03-13-2011, 10:08 PM
rasp65 Wrote:I recently reloaded some brand new ALEXA headstamped brass. The first 50 reloaded fine. The last 50 I had 5 cases completly collapse the shoulder and 8 with bulges at the shoulder like you get when fireforming 7.62X39 cases. I was using the same 120 SMKs with HBN coating. All the cases were processed the same way, they were run over my Redding carbide sizing button and neck turned to the same thickness. Has anyone else ever experienced such problems?
R65:
Good to see you back.
Negative from me. Haven't crushed brass, had dimpled shoulders, or bulged the shoulder junction.
Why did it happen with you? Can only speculate.
Normally excessive lube on the shoulders can cause them to get dimpled. This happens with thick lubes that come in tubes that you squirt onto stamp pads.
Sizing die set too tight crushes the shoulders back is another speculation.
Expander button not set deeply enough, thus jamming the neck of the brass into the neck part of the sizing die.
No lube inside the neck can allow for the expander button to exert huge amounts of force downward on the shoulder, crushing the necks and or bulging the brass.
Expander button too big may also cause problems.
Like we discussed on the earlier forum, neck turning Lapua brass is unnecessary for good bolt rifles and is totally unnecessary for gas guns but I doubt neck turning them caused the problems you are seeing unless you really took off a lot of brass -- thus weakening the necks.
Advice FWIW.
Re-check the depth of your seating die.
Ensure your expander button is down sufficiently that it isn't getting the neck jammed between it and the inside of the neck part of the die.
Get some Dillon spray lube and use it. Or at least lube the inside of the necks somehow before running them through any type of die -- carbide or not.
LR1955