Anyone had *this* problem before?

[kazzaerexys]

Last night I started in on loading the 600 rounds of .45ACP the g/f and I need for a match this coming weekend. I am using a Dillon RL-550B that has given me almost 15k rounds so far without any serious issues.

As I neared the end of the third group of a hundred, I ran the handle and as I went to lower the shell plate back down, it wouldn't budge. I looked around the four stations and quickly determined that the powder station had locked up hard.

I ended up having to disassemble the shell plate and remove the powder system so I could pull the powder funnel, complete with stuck on casing, up out of the machine. No amount of pulling on the stuck shell would get it off. I decided against running a dowel down inside and pounding with a hammer, since there was a live primer in the casing at this point; also, getting a firm enough grip on the funnel, say in a vise, might have damaged the part.

For my last trick, I took a small hacksaw and cut off the bottom of the case below the funnel, thinking then that I could get a pair of metal snips on the remaining brass and cut it off, but then I decided to just give the heck up and send it back to Dillon.

Anyway, picture attached, at the post-hacksaw stage. The headstamp was "A-MERC", it was indeed a .45ACP cartridge case, and the overall length of the casing seemed entirely consistent with everything else. I might be mistaken, but the case wall did seem a bit on the thick side, but I didn't actually grab the micrometer and compare (as I was too busy plumbing the depths of my primitive Anglo-Saxon vocabulary at the time). I have no clue how or why this happened.

Dillon will take care of it for me, but in order to finish loading by the match this weekend I ended up eating the cost of a new powder funnel and 2-day shipping to get it to me in time. *sigh*

funnel.jpg

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[claude clay]

A-Merc sucks and should be culled by hand. it slows down the reloading process but is necessary--as i think you would now agree.
to fix--a dremal is how I've done it before. be careful how deep you cut but any slight damage to the expander can be sanded and buffed out.
dillon will replace it but you can fix it faster than the mail.

hope you both do well this week end.

---no dremal? cut the case on a 45 degree with a copen blade or a hack saw.

[OldVet]

"A-Merc sucks..."

Kind of what I've heard also. I pitch headstamp "CBC" as they seem to always be split.

[onacoma]

When I started reading I assumed it would be the issue with the Green small Primer pockets vs a large pistol primer. Those small primer 45ACP cases causes havoc with primer tubes on a Dillon, we've had several embedded in the ceiling when people don't check the brass and try to force a large primer into a small pocket. Does require a change in underwear when that happen!

Now I got a new training aid for reloading classes!

[kazzaerexys]

No, not small primer pockets. I had that issue before. Apparently after one match when I was picking up range brass, somebody had been shooting Fiocchi 'green' ammo. A couple weeks later I was reloading for a match and I kept having trouble seating the [expletive deleted] primers in the [expletive deleted] cases... That was one of my early, "Well, whaddya know?" reloading moments.

These days I can feel when the primer doesn't begin to seat, and instead of forcing it I back off, check the primer pocket, and throw the 'green' .45ACP brass in my recycle bucket. Actually, what I try to do is invert the case before I load it on the press, which accomplishes two things: (1) tosses any potential debris (leftover corn cob, pieces of spent primers that the Dillon likes to toss in the brass holder) and (2) lets me look at the primer pocket. I've caught a lot of the small pocket brass that way, but I still have to pull the occasional one off my press.

I am off to move the Dremel to the reloading room now...

[Beans]

Let me see if I understand what you said.

You would not use a wooden dowel to punch out a stuck case because it had a live primer, but you would "CUT" the case head, with a live primer, off with a hacksaw.
WOW

But what do I know. I have been reloading for over 40 years and at one time was reloading over 50,000 rds a year for myself. Nowdays i only reload about 10,000-
12,000 rds a year, for myself.