Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Stuck a 416 in a loading die - ideas

I broke the head off of a 416 rigby case in my Lyman die.
I had to open up the head to remove the expander.
I have scoured V grooves into the body of the case from the inside. Now my next idea consists for the most part of taking a big hammer and swinging, but I hoped you guys might have better ideas.

HELP!

Why not a stuck case remover ? RCBS or Forster makes 'em

I drill and tap the primer pocket for a small hex bolt and use spacers, in my case a large alum. nut, with a series of washers on top for the bolt to pass thru. I start tightening the bolt and it usually pulls the stuck case out.

You don't have a case head to screw into. You canvery very
carefully insert a tap to catch the case body. I have heard of
filling the case with cera-bond and punching it out.
Have also heard of ramming small pieces of tissue paper very hard into the case and pushing it out.
The safest method involves two steps; Send the die to the manufacturer, and use Imperial Die Wax from now on.
Good luck!
PS. If you insist on prying it out grind a pin punct leaving one rounded surfact to protect the die and pry the case away from the die.

Try soaking it in kerosene before attempting to remove it.

What we really need is something to dissolve the brass and not affect the steel. I don't know of anything however.

I would go to the nearest Sportsman's Warehouse, go to the reloading area and find a new set of dies. All the trouble of trying to remove the case when it has no base left, isn't worth all the worry and trouble. Besides that, using any tool to remove it is most likely going to scratch or mar the die in the removal proccess.

Put the die in a vise, heat it with a torch and the case will fall out..The brass case will get hot before you use enough heat to effect the hardened die..takes about a minute.

Put the die in a vise, heat it with a torch and the case will fall out..The brass case will get hot before you use enough heat to effect the hardened die..takes about a minute. It is nice to have enough brass exposed to take a purchase, but if you carefull you don't need a purchase to get it done..

I also use a RCBS case extractor from time to time.

I haven`t heard of this method before. Do you heat the case or the die?

Heat up the die in an oven at 200 degrees and take a syringe and spray a small amount of ice water on the inside of the case and the brass will drop out. The die body will not cool off as fast as the brass and that should fix your problem. I have seen this done five or six times and it has worked each time, although the head was still on the brass and it would fill up with water and just drop out. Good Luck!
Good shooting!
Marcus.

send it back to the company and test thier customer service.

ol'Joe,
You can heat the die without damage as the brass gets hot and falls out before the steel is disturbed...but I suppose you could do either. When the brass gets hot it shrinks and falls out almost on its own.

If there was enough brass exposed that would probably be what I would heat..

It is really simple and it works. I read it somewhere many years ago and been doing it that way ever since.

Great! I`m going to remember this one. Not that a case has ever stuck in one of my dies..

I'm not understanding this concept. Brass expands when heated, (perhaps not as fast as steel?)

(Yeah, I was among the group of kids who played with and got the brass ball stuck inside the heated brass ring in junior high. Like other metals, brass expands when heated, shrinks when cooled.) I'm not saying Ray's suggestion doesn't work, just that I don't understand why it should.

Do you have any of the case head left on the case. If so, drill it round, using the smallest drill that will clean up the hole.

Then, very gently start a threading tap into the hole. Use a tap that is too small to cut through the brass and score the die. Turn the tap into the hole two or three complete turns.

Then, either using the spacers and a nut as mentioned above, use the tap like a jack screw to pull the case out.

Or, support the the base of the die, or screw it part ways into the press, and using a against the end of the tap, drive the tap and case out of the die.

I have done this a number of times, but I only pulled the rim off when the case stuck. It was a simple matter to drill out the primer pocket and start a tap, but you mentioned that you had to open up the head so that you could remove the expander,

That might present a different set of problems, but, if you were able to score grooves into the brass, you should be able to start a tap that is large enough to grip the inside case walls, but still small enough so that it will not cut through the brass and into the die. Then, drive out the case with a punch.

Thanks for all the good ideas. As soon as the equipment is put away from the elk hunt, I will get back to the reloading room and fire up the torch.

To clarify, brass does expand when heated but when it cools quickly it shrinks greatly and the case litterally falls out..It does work, so far everytime...and I have done this for myself and others so I have done it probably 10 or 15 times I guess.

I just wrote this in an answer on pg1 maybe it will help;

Tips for removing a stuck case. [Re: cliff444]
hogan

Registered: 12/07/06
Posts: 113

If you have a tap and a bolt, you can make your own stuck case puller. Remove your die from the press, thread it in from the bottom, or put it in a vise.

Screw tap into primer pocket
Find socket or pipe nipple that will bear against base of die
Find washer that covers socket/nipple
Thread bolt into your tapped primer pocket
Use socket to tighten bolt until case is removed.

What does an RCBS stuck case remover cost these days?
If you have a 1/4 inch tap for small primer or maybe a 3/8" for large primer pockets you should be in business.

Imperial works pretty nice, but...

If you are doing more than a few cases a session, PAM baking spray, or the WallyWorld cheaper version is much better. I spray a plastic ice cream bucket of brass with a couple of good shots and just crank it on with the press. For $3 a can, no more stuck presses, and no more having to play with the die wax can. I tumble my loaded cases in a Lyman Max w/plain media to remove any residue.

I'm glad I read this thread. I've been dealing with this problem for more than 45 years and never heard about using heat. I thought I had all the answers to this problem. I was wrong.

I have taken the temp down to fifty below zero with no luck. The use of the extractor stuck case set, destroys the rod in RCBS style dies. I have cut groves in cases using a jeweler's file and folded the brass with a punch/chisel (only takes half a day). This the first time I've heard about the heat trick. I can't wait to pull another rim off to try this trick. I just hope I don't forget it before I need it.

Thanks for that post fellows.