Die stuck case with a twist.

41 414gates 1 year ago

I ripped the case head off a case in the sizing die.

The case body was in the die, and without the case head there was no way to use traditional methods to get it out.

I took a second case that could press fit inside the first, coated it with superglue, and inserted into the stuck case body.

I let it set for 2 hours, then I slowly pulled on it, and the case body came out attached to the second case.

What led to this was an annoying lapse in quality control from Redding - the sizing die had a sharp edge where it sized the case neck, causing a small amount of brass to accumulate at the neck / shoulder junction, making a tiny ridge, and preventing chambering. I put fine valve grinding paste on a piece of paper wrapped on the end of a dowel, and was checking to see how the smoothing was progressing, using brass from the scrap pile. This particular piece had clear signs on it of pending case head separation, which is why it was in the scrap, and I used it anyway. It just came apart.

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Interesting lesson on a few different levels.

Thank you.

TR Treeman

I took a second case that could press fit inside the first, coated it with superglue, and inserted into the stuck case body.

I let it set for 2 hours, then I slowly pulled on it, and the case body came out attached to the second case.
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I did exactly this and it did not work, so I tried epoxy and it did not work. So i tried super glue again and it worked. I then could not chamber around, some glue had squeezed into the chamber. I ended up having a chamber reamer run through barrel to clean the fkup out. $$$

I now just use a thread tapper cutting tool and cut a thread inside the case body and pull the case out.

41 414gates OP

The top piece is once fired, resized with the sizing die in it's new state. When I pull my fingernail down the neck, I feel a sharp ridge at the neck should junction. About 16 pieces are affected like this, only two don't chamber, I'll have to neck turn after the next firing to remove it.

The second and third pieces are case re-forming tests from the scrap pile, and after applying the fine valve grinding paste to the die, there is no ridge from material on the neck being forced down.

The second piece shows a line just above the shoulder, because the brass was neck turned during it's life, 375 sized down to .338.

The third piece shows a clean, smooth resize, a 375 H&H sized down to .338.

41 414gates OP

I did exactly this and it did not work, so I tried epoxy and it did not work. So i tried super glue again and it worked. I then could not chamber around, some glue had squeezed into the chamber. I ended up having a chamber reamer run through barrel to clean the fkup out. $$$

If you lose the case head when un-chambering the fired round, you can extract the case with a cleaning rod and a old fashioned brass jag tightly wrapped with a strip of material.

Just push the wrapped jag into the case from the chamber end till it exits the case mouth, then pull it.

I once helped someone at a shoot with a 338 Lapua like that, he was about to go scratching in the barrel with a piece of bloudraad.

TR Tripodmvr

I have removed the front part of a separated case from my 303 with a 375 jag just forced and turned into neck of it.