Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles dent brass after resizing

After I lube the brass (223Rem Winchester brass) and run it through the sizer die...I occassionally do get dents just under the shoulder. I know your not supposed to get lube on the shoulder and do not think I get any on the shoulder. Is this a tricky proposition when resizing? Do reloaders get a few dents in their brass when resizing or is it expected to get no dents?

Also the brass I resize last night appears to be slightly enlarged near the case head but on the body. This is a 223Rem brass. I will have to measure the beass just above the case head and just under the shoulder. I also have a new 223Rem Win brass and the new brass does look a little smaller near the case head.

Not sure if this is indicative of how I set up the die. But I set up the die with shell holder int he ram and fully upward ram I screw in the die until touching the shell holder. Then screw i the die 1/4 turn.

BTW this is used brass that I got from someone and its Winchester brass. Was particularly dirty and I've never seen brass this dirty so myst be from the black rifle lol.

What brand FL die are you using for the .223?

The die is RCBS. Hope you are not telling me my die may be the culprit? The only reason I am bringing this up is because I want to ensure the problem is not on my end and wasting brass.

I think I lube enough...but not too much either. And I know I am not getting lube on the brasneck. I also know of two books that emphasis lube enough but not "dripping wet" and not to get lube on neck.

BTW my lube seems to dry up pretty fast so I presume you got to keep putting lube on the lube pad. It appears to me that there is very little lube on the case after first using the first back of case of about 25 when I think I need a little more lube. Question: could I be using too much lube? I really do not think so but someone can only learn from trial and error.

You're oversizing, back that die off one full turn (or even more) after touching the shellholder.

to much lube

Two different ideas lol. I guess this is going to take some experimenting. Might as well as back off the die some and see what happens. But not sure about backing off a full turn? Are you sure that is what folks do? I will check it out though and see what the brass looks like afterwards.

As for too much lube...some of the brass came out fine and some came with slight dent just below the shoulder as well as the brass loooking a little fat down by the case head.

I will try backing off the die a little more and see how it turns out.

Clean the die there is a small hole in the side to let out excess lube it's more than likely plugged.

I'll second to much lube. But perhaps your die is dirty inside, try cleaning it out. If your gonna back the die up, unless you have a bad head space problem, your not gonna get the whole neck re-sized. What was suggested is partial re-sizing. To do it, back the die up about a half turn and see where the die is sizing to on the neck, get it as close as you can to the shoulder but don't touch the shoulder. You will only get one or two firings and the bolt won't close on the case. Check and make sure they all chamber without pressure by chambering an MTY when the cases are well cooled.At that point screw the die down a quarter turn at a time and re-size until there is no more pressure when chambering. At that point your die will be set to partial re-size cases for that chamber only. After that every time you fl size you'll set the shoulder back just enough to chamber.

But I would clean the die first and pay attention to how much lube your using. Most likely it's one of those two things.

What kind of lube are you using?

Imperial die sizing wax is the only way to go get rid of that other crap.

Clean your die and you are probably uisng too much lube.Try one of the spray on lubes such as Dillon sells and let it dry before sizing.

I amu the RCBS lube that comes with the Supreme. Die is new so I do not know how it can get dirty especially after I cleaned the outside of the brass. I did not notice there was a small hole in the die to le out excess.

My problem is I do not know how much is too much. Maybe I am using too much lube altho its hard to tell without seeing how others lube theirs.

I took the suggestion of someone and did not turn 1/4 after the die touch the shellholder instead I backed out 1/2 turn. I test on a couple cases and did not get dent anywhere but this is only two cases. Maybe after doing several cases the lube builds up in the die?

As someone said clean the die. How do you clean the inside of the die besides the small hol? Where is this small hole located at? I am going to go check ...

I noticed in the Speer book (older book) that the diameter of the 223Rem shell is a bit larger at the case head than just below the shoulder...so maybe I am becoming a worry nelly lol. Also the refired brass I got seel to have slightly larger case head than at the shoulder and when I resize they seem the same. Again maybe I am worrying more than needed.

I have a clean new 223Rem case and the case head seem slightly larger than below the shoulder. Do not want to do something wrong and maybe the case would not extract after firing if not in proper dimension to start with.

I use the same lube and pad you are using,

I don't believe you are using so much lube that you are crushing cases.

When I start I put 5/6 drops on the right side edge of the pad, then take my finger and smear that lube North and South( Top to Bottom?)

I then lube every other case as i do believe residual lube is left in the Die.

You may notice traces of lube on your brass and even your fingers, but it shouldn't be visibly heavy or messy, a little goes a long way.

It could take you years to use up that bottle of RCBS lube.

edit, I did 200 .223 cases this week with those 5/6 drops of lube I mentioned earlier.

I just use Hoppes number nine to clean my dies with bore patches and a pistol cleaning rod. The hole may be under your die holder nut.



I've put a small copper wire in the hole like I use to clean it out.
Lose that RCBS greasey kid stuff and don't look back.
The dirty brass more than likely contributed to clogging the small hole that's one of the prime reasons along with wear to have well cleaned brass.

I think I got this nailed down. Just did about 100 cases without any dent. I used lube sparingly unlike the last time. Like I said experimenting is needed. I also looked for the hole in the die and could not find any hole except for the hole on the lock nut. When I reinstalled the die I brought up the ram and screwed the die in until touching the shellholder, then backed out 1/2 turn. (book calls for screwing in 1/4 turn after touching shellholder). Not sure which variable (less lube and/or screwing die in or out) solved my problem but for sure it could be a combination of both.

Now I will have to load when I get back from out of town as I am heading to KY for a few days. Can't wait to get this loading down and get the feel of how this is done before going on to other calibers lol.

Thanks for your help and Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Kenneth...the book calls for half a teaspoon and run on the pad. And I eventually added more I think. I think excess lube was the darn problem here. While I was doing the first batch and getting those dents...I said to myself "better get some more lube on hand" haha. Now that I've used very little lube I agree this will last years. I know some people say RCBS lube sucks but they make the best dies lol.

Ackley, yeah the nut may have been covering the small hole. I will have to check it out when I take out the die the next time. Also I noticed I had lube on the shell holder so I think the lube is probably leaking out of the small hole because I had some lube on top of the nut. But your info is good info to know.

It takes a lot less lube than many think. One of those tubes of RCBS lube should last a lifetime, I've got one I've been using for 15 years and probably have only used 1/4 of it.

That being said I recently switched to imperial sizing wax and like it better. The RCBS stuff is water based and I was constantly fighting rust inside my dies.

ditto on to much lube. won't hurt anything. Will blow out the dents when fired...back off on the lube.

Definitely go with the Imperial wax. I started out with the RCBS pad and lube kit. a few years ago I got started on the wax and there is no way I'm going back. all you do is put a tiny bit on your index finger and rug the case through your fingers. Every few cases just touch the pad again and keep on sizing cases. One can will last for thousands of cases.

I do the same as cz, but with the Hornady (Pacific) white paste lube. I have had the same little tub for at least 20 years.