How did I manage that??

[Grawfr]

I may be too rough for my toys... how the heck did I manage that?

That came out of my Hornady L'n'L press with Hornady dies.

 

[ShawnC6]

Looks like the case wasn't flared, or not lined up properly

 

[Trinimon]

Could have been a case with a split.

 

[legi0n]

your die is not polished to a mirror finish
the case mouth caught in a toolmark and there you have it

 

[Grawfr]

Thanks guys. Case was once-fired IMI, I suppose it could have had a split I missed during inspection after tumbling. The die is relatively new, I only put about 300 rounds through it yet... I suspect Shawn's right, it was probably not properly indexed. I'll have to watch that closer, I don't dare fiddle with the indexing mechanism yet: too much risk to make the whole thing misaligned at every lever pull.

 

[BattleRife]

The case mouth definitely caught on the edge of the die face. Whether this was because the shellplate wasn't fully indexed, the case wobbled just as it was entering the die or some other cause is really only important if it starts happening regularly.

 

[Trinimon]

When you work the arm, does it index cleanly or it hangs up every once in a while? If the latter, you need to adjust the indexing pawls.

 

[Reeferman]

Thanks guys. Case was once-fired IMI, I suppose it could have had a split I missed during inspection after tumbling. The die is relatively new, I only put about 300 rounds through it yet... I suspect Shawn's right, it was probably not properly indexed. I'll have to watch that closer, I don't dare fiddle with the indexing mechanism yet: too much risk to make the whole thing misaligned at every lever pull.

You sure the shell plate bolt didn't loosen up? He's a bit strange but if you haven't seen these they are worth watching to get the timing right. I really doubt the die is the issue.
It's really easy adjusting the timing top and bottom on that press.
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLByND7BRp-e0J7qDS_C9gIzfzEWzn10Hl

 

[B.C.Jay]

A canted bullet will do that too sometimes.
I've had it happen with not enough bell on the mouth and it kicks it out sideways.

 

[Grawfr]

When you work the arm, does it index cleanly or it hangs up every once in a while? If the latter, you need to adjust the indexing pawls.

You sure the shell plate bolt didn't loosen up? He's a bit strange but if you haven't seen these they are worth watching to get the timing right. I really doubt the die is the issue. It's really easy adjusting the timing top and bottom on that press.
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLByND7BRp-e0J7qDS_C9gIzfzEWzn10Hl

That's exactly what it does, I have to nudge it manually forward (clockwise) a little to get to the proper position. It's not consistent, though, happens perhaps once in 5-8 pulls.

I'll start reading and watching that vid on how to do the adjustment, then. Thanks guys!

 

[Trinimon]

That's exactly what it does, I have to nudge it manually forward (clockwise) a little to get to the proper position. It's not consistent, though, happens perhaps once in 5-8 pulls.

I'll start reading and watching that vid on how to do the adjustment, then. Thanks guys!

Sounds like you need to adjust the pawls. It's a 2min job as it doesn't take much to get it tracking true again.

One tip I can give you is to pickup a split lock washer and use that on the shell plate bolt. That will help keep the bolt from loosening up.