Shoulder denting problem

[locked&loaded]

I was F/L sizing some brass and started getting dents in the shoulders of a few. Redding dies and Black Hills Match brass. I thought it may be a lube issue so I swabbed the inside of the die to remove any excess lube. I ran a piece of brass through after I swabbed and still got a dent. It's not doing it on every piece though.

I ran about 20 Federal brass through with no issues.

Any suggestions?

 

[Suasponte]

Re: Shoulder denting problem

How are you lubing your brass prior to sizing? Do not lube the shoulders, just the case body and maybe a little on the neck if you want.

Most all dies have a lube bleed hole in them to allow the pressure and any excess lube to escape out of the die without inflicting deformitys into the case. Check the die body, its usually a 1/32 dia hole in the side towards the top of the die!

Clean it out with a pin!

Terry

 

[buckskin52]

Re: Shoulder denting problem

check your OAL and if that is good sounds like your die is seated to close to your shell holder. Back it off a 1/4 or 1/2 turn, Just had the same problem with the 257 a few weeks ago.

 

[Lt. Arclight]

Re: Shoulder denting problem

Federal GMM brass is notoriously soft though. Regardless of technique.A little case lube goes a LONG way.

 

[locked&loaded]

Re: Shoulder denting problem

The brass I have the issue with is 3x fired Black Hills.
Don't know why I have the dents. There is no bleed hole on this particular die.

 

[Winchester 69]

Re: Shoulder denting problem

The problem is lube on the shoulders. What kind of lube are you using? Thick, viscous stuff if hard to use judiciously.

 

[locked&loaded]

Re: Shoulder denting problem

I tried rubbing my lube pad with my finger and putting just a little on the case.
I tried my One Shot lube applied lightly. I even swabbed out the die and ran a case through with no lube.
I gave up on the Black Hills stuff and started running new Winchester brass through to full size it. I haven't had a problem with the Win. Brass yet.

 

[Grump]

Re: Shoulder denting problem

Check under your lock ring for that vent hole.

At the beginning of the latest shortage of most stuff reloading-related, I resorted to using the baking spray (off-brand of PAM buttery...). Worked great, liked it better than Dillon's lanolin/alcohol mix, cleaned up the same, but it *did* clog the .223 die's vent hole. Dents on one side, kinda collapsing the entire shoulder about 2mm wide at the body juncture.

The other downside of the cheap field expedient case lube is that it makes the inside of the die and the threads and anywhere else where the lube remains (like inside the extractor groove) smell like what it is after about two months--rancid cooking oil. Ick.

Found some Hornady One Shot two months ago (finally!) and I'm happy again.

 

[locked&loaded]

Re: Shoulder denting problem

Took the lock ring off. No hole.