Reloading - brass jammed in sizing die

Started playing with my Dillon 550 reloader after the ball game today...

The second brass casing I pushed in to the sizing die went in real hard. On the down stroke it stripped out of the shell plate and its jammed in there good.

Of course, trying to get it out, I've made the situation far worse. I finally released a bunch of expletives and called it a day.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to make a bunch of "U" shape bushings so I can screw the primer push pin and bullet swage out. Then I'm thinking make a threaded bushing to hold a grease zirk and use a grease gun to jack the brass out of the die. Good Plan?

More important, any idea what I did wrong to cause this mess and how I should avoid it in the future?

Karl

Did you use case lube ? The last time I stuck a case , I drilled and threaded the base for a stud , used a nut and sleeve to pull it out . That case sits on the ladge over the bench as a reminder to lube cases ... BTW , if that case is stuck full-depth in the die , you're NOT going to pull the neck expander button out . Best to unscrew it from the decapper rod and cut the case open after extraction .

Lube the cases.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

I "think" I used lube. Being an FNG here, I was still figuring how to set up the die and maybe grabbed an unlubed brass.

I'm not with you on how to unscrew the decapper rod. I've not seen this die apart so I'm at a disadvantage here. On the top of the die, I've got a bolt, clip and jam nut. I removed the clip and unthreaded the bolt. It won't come apart further. I'm thinking of using that nut and bushings to pull the bolt out. The bolt must somehow hold the primer push pin and neck expander.

If I can somehow remove the primer push pin, i can see threading the brass for a pull bolt would work. Right now, the push pin is in the brass primer hole.

Karl

OOPS, Sounds like you either didn't lube the case OR there is a chunk of crud binding the two.

There are a couple ways of getting them out. If your REALLY lucky you can remove the de-capping pin and go in with a brass drift and drive the case out.

OR you can do it the hard way, use a Dremel tool and cut the base off of the case GENTLY, then go inside the case and score it deep enough that you can fold one section in.

Bet you don't forget case lube again. Oh you may want to look at a carbide die if available in the caliber your loading. They don't stick as bad if you forget the lube.

OOPS, Sounds like you either didn't lube the case OR there is a chunk of crud binding the two.

There are a few ways of getting them out. If your REALLY lucky you can remove the de-capping pin and go in with a brass drift and drive the case out.

Next on the list is a Forster stuck case tool. It's basically a guided hardened steel pin. Cost is about 20 bucks. And it's well worth the money.

OR you can do it the hard way, use a Dremel tool and cut the base off of the case GENTLY, then go inside the case and score it deep enough that you can fold one section in.

Bet you don't forget case lube again. Oh you may want to look at a carbide die if available in the caliber your loading. They don't stick as bad if you forget the lube. They also L A S T .....

Most dies (all of mine) have a "sleeve" (some knurled , some are hex) that screws into the top of the die , some have the decapper threaded into this sleeve , some use it as a collet w/nut to retain the rod . That sleeve is what you need to unscrew . The expander button is usually a collet nut that retains the decapper pin . If you pull up until it "jams" against the neck/shoulder of the case you should be able to unscrew the rod from it . BTW , what brand dies ? I like RCBS ...