It was the die being set too low that was causing the problem. It didn't,take you guys long to figure out what was wrong .I appreciate your help.
I'm a bit late to the party, but the reason folks are so quick to reply with the correct answer(s) is we have all done the exact same thing.
Not many mistakes to make that some, or most, of us haven't already made.
Ed
Since I"m an expert at loading and have been since my teens with no mistakes, I also hear tell that most folks eventually stick a case in the size die too.
On a serious note, one of the first thigns I bought was a stuck case remover.. actually took a number of years, but yes I finally needed it...
My first donut crimps were 300 wtby ammo.
Luck has it most dud ammo I"ve done, IE no primer, dud primer, forgot powder, somehow ended up in my wifes competition ammo... she sure gave me the evil eye. And it was NOT intentional, at that time I could still beat her without extra effort> LOL
Lets see, powder dripping out of cases- check
No pimer, check, obviously, see above
no powder, check
Oops, didn't realize you shouldn't use cast bullet data for jacketed- check and bought a totally new bolt for that rifle.
Stuck case, check
forgot to empty powder measure or at least put label on it and yep... time flew by and no idea what powder was in there... so tossed it in the flower bed.
That is all I can remember on short notice.
I can say, that in the days before you tube, and having no experience at loading, a teenager was probably not the best age to start loading, didn't read all instructions or totally understand, no mentor, dad had never done it... learned lots by trial and error... maybe I should have started later or with a mentor... 14 or so might have been a bit young.
That said, reminds me of shotgun shells... it took me some years to understand why crimps over closed or didn't close all the way and the importance of volume vs powder/shot and wad shapes/sizes in loads... as I understood more "mechanical" things, I understood more things on shotgun shells.
Now it really seems looking back, I wasn't dangerous but might have been close to stupid...