New Brass Problem
Quote from Reloader on January 23, 2009, 12:14 amI received delivery of new Starline .45ACP brass the other day and I began loading a box worth. It didn't take long to realize that there was something wrong. On the upstroke I began to notice a great deal of drag. Upon closer examination I noticed there was vertical brass colored striations on the powder funnel there also were fine vertical scratches on the outside of the brass. The deposits on the funnel seemed to be caused by brass who's internal diameter was too small. I took a piece of new brass that had not been through the machine at all and it seemed to fit on the funnel fine however cases that had been though the deprimer/sizer die would not. This doesn't seem to happen with the range brass I had been using (mostly Federal). The Starline stuff seems to have a thicker case wall. When the brass goes through sizer it affects the inside case dia. to the point it has trouble on the powder funnel. I removed the funnel and cleaned with some 320 wet/dry and polished with 600 lapping compound, then a little buffing looks good and now .0005 smaller in diameter. Now seems a lot better but still not like the range brass. I wonder, the new brass seems spot on specwise. Not sure what I should do. Will the (slightly) modified funnel cause me problems later? Beginning to wonder where the problem really lies. The Brass? The Sizer die? The funnel?
I received delivery of new Starline .45ACP brass the other day and I began loading a box worth. It didn't take long to realize that there was something wrong. On the upstroke I began to notice a great deal of drag. Upon closer examination I noticed there was vertical brass colored striations on the powder funnel there also were fine vertical scratches on the outside of the brass. The deposits on the funnel seemed to be caused by brass who's internal diameter was too small. I took a piece of new brass that had not been through the machine at all and it seemed to fit on the funnel fine however cases that had been though the deprimer/sizer die would not. This doesn't seem to happen with the range brass I had been using (mostly Federal). The Starline stuff seems to have a thicker case wall. When the brass goes through sizer it affects the inside case dia. to the point it has trouble on the powder funnel. I removed the funnel and cleaned with some 320 wet/dry and polished with 600 lapping compound, then a little buffing looks good and now .0005 smaller in diameter. Now seems a lot better but still not like the range brass. I wonder, the new brass seems spot on specwise. Not sure what I should do. Will the (slightly) modified funnel cause me problems later? Beginning to wonder where the problem really lies. The Brass? The Sizer die? The funnel?
Quote from Reloader on January 26, 2009, 5:55 pmthe brass deposition you are seeing is typical of all new brass, although may be more prevalent in some brands than others. It helps to periodically wipe off the expander portion of the funnel using steel wool or a scotchbrite pad to prevent brass buildup on the funnel. After it has been fired, this will load much easier. The tolerances on the funnel are +/- .002", so removing .0005" won't do any harm at all.
the brass deposition you are seeing is typical of all new brass, although may be more prevalent in some brands than others. It helps to periodically wipe off the expander portion of the funnel using steel wool or a scotchbrite pad to prevent brass buildup on the funnel. After it has been fired, this will load much easier. The tolerances on the funnel are +/- .002", so removing .0005" won't do any harm at all.