Ever had a stuck case inside a die??

My first stuck case (223 Rem) and am I glad I was a sheetmetal man for about 50 years, Aircraft and commercial. I had about two hundred 223 Rem cases and their mouth was so large the bullet dropped into the case. Asked a reloading friend what to do and he suggested resizing them. I lubed the cases and all and was about half way through them when it happened, the base broke off and the case was stuck inside the RCBS resizing die. First I have drilled out many a bolt when the head broke off so I got the primer rod out, then step drilled the casing and used a tungsten scribe to collapse the wall of the casing and then punched the casing out, Then I noticed the neck was still inside the die, so I got a drill bit just smaller than the outside neck wall and the drill caught the neck and I withdrew the neck with the drill bit. I then inspected the inside of the die and not a mark anywhere inside the wall. Years of drilling out screws, bolts and what have you, and collapsing the walls, then punching out the left over material. I have even drilled out eyeglass frame screws without destroying the threads The funny thing was that later I was on the computer and there are videos on how to remove a stuck case and most of the stuck cases were 223 Rem's. The first video showed how to pull the primer rod with a pair of needle nose pliers, then he used a transfer punch and punched the case out. The next video involved a drill, 1/4" x 20 tpi tap. then a socket and a thick washer and a bolt. He tapped the primer hole with the 1/4 x 20 tap, then used the socket and washer and screwed the bolt into the casing and wall-la the casing came right out. He said the same thing, that, most all of the cases that got stuck were 223 Rem. I can remember these two ways of removing as stuck case. I thought I might have to buy another die but after removal I finished sizing about 100 more cases, without a stuck case or any scratches on the cases. That is one hell of a hassel, don't you agree, especially when everything is working great and then the BIG WALL-LA happens?

I had a piece of 30-06 brass get stuck about 20 years ago. It is still in that die, I just bought a new set of dies. Two years ago I stuck a piece of 223 brass, and used the rcbs stuck case remover kit ( drill bit, tap, cup, and screw ), and it worked like a champ. It definitely is a pain.


JTD

Off topic, sorry.

I am a newbie here and don't know where to or how to ask a question. I can find no specific place to do so. Maybe you can help me out there?

So here is my first question:
Can it be determined what size pistol primer is needed for 45acp by looking at the hole size at the interior base of the case? I have seen three different size holes at the bottom. One is tiny, the next is a little bigger and the third is the largest. Can I assume that the largest takes the "large pistol primers" and the tiny takes the "small pistol primers"? The middle guy baffles me all to hell.
See attached pics:

Pick an appropriate related forum , hand gun loading/pistol cartridges ......

Yep 45 ACP comes in large and small pistol primers the in-between is likely a crimped primer .

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Originally Posted by Harter

Pick an appropriate related forum , hand gun loading/pistol cartridges ......

Yep 45 ACP comes in large and small pistol primers the in-between is likely a crimped primer .

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I thought I was on the appropriate related form------ "General Reloading questions (Reloading 101)"?????????

I already knew that I was asking if I could tell one from the other by looking at the hole sizes inside the case.

You can start a "new thread " , "new topic" .

Not from the inside . Boxer primers are .185 and .210 dia . Looking inside may reveal different dia flash holes , 2 holes means Berdan primed . Berdan primers are uncommon in the US and kind of a pain in the ........not worth the effort .

Really large flash holes are usually from NT , nontoxic , primers . Those will take standard primers and typically don't have any pressure issues within normal data .

Ok thanks !!!

I managed to get a piece of .458 Socom stuck in a Lee sizing die recently.....threw the die in the freezer for a few hours then put it in my bench vice and gave the de-priming pin a few whacks with a mallet...the shell popped right out.

Whose got the best story. My contribution has to do with a 45-70 case. The case went into the sizing die just fine. Suddenly, it was like the press handle let go. Sure enough the 45-70 was stuck in the die. What had happened was the lip had broken off the shell holder. The shell holder had broken. As a dilemma it did not add up to much. Unscrewed the die with case several turns. The old broken shell holder was taken out of the press. Undamaged shell holder was pushed into the press. As the new shell holder was pushed into place the rim of the 45-70 case slid in. Case came right out. The case was OK the shell holder broke. I did bugger one up so bad it was sent back to RCBS. While the die was with the company two broken case extractors were sent along. The stuck case must have drawn a crowd at RCBS.

My two stuck cases were not cool stories at all. 30-06, no lube inside the neck, stuck on expander. 223 not enough lube on the case body. Stupid mistakes.


JTD

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Originally Posted by JeffreyDeGraff

My two stuck cases were not cool stories at all. 30-06, no lube inside the neck, stuck on expander. 223 not enough lube on the case body. Stupid mistakes.


JTD

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My take on it is that things can happen if you are actively doing something. That's why stuck case extractors and squib rods are made.

I'd say most of the reloaders I know have a stuck case remover. A stuck case, to me, means something not being right. Anybody that's done some heavy duty case forming has a different attitude about stuck brass. To me it's one of the "yet" events in reloading meaning one has not done it yet.

It must be something in the case geometry of the 223 .

When using new dies , Lee seems to be the worst but I can't prove that , whatever case lube your using, prelube the die with it . Don't be sparing either . Seriously if you don't get at least 2 cases back with lube dents you didn't get enough in the die , excluding dry lubes . You have fill in and smooth over the tool marks and open pores .

The last one I stuck was a 223 , there were a couple of 308 , and 06's before that . The lube pad operator was at fault for all but the 223 , which was how I arrived at run em' wet one step under lube dents for the first 100 . Actually if the shoulder doesn't crease you're still ok .

In case this sounds like brand bashing it isn't I have CH , Forster , Herters, Hornady, Lee, Lachmiller, Lyman, Pacific , Redding , and RCBS die sets .

Let me share my experience. I was forming 256 Newton cases from 270 Remington and Winchester once fired brass. I was using Imperial Sizing die wax. This was a horror story, I was dealing with stuck cases and dents. Lube was coming out of the vent hole in the RCBS dies. Unvented, the C&H dies were sticking cases also I swapped over to the new style RCBS lube. Problem went away. My feelings/personal experience is that Imperial does not work well for reforming cases. This stuck case situation had mainly to do with lube type. This shortfall was evident also when the RCBS dies were used to form 45-60 from Starline 45-70 brass. Reforming worked great with the RCBS lube.

This is not bashing Imperial. I have used Imperial long before Redding bought them out. In my experience a wrong or inappropriate lube can bring on stuck cases. Most of my dies came to me used. Any break-in was done by former anonymous owners. The Newton dies were both new with the RCBS being NOS from a going out of business sale many years ago.