Lapua 308 brass galling_Normal?

[ElNino]

Neck sized my first Lapua 308 virgin brass last night.
Used Redding neck die with carbide expander ball.
Very lightly lubed necks (graphite inside, rcbs outside) and experienced galling that fouled the die and the expander ball.
I usually use LC Match brass and have a pretty established technique.
I have never experienced this problem before.
I buffed off the expander ball and cleaned the inside of the die (dowel with JB'ed patch) then went heavier with the lube.
Pictured is the scored brass with the heavier lubed case next to it.
I know now that the Lapua brass is persnickety when compared to virgin LC 77 brass (I have a good supply of old-new stock).
I am disappointed by this brass so far; all the press about it gave me high expectations.
So....Is this unusual? Is the Lapua brass worth it?

 

[phxfa]

following this, Im having the same problem

 

[shoot4fun]

The carbide expander ball, IMHO, has nothing to do with this.
I see this condition arise now and then. You don't mention but are using the S Type die with bushing?
To cure it I take the neck die/bushing and a bore mop, load with Flitz, chuck into my drill and polish the hell out of the part of the die or bushing that resizes the neck.

 

[ElNino]

Thanks for your help here.
I'm using the non bushing Redding Neck die.
It's an experienced die and I have never had any trouble with it.
I do not suspect the expander ball or the die as they have performed well up to now.
I maintain and store this equipment very carefully.
The new variable is the Lapua brass.
My gut tells me it has a very hard and potentially brittle surface that requires more lube.
I wonder if this particular lot of brass is made of problematic alloy?
BTW-I cleaned the fouled die with a shaped dowel and patch with JB (as mentioned above).
Thanks again for taking time to answer.
Bill

 

[ksthomas]

ElNino,

As has already been mentioned, the problem is most likely in the die itself, or rather, the bushing. I've seen this myself many times, with a wider variety of makes of cases. The problem always comes back to the dies or bushings. Do as Shoot4fun suggested, and touch them up with some Flitz or other mild abrasive cleaner like J-B and the problem should go away promptly. Part of the issue here is that once such galling gets started, the brass tends to build upon itself rather quickly. What appears as a mild gall mark. will escalate to a serious galling within 20-30 cases if it's not corrected. Polish them out, and make sure you've got plenty of a good lube from that point on and the issue should disappear.

 

[afate45]

I'm using the non bushing Redding Neck die.
l

Wow...that looks like brass that came out of a Lee FL die. My Redding FL die is smooth as butter after taking some Flitz to it. Shoot4fun is spot on with his recommendation.

 

[Xcount]

once you clean the die out I would suggest changing over to Imperial sizing wax as case lube.

 

[jsthntn247]

Yep, you've gotten something in the neck area of the die and it needs to be polished out. I polished mine with some flitz on steel wool wrapped around drill bit.

 

[kansas]

Lapua is all I use in my .308 but an expander ball NEVER goes down inside my necks. I use a Lee collet and Redding body die to size.

 

[shoot4fun]

once you clean the die out I would suggest changing over to Imperial sizing wax as case lube.

+1 on Imperial. That is all I have used for about 5 years now.
Great stuff.
Even further, I use the Imperial Dry Lube to keep the expander ball from dragging.

 

[ElNino]

You are correct that the brass buildup is cumulative and fast. I noticed this immediately.

I'm not prepared, however, to fault the die. It has never galled cases on me before.

The die and button started last night's session clean and I proceeded with the lube regimen I normally use.
Galling began immediately and brass built up quickly.

I stopped, removed the die and stem, and inspected the die body and expander button; buildup was as you indicated.

I cleaned all the brass out of the die and off the expander button then resumed sizing, but with significantly more lube (RCBS on fingers, graphite in neck with 30 cal mop).

The result is the ungalled case as pictured in my original post.

My experience indicates simply that new Lapua brass requires more lube than the LC 77 Match brass I normally use.
I base this on the fact that I neck sized a batch of virgin (old stock) LC77 Match last week and had no galling issues.

Thanks, Kevin, for taking the time to read this.

I acquired the Lapua brass in an effort to improve on the attached group. I will use 155 Scenar bullets for this new effort.

Disclaimer: My load data works in my rifle-work up your own loads from professionally published manuals.

 

[ksthomas]

ElNino,

Couple of things here that may explain this a bit further. That LC Match brass is (at least) once fired, and this makes a huge difference. Powder has graphite in it, and this residue actually acts as a bit of a dry lubricant when we reload fired cases. Even if they've been thoroughly tumbled, there's enough residual graphite left to provide some lubrication. Enough to eliminate the galling, especially if you've used a secondary lube as well. On new brass (not just ours, but anyone's) you're dealing with cases that are usually completely devoid of lube, and are chemically clean. The final annealing process tends to remove any trace of oils that may still be on the case, leaving them prime candidates for galling. And as we mentioned, once it starts, it tends to snowball pretty quickly.

The best way to avoid this is to ensure that the cases are well lubed on that first processing, and even more importantly, to make sure that the expander ball and bushings or necks are given some degree of polishing to clean them up. With those cases that already show some gall marks, you might try cleaning them up a bit with some 0000 steel wool, so they don't give the problem a place to get stated again. Just a thought, but worth a try. Lube them well on the next go-round, and you should be back in the middle.

 

[ElNino]

Thanks and will do.

I appreciate your time.

Regards,

Bill
College Station, Texas

 

[milo 2.0]

Remington brass is way bad for this also. The best way to cure this is to trim your new brass with a 3way cutter if you can, even if it means trimming below recommended trim length. There's a buildup of material on the case mouths, the expander ball pulls it out, and before you know it, you've got BIG mess. If you don't have a 3way, a heavy chamfer and deburring will work also.

Once that shit is in your die, flitz works about the best to get it polished back up, after you get it out with some solvent. You're lucky you caught it, when it gets in the die body, cases look real ugly!

All the lube in the world wont cure your problem, if you're using a bushing die, loose the expander, help some.