Cartridge stuck in die

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  • rseymorejr

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 28, 2011
    26,015
    Harford County
    I've been there. Put the whole die into freezer. Since the brass, lead, stainless steel all have different thermal expansion coefficients, they will start to separate by a little force. Repeat several times if necessary.

    That's a great idea!

    Much better than heating it with a torch! :D
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    I have three different types of stuck case removers. Funny, I never got stuck cases back in the day we were using rolling ink pads. Plenty of dented necks, but not too many stuck cases until the spray lubes came about.

    Hmm, I am the reverse.

    Stuck one or two cases with the lube pad. Along with the shoulder dents.

    No stuck cases with Dillon spray lube.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    Ah yes! The good old days. No dies with carbide inserts, so you got to roll your pistol cartridges across the pad too. And if you were in a hurry, it helped if you had the hands of a gorilla for squeezing on that bottle to refill the pad too. Slow wasn't even in it.

    How long ago do you go?

    I started reloading in 77, and had carbide pistol dies.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    How long ago do you go?

    I started reloading in 77, and had carbide pistol dies.



    That's a darned good question. Got me to thinking.....

    1979 is when I started, and I'm not sure why I wound up with steel pistol dies initially if carbides were then available. Best guess, it's entirely possible in retrospect that I simply may not have been aware of the carbides and their advantages initially. I (like many I'd guess) taught myself reloading, and I had my share of trial and error growing pains early on, going from the books to the shop as I learned a bit more, so that may well be the answer. I do remember well buying carbide sizers for .38/.357 and .41 magnum once I became aware of them, and I remember thinking how great they were since I could skip the case lube. I thought they were fairly or entirely new at the time I bought them a few years in, but maybe they were then in fact only new to me.
     

    sxs

    Senior Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 20, 2009
    3,378
    Anne Arundel County, MD
    That's a darned good question. Got me to thinking.....

    1979 is when I started, and I'm not sure why I wound up with steel pistol dies initially if carbides were then available. Best guess, it's entirely possible in retrospect that I simply may not have been aware of the carbides and their advantages initially. I (like many I'd guess) taught myself reloading, and I had my share of trial and error growing pains early on, going from the books to the shop as I learned a bit more, so that may well be the answer. I do remember well buying carbide sizers for .38/.357 and .41 magnum once I became aware of them, and I remember thinking how great they were since I could skip the case lube. I thought they were fairly or entirely new at the time I bought them a few years in, but maybe they were then in fact only new to me.

    That's likely what happened....or you just passed over carbide because they were more expensive.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,734
    Socialist State of Maryland
    I started in high school in the early sixties. All we had was steel dies ( mostly Lee hand sizers) and there were only a few family's who reloaded anything but shotgun. I got my first carbide size die, a Redding, for my .357 Ruger Blackhawk. Funny, back then, the local gunshop only sold primers by the flat packs of 100.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    That's likely what happened....or you just passed over carbide because they were more expensive.

    Maybe price, but I'm thinking probably not. I'm thinking it more likely that I simply didn't know about carbide for a few years.

    In trying to get a better idea of my own personal timeline, my carbide sizer was made by RCBS. As many know, RCBS (as best I'm aware) has always date stamped their dies and their presses both. My carbide sizer was a seperate purchase, as an add on to my original .38/.357 steel die set. A check shows it is stamped 1983. So it appears that that's when I myself learned of carbide, or at least when I would have decided it makes sense enough to purchase, so I could dispense with the lube pad.

    My 41 carbide sizer is Lee. I can't date it in the same way, but I'm sure it was purchased close to, if not the same time.

    It appears to me from what I can gather that Lyman may have pioneered carbide sizer dies. I have not however, been able to find a date of first release.
     
    Last edited:

    K-43

    West of Morning Side
    Oct 20, 2010
    1,881
    PG
    This thread jinxed me! I stuck a LC case in my Hornady 308 sizer die.
    I was doing a big batch and used the RCBS pad and lube instead of die wax. So much for being in a hurry.
    Well, that sure slowed me down.
    Back the expander plug out.
    Stick in vice.
    Drill the primer pocket out.
    1/4-20 tap
    Bolt, washer, and two small sockets.
    A little tip: If it starts to feel like you'll strip the threads out of the case, use some Kroil, tighten the bolt to keep tension on the case. Come back in an hour and turn it another partial turn. Repeat until the case comes free.
    I'm not saying I have experience with sticking cases in dies, but it was Ancient Aliens.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    That's a darned good question. Got me to thinking.....

    1979 is when I started, and I'm not sure why I wound up with steel pistol dies initially if carbides were then available. Best guess, it's entirely possible in retrospect that I simply may not have been aware of the carbides and their advantages initially.

    Or possibly, you balked at the price of the carbide dies.

    Also, if you picked up a reloading kit, they included steel dies.

    I had the shop swap for carbide, and paid the difference in die prices.

    IIRC, carbide sets were about 2x the price of steel.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    It appears to me from what I can gather that Lyman may have pioneered carbide sizer dies. I have not however, been able to find a date of first release.

    A quick search came up with this post in another forum.

    Lifetyme introduced carbide sizing dies in the 1950s, they are mentioned in the oldest Gun Digest I have, 1957, but are not in the 1951 reprint.

    Other companies picked them up as time went on and when I started reloading in a bench press in 1971 they were readily available, but not standard. It only took lubing a few hundred .38 and .357 cases for a steel RCBS to teach me the value of the carbide sizing die. When I went to buy one, all that was immediately available was Lyman.

    I have to check, I think I have Gun Digest and Shooter's Bible around 66 or 67
     

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