I have been trimming the hell out of my 223 brass lately. It got me thinking......

I tried a new set of RCBS FL dies and a set of Lee dies to confirm my thoughts.

The new RCBS dies stretched my brass up to .01" that put most of my rounds into the trim group. I wanted to try a set of X dies but I could not find them. I decided to take a chance on the Lee 2 die set for .223

With the Lee dies the brass measured a strech of .0005" - .002"! I was just wondering if anyone else has noticed similar... If not I wanted to offer others the chance to compare. Brass trimming sucks!

Ken

Absolutely correct trimming sucks!

 

Do me a favor, take critical dimensions on cases sized in both dies and compare them.

 

Is the RCBS die sizing to a smaller size?

 

Very interested,,,

measured all my .223 brass and set it out as already needs to be trimmed and under the limit.

After resizing the under the limit brass with the RCBS dies they where over the limit. some growing as much as .01

With the lee dies they only grow .001 or so.

Both sets of dies are full lentgh resizing dies not small base dies. All other dimensions are well within normal and within a few thousandths of an inch between the dies. The lee set seem to make the tapered part of the case look more uniform but both dies get it to 23degrees.

I think it may be because of the expander ball on the RCBS dies has a little too much drag against the brass. When the shell is pulled out of the die the neck expander pulls too hard? I dont know, I do know that using the Lee dies = a lot less trimming!

BTW, both die sets are new, cases cleaned and lubed with hornady 1shot case lube (including inside the neck!). and I also tried RCBS lube pad and brush. I had the same results either way.

Ken

 

Added in edit-

I am very meticulous about my reloading. went through 3 sets of dies to find ones im happy with! All loading was done with a rockchucker one stage at a time.

Edited May 21, 201214 yr by NJKen

measured all my .223 brass and set it out as already needs to be trimmed and under the limit.

After resizing the under the limit brass with the RCBS dies they where over the limit. some growing as much as .01

With the lee dies they only grow .001 or so.

Both sets of dies are full lentgh resizing dies not small base dies. All other dimensions are well within normal and within a few thousandths of an inch between the dies. The lee set seem to make the tapered part of the case look more uniform but both dies get it to 23degrees.

I think it may be because of the expander ball on the RCBS dies has a little too much drag against the brass. When the shell is pulled out of the die the neck expander pulls too hard? I dont know, I do know that using the Lee dies = a lot less trimming!

BTW, both die sets are new, cases cleaned and lubed with hornady 1shot case lube (including inside the neck!). and I also tried RCBS lube pad and brush. I had the same results either way.

Ken

 

Added in edit-

I am very meticulous about my reloading. went through 3 sets of dies to find ones im happy with! All loading was done with a rockchucker one stage at a time.

 

Ken - More experiments....Measure the expanding ball you're on that track and lube the inside of the case mouth with a Q-Tip sprayed with Sureshot

 

We'll make you the mad professor...LOL

One shot spray or pump? If the spray, you will be experiencing stuck cases at some point. The lee expander is smoother, and probably dragging less on extracting.

One shot spray or pump? If the spray, you will be experiencing stuck cases at some point. The lee expander is smoother, and probably dragging less on extracting.

 

raz-0 - I use the spray with Dillon carbide and never a problem and pretty effortless.

Get a WFT trimmer, they are the cats arse

One shot spray or pump? If the spray, you will be experiencing stuck cases at some point. The lee expander is smoother, and probably dragging less on extracting.

Thats what I found with the expander also. I tried the one shot spray and the RCBS lube pad. I do make sure to get into the case mouth with a brush with the RCBS lube and I spray the one shot in a manner that gets it in there also. I have reloaded many thousands of rounds this way and only got one stuck case.

I dont think its the lube you use as much as its the proper application that makes it work or fail. The one shot is just so quick and easy.

Ken

Get a WFT trimmer, they are the cats arse

Now that there looks like a darn good idea. Thanks for the suggestion!

Ken

raz-0 - I use the spray with Dillon carbide and never a problem and pretty effortless.

Ill find some and give it a try.

Ken