Added: 2 years ago
From: ginsboy2003
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  • Couldnt get a pick in to move it. Used the lead idea. put the die in a freezer for a couple of hours. Two taps with a large punch and the whole thing came out beautifully. A lifesaver. Many thanks:) Saved me sending it back to Lee

  • @medhist2006

    Glad it worked for ya! Now time to start making cases!

  • Time for me to admit I made a mistake. THe wall of the shotshell case is much thinner than the drawn case and obvously more fragile. Having reduced the diameter to 9/16" using an opened fl sizing die I attempted to take it to the factory size using my fl sizing die. Properly lubed it ran it through and got that secondary shoulder when the die was seated fully.the neck broke off inthe die.when i tried to resize it any suggestions for removal? asalways, thanks

  • @medhist2006

    The die is heat treated pretty deep, about .008 of an inch but I still would not try to use a steel pick on it. Try using a brass pick. If that fails, spray it out with brake cleaner, run a brass brush in cleaning the brass use a cuetip to apply oil to the steel, then plug the depriming hole and pour some lead into it. Hopefully the lead will stick to the brass and you can knock it out from the depriming end.

  • ,e again:)

    I made a holder like toy have out of a copper sleeve. 8 sec on the torch does it . You are correct. the light pitting was from overheating.

    Its not visible in the video but did you remove the depriming rod from your die for the final sizing?

    Manythanks

  • @medhist2006

    For final sizing I left the depriming rod in.

  • just a thought.. wouldnt it be a good idea to anneal the cases after final sizing? I notice the nexks of my cases have developed what i would call very fine pitting. Is that a heat issue? many thanks. Now to order that rifle:)

  • @medhist2006

    I don't think so, but you may want to re-anneal them after the 3rd reload. I'm not sure why you would have the fine pitting, maybe they got too hot?

  • I finally tried to reform the cases. Annealed them with a torch while they spun on a lazy susan in a pan of water

    Its awkward and very slow but it does work. I only had the fl sizing die so it took 3 anneals to get them down to look like Martini cases. This morning I got my fl sizing die back from the gunsmith bored out to 9/16" It is so smooth . Cases easily make the intermediate step down. Much easier

  • I dont have access to a lathe so I trim mine like they showed in the forum. Two pieces of wood with a 5/8" hole in it. put it in a little drill press vise and used a Forester 1" cutter to trim them down, Accurate to about .o2 "

  • @medhist2006

    That is an excellent way to do it! We all work with what we have on hand!

  • I contacted Lee and bought a fl die body. THey told me the die is carburized to a depth of .008-.010 file hard. Now Im looking for someone to bore it out to the 9/16" and cut down the top. Why was the top cut down?

  • @medhist2006 The top gets cut off so its easier to machine by boring it out from the top end.

  • @ginsboy2003 THank you. That makes perfect sense. I thought I would need to leave the wrench flats on the die incase I needed to press out a stuck case but with a 9/16" hole you can just frop a rod down and tap it out:) As soon as I make some cases I will be getting a rifle(or two) from IMA.

  • the high cost of brass kept me from buying a MH. I dont know how i would get the 9/16" hole drilled. possibly Lee would do it? for a fee of course. I visit not too faqr far from their plant.Exceelent videos. tyvm:)

  • the high cost of brass kept me from buying a MH. I dont know how i would get the 9/16" hole drilled. possibly Lee would do it? for a fee of course. I visit not too faqr far from their plant.

  • Sounds good, thanks for the info.

  • I ruined 6 cases running them through the regular lee sizer die and have stopped using it, each one stovepiped ino itself at the neck. I measured the AOL from the bottom of the sizer die to the lip inside near where the casemouth would be when fully seated and i get 2.23"! Thats like 1/8" too short, no wonder they stovepiped. I wrote Lee, this sizer is going back!

  • @Lahti1935

    Make sure they are cut to the close to the length you'll need before attempting to size them. They do stretch also. Could be you have a bad die.

  • @ginsboy2003

    Thanks for making this video! It has given me the courage to try it myself.!

    (Here in Holland those cases are even more expansive...)

    Just figuring out how to start the neck, don't have a spare sizer that i can cut, so i probably will be making something from a steel pipe, and drill a hole in it, and someway attach it to the top of my Lee classic cast to size. And i need to convert all your data from inch to mm. :)

  • I think they just didn't want to do it or something.... I got another shop to do it. I ran a few through and I get a bell mouth on the cases when they come out that makes it hard to start when running them through the standard sizer. Still working on a way to trim them also..... getting there!

