Hornady pistol brass problems...resizing...ANY SOLUTIONS??

icehunter121

icehunter121

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
150   0   0
Location
Alberta
So a friend gave me a bunch of 500SW Hornady brass for my new toy. This is all 1x fired out of his BFR. He also gave me some hornady nickel cases from the same pistol So last night I tried sizing the hornady brass cases. OMG..tried one of them and it pretty much stuck in the size die. Standing upright and pulling on the back of the press towards me and lifting the handle up I was able to get it out. An that was only sizing it half ways!!I tried a few more and thought I was going to break my press. It was late and I gave up...so today I tried the one and only starline brass from the revolver when I bought it...no problems. So I tried some of his nickel cases...once again no problems.

I retried a few of his..2 no way then a easy one...same thing again next go around. 3 out of 6 no problem and 3 that stuck severely. Does hornady have issues with its brass pistol cases?? Remember all of his are 1x...fired out of the same revolver...
 
I believe Hornady brass is a little thicker in the walls that may contribute to the sticking I'm thinking, if there is a way to alleviate the difference loading the several sizes I would look there
 
i can size mine no problem in my cheap lee C press and the portable one. i suspect his BFR had loose chambers so hopefully your 500 isn't as loose.

when i say no problem i mean it's hard, but i don't feel like i'm going to break the press.

what lube did you use? i use lee's white paste lube mixed 20-30 parts 99% isopropyl alcohol mixed in a spray pump bottle. a very light coating makes them size like 45acp brass.
 
I am using RCBS lube..This was/is stupid hard with some cases...I was wondering if his chambers were over size also. But the nickel cases fired out of his gun are no problem. He bought his used..mine is new...the only thing I can think of is that maybe some one tried some super hot handloads out of his and jugged a chamber or 2 out of round...maybe its a random thing? I have no idea...but the amount of force I was putting on my press...I am shocked it didn't snap in half. Or at the very least rip the head off a case...My bench is 250-300 pounds with gear on it...with 2 hands on my press lhandle...I was lifting my bench front off the floor....That's why I put one hand on the back of my press...and one on the lever...
 
What brand of dies? Wonder if they are a bit under spec. I wouldn't think anyone would make small base dies for it.
 
RCBS...gimme a sec while I post a pic of one case and what was in it. it looks like a friggen sabot...|this was in a nickel case...depriming pin didn't quite pull it all the way out...an this was once fired ammo as my buddy doesn't reload...that why he gave me all his brass to use...pics up real soon...I am baffled..
 
Last edited:
500%20brass%20001_zps3cljbbth.jpg


500%20brass%20002_zpsbd3s8fvm.jpg


500%20brass%20003_zpse4sq02or.jpg
 
Get your caliper out and do some investigating...?

You may wish to try lubing the case sparingly with Pam or another non stick vegetable cooking spray and see if that makes a diffrence... Not all lube is created equal.

Dunno what the black mystery disc is but my speculation ranges from something that fell into the case when it hit the ground to a fancy factory filler that didn't leave the case when fired
 
Hotwheels81 said:
Get your caliper out and do some investigating...?

You may wish to try lubing the case sparingly with Pam or another non stick vegetable cooking spray and see if that makes a diffrence... Not all lube is created equal.

Dunno what the black mystery disc is but my speculation ranges from something that fell into the case when it hit the ground to a fancy factory filler that didn't leave the case when fired
Click to expand...

It was part of a sabot...I have no idea on it. Me thinks some one was trying to do something. Kids pizzing around perhaps? to much internet time??

An so with that outta the way...I will try a slight roll in pam. Cant hurt anything...or I am just gonna get some new starline brass. Is it any good as I have never used it b4. No sense in me springing my press out of alignment or breaking it over 100 used cases. I really hate fighting with other ppl's junk. This should have only taken me 20 minutes to resize the brass at my leisure. Its now into its 3rd day. I am trying to contact the guy,but he is out of town working and has no cell coverage.
 
Last edited:
Or maybe I should take any screwed brass...set the decapping pin down deep.knock the primer out...seat a slug and screw in a small eyelet and sell them as keychain thingies for $5.00 each!!
 
Well, as daunting a round for a handgun as this is, looking at it from a physics or engineering point of view, it's nothing impressive compared to a larger rifle calibre. Any press which handles the latter should, all other things being equal, be able to handLe the pistol case with mo problem. But let's start from the beginning...

1) What press are you using? Have you used it before on larger cases? You say it works fine with other brands of brass for the 500, but I'd still be interested in knowing.

2) You say you have confirmed the dies are the right ones. Good idea. It's rare, but silly mistakes happen. Have you checked all the brass to make sure they're .500s?

3) Nothing personal, but trying to eliminate all possibilities - You started off by saying that you were given once-fired brass but then you posted a pic of that one wierd apparently still loaded round. Tell me that you're not trying to resize cases with anything in them?

4) How did you clean the cases prior to sizing and decapping?

The possibility of an off-centre or off-size chamber exists, but consider, say, the .303 British. Wartime Lee-Enfield rifles were made with oversize and sometimes even off-centre chambers, yet ammo fired from them can almost always be run through a sizing die. (Which can lead to other problems, true. Brother 303 has some quirks. My point is that even those fired from non-spec chambers don't hang up in the sizing die.)

Pending those, I'm of two minds. First, I've never been a fan of RCBS lube; I switched to Imperial Sizing Die Wax years ago. If you're determined to reuse these, perhaps switching lube might help. Second, following from that, is trying to force them worth the effort? I might be tempted to toss the one lot and find others.
 
