So, final comment and lessons learned.
Inevitably, a Small Base sizing die is going to need you to eat your Wheaties, because it crunches that case down smaller than a full-length die does, so you'll get more of a workout.
Most of the resizing goes on down nearer the casehead, and you need to make sure you've used plenty of case lube - yeah, more than the "minimum possible".
And lastly, I found that processing some cases is like eating an elephant - take small bites. So, I'll pull the press arm and everything gets difficult after about 1/4" inch of sizing the case. So, back off, relube the area that just got sized, and repeat. 4 or 5 partial cycles and you'll eventually be able to pull down the press arm for the whole length of the case.
There was definitely something wrong with the die, but I lacked the experience to be able to diagnose that I too was part of the problem.
Inevitably, a Small Base sizing die is going to need you to eat your Wheaties, because it crunches that case down smaller than a full-length die does, so you'll get more of a workout.
Most of the resizing goes on down nearer the casehead, and you need to make sure you've used plenty of case lube - yeah, more than the "minimum possible".
And lastly, I found that processing some cases is like eating an elephant - take small bites. So, I'll pull the press arm and everything gets difficult after about 1/4" inch of sizing the case. So, back off, relube the area that just got sized, and repeat. 4 or 5 partial cycles and you'll eventually be able to pull down the press arm for the whole length of the case.
There was definitely something wrong with the die, but I lacked the experience to be able to diagnose that I too was part of the problem.