After running about 100. Plenty of Imperial used, but I had my first get stuck in a die.

Next step was to cruise Youtube.  Best idea I saw was to pull the expander ball collet so the ball is free floating, install the die upside down in the press, drill and tap the base, then use a socket/washer/bolt to use screw's pressure to foist out the casing.

Issue against that is that with this particular die the case is so short that decapping pin/ball will not fall back away from primer pocket to drill the pocket out and tap it.

Any other options?

Can you unscrew the decapper/sizer ball assembly upwards and out of the case at least far enough out to then drill and tap the case? I am presuming that the ram/shellholder will not pull the case back out of the die. Can you leave the ram in the down position and unscrew the die back out of the press, thereby removing the case? Description of the issue is a little vague, pics would help. What position is the ram in, up or down. Is the case fully inserted in the die and the ram/shellholder not moving at all?

Have you tried gently tapping the ram handle with a deadblow hammer/mallet to see if you can get it to move? Breaker bar for more leverage?

IM me if you want to and I will try to walk ya through it.

I sprayed one with Freon back in the day and it came out o.

I bought a stuck case remover long ago. I don't have to use it very often but it certainly cuts the frustration when a case gets stuck.

Sounds like a recipe for a ripped off rim (not that it really matters at this point anyway).

OP, get a stuck case removal kit or cobble your own together. Flip the die over, drill out the base. Tap the hole and come up with a spacer (the kits have one) that allows the case to move as you tighten the bolt.  Make sure to pull back the expander ball first.

The RCBS kit can usually be found at Walmart.

Oh, and toss the case regardless of whatever happens.

Attached File

The bottom of the case stripped it's shoulders out of the shell holder. I used the ram to push the stripped shell back in to the shell holder, then rotated the casing to get another bite. It stripped too. I can't post pics. Lost my old pic hosting login at Photobucket.  The depriming pin/ball will not move far enough up to to clear the primer pocket to machine the case head.

I don't have any Freon, but I do have some contact cleaner. That might chill/shrink the case.

That is the exact method I can't do because the deprime/ball pin cannot recess enough to drill and tap the case head.

Dibs on gun

ETA, worry it out.  I did that a couple of times, you will get it.

I was able to drill and tap, if you trash the ball you can get another.

New die. I was hoping for a solution that didn't wreck the deprime/ball pin.

Well, that was a work flow interruption. Finally figured out how to get it out.

Step 1- Remove decap pin collet. Decap/ball pin now can be used as a punch.

Step 2- Shot of penetrating oil in die. Kroil in my case.

Step 3- Hold die in hand and give top of decap pin a sharp whack with a hammer. Light blow first and increase strength of whacks until the decap pin loosens the stuck casing. Just one blow was needed in this case. That actually surprised me considering the case was so stuck that was ripping the rim off the shell.

Step 4- Now you still have a decap/ball pin trapped inside of casing. Chuck up the base of the case in battery operated Makita drill. If right handed, hold drill in right hand. Turn on drill. Left hand wields a hacksaw blade like a sword of triumph. Use hacksaw blade to  carve a groove in the shell casing just below the shoulder of the necked area of the brass casing. Tilt drill upward so that expander ball is down in the base of the casing. This prevents the ball from being scratched by the hacksaw blade when it finally makes it's way through the spinning case wall.

Step 5- After case necked area and base of case separate remove base of case from drill, necked section off pin and chunk both pieces of case in the trash with a "Gotcha,  dammit" evil grin of conquest.

Step 6- I used a steel hammer in Step 3, so collet end of decap/ball pin rod had slight peen bur. Stone it off burs with a whetstone.  Reassemble die and use.

Step 7- Place another order for a spare resizing/decap die so your reloading plans will not be interrupted next time.

Side note......This also explains an issue I was seeing on the first few experimental trial rounds I did previously. This one particular case did not require any more force than previously resized/decapped cases. It was like the brass was just softer. Once fired, factory ammo with Barnes casings, BTW.  On my first run of 34 rounds I was getting  differing COL's on finished rounds. Some varied as much as .007"s.  I think the retract force on the press on the soft brass was slightly warping the rim area on the case heads. This would explain the COL variances on finished rounds. I am using the correct shell holder in the press. It came with the die set. I am also using Imperial resizing wax. Not sure how to fix this issue. I assumed Barnes casings would be good to go.

Freezer (or deep freezer).

Brass and steel do not move the same amount with temperature and overnight in a freezer often pops the case lose.

Another mentioned the temp change angle using Freon. I will also try the freezer idea.

Well done, I ended up getting a Sheridan gage for 300 BO, it seems to be a little fussier than most.  Probably the 110 grain through 230 grain, lots of adjusting, the shoulder can deform.  I use two sets of dies, the Sheridan gage, and I anneal often.  Annealez

ETA: and lube well, I use the RCBS case lube on the green pad, and shoot it with the one shot for good measure, making sure to get a little bit into the case neck.

A lot of the stuck cases I've seen (or done myself) were because the neck wasn't lubed and it got stuck tighter than tick, even causing the rim to rip off.

Now I always make sure the case neck is lubed by sticking it in Imperial graphite instead of just brushing the inside of the neck with it. Yeah, the cases get dirty, but I tumble them after sizing anyway.

Ensuring the sizing die clean before using it will help reduce this, but proper lube, CLEAN brass, and proper lube are critical.  Did I mention proper lube?  Including inside the neck.

Rifle Reloading

COAL variations are most likely due to reloaders measuring Bullet Tip (Meplat) to cartridge base.  Bullets themselves vary in length meplat to base of bullet. Even match bullets.
Go dump a box of Sierra 30 cal 175gr MK's and see for yourself.  The only good thing about measuring Bullet Tip To Cartridge base is for assessing potential function in a magazine fed rifle. Like a M1A where in 308 Win. the approximate max length for a loaded round runs about 2.82"

You will find consistency of measurement comes when measuring bullet ogive to the cartridge base with a bullet comparator tool set.  This will usually pretty darn consistent with quality bullets.  YMMV with pulled bullets and low quality bullets.

I've heard of those. What kind of expense are they?  I assume by "kit" that they are OK for several bullet types?

I've noticed the variances you mentioned about bullet lengths.  This box of Hornady's often vary as much as .008" from base to tip. As a new rifle cartridge reloader, I found that surprising.

Hornady’s BULLET Comparator kit with 6 inserts (with .224" (5.56mm), .243" (6mm), .257", .277", .284 (7mm), .308"(7.62 & 8mm) bullet inserts included) is $27.58 on Amazon.  The inserts are sized to sit on the ogive of the listed diameter bullets.  Different diameter inserts are available, either in kits or individually.  This tool is easy to use, and gives very repeatable measurements.

Hornady comparator

(darn, too slow on the click again!)

I took the die out.  Put the die upside down in a vice

Sprayed it heavily with WD40 left it overnight

Used Vice Grips to grab the base of the case

Put pressure on the Vice Grips and see if the case comes loose

If not use a hammer and whack the side of the Vice Grips at the same time you are putting twisting force

It will come out