hornady resizing die issue

[UpNorthAndy]

I decided to start prepping some .223 brass to reload today. Went through the process of setting up a hornady custom grade resizing die in my rock chucker and lubed up some brass with hornady 1 shot. I started resizing and noticed that 1 out of about every 8 pieces of brass is ending up with a bulge/ring on the neck right at the top of the shoulder of the brass. I personally have never seen this before and it has me perplexed. It is a new die and I forgot to clean it, so I'm hoping that is the issue. I'll clean it up tomorrow and test it, but in case that doesn't fix the issue, has anyone else ever had this issue and how did you remedy it?

I have been reloading for about 7 years and have reloaded plenty of 223 using rcbs dies, but wanted to switch to these hornady dies. Occasinally I would end up having a round not want to chamber properly in my AR and after doing some research I determined it was because the RCBS dies I use are not "small base" dies... Thats why I switched.

 

[Huskydriver]

Got a pic of the brass?

 

[UpNorthAndy]

Not at this moment no, I am working nights and had to take off for work. When I wake up tomorrow afternoon I'll be sure to post a pic.

 

[spife7980]

Have you measured your shoulder set back? Aka, it’s actually sizing the neck all the way down and you don’t have it stopping short?

 

[Stavey]

If you were laying on a ton of liquid/oil case lube I’d say . The dents are caused by pressure in the sizing die.

 

[UpNorthAndy]

I think i got it figured out. After I woke up I went down and inspected the 25 or so cases I had resized and it turns out they ALL had the bulge in the neck right at the top of the shoulder. Some were just more pronounced than others. I then took the die apart and gave it a good cleaning. After reassembly of the die I put it back into the press and reset it. The instructions say to run the ram up, and turn the die in until it touches, and then go approximately 1/4-1/3 of a turn further in. I did this in the original setup and I think this is what caused my problems. I think the top of the neck was hitting the plug in the top of the die that holds the decapping pin in. When it would hit that plug, it would compress the neck down and then bulge right at the point where the neck meets the shoulder.

After resetting the die, I ran through another 150 cases with no issues (except for the case I stuck in the die right before I had to leave for work... really?!).
The instructions in my die box said to turn the dies in another 1/4 to 1/3 turn after the die touches the shell holder, but when I was online researching my problem, I found a video put out by hornady where the guy says to just have it touching and not to turn it in deeper.

 

[Stavey]

As stated prior, I would measure shoulder set back before and after

 

[spife7980]

I think i got it figured out. After I woke up I went down and inspected the 25 or so cases I had resized and it turns out they ALL had the bulge in the neck right at the top of the shoulder. Some were just more pronounced than others. I then took the die apart and gave it a good cleaning. After reassembly of the die I put it back into the press and reset it. The instructions say to run the ram up, and turn the die in until it touches, and then go approximately 1/4-1/3 of a turn further in. I did this in the original setup and I think this is what caused my problems. I think the top of the neck was hitting the plug in the top of the die that holds the decapping pin in. When it would hit that plug, it would compress the neck down and then bulge right at the point where the neck meets the shoulder.

After resetting the die, I ran through another 150 cases with no issues (except for the case I stuck in the die right before I had to leave for work... really?!).
The instructions in my die box said to turn the dies in another 1/4 to 1/3 turn after the die touches the shell holder, but when I was online researching my problem, I found a video put out by hornady where the guy says to just have it touching and not to turn it in deeper.

Do it right and measure them. The instructions are written by retards because explaining it correctly is only mildly more in depth.

Get a hornady or sinclair case headspace comparator. It serves as a datum which allows you to measure the same spot on the shoulder consistently. You want the shoulder to get sized .003-.004 shorter than fired for an AR. Any more is just over working the brass.
The die instruction writers dont have any clue what exact size your chamber is so how can they tell you that an arbitraty location when installed into your press is correct?

 

[Steel head]

Do it right and measure them. The instructions are written by retards because explaining it correctly is only mildly more in depth.

Get a hornady or sinclair case headspace comparator. It serves as a datum which allows you to measure the same spot on the shoulder consistently. You want the shoulder to get sized .003-.004 shorter than fired. Any more is just over working the brass.
The die instruction writers dont have any clue what exact size your chamber is so how can they tell you that an arbitraty location when installed into your press is correct?
View attachment 7194166
View attachment 7194169

This!
Don’t be the retard.

 

[UpNorthAndy]

Thanks guys, I do use a hornady headspace comparator and just bump the shoulders 3-4 thousandths when I'm working brass that is fired from my own guns. This brass i'm working now is all range brass I bought from a guy locally and is going to be fired out of my AR-15. After this firing on the brass I will just bump the shoulders and call it good.