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  • wood_fly
    Junior Member
    • Mar 2009
    • 17

    416 Problem - help!

    Greetings,
    Been reloading about 7 years. .40 S&W, 308, 223, 50 Beowolf, 50 S&W and now a friend wants help with his 416 Barrett. I love my LNL but it didn't have the capacity, so I bought a Lee Classic Cast plus the 416 Lee 2 die set.

    He then tells me he has 100+ rounds another reloading friend gave him but he can't close the bolt on his rifle. I agreed to have a look. It appeared the friend neck sized only brass from his gun (not my friends), so I bought a Honady bullet puller with a 410 collet and proceeded to:
    1. Pull the Thunder ammo bullet - 415.4-415.9 gr ea and VERY pretty (turned solid brass!)
    2. Empty charge into RCBS powder scale - 192+- .2 gr
    3. Healthy coat of Hornady spray lube
    4. REMOVE the center spindle in the reloader as there is a live primer I want to keep in there and gently push up and full length resize.
    5. Replace powder and seat bullet
    6. Repeat 122 times.

    Gave rounds back to him. His report is they shoot GREAT and chamber nicely. Then he gives me a few rounds he shot in his gun to experiment with. First problem was the center spindle was VERY tight on the throat so I created a brass center punch that I can persuade the old primers out. I figured that would reduce the pressure on the handle for a full-length resize. Then I tried to resize the round. HOLY COW that was tough. Something is amiss here as I didn't have to put nearly that pressure on the other rounds. I mushroomed the neck and beant the handle of the press...WTF?!?!?

    A fired round measures (OD/ID) .466/.420
    After getting through half of the neck I get (OD/ID) .444/.403.

    I just don't get the difference between the two different brass types and why raw fired brass from his gun would beso much harder to reform.

    Any help would be appreciated,
    Tim
    Attached Files
  • #2
    wood_fly
    Junior Member
    • Mar 2009
    • 17

    416 equipment

    While I'm at it:
    1. What do you use for lubrication on your 416 cases?
    2. Which trimmer do you use?
    3. What do you use for a primer pocket cleaner?

    Thanks

    Comment

    • #3
      CSACANNONEER
      CGN/CGSSA Contributor - Lifetime
      CGN Contributor - Lifetime
      • Dec 2006
      • 44093

      For 50BMG and cases based on that cartridge, I use Imperial sizing wax, Giraurd or K&M trimmer, K&M primer pocket uniformer, K&M flash hole deburring tool, custom decapping rod w/o an expander, K&M expanderiron, M2 primer seater, Wilson .22-.45 deburring tool to remove primer crimps, etc. Now, I've never reloaded the little .416 but, it hould be pretty much the same as loading 50BMG and .510DTC.

      50 brass definately varies from headstamp to headstamp. But, it sure sounds like your dies don't match your chamber too well. I wonder if the neck ID will open up when it's 100% sized.

      Where are you located?
      NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun and Metallic Cartridge Reloading Instructor
      California DOJ Certified Fingerprint Roller
      Ventura County approved CCW Instructor
      Utah CCW Instructor


      Offering low cost multi state CCW, private basic shooting and reloading classes for calgunners.

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      Comment

      • #4
        Cheep
        Senior Member
        • Apr 2009
        • 1317

        Is this the correct chambering? 0.022" change on OD after resizing??? WOW!
        Last edited by Cheep; 06-24-2012, 7:05 AM. Reason: math
        Originally posted by NOMADCHRIS
        your asking a question about asking a question ??? just ask the damn question!!!

        Comment

        • #5
          CSACANNONEER
          CGN/CGSSA Contributor - Lifetime
          CGN Contributor - Lifetime
          • Dec 2006
          • 44093

          Originally posted by Cheep
          Is this the correct chambering? 0.022" change on OD after resizing??? WOW!
          That's excessive to say the least. Either something weird is happening because he isn't getting the brass into the die enough or, the dies just don't match the chamber period. It would be interesting to make castings of both the chambr and die to compare them.
          NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun and Metallic Cartridge Reloading Instructor
          California DOJ Certified Fingerprint Roller
          Ventura County approved CCW Instructor
          Utah CCW Instructor


          Offering low cost multi state CCW, private basic shooting and reloading classes for calgunners.

          sigpic
          CCW SAFE MEMBERSHIPS HERE

          KM6WLV

          Comment

          • #6
            wood_fly
            Junior Member
            • Mar 2009
            • 17

            off to Lee?

            I think Monday I'll drop a line to Lee and see if their tech support can help figure this out. I have 10 fired rounds from his chamber I can send along with the die.

            I just took care of about 125 rounds which should keep him busy for alittle while - it is a Bolt-gun after all!

            Comment

            • #7
              wood_fly
              Junior Member
              • Mar 2009
              • 17

              Per Lee tech support suggestion - stopped using the Hornady spray lube and went with the LEE stuff in the toothpaste tube. Night and day difference. Slips in and out of the full length die. More work, but no more crushed heads.
              Tim

              Comment

              • #8
                CSACANNONEER
                CGN/CGSSA Contributor - Lifetime
                CGN Contributor - Lifetime
                • Dec 2006
                • 44093

                Screw the Leee Lube too! Get some Imperial sizing wax! If you can't get any, use Burt's Bees Hand Salve, Crisco or Mobil One! I use Imperial but, the others are often used by those sizing 50BMG based brass.

                Now, what did they say about the excessive (+/-0.020") of difference between your sized neck and a fireformed piece of brass?
                NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun and Metallic Cartridge Reloading Instructor
                California DOJ Certified Fingerprint Roller
                Ventura County approved CCW Instructor
                Utah CCW Instructor


                Offering low cost multi state CCW, private basic shooting and reloading classes for calgunners.

                sigpic
                CCW SAFE MEMBERSHIPS HERE

                KM6WLV

                Comment

                • #9
                  Bill Steele
                  Calguns Addict
                  • Sep 2010
                  • 5028

                  Originally posted by wood_fly
                  Per Lee tech support suggestion - stopped using the Hornady spray lube and went with the LEE stuff in the toothpaste tube. Night and day difference. Slips in and out of the full length die. More work, but no more crushed heads.
                  Tim
                  If that helped, sometime give Dillon Spray Lube a try, even better.
                  When asked what qualities he most valued in his generals, Napoleon said, "give me lucky ones."

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    wood_fly
                    Junior Member
                    • Mar 2009
                    • 17

                    As to the .022 drop in neck size, said they could make a custom chamber die for 8 weeks and $150 worth. May do that...would certainly extewnd the life of the brass.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Innovative
                      Junior Member
                      • Oct 2009
                      • 49

                      There's a better way ...

                      Your cases are not bulging in the chamber. Your case diameter is expanding in the reloading process. I recommend FL resizing, but be SURE to only bump the shoulder back - .001" and no more. That will help a lot! Look into the Digital Headspace Gauge. That helps set your die height closer, and it makes your handloads chamber consistently.
                      Visit our website at WWW.LARRYWILLIS.COM (It's devoted to helping shooters make the best handloads possible.)

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