I discovered that a Scotch Brite pad works well to remove brass/copper buildup, nice and evenly. Also, if you run plated bullets, you might notice some of that building up on your expander too. I was using old brass (>8 loads) and had some sticking and wondered, "Where is it coming from?!?". Some of the plating from the Berry's bullets was surviving my tumble process. Over a couple thousand rounds, it had deposited on the expander to accomplish the same sticking effect.
Great tip. Thank you for taking the time to help others. I will be loading new brass soon, when I get the used brass completed. Good tip to save me a new headache. Thank you.
Seems a hand held emory stick will leave nothing but flat spots and exacerbate the problem. Under high magnification Lee's expander dies show an unpolished rough surface on the insertion end of the die. To polish I have had success using 3/16" wide 1200-2000 grit carborundum for strip polishing. Expander core is mounted into either a drill press chuck or 1/4" cordless drill. However with the Lee dies the point at which the bell's expansion begins has ridges from poor machining that can not be resolved by polishing. To overcome sticking at that point, I've had to resort to swab lubrication using a 1:12 lanolin: ethanol mix. 100% isopropyl also works but evaporates slower. For the 45 acp rounds I will be testing Lees Factory Carbide Crimp Die which at least eliminates the need to camber or size and should yield a break even point on time spent..
I would like to thank you for all the knowledgment you are sharing with us! That is a great class! I am from Brazil, and I wish all the best! Thank you sir! Marcos, from Brazil!
Hahahahahah that intro cracked me up. I reload on 650 and it happens sometimes to me too, but no as bad as you are showing in the intro lol. Thanks for the video, took away something with me.
OMG ...you want believe how bad I have been struggling with this on my 45 ACP cases. I noticed with the wet SS pins it cleans the brass to good. I have tried cleaning and polishing the powder funnel, worked great for all of 3 or 4 rounds. I will try not running them so long in the wet tumbler. I have a lot of new brass, I quit reloading because of the sticking problem. I will get some dry lube also before I start back.
Speaking from experience, .45 ACP is a particular bad one for sticking. Polishing the funnel will help, but new brass is prone to stick. I wet SS tumble but no more than two hours. After my new brass has been fired a few times, the residue coating inside the brass will not fully come off with wet SS tumbling. I have read where people say their heavily fired brass looks brand new after tumbling. The inside of my brass doesn’t even come close to looking new so I am not sure what those individuals are doing.
I just happened on your video's, WOW very very good for new reloaders like myself. I wish Dillon had a link on their website to your video. I may put a link in their forum. I have been fighting this and yes I tried using Dillon'c case lube, it ran better but made a mess and the powder stuck to the funnel big time. Thank You!
Dimond lapping compound, a hard felt bob on a Dremel and polish away. Don't over do it, about 30 seconds and add lapping oil and enough diamond to not run the felt bob dry. This also works. look on internet for diamond lapping compound, 6 micron works best. This is an alternative to the above excellent fix. ☺
I'd find it hard to want to do the emery board bit with the die in the press, not wanting brass grit and particles off the emery board falling into the works of the press below.
I wet tumble with stainless steel pins. This left the cases without residue of any kind and I had the problem you described. I added a final dip in 2 oz./gallon of Armor-All car wash, draining and drying on a towel. This leaves a very thin coating on both inside and outside surfaces. Problem solved.
How long do you tumble? I also wet tumble with stainless steel pins but for no more than two hours. This is long enough to clean the brass and primer pocket but also leaves a fine coating of 'residue', which is what I want. No need for me to add any kind of wax/car wash.
@@knowledge2you About 3-4 hrs. I also use Armor-All instead of detergent. However, when I rinse off the dirty water, only a small amount of Armor-All remains. By using a final dip as noted but without rinsing, it leaves a thicker protective film.
@@Russell-1 I have a lot of range brass that is full of dirt and grime. So it needs to be cleaned good, dry tumbling doesn't always get the dirt out if it's packed.
UncleLoodis, the statement that stainless steel tumbling removes all carbon buildup in a case is incorrect. Once you have fired you new cases enough, there will be a carbon buildup that not even stainless steel tumbling will remove. I know because I have been using SS tumbling for years. Once there is carbon buildup (I have to shoot the brass around 2-3 times to get enough build up) there is no need to add any kind of lubricant to the inside of the case.
That's not my case at all, I also have been using wet SS for a while, I never had this problem till I started with it. I got my 550 back in the mid 80's. Until I started with the wet SS all was well. At one time when I was in competition I would go through 500- 1000 rounds a week. I may go back to dry tumbling.
have you ever tried removing the powder drop expander and using a copper removing bore cleaner to remove the brass? just curious. It just seems like there would be a cheaper solution to this than replacing the part. You make great videos too! thanks. JJ
+jjmckay6man1 Thanks JJ for the question and the answer is Yes, I did try that. But I found using an (my wife's) emery board to be faster than a copper remover. To make using an emery board easier, you can remove the powder funnel from the powder assembly, clean it and but it back. In the video, I show cleaning it in place.
Iv'e in the past few months run over 6000 nine mm cases through my 550 and never had a problem. But, I have never fed new brass through it. Sometimes I wonder how many times I can reuse brass in a small straight walled case...
Many times fired brass usually do not stick to the powder funnel because of the buildup of carbon in the case prevents metal-to-metal contact. How often brass can be used depends on many things. Charge weight, care in handling brass, how big a flare is put on the brass, how deep a crimp is used, etc. Self defense loads will wear out brass faster than light weight target loads. Excessively flaring or crimping brass will wear out the case mouth quicker. After the brass is cleaned, I examine it and at the first signs of splitting or cracking, it is tossed.
@@knowledge2you I do the same as for tossing obviously distorted brass. I usually run my charges as middle of the road. I especially do not crimp brass past the point of me handling each cartridge to allow a slight fit. In other words if you are flaring so your bullet has a wonderful seat, that is half tour problem with such a small round. I load for 7 calibers but never the 9mm because at 7 bucks a box, why bother until recently.
why not just take some fine emery cloth and decrease the diameter of the bottom of the powder funnel? it does not have to be a pressed fit into the case.
I have been using this lube method for quite awhile and attest to the fact that it works. You can just lube the funnel, but as he mentioned, it helps in sizing when the outside of the case is lubed also. Another point I found that after several cases have been lubed and cycled it's not necessary to lube every case, as the residue accumulates a bit. Try every other or third.
