doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com ? for full length brass reloaders

I have been shooting my 14ga Patrick Mullin quite a bit lately with modified Greener police 14ga brass. In preparation for the upcoming season I thought I'd clean my brass up starting with a run through the vibe. Long story short, case mouths became dented and enlarged enough (.010 larger than an unfired case) to drag going in and out of the chamber.

What do you do about an oversize brass shotshell? My initial thought is to make a plate with a hole to push the shells through in a "resizing" fashion. Also thought about trying to just shoot them to see if they will straighten out enough to not drag.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
Bryndon

I see two options for you:
1. Have full length case re-sizer made and the only place that I know of that specializes in all brass cases and associated equipment is Rocky Mountain Cartridge. 2. RMC can make new cases in your gauge and chamber dimensions.

Bryndon, These folks have reloading kits for the Greener, Import, and their own 14 bore cartridges. I'm sure if you call them something could be figured out. I recommend their products highly.

http://rockymountaincartridge.com/index_htm_files/RMC%20Shot%20Shells%20&%20Kits%20Prices.pdf

Take a LARGE nut, and putting it in a lathe bore it out to size your hulls, then take a LARGE long socket or piece of pipe and position the nut next to it. Take Imperial sizing wax and lube the cleaned brass hull, then using a shop vise push the hull into the
sizing nut, Mine has a cut out for the rim to seat flush in the nut.
Take the nut and secure it in or on top of the vise and drive the hulls out with a rod that has a recess for the primer bump inside the hull.
Done
Mike

p.s.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/519525/imperial-case-sizing-wax-2-oz

I truly believe that for sizing all brass hulls you really need a full length sizer not just a ring. This could be lathe turned with a taper bore matted to give clearance for your chamber dimensions. This could be made up to fit a loading press or the hull could be simply driven in, lubed of course, with a plastic hammer or a regular hammer & block of wood & driven out with a dowel inside.
A Sizing ring sizes the same size all the way down & I personally would not prefer to size the base of an all brass hull down to the size needed to fix the forward end. Don't know what the chamber dimensions of this Patrick Mullin might be, but generally most shotgun chambers taper at a rate of around .005" per inch of length. I would simply not desire to size the base by that amount.

I have mixed opinions on the need to resize full length brass hulls if they are to be used in one gun only and both chambers match.

When I shot several different 16's I did have a need to resize the RMC brass hulls, because the chambers varied. Now that I only shoot one 16 I have not resized them in 20 plus firings. They are simply fire-formed to the chamber. I do clean them in a hydro-sonic bath and occasionally shine them, but the is the extent of haul care.

It sounds like the major problem here is that the mouths of the brass shell casings have gotten dinged and misshapen. I can't imagine that simply tumbling them in case polishing media could somehow enlarge them by .010" as stated. Certainly, they could be larger than an unfired case if the chamber is larger diameter... they would have fireformed to fit the chamber and sprung back enough to allow extraction. But if they are dragging going back into the chambers after tumbling, I'd check to see if the mouths are just out of round. If they will still chamber as is, the next shot should iron them back out unless they have been fired so much that they need to be annealed.

I am speaking from actually doing this, have y'all ever done this?
No one says you have to insert the hull fully to the bottom of the die every time, only when needed. This is not black and white but a graded approach.

Anyone who has actually done die sizing please add to this link.

Mike

Give you a few general sizing observations.

You don't have to run the brass all the way in a sizing die. As a rule less you work the brass better off you are. Most size a little see if it works then record the depth to repeat same size every time. How much depends on your chamber and the loads. Some guns need full length every time, Automatics for example, they have to feed with little resistance and when dirty. Something that has a lot of cam power like a double closing can deal with brass that's not sized full.

lube helps sizing considerably, Imperial sizing wax is the standard, takes very little to make a hard job easy. Brass that's been worked a lot often needs Anealing. It gets work hardened and brittle if not.

RMC Brass being lathe turned not drawn, sizes a bit different. I have found it has less "spring back" after firing and needs re-sizing more often. Not a negative just keep your eye on will the sized brass chamber before you load up.

You can make simple soft steel ring dies, they just don't last as long as hard steel factory dies. Very old loading manuals show photos of soft steel home made dies and cases driven in with a hammer. I make my own neck bushings for rifle calibers in a CH4D universal neck sizing die. Try different sizes before hardening it.

CH4D makes about any die you could want, custom is not real expensive.

Boats

Well Yes of course one could just size the muzzle of the hull. If you've got the lathe though & are going to make one on it why not take a bit more time & make a full length one that'll do anything it might ever be called upon to do. You're only going to need it if you change guns to one with a smaller chamber size or if the hulls are damaged. Who's to say just where that damage may occur. I am also of the school that thinks the least amount you can work the brass the better, therefore am thoroughly convinced this is the ideal way to go. I don't have the specs on a 14 ga chamber but am guessing somewhere around .690"/.693" for the forward end next to the cone & about .702"/.705" at the breech.
If a brass case needs sizing at all it may need more sized than just the muzzle. No I have not tried using just a ring on an all brass case & No I don't intend to. This is of course all my opinion & it didn't cost anything so take it for whatever its worth to you.