Resizing requires extreme force

[varminter22]

I've never used lube on handgun brass to be sized in carbide dies. No problems.

[Poseidon215]

Well I tried to get a Macro but for some reason my A100 would not cooperate even with the lens on macro and trying both manual and auto focus. The inside of the carbide insert has machining marks more specifically chatter marks. Lee responded twice saying to just lube the cases but I kept telling them I have tried a different sizer and the problem went away so now a different guy emailed me back today with an RMA number and is aggreeing to repair/replace the die.

[Dragon11]

I have had the same problem with having to force the brass into my undersized die. I have been using Hornady under sized dies for some time now in both 45 and 9mm. I have broken two "C" style reloaders so I upgraded to one one of the "D" shaped loaders, all of them Lees. I was resizing 9mm this morning on the newer Lee loader and the arm part of it cracked. Not sure if I'm screwing this up or if its just the loaders. All the brass I have been resizing in both the 45 and the 9mm have been shot through Glocks with the unsupported chamber issues. To say the least I'm pretty frustrated.

[RDA]

I have had the same problem with having to force the brass into my undersized die. I have been using Hornady under sized dies for some time now in both 45 and 9mm. I have broken two "C" style reloaders so I upgraded to one one of the "D" shaped loaders, all of them Lees. I was resizing 9mm this morning on the newer Lee loader and the arm part of it cracked. Not sure if I'm screwing this up or if its just the loaders. All the brass I have been resizing in both the 45 and the 9mm have been shot through Glocks with the unsupported chamber issues. To say the least I'm pretty frustrated.

If you have broken three different presses sizing 9mm and 45 brass, you are doing something wrong.

[Dragon11]

I don't doubt you, but what would it be? I have the stroke of the arm for sizing the brass towards the end of the stroke of the handle, but still allow the brass to bottom out into the die. The handle arm is set at the end in the pivot/brace point. The bench I have the die mounted on has a little bit of flex. Believe me, I am open to suggestions.

[Steve RA]

I GRXed a whole tub full of .40S&W on the little Lee single stage C press - which has an aluminum body - without any problems.

I'd think you might have a problem with the die or something else. If you managed to break one of the Classic Cast single stage presses you really have some sort of problem.

[GJGary]

I have had the same problem with having to force the brass into my undersized die. I have been using Hornady under sized dies for some time now in both 45 and 9mm. I have broken two "C" style reloaders so I upgraded to one one of the "D" shaped loaders, all of them Lees. I was resizing 9mm this morning on the newer Lee loader and the arm part of it cracked. Not sure if I'm screwing this up or if its just the loaders. All the brass I have been resizing in both the 45 and the 9mm have been shot through Glocks with the unsupported chamber issues. To say the least I'm pretty frustrated.

Take a picture of the broken/cracked handle bushing and email to Lee through their web site and they will replace it.

I put a heavy duty hose clamp over the replaced part and never had the problem again but that was after breaking 3. It is the weak link in that handle system.

[shane8168]

When I started using homemade case lube that problem went away!

[Dragon11]

For what its worth I moved my undersized sizing die from my single stage loader to my 550 today. With the die in the 550 it worked like a charm sizing the brass. Obviously its a leverage problem with the Lee press or my bench. Calling today to get the cracked handle replaced.

[GlockCanMan]

I have been reloading since the late 70's and have yet to have the "Need" to lube any brass when using carbide dies for straight wall cartridges. I use both RCBS and Lee U dies. Now I do polish my brass with corncob media usually before putting it through the press.

Have you tried to measure the inside diameter of your resizing die and compare it to someone else's? Have you tried the Lee customer service? What do they say?

[danman00]

Here's a thread regarding lubing cases no matter what dies you use.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=188166&hl=

General consensus is use lube and it seems the most popular is Hornady One Shot. Spray a little and forget about it.

I have experienced some stubborness when resizing on my Lyman Tmag press and yes - using lube did solve my problem but that slows the reloading proccess way down, plus makes things a little more messy and sticky. Granted not alot more but enough annoy me. The trick I have found to bypass using lube is in the tumbling. Use one of these two products in your tumbling media. Either Nu Finish car polish or Mineral Spirits. Both of these work very well but I myself prefer mineral spirits. Number one its cheaper and number two it does a better job removing powder residue. The Nu Finish will definity make your Brass shinyer though. But both products will leave your brass nice and slick and smooth. This made a huge difference when resizing my brass.

Danman, I don't quite follow you on slowing down the process. One Shot drys completely so no tumbling or cleaning off after. Takes 30 seconds to spray on.

OP you may indeed have a bad die, but I think you will find that lubing no matter the die will make life easier. I use a redding Titanium Carbide sizing die and still lube. 9mm can be ornery when sizing.

