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Posted: 10/7/2012 1:26:47 PM EDT
| I just recently picked up a set of small base rcbs dies to start reloading for my AR, and for some reason cases keep getting stuck in the sizing die. I'm using an rcbs single stage press with hornady one-shot lube (both of which I've used and never had issues with reloading for a 22 hornet, .280, 7mm-08, and .338). I've successfully put both .223 and LC 5.56 through the die, but when a case does get stuck it's the LC 5.56 and I can't figure why it's doing this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. |
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I recently had this problem, it ended up the brass that was sticking was old and dirty on the INSIDE. So the the case was sticking inside the die on the expanding plug. Stuck so bad I thought it was going to break my press.
I decapped it all with the lee universal decapper, tumbled the brass clean, and then it sized like butter. |
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Quoted:
I just recently picked up a set of small base rcbs dies to start reloading for my AR, and for some reason cases keep getting stuck in the sizing die. I'm using an rcbs single stage press with hornady one-shot lube (both of which I've used and never had issues with reloading for a 22 hornet, .280, 7mm-08, and .338). I've successfully put both .223 and LC 5.56 through the die, but when a case does get stuck it's the LC 5.56 and I can't figure why it's doing this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 1. Your lube is known to cause sticking problems. 2. Your useing small base dies when you don't need to. 3. Lake City cases have a harder case head than non-military .223 cases and your sizing further down the case. 
You do NOT need small base dies, the 5.56 NATO chamber is .002 larger in diameter than the .223. (see "C" below) 
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My chambers on my 5.56 NATO Bushy and Colt are industrial chrome plated. Chrome thickness reduces chamber diameter by approx. .002? inches. So, the reamers for the chrome plated chambers are larger to compensate for the chrome plate. Now if one compares the used-as-reamed comm'l .223 to the mil NATO plated, what is the difference?
[ETA] OK, Just for funzees I measured 5 XM193 unfired cases from my stash (LC Lot 25, LC-02) and compared those to 5 SB Full Sized Cases from my M262 Mod 0 handload development work (1X LC-08). The case outside diameter measurement was taken at the 0.200 Basic dimension O. This dimension is referenced in the reamer drawing above as Dimension C. For the unfired XM193 cases Dimension C = 0.3730 -> 0.3734 For the 1X SB resized cases Dimension C = 0.3740 -> 0.3745. Lo and behold, it appears that Lake City uses dies even smaller than my RCBS SB sizing dies to form their M193. 
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Quoted:
My chambers on my 5.56 NATO Bushy and Colt are industrial chrome plated. Chrome thickness reduces chamber diameter by approx. .002? inches. So, the reamers for the chrome plated chambers are larger to compensate for the chrome plate. Now if one compares the used-as-reamed comm'l .223 to the mil NATO plated, what is the difference? CCW, not to be insulting or argumentative "BUT" if you check the other chamber diameters and add .002 for chrome plating the 5.56 chamber will be smaller than the .223 chamber in diameter at (D) the shoulder diameter, at (E) neck-2, at (F) neck-2 neck mouth, at (G) free bore diameter. Traditionally military chambers are larger in diameter and longer in headspace than civilian SAAMI chambers, 30-06, .308/7.62 etc. I have yet to see an "official" military drawing of the AR chamber, but .002 thick chrome seems to be a little thick for the charts below.
