New Brass and F/L sizing

[Bishop]

Got me some new Winchester 243 brass, trying to f/l size it.

Problem is the case goes into the die fine, takes a little bit of force and i can feel the expander ball going in (i think) thats what it is. It goes to the top of the stroke no problems. But takes quite a bit of force on the down stroke.

My problems are when im on the downstroke pulling the expander through the neck of the case, ie it starts off easy on the downstroke but when that expander die hits i really have to put some down low on it to complete the stroke.

To put in perspective how hard it is to pull the downstroke i can do it no problems and could do it all day but i would imagine if my wife tried to do it she would have to use both hands and strain a bit. So its not a dead weightlifter bulging veins in my forehead thing but its quite stiff. I am unable to maintain any type of smoothness throughout the stroke of the press.
I reach the point where the the expander is coming through and the press stops, i apply increasing pressure and i can feel it pull through with a jerky motion.

Normal or do i need to adjust something?


Lee classic cast press, RCBS F/L die

 

[Bishop]

Picture of the decapping pin and expander, i notice a yellowish color at the top of the expander like its removing some brass from the inside of my neck.

Does this matter?

 

[cornchuck]

Mr. Bishop,

I don't know how long you have been reloading but it seems every time I get behind the press I learn something new. I had the same problem as you have stated and I read on this same forum that I needed more lube on the inside of the neck of my cases. I use Hornady's One Shot as a lube. I can always tell when there isn't enough lube on the cases. They are hard to run through the resizing die. But you have to watch that not to much lube collects on the inside of your die or it will plug the hole for the air to escape out of your die. That can/will cause your brass to dent at the shoulders.

This is just a suggestion as I have been reloading for about 7 years. Someone else could have another cure to your problem.

Jason

 

[Bishop]

Ty for the reply Jason soon as i get back home ill try lathering it up and see what happens

 

[CRNA]

Is there any way the expander ball is off center so badly that it is getting hung up on the inside of the neck? Subscribing for updates.

 

[Bishop]

Just eyeballing it it doesnt seem off center in such an extreme way. I gave it a really good shot of lube and rubbed the excess away with my fingers. At first it didnt make much of a difference but after about 25 cases it is getting a bit better, when i first removed the decapper the ball had a fairly sharp feeling ridge at the top of it but it doesnt feel so pronounced now, I might try polishing just the sharp ridge with a touch of jewlers rouge that i have laying around that i use to sharpen knives with. If you notice in the picture of the ball you can pretty much see where that sharp ridge was, at the very top of the brass colored ring.

Also this die is sizing the neck to .238 while the .243 varmint ballistic tips all measure .242...

I seem to remember reading in quite a few posts that .002 neck tension was about all you really wanted anyway. Getting Shavings around the edge of the neck after seating bullets into these cases. And I did avoid making a knife edge while chamfer/deburring them.

And to Jason, I have not been re-loading very long at all. Its a learning process and im just making a point to ask questions about everything im concerned with to hopefully keep from making too many mistakes.

 

[Bishop]

I just took a strip of leather with some jewlers rouge on it and did some polishing on the rough part of the expander ball, the problem is fixed now and it is now much much easier to size with now. I measured the inside of a neck and they still measure .238 after i polished that ring a bit so I reckon its all good now.