I suppose so tbrtt1. When I said that, I should have mentioned I was s[eaking of Lyman case lube. It comes in a liitle squeeze bottle, so it's kind of a pain to applicate and it doesn't really dry that I've noticed anyway. I've never tried any spray lube but I will try it for sure. In the mean time a small amout of mineral spirits in the tumbling media made a huge difference. No lube required really.

[Dragon11]

GlockCanMan,

I haven't measured my dies only because I had the same problem from both my 45 and 9mm. Especially after today, after taking the 9mm die off of the Lee and using it on my 550 with no problems, I leaned more towards the press being the issue. I have talked to Lee numerous times when I started having problems with the "C" shaped reloaders breaking, which is why I upgraded to the aluminum D frame press.

I just called them again today and I'm going to upgrade to the cast iron press, and hope this eliminates the problem. The bench the reloader is mounted on is 5/8 plywood, it does flex a little when working the press. Does anyone think the slight flexing of the bench might cause some of the problems?

[Reshoot]

GlockCanMan,

I haven't measured my dies only because I had the same problem from both my 45 and 9mm. Especially after today, after taking the 9mm die off of the Lee and using it on my 550 with no problems, I leaned more towards the press being the issue. I have talked to Lee numerous times when I started having problems with the "C" shaped reloaders breaking, which is why I upgraded to the aluminum D frame press.

I just called them again today and I'm going to upgrade to the cast iron press, and hope this eliminates the problem. The bench the reloader is mounted on is 5/8 plywood, it does flex a little when working the press. Does anyone think the slight flexing of the bench might cause some of the problems?

I would not want the mounting surface to flex . . . can't be a good thing, can it?

My reloading bench is 2" thick and mounted firmly to a concrete all.

[Steve RA]

On a lot of the progressive presses you can have the die down far enough that you get the "cam over" effect, mostly due to a minute amount of flex in the shell plate.

On a single stage don't run the die down any further than barely touching the shell holder when the ram is raised. The single stage presses don't really have the ability to "cam over" and you will break something if you are strong enough to do so.

Not sure this has been your problem but it is one possibility. Like I said, I've been using the little inexpensive Lee "C" press to deprime brass for a long time without any problems - other than the aluminum body is wearing enough where the ram runs up and down to develop some sideways play in the ram - due to breakage. I'm going to replace it when it gets a little worse with a Classic Cast press since they are cast iron in the body area.

If you plan on buying a new press - or anything Lee - I'd really suggest looking at this company:

https://fsreloading.com/

[ghost21]

I have experienced some stubborness when resizing on my Lyman Tmag press and yes - using lube did solve my problem but that slows the reloading proccess way down, plus makes things a little more messy and sticky. Granted not alot more but enough annoy me. The trick I have found to bypass using lube is in the tumbling. Use one of these two products in your tumbling media. Either Nu Finish car polish or Mineral Spirits. Both of these work very well but I myself prefer mineral spirits. Number one its cheaper and number two it does a better job removing powder residue. The Nu Finish will definity make your Brass shinyer though. But both products will leave your brass nice and slick and smooth. This made a huge difference when resizing my brass.

Isn't mineral sprits a petroleum product? if so wouldn't this affect the powder, primer?

Jeff

[danman00]

I have experienced some stubborness when resizing on my Lyman Tmag press and yes - using lube did solve my problem but that slows the reloading proccess way down, plus makes things a little more messy and sticky. Granted not alot more but enough annoy me. The trick I have found to bypass using lube is in the tumbling. Use one of these two products in your tumbling media. Either Nu Finish car polish or Mineral Spirits. Both of these work very well but I myself prefer mineral spirits. Number one its cheaper and number two it does a better job removing powder residue. The Nu Finish will definity make your Brass shinyer though. But both products will leave your brass nice and slick and smooth. This made a huge difference when resizing my brass.

Isn't mineral sprits a petroleum product? if so wouldn't this affect the powder, primer?

Jeff

Jeff, I'm not sure if its a petroleum product or not, maybe so. I was skeptical as well at first but I tried it anyway. I had purchased 12lbs of tumbler media on ebay from a fellow reloader. It was his reccomendation to add a 1/4 cup of mineral spirits per pound of his media which consists of crushed walnut and corn cob. I was blown away with the results. Very clean, very shiney brass. As far as effecting powder or primers, I always deprime my cases before tumbling and the cases are always dry when I remove them from the tumbler. It's not like theyre drowning in it. Anyway, here is a link to guy on ebay selling his media if anyone is interested. I wouild highly reccomend to anyone. I've cleaned thousands of rounds using his media and mineral spirits.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/jimkelly101

hope this link works.

