Lee Resizing/Decapping with S&B Brass Troubleshoot

mosinmaster

mosinmaster

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First problem, S&B brass seems to be a different dimension from PPU. I'm reloading 8x57 Mauser, and the PPU and even .45 ACP brass slide in and out of the shell holder #2 easily, but S&B is very tough to get in and out. Could I try #3? Also, on the first 2 brass that were resized, the case length was over the max already after one firing. Is that normal for S&B? Is the quality in this brass not the same as PPU or domestic stuff?

Also, on the Lee Resizer/Decapping, I lubed the case and inside of the neck, but on the 3rd case, the expander ball got stuck and yanked the decapping pin out with it. How can I prevent this from happening? Do I need to put a lot of lube on the inside of the case neck? And do I need to gorilla tighten the collet at the top of the die to prevent the decapping pin from slipping out? Any suggestions? I'm using a RCBS Rockchucker Kit, and using the lube that came with it. I've seen people use Imperial which looks like a thicker grease. The RCBS lube is a liquid.

Should I just dump all the Lee gear and get RCBS/Redding/Hornady? I feel like their design for the decapper has a shoulder and screw on pin so being yanked out isn't a problem. I know that the Lee design is to prevent breaking the pin if it hits an off center flashhole or berdan primer, but I don't think that is a common problem anymore.
 
Degrease the LEE decapping pin and collet nut then retighten.
It's the brass that's the problem, I tried to reload a bunch of S&B brass. I scrapped it all.
 
mosinmaster said:
First problem, S&B brass seems to be a different dimension from PPU. I'm reloading 8x57 Mauser, and the PPU and even .45 ACP brass slide in and out of the shell holder #2 easily, but S&B is very tough to get in and out.
Click to expand...

I have a couple boxes of S&B 7x57 ammunition and I noticed the same thing you did . . . they are almost impossible to slide into a Lyman #2 shell holder.
 
S&B rims are hit and miss. Some cases will have extra thick rims and some will have the depth of the extractor cut to shallow.

I had a friend give me 500 pieces of 7x57 brass because he was sick and tired of fooling around with it.

I told him I would make up a new case head holder with dimensions that would easily accept the different sized cuts. He didn't want anything to do with it and gave me the brass. I like S&B brass because it's very similar to the old Dominion brass. It will take 6-8 reloads before it needs to be reannealed.

I read on another thread, that there is a special shell head holder being offered by RCBS that will accept slightly out of spec brass. Then again, I've had some shell head holders that are also out of spec. Put together a shell head holder that has been cut to minimum spec and a case head cut to maximum spec and you get the issues you describe.
 
I have some PPU 8x57 brass and it just slides in and out. I hear that PPU (Prvi) brass is better, at least in spec compared to S&B? I also hear S&B has tight primer pockets.

Edit: I got the decapping pin out, I guess I should degrease everything and reassemble? I don't think it's the LEE die's fault, but rather the out of spec S&B brass. What do y'all think?
 
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The only problems I've had with S&B is when I shot them in my rifle, I'd have to really work that bolt to get it to open. No problems resizing them though on my Lee dies.
 
Update

So I degreased the dies, reinstalled the decapping pin and 'he man' tightened the top collet on it. Paid extra attention to lubing the brass and the inside of the neck, and the S&B brass was FL-sized and deprimed ok without messing up the decapping pin.

The dimensions of the extractor groove on the brass are real tight on the #2 shellholder, but I found a method to get it to snap in and out of it, although it's still quite a lot of work and slows things down.

Next question, how to clean brass of powder residue and lube without a tumbler. Any good recipes that are non-toxic and work?
 
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