A New Mistake...

Thought I had made them all. Mistakes I mean. But here is a new one for me - just loaded a bunch of .243 ammo using the shellholder from a .30/30. Didn't even notice. I sized them - no issues. I primed them - all the primers went in like normal. Seated the bullet, nothing funny.
I mean there is not much slop with a .243 case in the shellholder, just a tiny bit. But I wouldnt have thought I could prime them actually.

I am annoyed. How much difference could it make. I think it would only make a difference with bullet run out I speculate. But thats not a small thing. I want them to shoot properly...


I really dont want to go all the way to the range just to test this. I would pull them and do them all over again, but I only have a kenetic puller and it doesnt work on .243, too much neck tension, not enough mass in the bullet. And there is another reason why not...


...and then, I went and jammed a .243 case inside the die because I didn't use enough lube. This is an old mistake. Quite familiar with this one. Nothing to learn here. Then I pulled the rim off the case trying to get it out, using that .30-30 shell holder.


So, upshot is now all my .243 ammo is suspect - and I can't load anymore. Some days I should just sit in a chair.

I feel your pain

It will make absolutely no difference detectable in the real world.

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Originally Posted by gimp

It will make absolutely no difference detectable in the real world.

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Yeah I used to use my 6.5x55 shellholder for everything.

I'd like to think so. But Ill still have to waste time and fuel to shoot it and see just to stop the obsessive compulsiion from ruling me.

All the sizing / seating force is applied on the up stroke so it wont make any differance.

Unless you get that stuck case. As you found...

For sure, not a great day, but not all of them are.
Maybe runout is a bit suspect. My mind is likely similar to yours on that possibility as I would think so too. Doesn't mean the rounds won't shoot well and trying a few won't hurt. I remember once checking runout on some Norma 30.06 factory ammo. It was all over the place. I shot some against my handloads with minimal and corrected runout. I was shocked the Norma shot far better at 100 yds. You just won't know until you try.
There is a way to get that stuck case free too. Can't exactly remember the method but think it involves freezing and generous use of WD40 / CRC.

Heres one for your OCD JD,

My new rifle arrived just as I was shifting islands in a long process that had my reloading gear packed away for months.

A mate helped me sort a load using his gear and powder/projectiles etc.

We settled on a load using speer hot cores, He had a small sample box of them and in development we used all bar one, which I put in a bag for later use.

He went home and loaded up fifty, which Im just about through using. I bought the box of projectiles that he loaded from so I could continue the load, and opened it the other day, and realised they were not Hotcores, but standard speer boat tails.

Now I dont know my velocity except that when I sighted in first time after I got down south, I recalled that it was shooting flatter at 300 than it should have. And I have a suspicion that groups tightened.

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Originally Posted by John Duxbury

I'd like to think so. But Ill still have to waste time and fuel to shoot it and see just to stop the obsessive compulsiion from ruling me.

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Make sure you check for nodes :yaeh am not durnk:

Removing stuck cases isn't terribly difficult if that's any consolation.

Tap and bolt for the stuck case issue and run your loaded rounds through the action for fit, on the other one. Should likely be no issue, we’re all getting on…..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by -BW-

I feel your pain

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I went to modify my 32/20 shell-holder because I had 121 cases fired in an old lever gun and the primers were protruding.
I noticed that it was marked Number ! as was my old 30/06 shell-holder and the 357 mag shell-holders so no consistency there.
Now I try to keep shell-holders with dies.I like that all LEE dies come with shell-holders.

I once destroyed some Hornady 25/06 dies with a stuck case - the spindle expander totally stripped all of its threads! I wrecked another when I got the case out but still on the expander, so had the bright idea of hacksawing the case off. Which worked fine, except I put a hacksaw cut through part of the [expander ball itself.

The other week I blew my ramrod out the end of the flintlock. Just blew it to flinders. I atomized it. I couldnt believe I was so dumb that I kept searching for it even though I knew what must have happened. It is a revalation to discover after decades of assuming that you are reasonably intelligent, that you are actually dumb as a hammer. This was an honest surprise to me. I wont be caught out thinking Im smart any more. Not this guy. Not with this kind of evidence.

With the stuck case...With the proper case holder in place, can you wind out the die a few turns then raise the ram until the stripped part of the case rim enters the proper case holder, then rotate the die until a new section of rim is grabbed then try & withdraw the shell?....otherwise the old drill & tap the primer pocket trick will need to be done.
Send it to me & I'll have a go removing it for you if there's any issue.
Phil.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Duxbury

Thought I had made them all. Mistakes I mean. But here is a new one for me - just loaded a bunch of .243 ammo using the shellholder from a .30/30. Didn't even notice. I sized them - no issues. I primed them - all the primers went in like normal. Seated the bullet, nothing funny.
I mean there is not much slop with a .243 case in the shellholder, just a tiny bit. But I wouldnt have thought I could prime them actually.

I am annoyed. How much difference could it make. I think it would only make a difference with bullet run out I speculate. But thats not a small thing. I want them to shoot properly...


I really dont want to go all the way to the range just to test this. I would pull them and do them all over again, but I only have a kenetic puller and it doesnt work on .243, too much neck tension, not enough mass in the bullet. And there is another reason why not...


...and then, I went and jammed a .243 case inside the die because I didn't use enough lube. This is an old mistake. Quite familiar with this one. Nothing to learn here. Then I pulled the rim off the case trying to get it out, using that .30-30 shell holder.