ATOM said:
Well, as daunting a round for a handgun as this is, looking at it from a physics or engineering point of view, it's nothing impressive compared to a larger rifle calibre. Any press which handles the latter should, all other things being equal, be able to handLe the pistol case with mo problem. But let's start from the beginning...

1) What press are you using? Have you used it before on larger cases? You say it works fine with other brands of brass for the 500, but I'd still be interested in knowing.

2) You say you have confirmed the dies are the right ones. Good idea. It's rare, but silly mistakes happen. Have you checked all the brass to make sure they're .500s?

3) Nothing personal, but trying to eliminate all possibilities - You started off by saying that you were given once-fired brass but then you posted a pic of that one wierd apparently still loaded round. Tell me that you're not trying to resize cases with anything in them?



4) How did you clean the cases prior to sizing and decapping?

The possibility of an off-centre or off-size chamber exists, but consider, say, the .303 British. Wartime Lee-Enfield rifles were made with oversize and sometimes even off-centre chambers, yet ammo fired from them can almost always be run through a sizing die. (Which can lead to other problems, true. Brother 303 has some quirks. My point is that even those fired from non-spec chambers don't hang up in the sizing die.)

Pending those, I'm of two minds. First, I've never been a fan of RCBS lube; I switched to Imperial Sizing Die Wax years ago. If you're determined to reuse these, perhaps switching lube might help. Second, following from that, is trying to force them worth the effort? I might be tempted to toss the one lot and find others.
Click to expand...

Hopefully in order...I have been reloading for 32 years now...so here we go

1...its a RCBS rs3 press..I use it for 416 rigby and 460 WBY with full loads...never had a problem at all I only love and shoot big bore calibres..

2...I know my calibres and hand gun cases...yes they are all 500 SW cases...I sure aint new to this I tell ya!!!( not trying to be a smart azz...but I know my ####z when it comes to reloading)

3..that case looked like some one tried to stick a sabot in it. It was a fired case,I have no idea about the rest of the story.I pulled the rest of it out this morning...the height was under .180...your guess is as good as mine...

4...the cases were run by themselves for 4 hours in walnut media (fine) with 2 capfuls of Dillon polishing liquid run for 30 minutes b4 hand with no brass in the polisher.

This is getting to be my personal opinion...run what brass I can...get the rest of them into keychains or earings!! My handgun is brand new..only fired from factory. The amount of money I have into it now with slugs and powder etc is well over 2k. I really don't want issues down the road. What ever brass I can salvage I can use for cast loads. I have never had a issue with hornady brass as I use it in my Rigby...but for the cost of $70.00 per 100 from a forum sponser...I really think...it would be way better..
 
Last edited:
OK, press works and is capable of handling tough cases. Cases are clean, no sand or crud which would cause friction and scoring. Right cases. (No offence intended. I like to start by confirming the easy stuff and I've made just about every facepalm possible myself.) Right dies and other brands go through without trouble. All that more or less comfirms it is indeed the one batch of cases and nothing you are doing wrong or faulty equipment.

I think I'd have to agree with your toss-'em-and-git-on-with-life conclusion above. Chalk it up to One of Them Things...

If you really want to use them, I guess you could try annealing them in a pan of water so the heads don't get messed up and see if that softens the sides enough to make to be workable. You could try different lube. Personally, I might consider sectioning them (not that it's likely to prove anything but just 'cause I want to see). If you were really keen, I suppose you could start doing Brinell hardness tests and such, but you'd still be no further ahead WRT actually using them.
 
ATOM said:
OK, press works and is capable of handling tough cases. Cases are clean, no sand or crud which would cause friction and scoring. Right cases. (No offence intended. I like to start by confirming the easy stuff and I've made just about every facepalm possible myself.) Right dies and other brands go through without trouble. All that more or less comfirms it is indeed the one batch of cases and nothing you are doing wrong or faulty equipment.

I think I'd have to agree with your toss-'em-and-git-on-with-life conclusion above. Chalk it up to One of Them Things...

If you really want to use them, I guess you could try annealing them in a pan of water so the heads don't get messed up and see if that softens the sides enough to make to be workable. You could try different lube. Personally, I might consider sectioning them (not that it's likely to prove anything but just 'cause I want to see). If you were really keen, I suppose you could start doing Brinell hardness tests and such, but you'd still be no further ahead WRT actually using them.
Click to expand...

But the real question is...how many hours do you really want...or do I want to spend fighting with #### that aint worth it? For me its pretty much none...but if you want...Iwill go thru the rest of them. Then I can send you a handful of them and you can test away. For 70 bucks to get 100 new brass versus fighting with these..its not worth my time or aggravation. Basically this thread was about if any one else had problems with Hornady hand gun brass? My handloading procedures are a science...to me this is a really bad lot of brass..
 
I'll take some! How many do you have?

All my brass is hornady expect for 1 lot of 50 Winchester cases. Those were large pistol primer cases that I reamed to large rifle spec. I only use them for trailboss loads though. I've tried annealing cases but didn't notice a difference in sizing or them crimping any better. I could have been annealing them incorrectly though.
 
So just confirmed with my buddy...all of these were bought brand new by him and shot only out of his BFR revolver..so it looks like a bad lot of brass to me..
 
I had the same problems with a batch of hornady brass that I got off the EE, using Hornady dies. Ridiculously hard to size and/or stuck cases on every one I tried using a Rockchucker. I couldn't find the problem at the time, so I tried my spare set of LEE dies, and they sized the brass without any issues at all. And the brass chambered fine in my Handi-rifle. I never did get around to measuring the Hornady dies, but may get to it in the next few days, as you have peaked my curiosity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom