperCub

Look into getting a Lee Collet die for your 6.5. They neck size only and do not require lube. Add this to annealing your brass and you will have your brass lasting a long time and fit perfectly to that specific rifle.

There are many reviews out there on the collets dies. Well worth looking into.

Let's hear what Eric has to say about neck sizing only.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLG2kSrD40g
If you're going this route you will need a body die or FL die at some point.

ima gonna fire up the popcorn machine.

[SuperCub]

Originally Posted by DLab

If you're going this route you will need a body die or FL die at some point.

This is correct. Eventually, the shoulder will need a bump.

[Pathfinder76]

It should be bumped every time.

[SuperCub]

Originally Posted by Pathfinder76

It should be bumped every time.

I don't require that, whereas you might.

[DLab]

Originally Posted by SuperCub

I don't require that, whereas you might.

Ok, that's up to you, it's your rifle/brass.

My thought's, along with many others on this subject based on personal experience is that brass lasts longer FLS each time, minimal shoulder bump, along with annealing rather then firing them 4-7 or more times stretching the brass to it's furthest limits, then instead of bumping say 2 thou. now you're having to bump the shoulders back 5 thou or more, over working the brass more than necessary during the sizing process.

I can't see how this creates longer lasting more consistent brass.
Also creates varying internal case capacities, slight differences, but still there.

[SuperCub]

Originally Posted by DLab

Ok, that's up to you, it's your rifle/brass.

My thought's, along with many others on this subject based on personal experience is that brass lasts longer FLS each time, minimal shoulder bump, along with annealing rather then firing them 4-7 or more times stretching the brass to it's furthest limits, then instead of bumping say 2 thou. now you're having to bump the shoulders back 5 thou or more, over working the brass more than necessary during the sizing process.

I can't see how this creates longer lasting more consistent brass.
Also creates varying internal case capacities, slight differences, but still there.

This may very well all be true. Change for me is a process and a part of the learning curve. I try to keep an open mind on such things.

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by DLab

Ok, that's up to you, it's your rifle/brass.

My thought's, along with many others on this subject based on personal experience is that brass lasts longer FLS each time, minimal shoulder bump, along with annealing rather then firing them 4-7 or more times stretching the brass to it's furthest limits, then instead of bumping say 2 thou. now you're having to bump the shoulders back 5 thou or more, over working the brass more than necessary during the sizing process.

I can't see how this creates longer lasting more consistent brass.
Also creates varying internal case capacities, slight differences, but still there.

X2

[waldedw]

Back in the early 80's I was heavy into IHMSA, loaded and shot 10's of thousands of rounds, I had a 14" TC in 7TCU and a Remington XP100 in 7mmBR Remington, there was no commercial brass available and we had to make and fire form every piece of brass we had, it was a long drawn out process in the case of the BR when you started out with a 308 case.

At that time the rage was to neck size only as that increased brass life and accuracy and was way faster loading because you didn't have to lube the case, well it didn't take me long to realize that was not the case at all, stuck cases and hard to chamber rounds all convinced me to go back to FL resizing and to this day every brass I have gets FL resized every time I load them. Also back then we didn't have the internet and I had never heard of annealing brass so of course I never did it and still don't, maybe it's just me being an old fart but what I have been doing for 45 years still works great so why would I change.

[Smokinyotes]

On my 257wby and 270wsm, I could measure my brass and it would be below max trim length. After full length resizing, dragging the expander ball through the neck and then checking trim length again the cases stretched above max trim length. I then bought Redding neck dies and it solved this issue but I still have to do a full length resize every 3rd time. What I probably should have done is just bought bushing dies.

[DLab]

Originally Posted by Smokinyotes

On my 257wby and 270wsm, I could measure my brass and it would be below max trim length. After full length resizing, dragging the expander ball through the neck and then checking trim length again the cases stretched above max trim length. I then bought Redding neck dies and it solved this issue but I still have to do a full length resize every 3rd time. What I probably should have done is just bought bushing dies.

That's why you should always trim to length after sizing. I use bushing FL dies pretty much exclusively along with a mandrel expander die for my target guns.
Hunting guns I use a both types, some bushing, some expander ball dies.
Try using your FL die each time and just bumping the shoulders back 1.5-2 thou.

Do you lube inside the necks when expanding? Seems like a lot of difference you've mentioned. I tape the stem and spin the expander ball in a drill and use 800 grit to smooth, then polish to a mirror finish to reduce drag.

[Smokinyotes]

Originally Posted by DLab

That's why you should always trim to length after sizing. I use bushing FL dies pretty much exclusively along with a mandrel expander die for my target guns.
Hunting guns I use a both types, some bushing, some expander ball dies.
Try using your FL die each time and just bumping the shoulders back 1.5-2 thou.

Do you lube inside the necks when expanding? Seems like a lot of difference you've mentioned. I tape the stem and spin the expander ball in a drill and use 800 grit to smooth, then polish to a mirror finish to reduce drag.

Yes I lube the inside of the necks. Prior to doing anymore full length sizing I will have to try polishing up the expander ball. If that doesn’t work I’ll look for bushing dies.

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by Smokinyotes

Yes I lube the inside of the necks. Prior to doing anymore full length sizing I will have to try polishing up the expander ball. If that doesn’t work I’ll look for bushing dies.

I would buy a Mandrel die instead of a bushing die
Your concerned about the inside diameter not the outside

[32-40win]

About the only thing I didn't see mentioned for the OP's issue, is cleaning out the vent hole on RCBS dies, although his cleaning, changing lube, and pulling the decap rod seems to have done the trick, the symptoms he presented could have indicated that it's being plugged, was a possibility as well.

I'm somewhat on the fence with neck vs FLS, haven't had any major issues with neck only, trying out neck/bump dies hasn't hurt or obviously improved anything. I'm lazy and when I can just get away with neck/bump and not having to wipe lube all over cases and just use the case neck brushes with the dry lube, I do.
Have one gun that has an FLS die only, without another custom die purchase, but, it is a hunting gun, so it needs FLS anyway, I grin and bear it for range rounds, along with one strictly range gun that I want to tweak as best I can towards seeing what I can do with bugholes.

I am a firm believer in mandrel expanding vs the sizer buttons helping with case stretch, even with using the case neck graphite on every round I've loaded, and the mandrels adding a step, and some expense, it's still worth it. I was usng them long ago for cast bullets, didn't take a lot of convincing once I started with using those, I started switching out PDQ.
It's the ease of expanding that convinced me, runout is no better or worse, tension change ability is a bonus, and the amount of trimming is a small improvement gain I've noticed over time, between that and neck only or neck/bump combined.
3way trimming and the case prep unit with pocket brush has been a big labour & time saver, definitely worth the loot spent, and it can be done with not too heavy of an expense.
I did get spoiled with shooting the 32-30 and 32-40 in the schuetzen rifles, next to no recoil, load at the range, zero case prep other than primer pockets, case life isn't much of a consideration at all, more of an afterthought, have to cast & lube bullets though.
It all amounts to time spent doing something interesting, burning lots of money, going places around the countryside, meeting people and having some fun.

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

I would buy a Mandrel die instead of a bushing die
Your concerned about the inside diameter not the outside

You are concerned about work hardening brass as well. A bushing die allows you to size the outside dimension of the neck minimally. Then bring it to final ID with a mandrel.