Old Pacific 35 Rem Seater and crimp die chewing up brass

[JWFilips]

Ok When I target shoot at "Low Node" with my 35 Rem Marlin 336 I never crimp my cases because I shoot it single shot!
However now, I'm going to use it for hunting with cast bullets and I Seat and Crimp ( in two separate steps) When I go to crimp the case in the crimp groove The die chews up the brass in the crimp area! cutting a bunch of little brass hairs in the area of the roll crimp.
What it the best way to fix this?

 

[Ian]

Chamfer the outside of the case mouth and polish the inside of the seating die. You don't need a very aggressive crimp, just enough to turn the case mouth under the band.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Id take that die apart and give it a good cleaning cause it should not effect brass more then rolling a crimp!

Somethings going on there that your probably not seeing.

I agree and find a simple chamfer helps immensely with seating and crimping.

 

[fiver]

double check the cases.
even if they have been champhered there is sometimes still a little ridge there on the outside edge.

 

[RBHarter]

I'm dumb I've very nearly made expensive mistakes .

KISS . Start with the cheapest solution, hence ;
When in doubt wash it out.

Does it stick when it should move ? Wash the crud out of it and lube it .
Does it move when it shouldn't , fail to lock , or otherwise not fully engage ? Wash the crud out of it and lube it .
Does it go too far or not far enough in rotation or set travel ?
Wash the crud out and lube it .

I would bet on crud accumulated in the die . While the case prep may be an aggrevation it's possible that the fines are wash left in the die not pulled case mat'l .

Recently I took Dad's 45 ACP Lyman AA dies apart after running 600 45 AR and 800+ 45 ACP size and flare . There's bound to be some explanation but it's too late to ask now . They weren't misbehaving or anything just marking the cases a little in the sizer . When I cleaned them I found that the sizer had an RCBS decapping stem in it . Not a big deal except it is cut for an expander and flair step . So it needs to be moved over to the flare die or I need to stick one of surplus 38/357 stems in it . It was setup to just clear the primer 100% so it wasn't hitting and flaring and then sizing on the way out again. Just little things you find .

 

[Bret4207]

2nd the crud idea. I know I sound like broken record, but 4/0 steel wool on a tight brush and some ATF/acetone or other detergent cleaner is never a bad place to start!

 

[KeithB]

When in doubt wash it out.

That is darned good advice in a lot of circumstances.

 

[Rick H]

That is darned good advice in a lot of circumstances.

I think my mother followed that rule.....when I began cussing. It was a temporary fix at best.

 

[JWFilips]

OK I took it all apart and scrubbed it them honed & polished everything I could!
Now I know how to use it's seater but I'm really at a loss for using its crimp feature because it is an ectra piece
That I never saw before on any of my RCBS dies!
Now the main body has a case stop built in not a crimp area ...there are 3 adjustable parts the main body, the seating stem, and an adjustable extra piece that I feel has to do with the crimp! A little confusing for an old guy that never crimps any rifle caliber because I load single shot!
Since I will be hunting with my 35 Rem Marlin I need to put a few in the feed tube besides one in the chamber ( I guess)!
OK; Below is the exploded parts (all nice and polished now!) Anybody have a hint on using the middle piece that has something to do with the crimp? I think maybe this is where my problem is, Because I never adjusted that part before!

 

[JWFilips]

I actually tracked down an old Pacific instruction sheet on line and they tell you what to do but I need to know how it works to understand what it is doing !!!!

 

[Bret4207]

IIRC it's like you think, that middle part adjusts your crimp without touching your shoulder setting.

 

[Charles Graff]

1. Put the lower part in your press with a case in the shell holder.
2. Back off the top part, crimper and seating stem until it does not touch the case.
3. Raise the seating stem and seat a bullet in the case.
4 Lower the seating stem until is seats the bullet in the case to the depth you want and then back it off again.
5. Lower the crimp part until it give you the crimp you want.
6 Now lower the seating stem again until it touches if is firm against the top of the bullet.
7. Lock everything in place and load away.

These early Pacific dies can be mysterious to those of us raised on conventional dies.

 

[fiver]

Charles has it.
it's almost just like raising and lowering the die body like a normal die.
only you set the body in place and move the other 2 parts.

it allows you to leave the body in place and adjust the crimp piece for cases of different lengths.
you don't have to move the seater stem it will push the bullet to the same place in relationship to the bullets crimp groove, you just move the crimp and seater up or down as necessary to match the case.
if you trim to length each time [or simply neck size a few times] you don't have to move anything.

 

[RicinYakima]

This was a great post-WW2 design that never caught on with reloaders. And it really wasn't needed once case trimers became common.