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Posted: 11/17/2008 7:56:23 AM EDT
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I've been trimming a huge batch of .223 cases (which is no fun at all by the way) that I resized/decapped using a Hornady New Dimension die on my trusty Lee Reloader.
So I decided to try loading a few dummy rounds to see how it was all going and on every last one the bullet crumpled the case. This was with a Hornady seating die on the same press. Do I have the die set up wrong? I did a batch of these a while ago and didn't lube the inside of the case (I'm using boat-tail bullets) and didn't have this problem. Can you help? |
| You can tell if you're pushing it to far from the feel. I did the same thing on 2 of my cases. The first one was a suprise (first reloaded case I ever did) and the second one was even more of a suprise. I had adjusted the die and the first case through it was fine through the full stroke then the second one decided to crumple (I still don't know how the first made it through without crumpling). So, either adjust the die or go by feel. I've noticed that there is a point where you will feel a little bit of a hang towards the end of the stroke (if you're not going to adjust the die). This is the point where the bullet is seated completely and any more will just crumple the case. So go slowly through your stroke trying to feel that hang then stop and remove the case to check the length and adjust seat depth as neccessary. |
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Back the die off, and back the seater stem out.
Run the ram up to raise and empty case into the die. Turn the die body down until you feel the crimp ring touch the case. Back it out a half turn or so. Lower the ram and add a bullet, then raise it and turn the seater stem down until it contacts, then set the cartridge length by turning the stem, checking the length, then resetting the stem, and so on. When the crimp ring contacts the case while seating, the case shoulders will get crushed. Crimp in a different step, or don't crimp. |
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