So, upshot is now all my .243 ammo is suspect - and I can't load anymore. Some days I should just sit in a chair.

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Greetings @John Duxbury,
I am pretty sure I have done the same thing with a .308. Won't make any difference. The shell holders are a little sloppy to let the case self centre in the die. I too have days like that and have inserted a few extra steps to guard against the occasional brain fade. I suspect that you are like me being able to recall trivia from decades back but the whereabouts of our car keys is a perpetual mystery. Just back from a nice leisurely stroll in the bush, the first for quite some time. I seem to need to use my trekking pole more and more for balance or perhaps the topography has changed.
Regards Grandpamac.

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Originally Posted by Tararua Phil

With the stuck case...With the proper case holder in place, can you wind out the die a few turns then raise the ram until the stripped part of the case rim enters the proper case holder, then rotate the die until a new section of rim is grabbed then try & withdraw the shell?....otherwise the old drill & tap the primer pocket trick will need to be done.
Send it to me & I'll have a go removing it for you if there's any issue.
Phil.

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I have tried this, and for whatever reason it just seemed to keep unzipping the rim. Once part of it is damaged, I suspect it's curtains for the rest. Having said that, if you can engage the correct shellholder on the rim of the case and try with that you might have luck?

Yes - already tried this. No joy yet.

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Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings @John Duxbury,
I am pretty sure I have done the same thing with a .308. Won't make any difference. The shell holders are a little sloppy to let the case self centre in the die. I too have days like that and have inserted a few extra steps to guard against the occasional brain fade. I suspect that you are like me being able to recall trivia from decades back but the whereabouts of our car keys is a perpetual mystery. Just back from a nice leisurely stroll in the bush, the first for quite some time. I seem to need to use my trekking pole more and more for balance or perhaps the topography has changed.
Regards Grandpamac.

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LOL. My car keys have been missing for two weeks!

Lyman makes an excellent stuck case remover; I had to buy one recently I was teaching a young fella to reload forgot to tell him the importance of case lube
on all cases got one stuck, I had one somewhere, but it's been 5 house moves since I last got a case stuck, now I can't find the bullet puller.

You guys think you are having bad days, my wife just found some receipts for some shooting stuff.

*Hypothetical situation engineered to try to make you all feel somewhat better.

I looked online several years ago at the Lyman stuck case remover and A. Turned my nose up at the price, B. couldn't find one available in N Z and couldn't wait for stock to arrive. So I bought a tap and drill bit, scrounged a bolt, a couple of heavy oversize nuts and washers for packers and made my own. Works perfectly. But cost me just as much as the Lyman lol. Blew me away tho just how much
pressure is required to unstuck a case. I've done 308, 7x57mm and 223 (twice)..so yeah, I'm a slow learner.

One thing worth knowing is that Dillon and Lee modern dies are built to use the die itself to unstuck a case. There is a set methodology yiu have to follow so its worth RTFM! If you get the steps out of order you can't go back and then it's the Lyman jobbie required.

Like Phil, I'd be happy to do the job for someone if they dropped it in or covered shipping.

hi james i have had stuck cases before i just drilled out the primer hole and wound in a self taper screw the clamped the screw in the vice and with a brass rod taped the die body screw usually hold well worked for me several times cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Duxbury

Thought I had made them all. Mistakes I mean. But here is a new one for me - just loaded a bunch of .243 ammo using the shellholder from a .30/30. Didn't even notice. I sized them - no issues. I primed them - all the primers went in like normal. Seated the bullet, nothing funny.
I mean there is not much slop with a .243 case in the shellholder, just a tiny bit. But I wouldnt have thought I could prime them actually.

I am annoyed. How much difference could it make. I think it would only make a difference with bullet run out I speculate. But thats not a small thing. I want them to shoot properly...


I really dont want to go all the way to the range just to test this. I would pull them and do them all over again, but I only have a kenetic puller and it doesnt work on .243, too much neck tension, not enough mass in the bullet. And there is another reason why not...


...and then, I went and jammed a .243 case inside the die because I didn't use enough lube. This is an old mistake. Quite familiar with this one. Nothing to learn here. Then I pulled the rim off the case trying to get it out, using that .30-30 shell holder.


So, upshot is now all my .243 ammo is suspect - and I can't load anymore. Some days I should just sit in a chair.

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Just come hunting with me again. Then it's irrelevant how your ammunition performs - or even if you take any at all :)

(Just to be clear, that's nothing to do with any hunting prowess I may have. More that I seem to jinx Mr Duxbury)

"Jinx" is too light a word. The next time we go out I will just take the jammed up die with me, lie it on the ground and stare at it and meditate on my failures for a week.

Soon as I get more than an hours drive away from yourself, twelve pointers just walk up to me

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Duxbury

"Jinx" is too light a word. The next time we go out I will just take the jammed up die with me, lie it on the ground and stare at it and meditate on my failures for a week.

Soon as I get more than an hours drive away from yourself, twelve pointers just walk up to me

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You, on the other hand, seem to be my lucky charm. Just so long as you don't light a fire

And then you make me carry your heads out for you as well. I'm not sure how this happens.

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Originally Posted by John Duxbury

And then you make me carry your heads out for you as well. I'm not sure how this happens.

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I don't think Eddie Herrick carried much while Jim Muir was around either

(You're still carrying 1/8" of one of my heads to this day, somewhere in your thigh)

I have the goddam scar to this day! The only consolation is that it prevented you from reaching the 40 inch mark on another one of your trophy collection