This old reloader was introduced to his first stuck case in a steel die yesterday. It did not go well. I was tired, it was late, and I was neither patient nor kind to the 270 Win. case and die. Without thinking the situation through, a simple matter to correct really, I waded angrily into a "fix" that produced stripped threads and bent parts.
The aggrevation of metal to metal binding in the zone between "finger tight" and immediately prior to inelastic deformation is the kill zone of hammers, pliers, screwdrivers, and punches that were never meant nor intended to be used on precision machined parts. There are days when I wonder aloud why God gave me these two clubs for hands and a numb mind for a brain? Eventually, I "won" getting the case unstuck but ruined the decapping and neck resizing parts.
I called RCBS for replacement parts and to order a case puller to add to my increasing inventory of reloading equipment. As has been repetedly reported, RCBS gladly shipped replacement parts without charge and without blame and sold me the puller. Thank You RCBS for standing behind your products 100%. Their representative was positive and upbeat about the situation. He had heard this story before.
The solution is simple really, now that everything is apart. It should have been intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer.
Right!
1.) With the die still in the press, unscrew and remove the decapping lock nut and threaded/knurled decaping bushing from the top of the die.
2.) Place a 1/2" long "hollow tube" spacer of steel/aluminum/or brass over the threaded decapping rod to rest on top of the die. The spacer allows for the rise of unthreaded parts to exit the die and prevents "two blocking" of parts against the lock nut.
3.) Place a flat washer over the spacer. The center hole of the washer must be smaller than the lock nut, but slightly larger than the threaded decapping rod.
4.) Turn the lock nut onto the decapping rod finger tight.
5.) Using an appropriately sized open or closed end wrench, slowly tighten the lock nut onto the decapping rod. This will raise the decapping rod out of the die. There will be resistance as the case neck resizer is withdrawn through the stuck case neck within the head of the die.
6.) Wtih the decapping and resizing rod removed, insert a punch of diameter that is less than but nearly equal to the rifle caliber through the top of the die and onto the bottom of the stuck case.
7.) TAP, not hammer, the punch with a small mass hammer. Careful and consistent tapping will prevent marring of surfaces and ruined parts. The case will loosen and fall out of the die.
Good Luck.
