I broke the decapping pin in my .308 simplex FLS die last night and not only that but the two tangs that hold the pin straight and get secured when you screw on the expanding plug etc. etc. so ive had to buy the whole shaft, which isnt a drama.
Now the drama is, after I got it home Ive resized a few cases and am now having problems with the neck dragging over the plug and leaving stretchmarks/dimples in the shoulder of the cases. Ive lubed the same way and the funny thing is that it doesnt even feel like its dragging, even when it comes back out past the expander plug?????????!!!!!!!!????????
Any ideas or help? Please.............
Dimples on the shoulders are normally signs of excessive lube - you should never get lube onto the shoulders, only the walls of the case and inside the neck.
If you can discount that as the cause the only other thing I can think of is not enough lube in the neck which is causing the expander to drag. This can be checked by trying to chamber an empty, sized case. If the neck has been pulled it will drag the shoulders forward an chambering will be difficult.
Another possibility is that your dies are dirty and have shit in there causing something to jam up. Give them a good spray out with CRC or something and get in there with a thin cloth wrapped rod and give them a scrub out. Make sure they are dry inside before you use them though.
Thanks Hiwall, thanks for the input, I can only put it down to lack of lube in the neck reading what you have put down there as my dies are always cleaned, the brass is cleaned(tumbled) before sizing and I am careful with lubing up. Im using powdered mica at the moment for the necks is there something better (& easier) you could recomend?
Sounds like you are doing everything right mate, but may have struck the same problem I did.
I always used to simply roll a neck brush over my lube pad and get a little RCBS case lube on the end of the bristles, then pass it through the neck. While I never had a problem doing this I read several posts in different forums saying that the lube could effect the powder and contribute towards erratic loads - so I went out and bought a dry neck lube kit and a big heap of mica and couldn't get the stuff to work - on a couple of occasions it was so tight on the expander with long necked cases I had to belt the handle on the press to get the case out of the die.
Went back to the RCBS case lube/neck brush and have no problems again. Once I have done a few cases I only need to lube about every third case neck as a little stays on the expander ball. I don't even bother wiping out the neck after sizing unless I am using a ball powder or a small grain stick powder - this is only to stop powder sticking to the lube inside the neck.
The Simplex expander ball is a pretty 'chunky' setup, it may pay to give it a bit of a polish up as well. Just stick it in a drill and spin the ball in some fine steel wool, just be careful you don't rip yer fingers orff!!
I used Graphite the other night for the first time in ages and wondered why i ever stopped... Smoooooooth.
But HiWall, only lube the walls and inside the neck you say...........
I usually put a smear of lube on the outside of the neck too ... a big No No?
Mate! Just picked up a can of Hornady's One Shot spray lube, The best. If you havent tried it grab yourself a can its magic, and greatly reduces time aswell.
OK mate, will give it a go. Keep hearing good things about it and apparently it dries out and won't affect powders and primers. Going in to QGE tomorrow and will get some.
Just my experience but I have found that a bit of lube on the case body (I use RCBS) and graphite powder the neck (inside) and have (fingers crossed) never had a problem.
I also clean my dies after every use with shellite.
I don't know how other materials work as I have never had to try anything else.
HiWall is right when he says to polish the expander button. I polish everyone I ever get. I dont use stell wool just a bit of Autosol or JB bore paste on a rag works fine.
HiWall wrote:OK mate, will give it a go. Keep hearing good things about it and apparently it dries out and won't affect powders and primers. Going in to QGE tomorrow and will get some.
Mate its good. Thanks fellas for your input, I polished the expander button with drill and steel wool, worked well. They tell you on the instructions to wipe down each case after sizing, but if your lazy like me I tumble my cases both before and after sizing.
... a big No No?