Welcome guest, is this your first visit? Create Account now to join.
  • Login:

Welcome to the NZ Hunting and Shooting Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.

Terminator Ammo Direct


User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 35
Like Tree7Likes

Thread: Sizing die trouble

  1. #16
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Waikato
    Posts
    433
    Quote Originally Posted by 30.06king View Post
    Maybe, but if so I would think he would not be decapping cases either if it was that high. So, if successfully decapping the expander is probably positioned OK. But, if the expander is set too high within the die it might cause an issue ... ??
    If the decapping pin isn’t pushed fully in you can lock them in place screwing on the expander so it is possible to deprime and have the expander too high up in the die still. Might be more likely in a smaller cartridge. I did this with one of mine, can’t remember what cal but it was a Redding die.
    Micky Duck likes this.

  2. #17
    Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Waikato
    Posts
    433
    What brass is it? Have you loaded these cases before?

  3. #18
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2022
    Location
    Pukekohe
    Posts
    967
    Quote Originally Posted by kayneb View Post
    The Expander/decapping assembly wasn't in it initially as ill use a separate Expander die to set my neck tension afterwards.

    I'm not sure what the die is supposed to size the neck down to before the Expander ball widens it but the ID of the case mouth was below .210" without the Expander, Just measured with the calipers
    I'm not sure either what that measurement should be. It needs to be small enough that the expander will open it up again, enough to allow bullet seating with some tension.
    So now I'm guessing here but if you ran into the stuck case problem after the decapping rod / expander plug had been removed from the die then I think it was just insufficient lube applied to the case. You said you tried both less and more but the important area is the lower case as I mentioned. If you have covered all the case body with enough Imperial Wax you shouldn't get any stuck cases. Imperial Wax is very good in preventing that.

  4. #19
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Otorohanga
    Posts
    111
    Brass is from sako factory ammo, first time loading it

  5. #20
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Christchurch
    Posts
    1,342
    I had a redding flsd and I could only use it with imperial wax, and a good coating of it. Moved it on now just use the cheap / cheerful Lee flrd.
    Think the chamber of my rifle is way bigger so asking a lot of the brass to resize in the redding. Having said that I do have a redding body die that doesn't touch the neck, but even so requires a good lube.

  6. #21
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Otorohanga
    Posts
    111
    Yea I'll try a ton of wax and leave the decapping/expander assembly out again so if the bugger gets stuck I can bang it out once more

  7. #22
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Hamilton
    Posts
    713
    Quote Originally Posted by kayneb View Post
    I'm not sure what the die is supposed to size the neck down to before the Expander ball widens it but the ID of the case mouth was below .210" without the Expander, Just measured with the calipers
    Not that you can accurately measure case neck ID with calipers, but Something is definitely not right then. With a 0.224 projectile and 0.002-0.003 interference fit in the case neck, the neck ID should be circa 0.221.

    A better way to compare would be by measuring the OD of a loaded round. It should be about 0.252-0.253 depending on case neck thickness. Deduct 0.003-0.004” for neck tension and that should be your target OD of the case neck after FL sizing. If you’re not within a few thousandths of those figures, then your die is well out of spec.

  8. #23
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Otorohanga
    Posts
    111
    Yea after getting another case stuck, excessive wax is working! Leaving alot of marking on the body but it works

  9. #24
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Otorohanga
    Posts
    111
    Ran into a new problem now, the Expander mandrel die in supposed to size the neck for .001" neck tension is over sizing by about .003" soneck ID is .226 and projectiles can be pushed in easily by hand

  10. #25
    Banned
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Location
    Tauranga
    Posts
    5,143
    Overworking the neck probably. Something isn't right, your brass life will not be great with that much working of it going on.

  11. #26
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Okawa Hawkes Bay
    Posts
    3,056
    Greetings,
    The Sako brass is pretty heavy for .222 brass so the neck is likely quite thick which could be part of your problem. It also sounds like you have the wrong mandrel ie too big.
    GPM.

  12. #27
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Otorohanga
    Posts
    111
    Wilson expander die mandrels just come in the 1 size for some reason and designed to provide 1 thou neck tension. It reads .223 with the calipers, plus with some spring back I'd expect to not get an ID of .225"-.226"

    Resized some with the FL sizer and expander ball installed and it's giving consistent neck tension of .0025

  13. #28
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Otorohanga
    Posts
    111
    In saying that it feels like the case is pulling the mandrel off center, when the case mouth comes free of the end of the mandrel it's like the mandrel springs back slightly. I can't see any obvious reason why it wouldn't be lining up.

  14. #29
    Member Micky Duck's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Geraldine
    Posts
    24,735
    There isbugger all wiggle room in 222 case the expander ball is close to neck when it's fully in case I bought a new expander for my Lee set and it's 204 on one end and tapers out to the other. Not too hard to shorten the fat section to give more wiggle room. After loading 223 for twenty plus years I really was scratching head with 222 to start with as couldn't work out what was wrong.
    75/15/10 black powder matters

  15. #30
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2022
    Location
    Pukekohe
    Posts
    967
    Quote Originally Posted by kayneb View Post
    In saying that it feels like the case is pulling the mandrel off center, when the case mouth comes free of the end of the mandrel it's like the mandrel springs back slightly. I can't see any obvious reason why it wouldn't be lining up.
    Take the die, complete with expander, out of the press and look up into the interior. Check if the stem is centred. Sometimes they're not but can be untightened, turned slightly until centred and tightened down again.
    If you continue getting a hard time with the Redding expander an option is to try a Hornady Eliptical Expander. You can buy just the Expander with Stem as a part and they do screw into Redding Dies. They are a little easier to pull back through the neck, expand a little more progressively and more gently on the brass. It might help with your tension issue.

 

 

Similar Threads

  1. Trouble with scales
    By G.I_Joel in forum Reloading and Ballistics
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 06-01-2023, 11:22 AM
  2. Brass FL Sizing Trouble
    By joelhenton in forum Reloading and Ballistics
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 11-12-2020, 10:37 AM
  3. Brownells trouble
    By Tangobravo in forum Firearms, Optics and Accessories
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 19-07-2016, 07:25 PM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
Welcome to NZ Hunting and Shooting Forums! We see you're new here, or arn't logged in. Create an account, and Login for full access including our FREE BUY and SELL section Register NOW!!