[RDA]

I have experienced some stubborness when resizing on my Lyman Tmag press and yes - using lube did solve my problem but that slows the reloading proccess way down, plus makes things a little more messy and sticky. Granted not alot more but enough annoy me. The trick I have found to bypass using lube is in the tumbling. Use one of these two products in your tumbling media. Either Nu Finish car polish or Mineral Spirits. Both of these work very well but I myself prefer mineral spirits. Number one its cheaper and number two it does a better job removing powder residue. The Nu Finish will definity make your Brass shinyer though. But both products will leave your brass nice and slick and smooth. This made a huge difference when resizing my brass.

Isn't mineral sprits a petroleum product? if so wouldn't this affect the powder, primer?

Jeff

Jeff, I'm not sure if its a petroleum product or not, maybe so. I was skeptical as well at first but I tried it anyway. I had purchased 12lbs of tumbler media on ebay from a fellow reloader. It was his reccomendation to add a 1/4 cup of mineral spirits per pound of his media which consists of crushed walnut and corn cob. I was blown away with the results. Very clean, very shiney brass. As far as effecting powder or primers, I always deprime my cases before tumbling and the cases are always dry when I remove them from the tumbler. It's not like theyre drowning in it. Anyway, here is a link to guy on ebay selling his media if anyone is interested. I wouild highly reccomend to anyone. I've cleaned thousands of rounds using his media and mineral spirits.

How well does it do with the insides of the case and the primer pockets?

[danman00]

I have experienced some stubborness when resizing on my Lyman Tmag press and yes - using lube did solve my problem but that slows the reloading proccess way down, plus makes things a little more messy and sticky. Granted not alot more but enough annoy me. The trick I have found to bypass using lube is in the tumbling. Use one of these two products in your tumbling media. Either Nu Finish car polish or Mineral Spirits. Both of these work very well but I myself prefer mineral spirits. Number one its cheaper and number two it does a better job removing powder residue. The Nu Finish will definity make your Brass shinyer though. But both products will leave your brass nice and slick and smooth. This made a huge difference when resizing my brass.

Isn't mineral sprits a petroleum product? if so wouldn't this affect the powder, primer?

Jeff

Jeff, I'm not sure if its a petroleum product or not, maybe so. I was skeptical as well at first but I tried it anyway. I had purchased 12lbs of tumbler media on ebay from a fellow reloader. It was his reccomendation to add a 1/4 cup of mineral spirits per pound of his media which consists of crushed walnut and corn cob. I was blown away with the results. Very clean, very shiney brass. As far as effecting powder or primers, I always deprime my cases before tumbling and the cases are always dry when I remove them from the tumbler. It's not like theyre drowning in it. Anyway, here is a link to guy on ebay selling his media if anyone is interested. I wouild highly reccomend to anyone. I've cleaned thousands of rounds using his media and mineral spirits.

How well does it do with the insides of the case and the primer pockets?

Not bad at all (occasionally get a little media stuck in the primer pockets). Of course it depends on the brass. Once fired brass looks brand new when I'm done with them but really old brass that has been half buried for weeks or months at the range .. they require a little more attention.

[Trimmy]

Dang I thought I had hard time re-sizing some of mine but now I feel its normal reading the above.

[Poseidon215]

Well I sent the die back a few days ago now just waiting to hear from them or a new die to show up. If this doesn't work I'll have to try a different company.

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[Poseidon215]

Heard back from Lee today the guy Peter confirmed he saw the chatter marks from machining that I described. He said he was going to have the die repolished and tested and would get back to me. Hopefully that's all it takes and I'll be good to go in a few days.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ZackJones]

Good luck. I picked up a set of Lee 9mm dies and I do think resizing 9mm takes more effort than .40 S&W or .45 ACP.

[Steve RA]

One problem with the Lee - or anybody's - aluminum body presses is that the bore wears much faster than the cast iron ones. My little C press has developed the problem and I have to pull out on the handle to get the decaping pin to line up with the flash hole in the case.

Run your handle about half way down and push and then pull on it and see if the top of the ram moves back and forth. The ram doesn't appear to wear much as the middle of mine is the same diameter as the bottom part that doesn't enter the press body.

[BitchinCamaro]

I deprime on a $20 Lee C press so the bulk of the dirt and primer fouling doesn't get into the ram of my "good" Lee Challenger O press.

I also run an oil bath around the ram of all my presses with Mobil 1. It keeps things running smooth and lets me wipe away contaminants before the wear at the bore of the press...I hope.

[Steve RA]

I keep mine lubricated and cleaned also, but, in the last 3 months I've deprimed about 40,000 cases on it and I've had it about a year. Wear is somewhat dependent on the amount of use.