  • @Lahti1935

    Just go slow and take your time. I can do 50 cases at a time now and only ruin one out of those when forming if I'm not careful.

  • Excellent video indeed. Are you possibly going to start selling the annealing tool/modified size dies?

  • @SPICYMOOCHOO

    I doubt it, the die alone from LEE cost $45 then I'd have to modify it and sell it. I don't think anyone would want to pay that much for it. The average guy could buy the same die, cut the top off, and then run a 9/16 bit through it. I use a lathe to modify my die, I could modify somebody for somebody else though, if they sent it to me.

  • @ginsboy2003 I have a lee 577/450 sizer die I wanted bored out to 9/16 but the machine shop said it was too hard to do it.... how did you bore yours out?

  • @Lahti1935

    I can't believe they told you that. Perhaps they were worried it might ruin some tooling since it is hard. I cut the top off on my horizontal saw, and they put it in my lathe and used a carbide boring bar to bore it out. I don't have high dollar tools either, most are chinese made. I've heard of people using a 9/16 drill bit to do it but it ruined the bit.

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  • Wow, if I had your set-up and a Martini Henry, I would just keep cranking out those homemade cartridges. I wouldn't stop until I had hundreds or thousands of em'. My life would consist of minimal eating, sleeping, and maximum 577/450 production. Just crank them out continuously non stop hehe. The whole process is so fun to watch.

    Very very cool video sir, why this doesn't have millions of views is beyond me.

  • @SpiroHrvoje1989 Thanks, I've had some good compliments on the video, I guess the guns are not as loved by others as much as we like them ourselves. I'm surprised that this and my other martini vids get so little views.

  • @ginsboy2003 Well I think if you uploaded some videos of your Martini firing some of these homemade cartridges, people are likely to watch more. People are stupid and want ooh and aad with great bangs and puffs of white smoke. And you've got such an excellent camera, it would be a shame to not see any review+firing videos of your guns. I personally would love to see a Martini Henry shooting video.And I think maybe people are put off by seeing the .avi or .wmv, they might erroneously think its LQ

  • Comment removed

  • can i use my sizeing die to make cases

  • @camerl2009

    Sure, you just have to go very slow. You also don't anneal the entire end of the case. It needs to be strong so the case doesn't collapse.  Anneal a little of the case, use case lube, slowly move the case in and out, then anneal a little more of the case and continue. Its pretty time consuming compare to using a sizing die as a sacrificial step die.

  • I just ordered a Martini Henry from IMA. Too bad its going to have to be a wall hanger untill I get out of apartment living and have space for a set-up like yours to make ammo. Your method looks much easier than the tutorial I read about using the final sizing die for the whole process.

  • @Alibi1986 Apparently this method was thought of by somebody who tired of using just the final sizing die. I'm no expert on case forming, but this method beats the pants off of just trying to use the final sizing die for everything.

  • I finished the mold, and made a vid for it. Came out great, but .003 larger than what I wanted so he may have to size the bullets down to .470.

  • Like the vid. How's that bullet mold for iraqveteran coming ;)

  • Glad you guys like the video, I learned the process from the guys on the martini forum. This particular process (using a intermediate sizing die) is best and fastest way to form brass with less failures. An alternative method is to just use the standard sizing die and slowly and carefully run the brass in and out of the die. That method is time consuming and if your not careful you'll have a high rate of failures. Sizing brass in steps as shown in the video is the best way to go.

  • thats really is craft. Very cool. Is that basically the same thing they do when someone wants to reload 8mm from 30-06 brass? I just learned more off your 1st vid than I have thumbing through other like videos

  • This is a little more complicated than sizing .30-06 to 8mm. With the 8mm conversion you don't run nearly the chance of failures or lost casings. I have a video on converting .30-06 to 8mm if you are curious.

  • @Iraqveteran8888 Ya Let me know what video

  • Very good vid, I look forward to more of them.

  • Not only a great first video but very informative.

    It doesnt mean much to me personally as I only shoot air rifles but you are very clever . 5*

  • I don't loose cases anymore, they come out perfect every time now, thats why I made the video ;). I'd like to know any tricks you may have though. I've found that with case stretching if I cut them to 2.28 before sizing they end up at 2.35 and I only have to trim .010 when I'm done.

  • Thanks, I hope people find this helpful. Its easy once you get the method down.

  • Comment removed

  • The quality looks good my man.

    Congrats on your first video!

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