very hard resizing cases?

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petew

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I have been loading for about 40+ years and just had a first.
Cases are 9.3 x 62, Privi brass, first time reload.
All 50 were loaded the same for the first firing, and all 50 were full length resized and shot from the same rifle. They all resized normally with little effort the first time I loaded them.
I just reloaded them for the first time and had a lot of issues with the force to resize some them , probably about 50%.

They were all tumbled in walnut shell, and lubed like I have done for years with lee lube, on a pad, the necks were lubed by fingers, and the mouth got a light wipe with a Q tip rolled in lube. This is how I have done it for years and never had a problem.

Some cases would run in the die like butter and a hot knife, while some were nearly impossible to size, requiring me to stand up to run them in the die. They were just as hard going in as going out. I had fears of breaking the press or having stuck cases. No dents in the cases, or any indications of problems to the eye.

I took the die out and gave it a good cleaning, with break cleaner, then hot water , and dried it ,lubed it , nothing changed, a couple brass run thru normally, a couple are on the verge of sticking, and the cycle continues. Some easy some near impossible.
I am at a loss on what can be causing the problem..
 
petew said:
I have been loading for about 40+ years and just had a first.
Cases are 9.3 x 62, Privi brass, first time reload.
All 50 were loaded the same for the first firing, and all 50 were full length resized and shot from the same rifle. They all resized normally with little effort the first time I loaded them.
I just reloaded them for the first time and had a lot of issues with the force to resize some them , probably about 50%.

They were all tumbled in walnut shell, and lubed like I have done for years with lee lube, on a pad, the necks were lubed by fingers, and the mouth got a light wipe with a Q tip rolled in lube. This is how I have done it for years and never had a problem.

Some cases would run in the die like butter and a hot knife, while some were nearly impossible to size, requiring me to stand up to run them in the die. They were just as hard going in as going out. I had fears of breaking the press or having stuck cases. No dents in the cases, or any indications of problems to the eye.

I took the die out and gave it a good cleaning, with break cleaner, then hot water , and dried it ,lubed it , nothing changed, a couple brass run thru normally, a couple are on the verge of sticking, and the cycle continues. Some easy some near impossible.
I am at a loss on what can be causing the problem..
Click to expand...

Is there something in your press handle mechanism binding?
 
The only time I have had a hard time sizing cases they were 7.62/.308 brass fired in a machine gun with a larger diameter chamber.

These cases were Lake City military cases and thicker and harder in the base making them harder to size.

If your dies were not polished properly at the factory they might be rough causing the hard sizing.

If your chamber has a larger maximum SAAMI diameter it may be causing the problem.

I would first try polishing the die with a snug fitting shotgun cleaning mop and J&B Bore Paste, Flitz, automotive rubbing compound, etc.

Questions:

What brand dies and how many times have you used them to size your cases.

Is the rifle new and this is the first time you reloaded for it "OR" is it the first time you sized the Prvi brass.

Do you have another brand of brass in that caliber that you can try.

Can you measure the base diameter just above the extractor groove on a unfired case and then a fired case.

NOTE, some new dies have a dry film corrosion protection on them and must be cleaned as per the directions. I had a new Redding die and just sprayed WD-40 on the die to clean it and it did not remove the protective film. My first cases were hard to size and "then" I read the dies cleaning instructions and it said to use Hoppe's 9 to clean inside the die. And after cleaning the die with Hoppe's 9 the die was as slick as snot on a door knob when sizing.
 
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bigedp51 said:
The only time I have had a hard time sizing cases they were 7.62/.308 brass fired in a machine gun with a larger diameter chamber.

These cases were Lake City military cases and thicker and harder in the base making them harder to size.

If your dies were not polished properly at the factory they might be rough causing the hard sizing.

If your chamber has a larger maximum SAAMI diameter it may be causing the problem.

I would first try polishing the die with a snug fitting shotgun cleaning mop and J&B Bore Paste, Flitz, automotive rubbing compound, etc.

Questions:

What brand dies and how many times have you used them to size your cases. RCBS dies probably only a couple hundred cases thru them.

Do you have another brand of brass in that caliber that you can try. Not till I shoot them and create empties.

Can you measure the base diameter just above the extractor groove on a unfired case and then a fired case.
Click to expand...
They are getting sticky at about 1/3 down on the stroke. No empty's until I go shooting.
 
petew said:
They are getting sticky at about 1/3 down on the stroke. No empty's until I go shooting.
Click to expand...

More guesses

1, Defective "soft" brass, if so theses cases would have more expansion just above the extractor groove.
2. Very hard brass in the base.
3. If you have new treated walnut media excessive polishing compound on the cases may be causing the excessive drag. (wipe cases with 0000 steel wool and see if the helps)

Do the hard to size cases look different on the case body, meaning shinier and polished looking?
 
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I had a batch of new Pvi 7.5x55 brass that had to be annealed before sizing.
Might not have waited long enough for the spray lube to properly dry before sizing.
Three stuck cases before I figured it out and also started using castor oil to lube case from then on.

Your rifle chamber is likely to be the problem, you were FL sizing the second time?
 
I would gauge your brass first. Sounds like they may be inconsistent Try a different brand second and then check your headspace in the rifle. All else fails try different die set. I use a no go gauge before every step thats quick and easy
 
I've used nothing but Imperial Sizing die wax for and am basically happy with it. There is a long list of lubes I do hate, and Lee is on the list. Some combinations of hard/sturdy brass and dies do take considerably more effort than others.

Just a couple weeks ago I was at a LGS and saw some Imperial liquid lube. Bio-green. I don't know whether it's new or
I just haven't been paying attention but t the bottle
did say severe resizing or case forming or words to that effect. Hmmm, gotta try that. Anyway, I've got a few caliber like 28 Nosler, the WSMs and some Weatherbys where you bloody well know that you're pushing on the handle. Long story shortened a bit, the Bio-Green is like night and day. Effort is maybe half, maybe less.
 
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