dies,,, deep vertical scratches

j3081

hey guys,,,just started reloading for .357 mag and am shooting 8 grains of w 231 with a nosler 158 grain hp #44841,,,the problem is i am getting deep vertical scratches in the brass,probably 10 or 12 in a single case since i started reloading this bullet,,,125's were fine and decapping and sizing brass has become an exersize instead of a hobby when all the brass is thrown into the scrap bucket,,,tried doing EVERYTHING and i am a person that goes by the BOOK in doing it all,,,will call RCBS tomorrow and see what they say,,,they have EXELLENT customer service,,,we'll see what they say,,,what do you say,,,all replys appreciated,,,thank you,,,j3081

dcs shooters

When are you getting the scratches in the brass? If it is with the sizing die, take it apart and give it a good cleaning. Is it carbide? Are you cleaning the brass? And if you are, how? It sounds like you have some kind of dirt or brass in one of the dies.
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Just what book did you get your load from [?][?] Your loads are too hot!!

perry shooter

Hello If you do not have carbide dies Then you need to put sizing lube on your cases before sizing them the same as bottle necked rifle cases if you try to size rifle cases without lube you will get the case stuck and tear off the head [V].If you are loading by the book see if that book talks about case lube. You will have to clean your dies as the grit /brass is in the die and must be removed or it will continue to scratch the brass [:(] my suggestion is to get carbide dies. [:p]

EDIT something is seriously wrong "DUH" Back off of powder charge to a starting load and see if you have same trouble. Do the cases eject from your pistol easy? straight walled pistol cases should be EASY to resize

j3081

hey guys,,i tumble brass FIRST,,,in walnut media,,,wipe the cases with a cotton rag,,,then proceed to decapping,,,with a little rcbs lube on the outside of the case i then decap the case,,,which where my exercise comes in ,,,almost using all weight involved(170 lbs),,,,my bench is suffering more than myself and i'm surprised the the handle is still attached to the press,,,tried 2 different presses thinking the cam could be off,,,same thing,,,gotta be the dies,,,i take GREAT care in mantaining my dies,,,these dies are for 357 mag ONLY,,,no need for 38 special,,,like i said,,,BY THE BOOK,,,thanks,,,j3081

B17-P51

How are the cartridges coming out of the gun? According to the info on the Hogden site (they are W-W now) that is at least a grain over max. They do not list that particular bullet, but for a 150 gr. Nosler 7.0 is max. Heavier bullet = less powder.

150 GR. NOS JFP Winchester 231 .357" 1.590" 6.5 (START) 1216 35,800 CUP 7.0 (MAX) 1269 39,700 CUP

Tailgunner1954

J308
If your having to put your body weight into the sizing of your brass, you have a lot more wrong than just the scratches.
Even with my old RCBS Jr press, you can size pistol brass with just 2 fingers.

With no case in the press, you should feel just a slight "bump" (single finger worth) as the press cams over at the top of the stroke. With a lubed case in the press, the cam over should be no harder than 2 fingers worth. The only time you "might" have to put your weight into sizing a case is when converting something like 30-06 brass into 8mm Mauser cases.

You don't say how old your dies are, but some of the old RCBS pistol dies had the decapping stem mounted in the flaring die instead of the sizing die.

j3081

hi,,,i shoot a gp 100,,,there are no pressure signs,,,no problem coming out of the cylinder,and i started at 7 grains and worked up,,,my information was taken from steves pages and is only .3 over max,,,even took a once fired case in my stash,not even fired from the gp and it does the same thing,i'll try giving rcbs a call today and see what they say and let you know what they say,,,thanks,,,j3081

jonk

I agree. For sizing pistol brass there is no way you should need that much pressure. I can't imagine it! Pistol brass is thin! I can distort the neck of a 357 mag case with my forefinger and thumb so you should surely be able to resize without that much force. Could be the dies- but I can't imagine even a badly scratched set of dies giving that much resistance. Let us know what happens.

mrbruce

RCBS will need to look at those dies to find out if thats the problem...
No way in the world would any press need that much pressure to work right..
it don't take much pressure to make scratches either......

j3081

hi guys,,,got to thinking what tailgunner1954 said,,,my dies were made in 1978,back then #1 die only sized the case,#2 die decapped and flared the case to accept the bullet,and #3 die seated the bullet,,,i bought these dies at gunbroker,and when received,i didn't like having to size only,so i called rcbs up and they had an updated version to convert the now only sizing die to a sizing and decapping die and all you had to do was remove the decapping pin and holder on the now flaring and decapping die and place a decapping rod into the sizing die,,,sounds confusing but only took a minute to do and didn't cost me a penny except for the call,,,took them to work to clean them and couldn't find a breathing hole on the new sizing and decapping die,so i drilled a 3/32 hole above the locknut and between the threads and low and behold,,,die works perfectly now,,,no scratches and no force to size and decap,,,now as far as my load goes,the shells fall out of the cylinder,,,no primer flattening,,,and can hit cans at 40 yards,i think the gp100 can handle it.i knew that this forum is the place to go for any problems and to thank all who replied,hope i can help some-one like you have helped me,,,thank you,,,j3081[:D][:D][:D]

CHEVELLE427

Had some old steel 45acp dies the started doing this,(SCRATCHES) sent them to rcbs they sent back a new die, they will try to polish it first.
have no idea about why its hard to resize 357 brass,
hardest case i have to deal with is a 50AE and its not that bad
Forget what the web site tells you, just call RCBS direct and they will give the address to send them to.