Questions about Cases Getting Bent

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DaveTNC

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I've only been reloading about a year or so and as I was loading up some 9mm last night, several of the cases "caught" on the expander die and the lip got bent out. I've loaded a few hundred of these in the past and not had this issue. I pulled the expander plug out of the die to look for a burr or something, but it looks fine. It starts into an empty case that has been resized with the decapping/sizing die ok by hand. I re-adjusted the resizing die. I'm using a Lee die set on a Lee turret press. The turret is locking into the detents ok. Any ideas?

My other question, is that these cases have been primed before this happens, so what's the best way to handle disposing of them. I suspect just throwing them into the bad brass recycling can isn't the best idea. Can I punch out the live primer with the decapping die? If so do, can the primers be reused? Can I "shoot" the empty cases?

I missed one and actually got a bullet seated in it, so it's a live round. How's the best way to dispose of it? Is it safe to shoot it?

bent_cases.jpg
 
Spray some CLP or your favorite brand into the case, let them sit a day or so and then toss them in the trash.
 
The only time I've had something like that happen has been when I've sized a horribly misshapen case and the mouth actually folded in enough to catch on the bottom of the expander.

You can punch the primers out, they may work again, you'll want to go easy and for safety clear the bench of flammables. I've read some accounts where people tested killing them with water/oil and it wasn't near 100%. Without a sealed vessel to create pressure and something to direct it they're pretty unimpressive.
 
Beef15 said:
Without a sealed vessel to create pressure and something to direct it they're pretty unimpressive.
Click to expand...
This. I’ve smacked them with a hammer on my bench to scare the people in the house with me. A little louder than a cap gun cap. I throw them away all the time.

That loaded round.... I’d shoot it. Others will tell ya not to, but I’d shoot it. It may not chamber though and that’s another issue.
Someone will be along shortly to flame me and tell me I’m dangerous and that ima blow myself up I’m sure.
 
Personally, I would not shoot the loaded round. With the brass folded inside the case, and IF it did chamber, it would be like a barb sticking in the projectile, holding on to it, and could possibly cause a pressure spike. It may work, but it may not. Pull the bullet, it is not worth the risk. JMHO.

I smacked a primer with a hammer on my vise once. I won't be doing that again.

I know for a fact that you can soak primers in water, and once they are dry again, they can still fire. They are made of Lead Styphnate. I read a document once that talked of the safe way to ship Lead Styphnate (the raw compound) and basically you soak it in water, keeping it completely submerged. On arrival at the destination, you dry it out.

Oil may be another subject, but the compound is coated with film to protect it. I've also heard of experiments trying to make primers inert, and soaking in oil was not completely effective. If you can chamber the empty cases and fire them, that is what I would do.
 
Are you rushing the work or taking it easy and able to feel what's going on? I'm gonna say start working on this problem by slowing down.
Primers aren't as fragile as people assume. If you press them out slowly you can capture and re-use with no problems. I do it all the time.
 
Hmm... Lots of differing opinions. I did read that killing the primers with oil etc. wasn't usually very effective, possibly due to the sealants on newer primers. I think if they will chamber 'll just shoot them and be done with it. (I'll pull the bullet out of the one loaded round first.)

As to why it happened, I'm still at a loss. They're carbide dies and after having a couple of squibs earlier, I am slow and methodical. This was even sorted brass, which I don't usually do, but was from some PPU ammo that I had fired. I did feel it when the case would catch in the die, but didn't/don't know why. I'm going to load up some more in the next day or two, and will look at each case mouth after resizing to see if anything is going on there, like a flat spot or burr or something out of the ordinary. I'll also clean the resizing die.

Thanks for all the comments & suggestions.
 
I give my brass an extra little nudge into the shell holder. Sometimes they don't always get in there deep enough and you can crunch a case or offset a bullet when seating.


As for reusing. Yep, bop that bullet out with your hammer puller and reuse it. The powder too if you do it at the same time you are reloading that batch. I just throw away the case and may or may not pop out the primer.
 
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Happens to me when the shellplate doesn’t advance quite far enough. I know you say that it’s good, but I’d give it a little tweak.
 
Goofyfoot & Jim, I'll make sure the shell is all the way back in the holder. I did notice that it sometimes slides out a little after seating the primer and I have to nudge it back fully into the shell holder, but I thought I was keeping a pretty close eye on it. And I'll check the turret indexing again to make sure it's locking in right every time.

I loaded about 150 rounds that evening when the five I showed in the photo happened, so it's not a big deal, but I'd like to figure out why it happened and keep it from happening again. That's 15 cents worth of primers and about a dime's worth of brass wasted. :)

Stuff like this is why I don't think I'm ready for a progressive press.

Thanks.
 
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Also try to feel for it as you operate the press, crunching a case isn’t a subtle thing once you notice the first one.
 
JimB said:
Also try to feel for it as you operate the press, crunching a case isn’t a subtle thing once you notice the first one.
Click to expand...

Yeah, after the first one, which has the bullet in it, I did feel them crunch, but by then it was too late to do anything about it. I'll try to pay more attention and try to feel it catch before it actually gets crunched and see what's going on with it. That may lead me to the problem & solution.

Didn't get a chance to load anything tonight, might try again tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

Thanks.
 
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It looks like JimB is the winner!

I loaded 80 more tonight and part way through I noticed that every now and then the turret was a little "sluggish" locking into the detent for the expander/power drop die, and a couple of times I had to bump it just a hair until it locked into the right spot, but I didn't get any crumpled cases. I'll tweak the indexing before I do any more.

Thanks for the replies, everybody.
 
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