Super stiff pull when resizing

[kpinole]

The only real resistance you should feel on the down stroke would be the expander ball opening up the neck. If this is a problem, then the use of dry lube (graphite powder or fine mica powder) will take care of that.
From your post, it sounds as though this is a new phenomenon and that you previously had no problem. If so, what did you change?
If your lube isn't working for you, go to another lube. I find Hornady One-Shot case lube to be too thick and tacky for me, so I use Lee case lube (diluted with water), Frankford arsenal, or Dillon. The Lee is put in a spray bottle and the others come in a spray bottle, I like to spray the lube in a plastic bag and tumble a hand-full of cases in the bag. You have to allow these lubes to dry for about 2 minutes before trying to size a case.
Add weight to your bench if needed. Putting a shelf down low to hold your bullet boxes can help.

The issue is on the 2nd motion, or up stroke? I'm new to reloading, and I have the same problem w/ my "cleaned" 223 cases, though not nearly as bad as my dirty 308 cases.

yea, I'll have to work on getting more weight on the shelf.

[kpinole]

Thanks for all the suggestions on lube, I'll start by being a lot more liberal with the stuff I got first.

My Nosler reloading guide warns to NEVER lube the case neck section to avoid dents neck dents...is this not really an issue?

@highpower790, appreciate the offer. I'll take you up on that if I can get this figured out.

@Khromo - .3055-.306" sound about right?

[TKM]

Liquid lube on the outside of the case necks causes dents hydraulically.

You want to dry lube the inside where the expander ball works it's magic.

You are very lucky that you haven't got a case stuck in your die so far. Look up fixes before it actually happens

[JagerDog]

The ridgidity of your bench is a BIG factor.

[Mot Mi]

Yup, a sturdy work bench will help alot more. I use the bag method for lubing, just like the other poster mentioned. Spray the whole gallon zip lock bag or a smaller bag if your just doing <100 rds and shake the bag until everything looks lubed. I've used the same lube when I first got my kit. Also, I FL resize and not neck size. It does make a difference if you cleaned the cases.

[blockfort]

don't resize dirty cases, you can scratch your brass or worse, your dies. And like they said, workbenches must be sturdy on the down and up stroke. if you have to, put a pole on the desk up to the ceiling to keep it down.

[rsrocket1]

You are already overworking your brass with the small base dies, but you are already aware of that from your other thread.

You certainly don't want to run the brass through the die again, it won't be any easier to pull the expander ball out. As you raise the case into the die, the neck is squeezed to a smaller than spec diameter. Then as you bring the case back out of the die, the expander ball widens the neck to the proper diameter.

If you took the expander/decapping rod out and sized a case, you would see that the neck would be too small to fit a bullet into it. The expander ball opens it back up on the upstroke of the handle. Running the case through the die twice simply duplicates that process. Bending brass back and forth does something called "work hardening". After several repetitions of this, the brass does not have the "spring" in it any more. It either loses the ability to spring or becomes brittle and splits. You can bring back the spring by annealing it, but that's another story.

[kpinole]

Ok, lubing the inside of the necks made a big difference. Still, I managed to rip off the screws holding down the press on the flimsy workbench. So I got some ideas on how to fix that.

No more resizing dirty brass, and and resizing a case a 2nd time is pointless and weakens the case.

Time to go shopping, thanks for everyone's input!

[buffybuster]

-Have your press firmly mounted.
-Tumble clean your brass to get the grit off.
-Use Imperial Sizing Die Wax (a little goes a long way)
-If you're getting a "squeek" on the upstroke, you need more lube the inside of the necks.

BTW are you resizing MG fired brass?

That should smooth things out considerably. I stay away from aerosol lubes for rifle case resizing. The Dillon pump spray lube is OK, just put your cases in a big ziplock bag with a few squirts of Dillon lube, massage to distribute the lube then let DRY for few minutes to allow the carrier to evaporate. Not as good as Imperial wax, but much better than OneShot.

[J-cat]

Brass fired in a machinegun or an AR with a machinegun chamber is hard to size. I often find such brass on the ground and always curse the ahole who shot it. If you got suckered into buying a lot of it, you can size it twice: once in a standard die and then in a small base die.

Measure the fired cases near the casehead. If they mike .381" or so then it was machinegun fired.

[blockfort]

Here's a workbench, but even if you buy this, I advise bolting it to the floor and/or wall. Your reloading table needs to be solid.

http://www.harborfreight.com/60-in-4-drawer-hardwood-workbench-69054.html

[prc77]

I can build and install a bench for you.

[kpinole]

These are just bolt gun fired cases.

The HF workbench is too large for my space. Thanks for the offer to build, but I gotta try to make use of what I have now. I'm going to screw on an additional 3/4" plywood top and bolt it to the wall. This should minimize the flex and keep it from moving.

[LynnJr]

Use Imperial Sizing Die Wax on a cotton tipped applicator then after sizing use another cotton tipped applicator to remove any so your powder doesn't stick to it.

On your bench run some plywood or 2x4 on the bottom of it and just use longer bolts.

[Khromo]

...@Khromo - .3055-.306" sound about right?

That sounds on the smaller size to me, so you can probably eliminate any concern about the ball being oversize.

I would still polish it, if I were you. Drag your thumbnail around the circumference of the ball, or get out your highest power magnifier and inspect it under a good light. Even expensive dies often benefit from a polishing with the higher grits.

Your inspection might reveal grit and particles of brass swaged onto the surface of your expander after using it without lube. A few of my more knowledgeable buddies got me in the habit of very lightly polishing the balls with 1,500 or 2,000 grit every few thousand rounds. It keeps the dimension more consistent by cleaning off any debris hammered onto the surface, and it keeps the drag down when you draw the ball out of the sized neck.

A mirror polish is a beautiful thing. It only costs a few dollars, it only takes a few minutes, and even if it's not making any measureable difference, it looks so fine!