Die Problem?

T

TheCarpenter

Member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hey folks.

Using my lee press the other day, all my dies are brand new hornday custom dies, the 100$ ones at cabelas. reloads 308, 357 fine. Went to reload twice fired brass for 3030 the other day and everything from PPU, S&W, Winchester, PMC etc are almost all bottoming out. the face/neck/top of case seem like they're expanded too much much and hit the sizing die and won't go in to be shaped.

All were fired out of a new never fired henry big boy X.

Virgin brass slides in and out no problem of course, 0 resistance.

Am I doing something wrong? I'm new to reloading but I didn't have this issue with the other calibers and with hunting season creeping up fast I don't want to go blow more money on ammo or new brass.

Thanks gun nuts!
 
They won't go in the die at all? Or they go in and hit bottom before the ram touches the bottom of the die?

If the latter, are you backing out the die the right amount when installing it into the press?
 
I am thinking the sizing ball and depriming pin is set too long. Back the stem off a couple turns tighten the locking nut on the stem and try again. The depriming pin only needs to stick out far enough to knock the old primer out.
 
TheCarpenter said:
the face/neck/top of case seem like they're expanded too much much and hit the sizing die and won't go in to be shaped.
Click to expand...

TheCarpenter said:
Virgin brass slides in and out no problem of course, 0 resistance.
Click to expand...

the bottom of the die is actually a size closer to the brass head diameter which is far larger than the case neck/mouth
if the brass won't enter at all, something has been mixed up
 
The description doesn't make a lot of sense. If the neck won't enter the die then a problem should be obvious....

Take some pictures and post them. I want to see this fired 30-30 brass that has a neck too wide to fit in the mouth of a 30-30 die.
 
TheCarpenter said:
Using my lee press the other day, all my dies are brand new hornday custom dies, Went to reload twice fired brass for 3030 the other day and everything from PPU, S&W, Winchester, PMC etc are almost all bottoming out. the face/neck/top of case seem like they're expanded too much much and hit the sizing die and won't go in to be shaped.

All were fired out of a new never fired henry big boy X.

Virgin brass slides in and out no problem of course, 0 resistance.
Click to expand...
1. You need to more clearly describe where the problem is occurring.

If you are saying the case mouth hits the bottom of the die and does not enter the die at all then there is a serious problem. 30-30 has a shoulder and the neck is much smaller diameter than the base of the case. It would not be possible for the case mouth to hit the bottom of the die.

You say that new brass enters the sizing die no problem, and thus basic logic suggests the problem is with the fired cases and not the die.

You said the brass is "twice fired". How were the cases sized the first time? Were those cases fired in the same rifle both times?


2. Have you compared the fired cases to the new cases? Do they look the same basic shape? Do they still have a shoulder and neck?

The problem could be in the chamber of the brand new rifle - It is either not 30-30 or someone screwed up the chamber. 30-30 headspaces on the rim and so it could easily be fired in a much larger / longer chamber.

3030.jpg
 
jethunter said:
The description doesn't make a lot of sense. If the neck won't enter the die then a problem should be obvious....

Take some pictures and post them. I want to see this fired 30-30 brass that has a neck too wide to fit in the mouth of a 30-30 die.
Click to expand...
Agreed

30-30 has the same case head dimension as 45-70 and a slightly smaller case head than 300 Win Mag. It would certainly be possible to fire a 30-30 in either of those chambers. I'm sure there are numerous other, longer cases with the same or similar rim size that could accept a 30-30 round.

How one cuts a 45-70 chamber into a 30 cal bore is another story. :oops:
 
Sorry if I'm not describing it properly. still new to some of the terms.

I take the depriming pin completely out of the die and it doesn't seem to make a lick of difference. the brass goes in until it has about 1/2" to 3/4" of an inch protruding where it isn't seated. Looking through the top of the die it looks like the neck is hitting the wide and too wide. I'll try to get some pictures for you folks.
 
Any chance your twice fired brass was fired out of a .32 Special? Had a friend try to sight in a .30-30 that his father left him when he passed. The gun was chambered in .32 Special and he was try to sight in with the 10 boxes of .30-30 that where in the gun safe. He never looked at what was stamped on the barrel and just assumed all Model 94's were .30-30. Results on the target at 25 yards were hilarious.

After reading your post again, I don't think you have a problem. Your fired brass will expand to the chamber it was fired in, your chamber might be on the higher/larger end of the specs. The resizing die will resize the brass back down to min. specs. Your virgin brass should slide in and out, no problem because it is already sized to min. specs at the factory.
 
I had a handicapped moment guys, the once fired brass of random manufacture weren't out of y henry. I got that mixed up!

Just tried the virgin brass I reloaded and shot out of my Henry, and it's having the same issue. bottoms out in the sizing die about 1/2-3/4" from full depth. tried cleaning the die (though it's practically brand new only reloaded those 50 virgin brass.

So in summary, virgin brass reloads slick as snot, and fired brass from multiple guns doesn't want to go in, save the rare one with a fight.

Thinking with rifle season about to open up I should just check with hornady if I can get a new die rather than check with henry about a new barrel?
 
TheCarpenter said:
Sorry if I'm not describing it properly. still new to some of the terms.

I take the depriming pin completely out of the die and it doesn't seem to make a lick of difference. the brass goes in until it has about 1/2" to 3/4" of an inch protruding where it isn't seated. Looking through the top of the die it looks like the neck is hitting the wide and too wide. I'll try to get some pictures for you folks.
Click to expand...
Are you trying to resize brass without lube?
 
I Dont Care About You said:
Agreed

30-30 has the same case head dimension as 45-70 and a slightly smaller case head than 300 Win Mag. It would certainly be possible to fire a 30-30 in either of those chambers. I'm sure there are numerous other, longer cases with the same or similar rim size that could accept a 30-30 round.

How one cuts a 45-70 chamber into a 30 cal bore is another story. :oops:
Click to expand...
Same head size?
 
OkayShooter said:
Are you trying to resize brass without lube?
Click to expand...
Oh gosh no, definitely lubed.

I'm at a bit of a loss here, it sucks when all I want to do as a newbie reloader is reload, and I keep forgetting all these little bits and bobs, shellholders, case trimmers, this that and now this. Ugh.

I'm thinking i'll just grab another set of dies and see if it's that. quick 100$ check :/
 
maynard said:
Any chance your twice fired brass was fired out of a .32 Special? Had a friend try to sight in a .30-30 that his father left him when he passed. The gun was chambered in .32 Special and he was try to sight in with the 10 boxes of .30-30 that where in the gun safe. He never looked at what was stamped on the barrel and just assumed all Model 94's were .30-30. Results on the target at 25 yards were hilarious.

After reading your post again, I don't think you have a problem. Your fired brass will expand to the chamber it was fired in, your chamber might be on the higher/larger end of the specs. The resizing die will resize the brass back down to min. specs. Your virgin brass should slide in and out, no problem because it is already sized to min. specs at the factory.
Click to expand...
My friend did the same thing had what he thought was a 30-30 given to him he cant read or write and assumed it was a 30-30 because in his mind all lever guns are 30-30 turns out it was actually a 307 winchester he ruined a beautiful mint big bore 307
 
MTM said:
Just commenting that 45/70 and 30/30 are vastly different in head size.
Click to expand...
I've seen a mangled 9mm case that someone had fired in a .40S&W Glock, and the same thing may be possible in many other calibre combinations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom