Stuck Case - RCBS Removal Tool

[BRI]

I've been reloading for about 10 years now so by no means would I consider myself an expert. Thankfully I've only had 5 stuck cases in the couple thousand rounds and several cartridges I've run through. I have one of the RCBS stuck case removal tools but it's only worked one time. I've watched the videos, put the die in the freezer, used kroil, etc. yet still I have no confidence in it working. 3 times previously, I'd just thrown the die away and bought a new. Well this time, I contacted RCBS and they said to send the die in and they'd remove the case, polish and inspect the die and send back to me as part of warranty. Now I feel stupid for throwing the other ones away.

Do those stuck case removal tools work for you? What's your go to method (besides not get one stuck....thanks captain obvious). I'm sure it'll happen again.

 

[antelopedundee]

One thing I've noticed. After sizing a quantity of cases, I usually clean my sizing die. The first resized case after that tends to come out of the die harder than subsequent cases so that might be where it's likely to get a stuck case. Use more lube [I like resizing wax] on that first case. Since I don't keep the expander ball in it, the couple times I've had one I tap it out with a bolt and hammer. Last lime I actually bent a bolt during the process. When you try to pull the case back out, the case rim gives and the case is ripped out of the shellholder.

 

[MThuntr]

i've threaded the brass and used slightly larger nuts to tighten a bolt against. It's basically the RCBS tool but with junk I had on hand. It worked but not as well as something that fits exactly on the die. Sneaking in kroil first is probably a wise choice.

Depending on the die design, you could install a grease zerk into the primer pocket and use pressure from grease gun to pop the brass out. I've always wanted to give that a try but am too chicken especially with the potential for an absolute mess.

 

[blueridge]

I have only had it happen once. I drilled and tapped it for a 1/4-20 bolt, put a socket around the case head, threaded the bolt to pull it out. Worked good.

 

[rideold]

I had it happen last week on a Redding die. I bought the Redding "tool" and it worked well. I had to really take it slow though!

 

[Addicting]

I bought the RCBS tool and it works fine. It’s way easier and faster than trying to beat it out like I used to.

 

[44hunter45]

When I was first starting out, I stuck a LOT of cases. Now, not so much. But it still happens.

The RCBS tool works every time for me. There is some chance you will damage the decapping rod or expander button in the die. I always keep spares of these more fragile items.
Sucks to be down until you can get a replacement.

For a bottleneck case, I unscrew the decapping rod from the die. The expander ball will stick in the neck of the case. Just pull hard to jamb it tight so you can unthread the rod and pull it free. This will leave the expander ball and decapping pin in the case. After you get the bad case out, you can dremel or hacksaw it open to remove the ball and pin.

For a straight walled case, back the decapping rod out as far as you can.

Be very careful when you are drilling and tapping out the primer pocket. Let the drill do the work and don't apply a lot of downward force. You want to stop as soon as you break through the web. The best way is to start with smaller bits and work your way up to the 1/4" bit.

If you watch the RCBS video, you will see that their bolt is sticking up 3/4" when they have the threads started. This is not good. When you screw down the bolt, that 3/4" must penetrate the case before you get any pull on the stuck case. It may be damaging your decapping parts. Replace the provided 1/4x20 allen head screw with a shorter 7/16 hex head bolt.

Replacing the bolt buys you two things:
1)You only need the bolt to be long enough to fully engage the threads when it bottoms out. Anything more than this risks damaging the decapping parts.
2)The 7/16 hex head allows you to use an adjustable wrench or long box end to apply more torque to the bolt. Less effort and less chance of busting a knuckle. The stubby allen wrench kind of sucks.

Even less effort if you put a SMALL dab of grease on the bolt before you start threading it in. A dab of grease where the head meets the hole in the cup too. You want all your torque to be applied to the extraction rather than lost to friction in the tool. It is amazing how much easier this makes the process.

I clean everything up afterward using spray brake cleaner. You need to make sure there are no brass chips or grease in the die.

If the 1/4x20 bolt pulls out (this is rare), you can tap the hole for a 5/16 (8mm) bolt or even bigger. Then use a socket or washers instead of the cup that comes in the kit.

I could have extracted 20 cases in the time it took to write this. Its pretty simple.

 

[antelopedundee]

I have a friend who makes bullets and sometimes a bullet will stick in the point die. He removes the stuck bullet pretty much the same way. Imagine a bullet making machine at Sierra chitting out hundreds of bullets per minute and having one stick.

 

[BRI]

@44hunter45 Thanks for that info, especially about the 7/16 hex bolt. I guess I'm still not sure why the stuck case tool hasn't really worked for me. I put the die in a bench vise, carefully drill the primer pocket out, use the 1/4 x 20 cutter, then the bushing and slowly turn the bolt. 4 of the 5 times, the bolt breaks through and screws all the way down and the case stays stuck. Only once has the stuck case popped out like on the video. I tried again after posting this this morning and perhaps the kroil was able to penetrate some but I stacked a half dozen washers and tried again, this time it popped loose.

I clean the dies frequently with brake cleaner, and have also used flitz polisher with a drill and swab to keep the inside good.

 

[JSTAFNG]

The rcbs tool has always worked for me. Stuck a few more cases than I’d like to admit when I started out or got in a rush. Really hurts with brass being as spendy as it is
I did need to put a washer or two on the end one time for so reason it needed that little extra pull.

 

[buffybr]

I've been reloading for well over 50 years and have had an occasional stuck case. I bought a RCBS stuck case removal tool many years ago and it has worked perfectly on every occasion that I had to use it.

 

[Don Fischer]

Boy been a long time since I've had to use my stuck case tool. Not even sure where it is any more. Everyonce in a while I clean out my dies and use thesame stuff I clean baeesl's with. Also before starting to size case's I squirt a bit of case lube into the die. I would think what sticks the case is a dry inside of the die so I squirt inside every time. I use the wax stuff on a q-tip inside the case mouth! I'm not saying that all works but then I can't remember the last time I stuck a case!