RCBS FL Sizing Dies

[RDA]

Your Co-Ax with RCBS dies may result in the vent hole being under the lock ring. The lock ring isn't air tight, the vent hole still allows venting so it isn't likely your issue. That vent hole is only there to compensate for over-lubing anyway, some dies don't even have vent holes.

[rebel]

You said when you took out the decapper it didn't budge the case. Was this an auto correct? Did you mean bulge or did it not make a difference? I know you are frustrated, but most of the folks that have replied have made all the mistakes you are mentioning and are trying to help. They are not clowns and yes sometimes the manual just sucks. As mentioned, forget the vent hole and concentrate on the sizing ball position - you have to run that sucker down. If the die does it's thing without the decapper/ ball in place it can only be that, if not you need to contact RCBS.

[JPC]

I experienced this same issue recently. I bought the dies and the first two cases came out like yours. I also noticed it took a lot more force to size the case than it should. I removed the sizing ball and the cases were fine.

I lowered the sizing ball and tried it... What do you know... It worked perfectly. Every case I have resized (over 1k) have passed the Sheridan case gage check.

If you want to fix your problem, lower the sizing ball and give it a try.

[dark_nephi]

Howdy guys!

I have been having an issue with my expander ball also. I have now broken 3 expander balls from my RCBS full length dies. I thought I had enough lube and had prepared my brass correctly, but the expander balls would tear off the rods and get stuck inside my brass. when you look at the rods you can see the threads on the bottom where the balls screw in are torn right off.



I finally called RCBS because I wanted to figure out what was the real root cause. The RCBS technician explained that the 3/16 pin stickout out the bottom of the die causes the ball to not fully pass into the body of the brass during the resizing process. The expander ball is caught between the neck and the inner wall of the die. that tension applies pressure on the ball and just pulls it off. RCBS technician told me to change the length of the decapping pin sticking out of the die to 0.400. this would allow the ball to pass into the broader body of the case during resizing and hopefully it wouldn't stick or rip off the expander ball.

[golfindia]

1. Lower the expander as far as it can go.
2. Polish your new expander ball
3. Keep watch to make sure the ball isnt unscrewing from the stem (looks like yours only stripped about half the threads each time......)
4. Make sure dies are clean. The set in the photo look, uh, "battletested"

[dark_nephi]

thanks golfindia!

turns out im an idiot and wasnt looking at the right instructions for my 300 blackout dies.. it should have been .400 the whole time. I was shocked. ive looked at the instruction page so much! How did i miss that? RCBS did not have to be so kind and send me replacements.. that shiz was on me! yes.. i went full retard
i might have been confusing my .223 die paperwork.. or when you look online I couldn't find specific 300 blackout die instructions.. either way i sincerely feel stupid for missing those instructions.
when i had to pull out my last stuck case from the die body my stem and ball were so tight that my monkey wrench killed the decapping rod.. thats why its "battletested"
how do i polish the new expander ball?

[r.tenorio671]

..... here's a process you can try using a sized & decapped casing, and your decapper depth set per manufacturer recommendations:

1.) Run casing up into sizer die just enough so the expander ball has passed thru the neck into the larger case body.
2.) Loosen the decapper lock nut completely so the decapper rod is basically "free floating"
3.) Run the casing up completely so that it bottoms out on the shell plate, check to see that the decapping pin has entered and protruded thru the flash hole and gravity is keeping it bottomed out on the inside of the flash hole.
4.) Keeping the ram up, tighten your decapper rod lock nut.

This ensures the decapper is adjusted so the end of the expander ball the pin protrudes from is bottomed out on (or slightly above) the inside of the flash hole and the expander ball is deep enough in the body to prevent it from interfering with the case neck and shoulder sizing as the casing reaches the top of the ram stroke. Having the rod adjusted down too far and the tip of the expander ball come into too much contact with the inside of the flash hole can "flex" or bend the rod enough that it doesn't center over the flash hole to push the primer out, this can lead to broken pins, especially on progressive or turret type presses. Some brass is thicker than others, one reason to adjust so it sits just above the flash hole. Typically the expander ball resizes the neck ID as it passes thru the case during its EXIT from the resized casing.

[golfindia]

thanks golfindia!

turns out im an idiot and wasnt looking at the right instructions for my 300 blackout dies.. it should have been .400 the whole time. I was shocked. ive looked at the instruction page so much! How did i miss that? RCBS did not have to be so kind and send me replacements.. that shiz was on me! yes.. i went full retard
i might have been confusing my .223 die paperwork.. or when you look online I couldn't find specific 300 blackout die instructions.. either way i sincerely feel stupid for missing those instructions.
when i had to pull out my last stuck case from the die body my stem and ball were so tight that my monkey wrench killed the decapping rod.. thats why its "battletested"
how do i polish the new expander ball?

Battletested = Battle tested without a space in the middle. Polite way of saying those dies look like you've used a pipe wrench on them.

Many U-Toob videos re: expander ball polishing. Flitz, a drill and a rag.