H4831, Ben Hunchak...you guys are great and you really know your stuff, and this time, I have to say that the both of you really let the OP down gently. But Pat 84 is really on the money.
I can't speak for the other newbies, but myself, I searched and searched many times before asking a question. And everywhere, there're references to great detail, the dire consequences and the pursuit of extreme precision. Heck, even the company name of of one of the brands has the word "precision" in it!
So yeah, as one who did not know (like the OP) I came on here, and asked. Truth be told, people have been really nice to me with great help coming by way of PMs. But I often see the "read the manual, dummy" reply to quite a few other posts. Well, after reading many search results
and reading the manual, it leaves one with more questions than answers!!
Look how many questions are asked about cartridge overall length. We see newbies all in a dither because for some reason they can't come up with the length, right down to a couple thousands, of what the book states. Why couldn't the manuals simply state the length of the cartridge should be so the bullet is seated deep enough in the neck to hold it and the cartridge will work through the magazine and the bolt will close on it.
Exactly right H4831! I was one of those newbies with that ridiculous question. If you remember, I first asked if a caliper with 2 decimal places was good enough. Well, that thread went on to people talking about micrometers and some units of measurement i never even read in the books. I decided to get a caliper with 3 decimal places because the manuals (and the little slip of paper that came with the dies) stated a measurement with 3 decimal places.
It was all for naught though. Damn thing shot the same as far as I could tell. And you're also right about being scared stiff about using "Maximum" loads. Can you blame us...all the manuals come with dire warnings and if you do a search on this very forum, you too will come away being afraid. Very afraid.
I now see the error of my ways. I have become more relaxed. I am thinking a grain over here and there...ahh, what the heck. One or two thousandths...no biggie. What precipitated my change? Simply, experience. I loaded, shot, loaded some more, shot some more and now I realise, hey, its not really rocket science and REALLY NOT SCARY AT ALL!! I figured it out, did it and damn if the old gun didn't blow up in my one remaining eye!
But enough with all the scare talk. I know its not your intention (which is to make sure we don't blow ourselves up), but cut the newbies some slack. After all, there are no stupid questions...
Now to answer the OP: I can't seem to see from your post, as to
which sizing dies you had. I know you stated Lee Press, but your dies could be anything. I'm going to guess Lee dies as well? If that's the case, your die may not be broken, but as the other poster suggested, just needs tightening. I know you said you tightened it, but you will be surprised
how much you need to tighten it.
The force required is
considerable. In my case, I put it flush (I know Lee' site says it needs to stick out a little) and went at it with a very large socket wrench. I didn't use a torque wrench, but if I had to guess, it felt like more force than when I use to tighten my wheel lugs (>90 lbs!) Then, when using it, it would slide out that little bit that Lee says its supposed to...and stays there. Give that a shot.
Another thing you might want to try (and I only realised it after loading a few rounds) is to completely disassemble the dies and clean with brake cleaner. I didn't realise that the dies came packed in grease (didn't seem greasy), but they do that to prevent rust. Your dies, being used, may have been sprayed with oil to preserve it. Why not take it apart and clean it, then put it together as mentioned before buying new dies. Who knows, it might save you some money. A set of dies can buy you a whole pound of powder...
