After over a decade of reloading it finally happened:(

Steel head

Steel head

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Minuteman
    • Aug 3, 2014
    18,083
    58,873
    Washington
    #1
    I stuck a case:(
    B5363120-B765-4C32-A725-AA126D8415BC.jpeg

    unfortunately it was my precious 7 saum brass.
    Guess I’ll make a seating gauge out of it now.
     
    #6
    I guess Ill finally admit to being a dumb ass and sticking a case. It was waaaaaay back when though.

    Dad used a lee loader and so I used a lee loader for the first decade of my loading and shooting, no lube, no press, just a hard rubber mallet and a block of wood so you didnt ding the counter was all that you needed to make fired brass shootable again.
    1584627661471.png



    But as I started to shoot more and got into trying to maximize accuracy with my loads I figured that everyone was using a press so I should too. So I made a trip to cabelas and grabbed myself a lee anniversary breech lock challenger kit.
    1584627938288.png


    Mounted it to a board I clamped on the counter top and got to work. I figured that I didnt need any stinking calipers, I dont care to get that scientific and I sure as hell didnt need to bother lubing the brass as it would just make a mess to clean up and I never had to do it with the hand kit.

    Stuck the first case, got it out with some fucking focused anger, boxed it up, drove up to cabelas and swapped it because obviously something had to be wrong. Stuck the first case in the second kit, boxed it all up and took it back to cabelas and settled into my old lee loader for another few years.
    Ive learned a thing or two since then and joining this site.




    “Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.” – John Wayne
     
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    #7
    spife7980 said:
    I guess Ill finally admit to being a dumb ass and sticking a case. It was waaaaaay back when though.

    Dad used a lee loader and so I used a lee loader for the first decade of my loading and shooting, no lube, no press, just a hard rubber mallet and a block of wood so you didnt ding the counter was all that you needed to make fired brass shootable again.
    View attachment 7276538


    But as I started to shoot more and got into trying to maximize accuracy with my loads I figured that everyone was using a press so I should too. So I made a trip to cabelas and grabbed myself a lee anniversary breech lock challenger kit.
    View attachment 7276552

    Mounted it to a board I clamped on the counter top and got to work. I figured that I didnt need any stinking calipers, I dont care to get that scientific and I sure as hell didnt need to bother lubing the brass as it would just make a mess to clean up and I never had to do it with the hand kit.

    Stuck the first case, got it out with some fucking focused anger, boxed it up, drove up to cabelas and swapped it because obviously something had to be wrong. Stuck the first case in the second kit, boxed it all up and took it back to cabelas and settled into my old lee loader for another few years.
    Ive learned a thing or two since then and joining this site.




    “Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.” – John Wayne
    Click to expand...
    B9C26DB7-00F3-45B4-A8C3-5C1451A84920.gif
     
    #10
    I stuck one once. The first time I tried loading rifle ammo. I didn't realize it needed to be lubed. :rolleyes:

    Before that I had reloaded 10s of thousands of pistol rounds (9mm and .45)....figured it couldn't be much different. Lessons learned (many lessons learned actually....)
     
    #12
    I life hacked it once...

    Since the case was stuck, I just left it there and started unscrewing the die. The case let go, which surprised me. Still kinda waffles the rim upnpretty well. The die seemed to be fine so it's still in service haha.
     
    #17
    I keep a loaded round on my desk as a reminder to always pay attention to the details. Brand new 175gr SMK, full powder charge and a spent primer....

    Got a tumbled but not yet sized / decapped case into my "ready to load" bucket. Got it loaded (along with a bunch of good rounds) and noticed when I was putting them in boxes that it had the spent primer. So it lives on as my reminder to pay attention.
     
    #18
    You’re a real veteran when you don’t know which extruded powder is in your hopper because like a dumbass You moved the bottle next to the dispenser back onto the shelf with 5 other like in appearance powders. A guy goes through some panic stricken thoughts. ?
     
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    #19
    M856 said:
    You’re a real veteran when you don’t know which extruded powder is in your hopper because like a dumbass You moved the bottle next to the dispenser back onto the shelf with 5 other like in appearance powders. A guy goes through some panic stricken thoughts. ?
    Click to expand...

    I have an old manual powder measure on my shelf for years now with powder in the hopper still. NO idea what it is other than "some type of ball powder"....
     
    #21
    M856 said:
    You’re a real veteran when you don’t know which extruded powder is in your hopper because like a dumbass You moved the bottle next to the dispenser back onto the shelf with 5 other like in appearance powders. A guy goes through some panic stricken thoughts. ?
    Click to expand...


    House rules at my place say 1 powder at a time on the loading bench and no powder, ever, left in the hopper. Its a rule thats served me well.
     
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    #23
    Update
    After I pulled the case I gave the die a thorough cleaning.
    just now sized the rest of the cases and press effort was a bit lower so die was probably pretty cruddy possibly exacerbating the situation.
     
    #24
    My first stick case was a 5.7x 28mm case. Super thin rims. I’ve stuck a couple since, but after your first it’s just another thing you know how to fix.

    There are two types of reloaders; those that have stuck a case, and those that will.?
     
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    #26
    Same here with avoiding the spray lube...I started out with the Franklin Arsenal spray lube in the zip lock bag and had a stuck case along with inconsistent head spacing. I bought the RCBS kit and heard everyone on the site say how rolling the brass on the pad was a non value added operation so I didn’t even try it at first.

    The extra step of lubing the brass and rolling it on the pad gets me much more consistent head space measurements and makes the resizing process much smoother.
     
    #27
    I make my own spray lube.

    99% iso-propanol and lanolin oil. I put my brass in a tub and spray the mix on my hand and massage it into all the brass. Not spraying it on the brass keeps it mostly out of the necks. Works very well for me. Press effort is consistent If I get it even on the brass. Easy to do just keep stirring with my hands until the alcohol evaporates.
     
    #28
    dustingaunder said:
    I make my own spray lube.

    99% iso-propanol and lanolin oil. I put my brass in a tub and spray the mix on my hand and massage it into all the brass. Not spraying it on the brass keeps it mostly out of the necks. Works very well for me. Press effort is consistent If I get it even on the brass. Easy to do just keep stirring with my hands until the alcohol evaporates.
    Click to expand...

    I made my own lube from lanolin and alcohol for a while but I kept denting cases during sizing. I know its just a factor of too much lube getting on the cases but it seemed like an issue no matter how careful I was. I currently use an RCBS pad to roll the cases but if somebody has a better (faster) solution I'd be interested.
     
    #29
    WestDesertPRS said:
    I made my own lube from lanolin and alcohol for a while but I kept denting cases during sizing. I know its just a factor of too much lube getting on the cases but it seemed like an issue no matter how careful I was. I currently use an RCBS pad to roll the cases but if somebody has a better (faster) solution I'd be interested.
    Click to expand...
    I spray my cases in a cardboard shoe box, the box absorbs the lube to a certain point which acts as a pad to keep the excess off but it also makes sure that they get fully coated as well after a good shuffle.
     
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    #31
    For bulk 223 I got a shallow plastic storage bin and place the cases in there but only a single layer deep. That seems to help make sure all the cases get decently lubed when I use the Frankford Arsenal spray lube. Several thousand cases resized so far.

    For my hunting loads and Creedmoor which are lower volume I just use Imperial. Used a case lube pad for years and it's just too messy.
     
    #32
    Just got a stuck case this week. Happened first time reloading rifle rounds (.223). I suspect I didn't spray lube uniformly across all the brass as some sized smoothly and others had to be forced (which is why I got the stuck case). Gonna go grab the kit now.
     
    #33
    Buddy gave me some Hornady One Shot to try. Said he was having great results so, WTH, I was gonna give it a try.
    Grabbed a can, sprayed the brass down, ran first one in and BAM, stuck case. Cleared it, sprayed the brass again, waited a couple minutes and then ran another piece into the FL die. BAM! @#&*%@%#$%!!!!!! Stuck again! Cleared it, sprayed more on, and went one more time. Yup, you guessed it. BAM!!!!! @%#&($^#)(T*&@&*!!!!!
    Cleared it, picked up the can to spray some more. OH, wait! I didn't realize he gave me a couple cans of case lube and a couple of the spray lube/gun cleaner and I was lubing cases with the gun cleaner. :eek:o_O:poop:
     
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    #34
    Apparently, my stuck case was due to the mouth of the case wrapping itself around the collet that holds the decapping pin in my Redding die. It was so jammed that I had to unscrew the collet while it was jammed in the brass, even though the brass was out of the die. I don't know how that brass got a neck so narrow. Anyone else experience this?
     
    #37
    Had my first stuck case this weekend in my lee sizing die when loading some 9mm. That die has probably seen 2k plus cases through it prior to that, guess i should clean it more often!
     
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