Hornady 22-250 dies

A

AR-Okie

New member
I recently purchased a set of Hornady Custom 22-250 dies.
I noticed a few peculiar things when using them that you guys might be able to explain for me. First, I almost flip the reloading table over when I am extracting the resizeing die from the case neck. " nothing like resizing my .223 brass". Second, I am loading 50grn Sierra Blitzkings. When I get the bullet seated to the correct depth, The bullet has a nice little ring around it where the seating die contacts it. To me it seams that the resizing die is not expanding the case neck enough to let the bullet seat without deforming it. Or is is the Blitzkings have such a thin Jacket and an empty pocket in them that is letting the jacketing dent? Third, When loading these reloads in the chamber of my Browning, the bolt is stiff when the locking lugs are engaging. I smoked a resized case and it showes that it is touching the chamber on the case shoulder.I am loading .223 with RCBS dies, and Hornady VMAX 55grn bullets and I'm not experienceing any of this. Has anyone else had this prob? Thanks in advance for the help. Terry
 
sounds like you need to reset the full length sizer a bit.also are you lubing the case necks and are you using once fired brass or have you bought it and do not know the history of it. good luck
 
They are brand new Dies. I lubed the outside of the once fired cases but not the inside of the necks. I'm not tumbling my brass. I don't see that there is any adjustments on the resizing die. It pressed down into the neck fine but when I pull the spindle back through after punching out the primer, it takes all I got to get it out of the neck. I thought I was going to rip the rim off the casse.
 
Some SWAGs here, but:

The ring on your bullet is probably due to the seating stem not mating up with the ogive of your bullet precisely. Take it out and polish it a bit, and it may go away.

To me, it sounds as though you need to clean your case necks and lube the inside of the neck. I've used hornday dies before, and had no trouble pulling the sizer button back through when properly cleaned and lubed. Also, you may want to screw your sizing die into the press a bit more for a more "full" full length sizing of the case. That should squeeze your case down to a size that'll slip into your chamber.

Kaiser Norton
 
1--sounds like you need to rub a little case lube onto and into the case mouth to let the expander come back through easier.
2---the "nice little ring" from the seater is pretty common and won't affect anything. Though the recommendation to polish never hurts and if it's more than a "nice little ring" you may have problems. The seater steel is harder than the copper jacket. If the case mouth is minimum size and "clean and dry" it's going to take more pressure to overcome the friction of pushing the bullet into the case mouth. I'd be concerned if it wasn't uniform around the bullet.
3---Sounds like your die should be screwed in a bit tighter to resize/push back the shoulder a bit more. Unusual with once fired brass, unless it's out of other rifle. Another reason for tight closure can be the bullet being seated long into the lands.
 
Without tumbling my brass, how will I clean the lube out of the neck? Won't this contaminate my powder charge if I don't get it all out? It's once fired brass from the same rifle.
 
To lube my cases I use one shot, It can be sprayed into the case mouth and it wont hurt powder. I think the tight bolt is from the shoulder on the case. When you pull the reloader lever up it is stretching the shoulder back up, the one you just pushed down when resizing. Once I started using one shot to lube the cases and mainly the insde mouth of the case my trimming went to almost no trimming needed. I had cases I trimmed in the past and now after I shoot some of them and resize them, They are to short. Like I said my trimming has gone down to most do not need trimming.
 
I still roll my own (LOL) on a pad with case lube on it, so I always have a bit of lube on my fingers. With some cases I don't roll them on the pad, I just use the excess lube off my fingers. For me it's always a gamble whether I've used enough lube to keep it from sticking in the die. (I hate that)

And that's how I also lube the inside of the case mouth--I just scrape a very very little bit off my fingers with the case mouth, every few cases or when the pulling gets real tight. It might also help to polish the resizer, but very gently.

I always towel dry my cases after resizing and have even been known to use some Q-tips on the inside of the case mouth. But I'm talking about using only a very very little bit of lube in the first place. I also clean the inside of the neck with a turning wire brush attachment on my RCBS case preparation center.
 
I use one shot as one of the posters does but only for full length sizing. Out of habit I never put any inside the neck area. Too much lube is as bad as not enough. Use a paper towel to clean things up. Don't forget those primer pockets. It takes me more time in case prep than I have time.
 
hello..i hope i read all this correctly..#1 use hornady one-shot spray lube..#2 get a set of headspace gauge's..so you can measure off the shoulder..it help's greatly in setting up your die's..#3 sizing 22/250 brass is different than 223..it's larger in width & does require a "tad" more "umph"..when re-sizing..#4 maybe your bench isn't stable enough ?? #5 i wouldn't worry about a slight circle on the bullet's jacket..#6 i bought a set of hornady new-dimension dies or whatever their called a few month's ago & the de-capping pin kept pulling out of the re-sizing die..anyway i probably just got a "bad" set..i hear a guy can buy a new spindle to fix it..so instead..i picked up another set of redding's..it's all good..
 
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