Thread: Removing a stuck / broken case from a die... the easy way.

I recently got a case stuck in a Hornady FLRS die, and to compound the problem, broke the head off the case. I do not have the specific tools to fix the situation so I puzzled over a fix....

Tonight I came up with a solution. Hope it can be of help to others in the future. Here is what I did:

First I reached into the case from the open end where the head used to be and gouged out some chunks with a dremel bit. You could use a drill or scribe or anything - just rough up the inside a bit to create some traction for the next steps...

Next I put a small wad of tinfoil into the case and pushed it up to the shoulder/neck area to block it up.... see where this is going?

Step three was to carefully pour molten lead into the case from the broke end and let it cool to form a good solid plug.

Last step was to put the die in the vise - with the ring sitting on top of the jaws - and insert an appropriate sized punch down through the top of the die, through the case neck. The end of the punch was then sitting on the tinfoil wad - now at the top of the lead plug. Three good sharp taps with a hammer and the case popped out, no harm done and pretty simple really.

Anyways, hope this helps someone out sometime

it would have knowing two months ago