Issue with forming 300 BLK from 223

[cwlongshot]

LEE them selves advises AGAINST using there dies for any case forming in this caliber.

Not 100% why. But they made the dies...

I used my Summit press and a Forester FL die. Had to adjust cam over to get correct but easy peasy lube with imperial and run it thru.

CW

[madmosche]

LEE them selves advises AGAINST using there dies for any case forming in this caliber.

Not 100% why. But they made the dies...

I used my Summit press and a Forester FL die. Had to adjust cam over to get correct but easy peasy lube with imperial and run it thru.

CW

That’s why I’m using RCBS short base dies.

[Sig220]

Not meaning to call CW out, but I only use RCBS dies. If I try to push a 223 case through the 300BO die, it crushes the case and makes it unusable.

I am also not a fortune teller......but I am leaning toward RCBS coming back with a response that says their dies are for "resizing" cases not "forming" cases. I am hoping there is just a manufacturing defect in your die body that they will take care of. They have excellent customer service!

There almost always more then one way to accomplish a task or put another way more then one way to skin a cat! You will find your way and then it will all be good!


Dang it........had this all typed out and had to drive the wife to a doctor's appt..........forgot to hit "submit"

[madmosche]

I am also not a fortune teller......but I am leaning toward RCBS coming back with a response that says their dies are for "resizing" cases not "forming" cases. I am hoping there is just a manufacturing defect in your die body that they will take care of. They have excellent customer service!

The interesting thing is, if I resize a factory 300 BLK case with the decap/expander removed it does the same thing and bells out the very end of the case mouth. So I’m thinking you might be right about the die having a defect.

[dellet]

I doubt it's the die, other than they all size the neck way to small. The flair/bell is not uncommon, especially with some brass. It does seem excessive. I only worry about it if it does not come out when the neck is sized.

It sounds like your pulling the shoulders up with the expander, Are you lubing the expander or is it rough? I will generally polish them if they are not carbide.

What you should be able to do is run a case up in the die, unscrew the expander, remove the case and check it in your gauge. that will confirm without a doubt if the shoulder is being pulled back up. Then you have to feed the stem back through and check again.

You can also partially resize the case ans see if that takes the bell out.

[madmosche]

It sounds like your pulling the shoulders up with the expander, Are you lubing the expander or is it rough? I will generally polish them if they are not carbide.

Hmm I didn't consider that. This is what the decap/expander looks like: https://imgur.com/nYkYCCY. I have not been putting lube on the expander, only on the cases and inside the case mouths. Are you supposed to? I don't know if it's carbide.

How would you polish an expander like this? Sorry, I'm a n00b.

Good idea with running the case up and then removing the expander, I'll try that tonight.

[dellet]

It sounds like your pulling the shoulders up with the expander, Are you lubing the expander or is it rough? I will generally polish them if they are not carbide.

Hmm I didn't consider that. This is what the decap/expander looks like: https://imgur.com/nYkYCCY. I have not been putting lube on the expander, only on the cases and inside the case mouths. Are you supposed to? I don't know if it's carbide.

How would you polish an expander like this? Sorry, I'm a n00b.

Good idea with running the case up and then removing the expander, I'll try that tonight.

That's not carbide, yes to lube.

I chuck them up in a drill press use 1000 grit paper.

That expander is like most of them. backwards, the long tapered end goes in the big hole, and the short fat end comes out the small hole. lube just might solve both problems

[madmosche]

That's not carbide, yes to lube.

I chuck them up in a drill press use 1000 grit paper.

That expander is like most of them. backwards, the long tapered end goes in the big hole, and the short fat end comes out the small hole. lube just might solve both problems

Interesting results. So I put a good amount of Lee resizing lube all over the expander part, and lubed my chopped 223 cases as normal - same exact result. They stick up a tiny bit in the headspace gauge (fail).

Then I tried your steps- ran a case up into the die with expander installed, then with the case still in the die at the top of the stroke, I tried to remove the expander. I started unscrewing it from the top of the die by hand and after a few turns it stopped. The top of the expander has a flat head screwdriver cutout so I started unscrewing it with a screwdriver, it was VERY hard to unscrew. It finally unlocked the die from the breech lock in the press (before the expander came out of the case). So I removed the case with the expander still installed, and then upon removing the expander it really chewed up the brass when I was trying to unscrew it - photos here: https://imgur.com/a/TtVIg0X. I wiped off the brass shavings/lube mix and the expander is fine. But apparently this expander cannot be pulled back out of the case once it goes into the die.

Do you think I need to polish the expander with sandpaper or is this just a bad die/expander?

[dellet]

That's not carbide, yes to lube.

I chuck them up in a drill press use 1000 grit paper.

That expander is like most of them. backwards, the long tapered end goes in the big hole, and the short fat end comes out the small hole. lube just might solve both problems

Interesting results. So I put a good amount of Lee resizing lube all over the expander part, and lubed my chopped 223 cases as normal - same exact result. They stick up a tiny bit in the headspace gauge (fail).

Then I tried your steps- ran a case up into the die with expander installed, then with the case still in the die at the top of the stroke, I tried to remove the expander. I started unscrewing it from the top of the die by hand and after a few turns it stopped. The top of the expander has a flat head screwdriver cutout so I started unscrewing it with a screwdriver, it was VERY hard to unscrew. It finally unlocked the die from the breech lock in the press (before the expander came out of the case). So I removed the case with the expander still installed, and then upon removing the expander it really chewed up the brass when I was trying to unscrew it - photos here: https://imgur.com/a/TtVIg0X. I wiped off the brass shavings/lube mix and the expander is fine. But apparently this expander cannot be pulled back out of the case once it goes into the die.

Do you think I need to polish the expander with sandpaper or is this just a bad die/expander?

I'm sorry I was not clear on instructions.
Feed the expander down into the case, then remove the case with the stem flopping around inside and gauge it. Then feed the expander back into the die as it was before and remove the case as normal.

I read through the rest of the thread again, are you still having the gap between shell holder and ram when sizing?

[cwlongshot]

Madmosche & SIG220:

i had this issue with some lc brass now i cut,anneal,resize ,trim.in that order and no more problems. i use lee dies

MY REPLY ABOUT LEE DIES WAS TO HUNTON35!

No worries guys we are trying ta help ya here!

CW