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| I've been using Hornady One Shot case lub for years, and have no problems, even with LC brass. Two important points, though. First, make darn sure you're using the One Shot "CASE LUB", not the similarly named One Shot gun cleaner and lub. Second, it's absolutely essential to let the carrier liquid evaporate completely before you try to size a case. I spray mine twice from two different directions, then let them sit for a few minutes to allow for the evaporation to occur. The cases then should have a light coating of very slick residue that does indeed work. Give it a try; if you still got problems, then change lubes. |
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Quoted:
I've been using Hornady One Shot case lub for years, and have no problems, even with LC brass. Two important points, though. First, make darn sure you're using the One Shot "CASE LUB", not the similarly named One Shot gun cleaner and lub. Second, it's absolutely essential to let the carrier liquid evaporate completely before you try to size a case. I spray mine twice from two different directions, then let them sit for a few minutes to allow for the evaporation to occur. The cases then should have a light coating of very slick residue that does indeed work. Give it a try; if you still got problems, then change lubes. I do exactly what you do and haven't ever had an issue except within the first 10 cases when I didn't follow directions and let the carrier liquid evaporate. 6000+ cases later and no more stuck cases. I just bought 8 more cans so that I have enough to do another 15K+ cases. |
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CCW, not to be insulting or argumentative "BUT" if you check the other chamber diameters and add .002 for chrome plating the 5.56 chamber will be smaller than the .223 chamber in diameter at (D) the shoulder diameter, at (E) neck-2, at (F) neck-2 neck mouth, at (G) free bore diameter.
Traditionally military chambers are larger in diameter and longer in headspace than civilian SAAMI chambers, 30-06, .308/7.62 etc. I have yet to see an "official" military drawing of the AR chamber, but .002 thick chrome seems to be a little thick for the charts below. If you read what I wrote, .002 is the decrease in the internal diameter which corresponds to a plating build of .001" (.001 tk not .002 tk as you write). I really don't know what the plating thickness in the chamber is (the reason I put the question mark after the .002 dia diff) but it looks like standard practice says it will be between .0004 and .001" thick. It is not easy to get the plating secrets from the chromed bbl manufacturers, but here is what I found: http://www.electrohio.com/Finishing/Chrome/HardChrome.htm
FEATURES Standard Thickness The standard thickness for Hard Chrome plating in nonsalvage applications is .0002 - .0006” (.00508 - .01524 mm). High wear applications should have .001" or more for the best results. Thickness over 1 mil generally requires the plating to be applied thicker than desired, then ground to size. http://www.ar15barrels.com/faq.shtml From Randall Rausch bbl mfg website... Chrome lined barrels are only available when a company mass produces them. The chrome needs to be applied after the chamber work is done. This requires special barrel blanks and chamber reamers, made larger than spec and then plated back down to spec size. It would be cost prohibitive to do custom barrels with chrome lining. Any barrel that is chrome lined is certainly not a match grade barrel. It is not possible to put the attention into the chamber details that you need for extreme accuracy when you are mass producing barrels. |
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One Shot works as long as you FOLLOW directions and let the damn stuff sit for a few minutes after spraying. Here's a trick for using One Shot properly.
Get a large zip lock bag, toss your brass in it. Leave enough room that you can shake the bag and the brass will be able to "agitate" for a lack of a better term. Spray liberally with One Shot. What I have done is add my brass, spray the brass down with One Shot. Shake the bag for 30 seconds, make sure the brass is getting moved around good (to distribute the One Shot). Spray a bit more, then shake again for 30 seconds. Wait 2-3 minutes for the lube carrier to evaporate. Brass is ready to be sized. That said, I'm finding myself using the lanolin based lubes (like the Dillon lube) more and more. Cases seem to be a tiny bit more "slick" and size a bit easier. But One Shot isn't as horrible as some people make it out to be. |
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Quoted:
Where there is a stuck case thread, you will find One Shot. While you are correct I strongly believe it is because people tend to not follow the directions and with One Shot you absolutely must follow the directions or you WILL have a stuck case. The fact that I can size 4K cases with 1 1/2 cans of One Shot though makes up for any time spent "waiting" for the propellant to evaporate. The biggest thing you can do though to prevent stuck cases with any lube is STOP if you feel more resistance than normal and apply a little more lube to the case. Doing so will prevent you from having a stuck case. If you think that something isn't right remove the case from the die, spray it again, and proceed as you were before. The other thing that I do is I fold two paper towels and place the brass on them making sure to spray all cases. I then wait 15-20 seconds and roll all of the cases and spray them again from the other side. This ensures that all of the cases have been lubed. This method works infinitely better than a loading block as the cases are exposed to the lube directly all of the way down to the case head and you aren't relying on it running down the case. |
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