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Posted: 9/3/2026 5:27:54 PM EDT
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6.5 CM loading 130g Sierra TGK, also would happen with Hornady 123g ELDM. I had processed a batch of previously fired brass, 3-4 firings. Some bullets would seat, but the neck would barely hold some bullets that I could pull out with my fingers and others would seat fine and would required a bullet puller to remove the bullets. -Too many firings? -Something wrong with the sizing die? -??? |
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Probably an isolated case, but I don’t save or acquire Federal brass for this exact reason. Most of my dies are basic RCBS and before I had a brass tumbler, the residue inside the dirty cases would build up on the neck expander mandrel (?) It would get really bad and cause crappy neck sizing. Removing the decapping pin assembly and scrubbing the carbon off of the expander plug with steel wool would usually help. |
| Work hardening from firing and sizing operations affects neck tension. There no finite # of firings to make blanket statement that and after X number of firings you will have problems. Case neck annealing comes into play "soften" the brass and allow for consistent neck tension. I doubt that there is any measurable build up on the decapping rod expander to cause erratic neck tension. This where using bushing dies with a mandrel to set neck tension comes into play, and those tools help decrease the work hardening of the case neck. |
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Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
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Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
R W Emerson
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Originally Posted By rn22723: Work hardening from firing and sizing operations affects neck tension. There no finite # of firings to make blanket statement that and after X number of firings you will have problems. Case neck annealing comes into play "soften" the brass and allow for consistent neck tension. I doubt that there is any measurable build up on the decapping rod expander to cause erratic neck tension. This where using bushing dies with a mandrel to set neck tension comes into play, and those tools help decrease the work hardening of the case neck. Read this post. The cases are work hardening after 3 to 4 sizing cycles, and the brass won't spring back afterwards. I'll bet the cartridge headspace is also long because the shoulders aren't pushing back, but enough to notice in a bolt gun. You'll probably notice on the next reload. |
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Measure the outer diameter of the fired brass. Remove the decapping stem out of the sizing die (with the expander ball). Measure the OD of the expander ball. Lube and size one of the cases you measured. Re-measure the case's OD after sizing without the decapper/expander. Post the results of those measurements. If you also measure the OD of the bullets and the wall thickness of the case necks, that could also help. |
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Lee rifle dies are not know for the best quality. Buy quality stuff. Hornady, RCBS, Forster, or Redding. |
jme and I am a NRA Endowment Member
Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
R W Emerson
Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
R W Emerson
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Odd development and I look forward to OP's update. I've run brass plenty of times and not had a standard die give such weak neck tension the bullet just falls through like that. And for it to be so inconsistent is weird. I HAVE had annealed brass ruing with .292 bushing be loose and the bullet would slide around (S&B, but all other brass seemed to be fine, in my case). But Starline brass doing this after 5 cycles in a standard die with factory neck sizing cut and a standard expander ball? That's just weird to me. My question - are you super sure they were actually resized at all? This sounds more like fired but not-resized casings, somehow got mixed in, is my own suspicioun. OP needs to just spell out all of his brass processing steps with brands and dimensions and systems used, for us to potentially say. So far we know Starline (which is thought to be pretty decent quality), 5 fired. [cleaning and prep methods not specified] Lee dies (which aren't super high quality, but tend to work. [die settings and confirmation measurements on expander ball, and headspace test methodology etc, not specified] Not annealed. - which to me makes this seem even odder, as hard brass like that should be quite tight. Does LEE tend to run a more generous cut on their neck portion of their dies or something? I know Hornady tends to cut their necks pretty tight, and I thought they all did, and then the expander ball pulls it back out. [Post sizing processing not specified? (tumbled, trimmed, etc)] On seating, Sierra bullets falling in. [Product code # not specified, seating die and settings and pressure used, not specified] [method of adding powder, not specified] |
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Originally Posted By lazyengineer: My question - are you super sure they were actually resized at all? This sounds more like fired but not-resized casings, somehow got mixed in, is my own suspicioun. Loading 44 mag on a Rockchucker, 50 rounds not enough to get out a progressive. Anyway I started with wet tumbled, deprimed brass from a 50 cal can that was stored for 5 years. So I got my work ups done (powder in cases) and I'm starting bullets in the case by hand (using a M die for expanding). And one bullet falls through into the case.  I knew what was wrong from experiance. Dumped powder, and resized case with my Hornady sizing die, which decapped primer. I could tell by the force needed to size this case was not sized previously. My bad.  So primed case with decapped primer, ran case thru M die, and dumped powder back into case from the powder pan where it was dumped into when breaking down round. This time bullet started into case about 1/16 inch (normal with an M die). Continued where I left off and seated and crimped the contents of the loading block.  I've been doing this awhile, but you never know when Mr. Murphy will come calling. If you don't know who Mr. Murphy is google Murphy's Law. |
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Just experienced this identical scenario with 308 150gr loads. The Rounds didn't pass the push against the reloading bench test. I have no idea what went wrong. I FL sized them using forster dies. I used a Lee neck die to solve to problem. I still have no idea where i went wrong though. |
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Ok, well I paid a stupid tax. I think it may have been a combination of failures/issues on my part. I think the sizing die somehow got moved or twisted or something AND for the big one, I am thinking it was that and possibly I didn't resize them. Some time had elapsed since I cleaned the brass and I think I just set it in my trays instead of the box I use for next step processing, had been at least a moth. So, I thought the brass had been processed. I put some random ones in my case gauge and they began sticking. I reset the die and resized the brass and they fit in the gauge. I took a few and chambered the empty brass in a rifle and they fit just right. It cost me 100 primers and some time. |
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