38 Spl/357 Mag - Station 2 issues

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ranger391xt
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38 Spl/357 Mag - Station 2 issues

Post by ranger391xt »

I have been using LoadMaster presses for about 8 years to load various pistol calibers. I have followed the recommended setup of having a sizing/decapping die in station 2 with the decapping pin removed. My issue when loading 38 Spl or 357 Mag is that about 80% of the time the case does not want to enter the die, but instead seems to catch on the back side. If I pull the top the case forward (towards me), it then feeds. I don't experience this with shorter cases like 9mm, 40 s&w or 45 ACP. Has anyone else experienced this or have suggestions how to remedy it?

Things I have tried:
- making sure the case retainer is holding the case in place.
- letting the Turret float during setup and then locking it in place when the ram is raised and a case is in the die.

I do believe this is an older set of lee dies. Has there been any changes to the dies over the years that would prevent this?

Thanks in advance.
BrianT
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Re: 38 Spl/357 Mag - Station 2 issues

Post by BrianT »

I load .357 on my Loadmaster, and have not had/seen this issue, and I'm not sure about your die question, but is it possible that the index is off on the shellplate/carrier? I know this happens, and towards the end of the Lee Loadmaster installation instructions, they show how to check/set the carrier indexing.
If it is off, you MAY be able to tell by looking down thru the sizing die, and see if the slot in the shellplate is lined up with the sizing die hole.
Or just raise the ram about halfway, and the round back of the indexing flipper should be touching the pull out rib on the press frame, if not, then the index is off a little.
Good luck
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Re: 38 Spl/357 Mag - Station 2 issues

Post by horseman »

If it is an older die it might not have the radius on the mouth that were developed for progressive reloading. Or whatever reason the radius was used on them...I take it that the cases are pre-sized.


Edit: I would try using the sizing back in station one and nothing in station two. I never used one in station two and everything worked fine. If your priming system is set up correctly you'll be good to go.
ranger391xt
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Re: 38 Spl/357 Mag - Station 2 issues

Post by ranger391xt »

Thanks for the replies. I took some time today to go through things and figured out what was going on. I had remembered reading that sometimes the threaded holes for the dies might not be square to the Turret. Turns out this was the case and the die was sitting slightly tilted - top of die tilted back which made the die mouth be slightly forward causing the cases to catch at the back. I switched to a different turret and ran about 50 or so cases through without an issue.
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Re: 38 Spl/357 Mag - Station 2 issues

Post by BrianT »

Glad you found it!
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Re: 38 Spl/357 Mag - Station 2 issues

Post by Ranch Dog »

ranger391xt wrote:Thanks for the replies. I took some time today to go through things and figured out what was going on. I had remembered reading that sometimes the threaded holes for the dies might not be square to the Turret. Turns out this was the case and the die was sitting slightly tilted - top of die tilted back which made the die mouth be slightly forward causing the cases to catch at the back. I switched to a different turret and ran about 50 or so cases through without an issue.
Interesting. Never seen that and worth remembering. I would if Lee would give you a new turret. Might not be worth the shipping though.
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Re: 38 Spl/357 Mag - Station 2 issues

Post by magic mike »

I have seen many Lee turrets suffering from this problem. Look at the five counter-bores on the underside of the turret. If you see marks left on them by the tap you can be assured that the turret was not properly registered in the holding fixture and thus the threads will not be 90 degrees to the machined upper surface of the turret or they will be out of spec radially. Either of these conditions will cause the case to collide with the die as it tries to enter. If you discover the case is misaligned radially and you try and adjust the carrier position to fix it, it will most likely screw up the indexing. Clocking the turret to match the position of the dies is pretty much the only way to fix this problem. I have seen turrets where the dies were perfectly vertical but they were out radially by almost .060". Unfortunately, the way Lee has chosen to lock the turret into the press frame prevents clocking the turret and then being able to keep it there. Enter the Turret Stabilizer.
Mike
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Re: 38 Spl/357 Mag - Station 2 issues

Post by ranger391xt »

magic mike wrote:I have seen many Lee turrets suffering from this problem. Look at the five counter-bores on the underside of the turret. If you see marks left on them by the tap you can be assured that the turret was not properly registered in the holding fixture and thus the threads will not be 90 degrees to the machined upper surface of the turret or they will be out of spec radially. Either of these conditions will cause the case to collide with the die as it tries to enter. If you discover the case is misaligned radially and you try and adjust the carrier position to fix it, it will most likely screw up the indexing. Clocking the turret to match the position of the dies is pretty much the only way to fix this problem. I have seen turrets where the dies were perfectly vertical but they were out radially by almost .060". Unfortunately, the way Lee has chosen to lock the turret into the press frame prevents clocking the turret and then being able to keep it there. Enter the Turret Stabilizer.
There are marks in the counter bores. It was in your LM Survival Guide where I had read about this. In the case of this turret they are pretty severe and so the dies are off center quite bit. I had picked this up second hand and I'm guessing that this turret issue is why the last owner got rid of it. I may open a ticket with Lee to see if they'll send a replacement.
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