safenate Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 i've only been reloading 9x19 for a month or so and have less than 100 nickel plated, maybe 2000 brass. i see my dillon 550 carbide powder funnel/expander is scored, causing hard/tight downstrokes. How do i fix/prevent this? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chemepharmd Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 The first thing I'd try is Hornady One Shot. It is an aerosol case lube in a red can and only costs <$10 per can. You should be able to find it at a local gun shop or here: http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/...leitemid=438512 The instructions are on the bottle, but basically you just spray a lot of your brass after it has been cleaned. Give it several minutes to dry, and you're ready to go. I just started using it based on recommendations from other shooters, and it works really well. According to the bottle, as long as you give it enough time to dry, it will not affect ignition, powder burn, etc. I've never seen this particular problem (the scoring), though, so someone with more reloading experience may recommend something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 The nickel plated brass isn't going to cause a problem...it's not that hard. It sounds like a silly question, but are you tumbling your cases before you reload them? I think most resizing dies show some scoring, but it's really, really light and doesn't cause any problems. Adding some case lube will make everything work easier. I've tried a bunch and I'm not that impressed with the spray on lubes like One Shot. Spend $10, buy a tube of pure, unscented lanolin at the drug store, put 2-300 cleaned cases in a box, put a tiny dab of lanolin on your hands and work it around (it softens with the heat of your skin) and then run your hands through the cases lightly....no need to touch them all. That's all there is too it. Less is more with the lanolin. Try something like a drop half the size of a pencil eraser the first time and see if you have any residue left over...if so, use a bit less the next time. You shouldn't notice anything on the finished cases and you won't need to tumble them clean afterwards. Lanolin is the lubricating part of many of the commercial case lubes, but without a delivery agent....makes the press run much easier. R, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 any chance you got some steel cases like wolf mixed in ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Abrahams Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 i believe this statement is from starline, its on midways website... "Nickel plating has been known to be very abrasive on reloading dies." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safenate Posted June 20, 2008 Author Share Posted June 20, 2008 Thanks for the thoughts. No, no steel cases in my mix. The carbide die has noticed scores on it and is rough on the down stroke. I only 'occupy' every other shellplate slot, ie one priming & one seating then one dropping powder and one crimping. So i know the effort is from the powder drop station. I may try the lanolin. I don't tumble my brass. I try to find powders that burn clean and i use MT Gold bullets with enclosed bases (range req'd). It makes for VERY clean air and little other mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el pres Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Thanks for the thoughts. No, no steel cases in my mix. The carbide die has noticed scores on it and is rough on the down stroke. I only 'occupy' every other shellplate slot, ie one priming & one seating then one dropping powder and one crimping. So i know the effort is from the powder drop station. I may try the lanolin. I don't tumble my brass. I try to find powders that burn clean and i use MT Gold bullets with enclosed bases (range req'd). It makes for VERY clean air and little other mess. If you dont tumble it do you least wash it ? I dont know what kind of floor you have where you shoot but dirt does ruin dies... I know this from expirience... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkeeler Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 I don't tumble my brass. I try to find powders that burn clean and i use MT Gold bullets with enclosed bases (range req'd). I would get a tumbler and start cleaning your brass! BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDB Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 This interesting. I reload on an SDB and I prefer to use nickel. They seem to be much smoother and easier to resize. All I do is tumble in walnut to clean it and then corn cob for a few hours to polish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photog Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 HHHmmmmm, I thought one of the benefits of using nickle plated brass was that you DIDN"T have to clean it before reloading. I sort for headstamp and throw out (sort out) any dirty/crusty brass along the way. I have noticed that the nickle brass makes a much bigger mess with lots of tiny shavings from the case mouth. Cleaning brass before reloading is something that is only necessary when the brass is dirty, indoor range brass need not apply. I use brass from a outdoor sandy range, and the regular gets cleaned, the nickle doesn't. The nickle just doesn't care, and I don't notice any difference. Carbide is darn hard stuff, your dies are way harder than a steel case, but a good chunk of diamond (or silica) could scratch it. Steel cases have been reloaded for over 50 years with no adverse affects to dies, its not a steel case damaging your die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkeeler Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 (edited) . I sort for headstamp and throw out (sort out) any dirty/crusty brass along the way. Send them my way. BK Edited June 21, 2008 by bkeeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisconsin Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 i've only been reloading 9x19 for a month or so and have less than 100 nickel plated, maybe 2000 brass. i see my dillon 550 carbide powder funnel/expander is scored, causing hard/tight downstrokes. How do i fix/prevent this? Thanks.Had the same problem with my 650. Funnel looked like it had scored, upstroke was like pulling a cork out of a bottle. Powder came flying out of the case on the next station. What I did to resolve it since I use mixed brass/nickel. I removed the funnel/expander, cut a pencil (or a wooded dowel) to fit inside of the funnel, with my calipers I measure the thickness of the expander wrote it down then installed the pencil end into a drill press ( can use a hand drill) put it on a very low speed again I say low speed, take some emery cloth or polishing cloth that you can get from the hareware store. Hold against the scored part (bottom)and remove .001 or less off of it. It will remove the scoring and make it easier to go into the case and come out in one easy movement. I removed somewhere between.001-.002 off of mine and it solved the problem and it didn't remove any noticable chrome. You will have to play with those measurements. You may get away with taking off a lot less than I did. Remember go slow and take multiple measurements( so as not to remove the chrome) to see what works all the while sticking it into a couple of different cases to see if it becomes easier to remove. Good Luck. and go slow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safenate Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 Okay, now we're getting somewhere. I usually get my brass (& maybe a few 'extras') off the indoor range floor. The place is very clean and i usually don't have any grit, therefore i don't tumble/wash them. BUT, last week i shot at the outdoor (twice as far) and picked up about 100 freebies on the ground. The were a bit dirty and i didn't seperate and cleanse. My bad! Damn, now to fix my dies. It sure helps having people share their experience. Now i'll tumble more. As for the plated vs. brass debate, i'll still reload both. Thanks for the tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 The "Rough" stroke isn't coming from you belling the case it's coming from resizing the case dry in station 1. Get some "one shot" and the problem will go away. As to scoring... never seen it with tumbled brass. I've reloaded around 50,000 in the last year and my dies look fine. JT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Brass needs to be cleaned before reloading it. It doesn't take much to ruin a reloading die, and the tiniest speck of dirt can do it. OTOH, dies last hundreds of thousands of rounds when the brass is clean. Tumblers are one of the pieces of reloading equuipment you realize you need after you think you have everything you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safenate Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 JT, with respect- i don't put brass in every space on the shellplate. I only load every other spot in the shellplate. One in the deprime/reprime, one getting bullet seated, then one getting powder and one getting crimped; repeat. So it is on the powder-drop. i think the dirty brass from the outdoor AND my practice of not tumbling has helped me prematurely damage my 9mm powder funnel (at least). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale53 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Some lots of plated brass will "pressure weld" tiny bits of nickel to the carbide ring. All subsequent cases will exhibit scored marks until the plating clumps are removed. I use a split dowel with a strip of 1" crocus cloth spun with an electric drill to polish and remove this. I have to do it every few thousand loads. Takes only a minute or so after the die is removed from the press and taken apart. I will use my remaining nickel plated brass but will NOT buy any more... Dale53 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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