Thread: Tight cases after putting through the die

Recently got a 270WSM, brought some new Norma brass & some Hornady dies - not my fav dies as their sizing die set up is cheap n shit looking, but was all I could get & I don't mind the seating set up.

Problem I have is I go to size my "once fired" brass ( which chambers fine ) run through the fL die it becomes so hard to chamber, I have taken the expander out & tried multiple depths, makes no difference even just backing off with half the neck sized it still is tight to load, while my reloading is very agricultural I've never had this issue before

Any ideas on whats causing this ?


Cheers

I had something like that with my hornady dies. They were pulling the shoulder forward a tiny bit on the down stroke

I had something a bit like this, had a friend anneal them then put through the die again and all good

Originally Posted by Happy Jack

I had something a bit like this, had a friend anneal them then put through the die again and all good

Strange things happen if you don't occasionally anneal. also lightly lube the inside of the neck as well as outside for all sizing.

I have had this with a die/rifle combination before.
As the die squeezes in the sides of the body and shoulder the shoulder is pushed forwards a thou or two and kissing the shell holder wouldn't push it back.

Not lubing inside necks can also pull them forward but if you have removed the expander that eliminates that.

If you are able to measure the shoulder lenght of a fired case vs your sized case.
If it's longer first try winding die down till it takes a bit of force to cam over( similar force to actually sizing a case) lube a case and size and measure/chamber....if it is still too long you either need a thinner shell holder or I just ground a little off of the die...It won't need much.

Originally Posted by Happy Jack

I had something a bit like this, had a friend anneal them then put through the die again and all good

The obvious and correct answer.

Greetings @Philipo,
I suspect you are just not sizing the case enough. Wind the die down until the shell holder comes to a hard stop against the die and use decent lube made for the purpose. As you size the case you will feet the die contact the shoulder and you have to push through this until the die contacts the shell holder. You should not be able to see any gap between the two when viewed from the side. If there is you are not done sizing yet. The steep angle of the shoulder and its large diameter requires extra force to fully size.
Regards Grandpamac.

For a similar issue with a 243W rifle and using Redding dies I sorted it by grinding the surface of a spare shell holder to get the case just that wee bit further into the FL die. Maybe only 0.5mm taken off ( I didn't measure it ). Much easier than shortening a FL die, and much cheaper if it turned into a F***up. As others said above, also most important to lube sufficiently, both exterior case and inside neck.

Get a head space comparator and check the head space between unfired (brass that chambers) and fired (brass that doesn't even after being sized) at least then you'll know and won't be chasing your tail.
I definitely remember having this issue when I first started reloading my 270wsm a few years back and it was fixed by just screwing the die down a little further as others have suggested.

Had same thing with Hornady dies when I first started reloading 270wsm, ended up having to grind the top of the shellholder and that sorted it.

Just screw die down a little bit called can over I think will fix problem or do way ray just said


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Does a fired case chamber before resizing

Originally Posted by blip

Does a fired case chamber before resizing

Yip he said that

Not too sure why, but the only dies I've ever experienced issues like this with are my Hornady ones for .308. I've had two stuck cases in the full length sizer, ripped the rims clean off. Never had a stuck case in anything else, cleaned, lubed inside and out as per. Milsurp brass, once fired. I didn't have any issues with the same brass in the Lyman dies I used to have, and the Redding competition bushing dies I've replaced them with. The Hornady dies produce good accurate ammo, do what they say on the label and everything, but for whatever reason require a noticeable amount more horsepower to operate than the other brands and just feel... tight. I just didn't feel right about them, for the bulk of the reloading I'm doing in .308 I'm now using the bushing dies and have reserved the Hornady set for the subsonics that require a completely different setup of the die.

Thanks for all the input guys, I was a bit rushed when doing the initial set up ( never a good thing to do - but typical me ) so will take onboard your suggestions & spend some time tomorrow seeing if I can fix the problem.


Chur