Hornady Custom Comp 7mm-08 Die issue. What do you think is going on here?

[Winkfish]

I am using a Horady 7mm-08 full length die and I have developed an issue where within running just 5 pieces of brass through the die the expander is getting so coated with brass it is extremely difficlt to run the brass through it.

The brass is brand new Laupua right out of the box. When I started the die looks like this:

After just 5 pieces of brass it looks like this:

If I use some 1000 grit sand paper on the expander and clean up it up I am able to run a 5-10 more pieces before it all loaded up with brass again. The Diameter of the ball is .283"

I have only had issues with these Hornady dies. All my other dies have never produced these brass deposits.

I am wondering if anyone has had this issue before and could provide some input as to if I am doing something wrong or if I have a defect in the die. This is occuring on any brass type either new or just fired, Lapua, Federal and Hornady brass. This is all being done on a single stage press as well.

Thank you,

 

[Swamplord]

lube up the expander and the inside of the necks with Imperial wax, never run it dry

 

[243winxb]

Are you lubing the inside of the case neck? If yes, try RCBS 2 with a nylon brush.

chamfer and deburr

Buy RCBS dies next time.

 

[Winkfish]

I have never used any lubrication on an expander or the inside of a neck. I do chamfer and deburr as part of the normal process. When I bought these the local shop didn't have any RSBS in stock which is what I normally get.

I will see if I can order some imperial wax today and see how that goes.

Thank you

 

[Bucklowery]

A little lube on necks. I just push the neck down on my lube pad. No more problems after that

Thanks

Buck

 

[Sockeye66]

I scrub with a nylon brush, then a light dry graphite on a qtip inside the neck and brush again after resizing. I do know that new Lapua brass seems to have some kind of coating on the inside of the necks that's not abrasive but if you neck size two pieces, brush one and not the other, you'll notice a significant difference in the amount of pressure it takes to seat a bullet.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I polish my expanders to a high mirror sheen. I never run expanders without graphite powder INSIDE the necks. I use calibre specific nylon brushes and dip the brush in the graphite, tap off the excess and run a few passes into each neck prior to sizing.
I DO NOT remove this graphite, it stays there during charging and bullet seating. Have not had ANY bullet welding issues since I started doing this. My neck tension is far more consistent and it has lowered my ES/SD with little effort on tuning.

Cheers.

 

[GLTaylor]

I always chamfer and debur, then lightly touch the case mouth with Imperial or lately, use graphite in the container with the tiny cetamic balls. You don't have to clean the inside of th case mouths if you use graphite and it helps avoid bullet weld if you store loaded rounds for a while

 

[Ckgworks]

I got rid of my Hornady dies due to how much they oversize the cases. Might have just been my dies, but run a case through the sizer without the expander in and measure your case neck. I'm sure lube like the others have said would help, but I bet you might be surprised at how much work that expander is doing.

 

[nkyshooter]

+1 on some "lubrication" on the inside of the necks for brand new brass especially ...

Once they are fired, if you don't sonic clean, you will have some carbon inside the neck that should keep the expander from scoring the brass - but - as many have said, lube is a good idea ... some would say "required".

FYI - if you use a Lee collet neck sizing only die you do not need to lube the inside of the necks ...

My accuracy process for all my rifle cartridges for which I have these dies is as follows:

1. If FL is needed, I use a body die (or a bushing die with bushing & stem left out) to bump shoulders/walls and leave neck alone (req's lube)
2. Neck size with Lee Collet (no lube needed)
3. Check for and trim/chamber/debur as needed
4. Prime
5. Charge
6. Seat with a sleeve based seater die of choice ... (forster, redding, Lee, hornady, etc) ... or a Wilson straight line if you are trying to shrink groups to BR Competition size

One final thought as you mentioned you are using the custom comp dies ... bushing based right? ... maybe double check the bushing to see if it is too small in diameter ... if this is NOT a bushing die, you could try removing the stem, size and then measure internal and external dimensions of the neck to see if the die is "too tight" at the neck resulting in more expansion required than should be necessary on the down stroke over the expander.

EDIT: good call from @Ckgworks - he was putting that in as I was typing

 

[Winkfish]

I got some imperial wax on order and it should be here tomorrow. Finding a new set of dies is another issue. I haven't found anything other than the Hornady in stock. I will keep looking and see what I can find.

 

[slikmrc]

I would remove the expander stem and size a case to see how much the die is sizing the necks. If you have some bore paste you can put the stem in a drill and polish the expander. If I have tight cases going over the expander I clean with a brass bore brush and lube necks with graphite.

 

[gruising]

I polish the ball with 1200 grit. Really clean brass, like fresh from the pins, is worse than dirty brass with carbon in the neck. If you can get a carbide expander it usually stops.

 

[freddiej]

I run Hornady on many of my rifle calibers. the 1000 grit sand paper is a great start, then lube the insides of the necks or you can use a small bit of sizing lube on the ball for a few runs but mostly you need to run a little lube on your necks, inside, or that will happen every time. I see lots of people say RCBS. look at those expansers and tell me you will not get build up.. I have tossed all my RCBS dies, well most all of them except for the few pistol dies because the expander "ball" ring dug into my necks not matter how much I rounded it and and polished it. there are no perfect dies.