Guys with lathe experience, question
I have about 100 .357 Mags loaded mild, (6.0 Unique) while learning to set the Dillon 650 up with a roll crimp I inadvertently put a very mild wrinkle just below the bullet in some of the cases.
I have a lot of spare steel 38/357 dies. I was thinking of using a lathe to bore out a die just enough to remove the wrinkle so they will chamber and fire. The pressure will iron out the remaining wrinkles :-).
Will a small lathe have the power and ability to do this in a steel die or should I send out the die to a fab shop to hone. It may take a few tries to get the dimension just right to accomplish this job.
What say you?
I have a lot of spare steel 38/357 dies. I was thinking of using a lathe to bore out a die just enough to remove the wrinkle so they will chamber and fire. The pressure will iron out the remaining wrinkles :-).
Will a small lathe have the power and ability to do this in a steel die or should I send out the die to a fab shop to hone. It may take a few tries to get the dimension just right to accomplish this job.
What say you?
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The problem lies in taking out just a tiny amount and getting a good finish on the wall of the die. Using a hone would turn out better, as you only need to open it up a few thousandths(.005?) IMO. 0 -
Quick answer is a small, home lathe no. A industrial CNC lathe yes. The dies are hardened so a special type turning insert would be needed. Honeing is the best but that small of a diameter it would be difficult. All very special tooling would be needed to do it correctly. 0 -
No need to go big here. A diamond hone in a Dremel will take out a couple of thousandths if you are handy and gentle.
CNC time is expensive.0 -
Not sure what brand dies you are using, but I have had issues with RCBS, CH, Lee, and Redding. In each case, they fixed or replaced free. 0 -
The lathe will have plenty of power, but it using a cutting tool rigidity will be your problem. Can you mount a stone in your tool holder?
Were it me, I would use the lathe, but instead of a cutting tool, mount a stone in the tool holder. This will allow you to use the lathe to steady the tool and you will be able to use the graduations on the hand wheel to control the amount of material removed.
Remember that you are working on the radius, not the diameter. .002? removed is .004? reduction in diameter.0 -
Allpine has it.I have opened up dies using a carbide tool bit
Honeing/ polishing, shoud work. I have taken winkels out of cartriges
by runing in a carbide sizing die.0 -
how about two pieces of mild steel clamped together spot weld on old pliers and squeeze...drill and hone to size on center line.... wonder if drilling out a die would need to be on a taper ???? >>>farm tech idea<<< 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Alpine
No need to go big here. A diamond hone in a Dremel will take out a couple of thousandths if you are handy and gentle.
CNC time is expensive.
WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER. Concentric hole. He needs a v block a starrett last word and an indicator stand. Dremmel will hone it out. If in doubt hone a little. Use the loading press for observation. If not right..repeat dremmel.0 -
Do you really think a hundred cases is worth all that trouble?
I think I would just throw them away and get more0 -
Cheaper to throw away the 100pcs and save your time and a die. 0 -
Toss the wrinkled ones into a box with a pound of tannerite and shoot it at ten feet and see what happens.
Let us know0 -
quote:Originally posted by jim_lemay
quote:Originally posted by bpost
I have about 100 .357 Mags loaded mild, (6.0 Unique) while learning to set the Dillon 650 up with a roll crimp I inadvertently put a very mild wrinkle just below the bullet in some of the cases.
I have a lot of spare steel 38/357 dies. I was thinking of using a lathe to bore out a die just enough to remove the wrinkle so they will chamber and fire. The pressure will iron out the remaining wrinkles :-).
Will a small lathe have the power and ability to do this in a steel die or should I send out the die to a fab shop to hone. It may take a few tries to get the dimension just right to accomplish this job.
What say you?
Safety first. remove bullet & powder from loads and resize the cases using your sizing die in a single stage press.
I have been loading for the better part of 50 years, safety is on top of my list. The safety of my experiment is NOT an issue in this case. I am not seating high primers on loaded rounds, BTDT 35 years ago still have brass chunks in my belly from that screw-up, (KABOOM). [B)]
Spare dies are nothing to me, I have several DOZEN steel dies that are just collecting dust. With the mild wrinkle, just below the bullet a slight corrective action should do the trick to get them in the chamber of one of my GP-100's Sure, I can pull them all down and recover the powder, resize the case and reload them again but what fun is that? [:D]
I think a Dremel with careful honing is the way to begin tinkering. It will be another way to while away the time with my hobby. A lathe is sort of brewing up in my feeble mind, I am trying like the dickens to justify the 2,000 bucks. I have 100 pounds or so of lathe tooling, steady rests, squaring blocks and the like but my old Star lathe was not repairable so it went to the scrap yard a few years ago.0 -
If you are going to use a reloading die honed out {decent idea!},
I would cut or drill a large hole in the side of the die just above
the bullet length. In case of a "mishap". Think like a gas hole in a rifle bolt for primer ruptures.
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Wouldn't a wrinkle in the case below the bullet indicate too much crimp? I would expect that too much would eventually buckle the case in the same spot yours did. 0 -
Have you tried resizing after removing the decapping pin. I've done that with lead bullets when I over crimped enough that they wouldn't chamber. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by 35 Whelen
Wouldn't a wrinkle in the case below the bullet indicate too much crimp? I would expect that too much would eventually buckle the case in the same spot yours did.
Indeed it does, the learning curve to set up a Dillon 650 can be steep!0 -
quote:Originally posted by hunter86004
Have you tried resizing after removing the decapping pin. I've done that with lead bullets when I over crimped enough that they wouldn't chamber.
By resizing the case in a standard resizing die with the bullet in it it will squeeze the bullet, a dead material to a size too small for the bore. By honing, lathing or other method I can open up a spare die to about .3885, that will allow just enough of the wrinkle to be removed to fit into the chamber without squeezing the bullet out of tolerance too.0 -
I can see where you're coming from. Do it just to do it.
Were it me, and I had a lathe, I'd adapt my Foredom to the tool post and use a diamond bit.0 -
quote:Originally posted by asphalt cowboy
I can see where you're coming from. Do it just to do it.
Were it me, and I had a lathe, I'd adapt my Foredom to the tool post and use a diamond bit.
While looking at the die it dawned on me the re-squeezer portion only needs to be long enough the accomplish the experiment. I am thinking that .100 should be more then enough. Then I can open up the die past that area by any comfortable dimension say another .100 since the only part of the die really needed is the first .100 or thereabouts, just enough to smooth out the wrinkle to allow chambering.0
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