setting up lyman dies for 358 win

[crsides]

Having trouble with my Lyman decap/sizer/expander die for 358 win. I have set it up per instructions but the case mouth is not being flared enough to start a jacketed bullet. What am I doing wrong?


Charlie

 

[Drm50]

The only reason that you can't seat a bullet after running case
though your FL sizing die, which deprimes and the sizing button
has to pass through the neck on the return stoke has to be the
button is faulty or you have brass problem. Try chamfering your
case mouth.

 

[crsides]

hmmm. The brass was made from 308 cases, so that may be it.

Will chamfer the case mouths and give it a try.
I will also measure the sizing button. Guessing it should be 357 - 358?
thanks

Charlie

 

[Drm50]

308, or 7.62 Military? If that is military 7.62mm brass you may
have to outside neck turn. Military brass is heavier than civilian
308. I have seen this problem in other cals necked off 7.62 NATO. Can also cause excessive pressure in some cases. Try a
factory 358 brass, if it loads with no problem, you got brass
trouble.

 

[M29since14]

What brass you are using shouldn't matter. If you can pull the expander button through the neck and you have your case mouths adequately chamfered you should be able to seat the bullet. First thing to check is the size of the expander button - and your chamfers. If it is not something close to .357 I would say you have a problem.

 

[Alk8944]

.....the case mouth is not being flared enough to start a jacketed bullet. What am I doing wrong?


Charlie

That is because dies fir bottle-neck cartridges do not "flare" the neck at all. Pulling the button through how could they?

If you have trimmed the cases and not de-burred them it is the sharp edge of the case that causes the problem. Slightly chamfer the cases, just enough to break the edge of the case.

I suspect that if you are new to reloading, and from your question I can't see how you are anything but, you are likely being too tentative. With some combinations jacketed bullets can take quite a bit of pressure to start them into the case.

So far as comments above about military brass, etc, these are all BS. Military brass may be slightly heavier than commercial, but usually not. This is like most generalizations, generally wrong! The neck thickness is always within SAAMI cartridge dimensions regardless.

 

[Drm50]

There is a article in NR magazine , late 70s early 80s, on military
7.62 mm NATO. Shows a ruined m-70 from neck down to 243.
When 284/308 was big deal, guys were having trouble with
7.62 brass. I think this was article that measured difference in
case volume with syringe. Going to see if I can dig it out.

 

[Skeet 028]

Some mil brass IS a bit heavier than commercial. As far as Neck turning..Necking up shouldn't require neck turning..down?? very possibly. As the other poster said deburr the case and inside chamfer. Now in all fairness to the previous poster..there is not a lot of difference in the weight of 223 brass(mil to com)... there was in the 30-06 and some in the 7.62x 51/308. When loading my first 25-06 from WWII 06 around 1963 I had to neck ream some brass .. but I was necking down. It was a pain weighing each case back then(no digitals) so I ended up reaming all of 'em..especially after locking the bolt up a couple times. Necking 308 to 243 I just went ahead and reamed 'em anyway. Necks were even smaller than 25. I've never made 358 brass but have made 35 Whelen and never had any need to thin the necks. I still have my 308 to 243 case forming dies from CH and they came with a neck reamer Even they considered it necessary. I have some mil 308 brass from APG in Md that I can't even load back to 308 consistently even with small base dies. . But prob shot in a GE gun... Oh as an aside. I found even the late 50s 30-06 and 308 mil MATCH brass to be very consistent in weight..not really different than commercial and no crimped primer pockets. I always looked for it. Found 400 FA 57(IIRC) Match 06 at a gun show last year that I bought for 20 bucks. Already made 50 7.65 Arg cases with it for a 1908 Mauser. Like I need more brass though.

 

[crsides]

thanks guys. BTW, I had a mod 70 1949 that someone whacked the bbl back to 20", so I had it rebarreled to 25-06. The "gunsmith" that did it wallowed out the chamber to an egg shape. Split every case I reloaded. A real gunsmith measured the cases and found the cause. Advised to get some mil match cases since they were thicker. Problem solved.

Alk8944 .... I appreciate the factual information hidden in all that gushing sensitivity.


Charlie

 

[M29since14]

Neck turning/reaming shouldn't be a factor. You might want to anneal after you neck-up, but that has nothing to do with the problem you describe.

 

[Drm50]

I think Skeet has a point. All the problems people were having
with 7.62 NATO brass was in necking down. I have never made
358s out of 7.62, had plenty of brass. I have made 35 Wel. out
of 30/06 Military Match with no problems at all. All the 7.65Arg
I've loaded were made from common 30/06 Mil. Also make brass
for 7.7 Jap from same. Make 338/06 out of Win 30/06 brass.

 

[fredj338]

As noted, unless you are using a Lyman M die, rifle dies never flare/bell the case. A light chamfer & then it's a press fit. If you are going to use a lead bullet, you must use a M die to get a bullet to seat w/o damaging the base.

 

[crsides]

hmmm. The brass was made from 308 cases, so that may be it.

Will chamfer the case mouths and give it a try.
I will also measure the sizing button. Guessing it should be 357 - 358?
thanks

Charlie

yep, chamfering the case mouths was omitted from the process. Too much reloading for pistol cases I guess. Thanks for all the help.

Charlie