I'm resizing and de priming my .223 shells and I have a problem. These are my first I've done so far. I lube the shell then put it in the shell holder I resize and remove the primer at same time. But when I'm done the shells have dents at the shoulder. Is the die bad or am I doing something wrong? And the shells that have dents are they still good or do I just throw them away?
AR guy: The dents are cause by the excess lube getting captured between the case shoulder and the shoulder step in the die. The lube is incompressible so it indents the soft brass case. The lube I use is the RCBS lube on their pad. I load the pad so that it is barely damp with lube and give the case a gentle single roll across the pad. And even sometimes that is too much lube. I don't like spray lube because it is always too much. Some here use special lubes that they rub onto the case with their fingers. You need some lube or the case will stick in the die and be very tough indeed to get out but too much creates the dents you are seeing. You just have to find the right amount through trial and error. But too little is a BIG problem you don't want. The dents will be pushed out during the firing (50,000+PSI inside the case during firing!). Good luck. LDBennett
What the others said about too much lube causing the dents. I lube mine by rolling on an RCBS pad, then I use my thumb and fingers to wipe excess lube off the case neck. A little messy, but that is what I do. .223s are a pain to reload in my opinion. Gotta be careful when bullet seating or you will get a slight bulge at the case shoulder. Sometimes you won't know it until you try to chamber one. I've been doing this for over 40 years and I still have fits with the .223s.
Ok thanks. I did start using a lot less lube and they are starting to come out nice looking. When I started to put lube on my pad, the lube was cold and I was squeezing the bottle a bit too much and the tip popped out and lube went all over the pad. So after I scraped the excess off and back in the bottle there was still a bit too much. After reading some replies i started using my fingers to lube the cases now that there's just a tad on the pad it's working good now. I guess the basement was too cold for the lube and thickened it up. Well thanks for the quick responses
you might also try the rcbs pump spray lube and or the hornady aerosol spray lube. i st mine in relaoding trays, give a spritz on all 4 sides and then let them set to let the lube spread out... don't hose them down.. and don't hose them and then start crunching/ a lil goes along way. I use my rcbs pad and light finger trick when I'm doing very small lots of specialty cases or onsies... or if setting up a die fro the first time..
The Lube and pad method is really pretty fail safe, my preferred method though is Hornady Unique case lube in the white tub. It seems to be nothing but mink oil. Thumb and forefinger right in the lube messaging the casing completely as I bring it up to the shellplate. Feeling the amount of lubricant has proven 100% reliabile for me above and beyond other methods. I have tried spray lubes with least success. Fingers on the case before you resize is the only way to understand if the correct amount and area is properly covered with lubricant for proper function, and no dents.
312shooter: I agree (with the finger lube method as being the best). Even the pad method sometimes gets too much lube on the case. But with the progressive loading I do, I have to minimize the mess on my hands to operate the press so I stick with the pad method. It is far superior to the spray lube I once tried. LDBennett
