Hey Folks, I'm fairly new to reloading. I've loaded several hundred rounds of .40 with no problems and finally got a Lee .223 Deluxe die set and tried it out. I full length sized my brass and prepared it. I seated several Nosler 50g Ballistic Tips and then pushed a round against my loading bench to check the neck tension....the bullet slipped in. In the directions, they suggest using a cotton swab to lightly lube the inside of the neck, I thought maybe I had used too much and used a clean swab to try to wipe some excess lube out, if there was any. I seated a few more rounds and checked neck tension again. I had two more bullets slip. Is my die sizing the neck too big? Anyone else ever had this problem? Thanks
Full Length die sizing neck to big??
- Thread starter Mannyman
- Start date
Once it bottoms out, put a little more pressure on the handle to squeeze the Collette in on the neck. not enough to break anything. It takes a little more push to squeeze the neck back in than it takes to push the spent primer out or to re size the case. I don't use any lube on any seating operation. fs
Was this after you crimped the case neck on the bullet or before?
If you push hard enough on any freshly loaded round you can set it back. Under normal conditions most rounds won't have a lot of pressure applied to the bullets after seating. Unless the rounds are going to see rough treatment, crimping isn't necessary for most.
Are you using the FL or neck only die? The setup and use of these two are different.
The FL die should be used for any autoloader. With the shellholder in place bring the ram to the top of the stroke. Screw the die body in until it makes contact with the shellholder then an additional 1/4 to 1/2 turn and lock.
With a lubed case inthe shellholder bring the ram to the top of the stroke, make sure you reach the top of the stroke.
After FL sizing be sure to measure the brass length. Unlike straight walled pistol that you're accustomed to loading, firing and resizing bottleneck brass causes the brass to stretch a bit after each sizing.
I usually trim mine for uniformity at the first sizing despite its length. .010" under max is my rule of thumb, some use .015" or even .020" under, but .010" works for me. The brass usually gathers at the top and will require a trim after three or four FL sizings and full power loadings. Make sure to chamfer and debur the case mouth prior to charging and loading.
I use a lot of Lee FL dies and have found that when properly adjusted most size on the tight side of spec.
On a side note, I've read of some folks loading the "Varmints Nightmare" bullets from Midway finding some that were not .224" diameter. Even if they do seat securely, they don't shoot well with keyholing being a common problem.
If loading for a single/same turnbolt Lee neck dies are great. They make loading a breeze while extending usable case life and improving your accuracy.
Are you using the FL or neck only die? The setup and use of these two are different.
The FL die should be used for any autoloader. With the shellholder in place bring the ram to the top of the stroke. Screw the die body in until it makes contact with the shellholder then an additional 1/4 to 1/2 turn and lock.
With a lubed case inthe shellholder bring the ram to the top of the stroke, make sure you reach the top of the stroke.
After FL sizing be sure to measure the brass length. Unlike straight walled pistol that you're accustomed to loading, firing and resizing bottleneck brass causes the brass to stretch a bit after each sizing.
I usually trim mine for uniformity at the first sizing despite its length. .010" under max is my rule of thumb, some use .015" or even .020" under, but .010" works for me. The brass usually gathers at the top and will require a trim after three or four FL sizings and full power loadings. Make sure to chamfer and debur the case mouth prior to charging and loading.
I use a lot of Lee FL dies and have found that when properly adjusted most size on the tight side of spec.
On a side note, I've read of some folks loading the "Varmints Nightmare" bullets from Midway finding some that were not .224" diameter. Even if they do seat securely, they don't shoot well with keyholing being a common problem.
If loading for a single/same turnbolt Lee neck dies are great. They make loading a breeze while extending usable case life and improving your accuracy.
But be sure to read the instructions for die setup, some are a little different. I don't crimp when reloading for autoloader either, Chuckdog gave some great info. You might check the sticky posts, lots of info in there.
That's great. I just read my post again and realized that I should have noted most bottleneck cartridges don't require a crimp. Most handgun rounds of course do.
I also typed Midway when it should be Midsouth Shooters Supply's bullets being slightly undersized.
You'll be surprised at just how well many rifles can shoot when you can tune its diet.
I also typed Midway when it should be Midsouth Shooters Supply's bullets being slightly undersized.
You'll be surprised at just how well many rifles can shoot when you can tune its diet.
I use dillon carbide dies and not on my .223 but my 9mm I had a problem like that and dillon sent me a replacement size die and its been working good ever since.its hard to tell if you have a bad die or a setup problem,I tryed several times to set it up and just couldn't get it to work,new die no problem.and I do crimp my 223 slightly I want them to stay put and they seem to feed good also.maybe its just in my head to crimp a tad but I never had a feeding prob. after I started doing that,maybe I did have a bur on it on the first ones and the crimp took care of it and I have been doing it ever since.
