The joys of reloading Big Bores

I've fired close to 40 rounds off the bench with my CZ550 450 Rigby in one session, and although I felt it the next day, the rifle has enough weight to tame things. With full loads, it's not something that would be my first choice to fire from the prone position. Max loads in this rifle are 500gr at 2450.

My Jarrett Custom CZ550 in 450 Rigby has ammo they loaded up to 2650 with the same 500gr bullet. THAT combination I would not shoot off the bench.
 
25+ years loading and I’ve had 3 stuck cases, all of them .470ne with Hornady brass, dies & lube.

Followed Ken Owens advice and got CH4D dies; then I switched to imperial wax and now my brass lasts much longer.

Edit - Also, for the non magnum calibers and or high volume I use a universal decapping die, tumble and use lanolin oil & 95% isopropyl alcohol mixed 1:10 and it works better than one shot.
 
Last edited:
deewayne2003 said:
25+ years loading and I’ve had 3 stuck cases, all of them .470ne with Hornady brass, dies & lube.

Followed Ken Owens advice and got CH4D dies; then I switched to imperial wax and now my brass lasts much longer.

Edit - Also, for the non magnum calibers and or high volume I use a universal decapping die, tumble and use lanolin oil & 95% isopropyl alcohol mixed 1:10 and it works better than one shot.
Click to expand...
Years ago that was almost exactly my reloading routine. De-prime in a Universal de-capping die, clean the inside of the case neck with brush, manually clean the primer primer pockets, tumble and wash off any left over abrasives, lube inside the case neck with a Q-tip and Imperial sizing die wax, Hornandy Unique case lube on the outside with finger tips and size with no issues.
images (77).jpeg

The water based Lee lube they provide with the kits is the WORST. Dented cases, rusted dies, no thanks.
 
IMG_20260528_154620041.jpg

IMG_20260518_080459250.jpg

Broken De-capping rod and sizing ball. Just over $20 in parts and back in business.
rcbs_stuck_case_remover_kit.jpg

If you don't have one of these stuck case remover kits, might as well have one on hand before you need it. Much easier to use than the one with a drill and tap. The little silver nuts screw onto the de-capping rod and lift the expander ball up out of the case and out of the die...if all goes well. Then the steel rod is inserted into the case and a hammer used to drive the case back down out of the die.

I've used other types of stuck case removers, but for larger calibers this seems like the easiest way to do the job.
 

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