Thread: Re-sizing Issues-Tight Chamber?

From time to time my full length re-sized reloads are tight to chamber. Have trimmed the cases to length, champhered the neck and set up the die as per the manufacturer’s instructions, but the bolt is still much stiffer to close than with a factory load or a new case. I know that most reloads tend to cause a slightly stiff-to-close bolt but my situation is more significant than that. Most recently this has arisen with the 284 which made me wonder is the cases need neck turning, but I have had this issues (intermittently) with other calibres as well. So my questions to you knowledgeable folks are:

-do neck doughnuts lead to the bolt being stiff to close or just pressure signs?

-should I try screwing the die further into the press?

-are there any risks with “tight to shut bolt” loads if there are no pressure signs after firing?

Any other ideas would be welcome.

Thx Ross

Ink one up with a sharpie and see where it is sticking in the chamber. Ie, chamber it and pull it back out again

Try setting up the FL die so that it cams over, It takes out any flex in the press I thought it was a silly thing to do until I tried it,
Donuts in my experience do not cause any trouble unless the bullet is seated deep enough to push the donut to the outside of the neck
If you are not getting pressure signs your neck diameter is probably not a problem to check smoke the neck and shoulder area of a dummy round
and see where the contact is.

Sounds like your brass needs a shoulder bump. You may need to shim (like a feeler gauge) under the case in the shell holder to elevate it to get the right amount of resize. This is supposing you already have the press camming over as shooternz mentions. Start with a thin gauge, size & try in chamber. Move up in thickness until you get no resistance.
You can buy shell holders that come in different height sizes especially for this, but this is an easy way first off.

Screw the die down till it touches the shell holder
Then a 1/4 turn more so when on down stroke it feels like a vicegrip locking
We call this camover
It sounds like it wouldn’t make any Difference but it actually will bump the shoulder a couple of thou more
Which should fix your issue
You probably just have a slightly tight chamber which isn’t a bad thing
Just need to load Accordingly

Thx guys, will try those options and get back to you.

I use Wilson case gauges to check my case sizes are up to spec. Very simple to do. tells you immediately if your dies aren't set up right.

Do you use a headspace gauge with bullet comparator on your calipers to measure headspace? You may need to adjust your sizing die so that you are bumping the shoulder.

I have had similar problems with a 243 lever action. Also use the wilson's gauges.
Ended up screwing the die down to ensure that it bottoms out against the shell holder.
Have to full length resize every time.
Started with a held held unit, then got a "C" press and ended up breaking it. Since I changed to a proper press my problems have reduced.

Have to trim my brass every time.
You can get shell holders that are a little thinner so the case sits deeper into the die.

I also find that I have to watch for the case stretching just up from the head where the case thins out inside.
Use a set of picks to check the inside everytime.
Also don't push too many reloads out of my brass.
Had a case head separation (Luckily with trail boss load)
Zq

ps. Have another lever action for a 308 family cartridge and after 4 reloads I still have not had to trim my brass. Some cases require just a touch on the shoulder but others just need a neck resize. My lever actions I keep 1-2gr under book max recommend loads. Work up a test load to close to book max to ensure I have room for temp variations etc but these are not long range rifles so I don't need to run them hard.

@ZQLewis stretching around the web and case head separationare normally hallmarks of excessive headspace. Are you sure your brass won't chamber because it's over-expanding elsewhere like around the shoulder or web?

Having to trim the brass every time seems excessive, are you trimming back to minimum length each time (2.035 inches)? Or perhaps you are trimming to get a consistent length for crimping?

Update, -set up the press to “cam over” which helped a bit. Screwed the die a little further into the press (1/3 turn past the case holder touching the die) which helped a little more. The bolt is now slightly stiffer to close than “normal” but probably ok. Will get some feeler gauges to try that also but think my issues are fixed. I have a reasonably light weight press which may be reducing the force applied in the last phase of the resizing.

Anyway thx for your help....

I had a similar problem years ago. Sized cases wouldn't fit. They did in the beginning but then stopped fitting. Anyway after much mucking around I used my dies in another persons press and problem went away. I could load some calibers but not my wsm so came to the conclusion that the brass was much stronger than my old press liked and flexed slightly so didn't bump the shoulder back. Bought a new press and same dies and cases were fine. Try all that's been said above first as that would be logical but if that fails don't rule out the press especially if it's an alloy one rather than a cast.

Sweet glad to hear that cam over helped
Yeah a slightly solider press would help aswell

A few years back I had a Custom 6mmrem built
The chamber on that thing required a camover when fls my brass
I had to go back to the gun smith as I just couldn’t get it to work
He explained it and why he did it that way is apparently its more consistent
I sized a few on his press and no worries
Got home and I couldn’t get it to work
Turned out it was my Turret press had to much flex and wasn’t sizeing the brass proper

Swiched to a single stage rcbs which fixed my issues the rifle never missed a beat after that

The lowest cost option to increase the sizing effect of your current press/dies is to file a little off the top of the shell holder. It is better if this process is an incremental one with a resized case tested in the rifle chamber after each bit is taken off the top of the shell holder.