Hornady New Dimension Nexck size die - Broken?

[HiWall]

There is a bit of a knack to the use of the Hornady neck sizer. Difference between them and most others is that the Hornady is calibre 'general' (the .22 neck sizer will do all the different .22 cartridges and a lot of the wildcats as well, while other brands are cartridge specific and will only do one chambering, the case being aligned/supported by the wall of the die.

The Hornady die is also shorter in the body than cartridge specific dies so it is much easier to crush a case in them.

The Hornady may not properly align the case into the die (.222 .223 etc have the smaller case head and will not be supported by the die due to the clearance needed to fit .22/250 .220 Swift etc cases, so it is critical that the case is located properly in the shellholder or the decapping pin will not line up with the hole.

The other problems as already said, can be misaligned or undersized flashholes, cases with flash holes that have not been properly punched out, and of course misalignment of the stem in the die.

Case prep is the solution to the first problems, even if only a quick check of the primer pocket - a heavy burr on the flash hole can be enough to jam the decapping pin and cause a slight bend in the stem and that will then be a continuing hassle.

To initially align the decapping stem in the die I have found it is best to neck size the first case carefully, with the stem a little loose, then lift the press arm until the bell makes contact with the inside neck of the case and tighten the stem 'in tension' under the weight of the press arm/ram. Check it by lowering the ram again and ensure the decapper goes back through the hole.

I have gone off using the Hornady neck sizer because of the above problems but love the tapered elliptical expander ball and have fitted them to many of my other sizing dies as I have found that it has not been necessary to lube inside of case necks when using it.

[Mulga]

Thets excellent advice thanks Greg

And guess what Hornady service is Awsome I contacted thier warranty department last night and thismorning I have three emails from them one which says they have shipped me a new Spindle, Expander and Decapping pin free of charge.

Man that is fantastic service and im over the moon about it.

[HiWall]

Yeh Dan, Hornady is a great company and they really do make some good stuff. They welcome feedback from their customers and provide a fantastic, broad focus website.

They must be doing something right as they have developed so much successful new gear over the past few years as well as providing a product that they have found to be difficult to supply the demand and have spent shit loads on development of new and upgraded equipment - wish we could get their new powders here!

[Camel]

G'day folks, while we are on the subject of re sizing dies and decapping pins, does anyone know if there is a supply of replacement carbide expander balls that can be retro fitted to different die sets. I may be a bit primative, but I use as Super Simplex turret press for all my neck sizing, and their expander balls are very tight and always need some lube inside the necks. I use powdered graphite. If there is a supply available do you reckon it would be worth changing them for after market carbide expander balls.

[Flash Gordon]

G'day folks, while we are on the subject of re sizing dies and decapping pins, does anyone know if there is a supply of replacement carbide expander balls that can be retro fitted to different die sets. I may be a bit primative, but I use as Super Simplex turret press for all my neck sizing, and their expander balls are very tight and always need some lube inside the necks. I use powdered graphite. If there is a supply available do you reckon it would be worth changing them for after market carbide expander balls.

Not so much that the expander balls are the problem,it is the neck sizers being too tight most of the time. Polishing out the die helps.

[Camel]

G'day folks, while we are on the subject of re sizing dies and decapping pins, does anyone know if there is a supply of replacement carbide expander balls that can be retro fitted to different die sets. I may be a bit primative, but I use as Super Simplex turret press for all my neck sizing, and their expander balls are very tight and always need some lube inside the necks. I use powdered graphite. If there is a supply available do you reckon it would be worth changing them for after market carbide expander balls.

Not so much that the expander balls are the problem,it is the neck sizers being too tight most of the time. Polishing out the die helps.

OK that sounds good. How would you recommend doing that? Would I check the outside neck diameter of a fired, unsized case, then measure the inside neck diameter of the die, then see what the difference is and subtract a percentage of the difference?
How would I go about polishing the inside of the die? I have three .22 cal neck size dies for the super simplex and they all differ by slightly different amounts, so I can afford to stuff up once or twice.
Any ideas greatfully accepted as to what gear I need to polish out the dies

[Marco]

Hi fellas,

Was only sprouting the other day about how good my my Hornady 22cal neck size die was. Well On my second piece of brass I destroyed the zip spindle, expander and decapping pin totally stuffed.

I was reading on the US forums that Hornady have been replacing these parts free. Do you reckon the Australian importer would extend that service?

Regards

Dan

yeah much the same thing happened to me years back when hornady dies were new on the market, it happened with my std .308 dies but my problem was the expander ball separated
from the decapping rod, the rod was still ok wasnt broke the expander was a friction fit to the rod and it slid off and remained stuck in the neck, took it to the aussie agent and the gave me a new set of dies

[Flash Gordon]

Camel,
I sawed a slit in a piece of rod and wrapped some emery paper around it and spun it with a drill. Check as you go, you could measure if you wanted to, it will take a long while to remove much metal. I have only done 303/308 neck dies and probably polished them more than removing a lot of metal.

[Camel]

Camel,
I sawed a slit in a piece of rod and wrapped some emery paper around it and spun it with a drill. Check as you go, you could measure if you wanted to, it will take a long while to remove much metal. I have only done 303/308 neck dies and probably polished them more than removing a lot of metal.

Ok thanks mate, didnt think of doing it that way. Was thinking of maybe a bore mop that was a reasonably tight fit inside the die, and then adding some fine valve grinding paste and spinning with a drill. I only want to take 1 or 2 thou out of the neck cause as said above its very tight and I think sizing the brass too much.