I'm experiencing chambering problems on both my Ruger 270 & 22/250 M77's after resizing fired brass. The bolts close with difficulty & there are scuff marks on the cartridge base & a shiny mark on the outside edge of the shoulder. The problem occurs with both Lee & Lyman dies. I'm using an old Lee Anniversary press. I've tried all manner of die adjustments but haven't got it right thus far. Any idea what is going on?

I was having that problem with my .257 Wby Mag. I was using a brand new RCBS resizing die. Sent it back twice to RCBS and I still couldn't chamber cartridges sized in it. I had an old Lyman FL sizing die and brass sized in it would chamber. I had read of someone else having the problem and they honed down their shell holder. I figured shell holders are cheap, so I gave it a try. I honed it down to about half of its usable thickness (from the top of the shell holder to the rim groove). That did the trick!

Before you do that, try these things:

1. Make sure your adjusting the die properly. Screw it in the press until it touches the shell holder at the top of the press stroke with you holding the handle down firmly. Then lower the shell holder and screw the die in 1/8 to 1/4 more. The die must be touching the shell holder for it to size fully.

2. Try resizing the brass without the expander ball. See if the unloaded brass will chamber. If it does, your expander ball is stretching the cases when it is withdrawn and needs to be honed down just ever so slightly.

3. Make sure the brass is trimmed to the correct length AFTER sizing, since sizing can increase the length of the brass a little.

If all that fails you might try honing down a shell holder.

sound advice above...
if these were previously fired in these rifles i would suspect the too long cases first.
you are stopping the cases somewhere[in the chamber] then camming the bolt closed which is causing the shiny spots.
the two most likely places are the shoulder or the neck.
if you have a resized and not loaded case try chambering it see how that goes.

you might be seating your bullet out too far also.
i don't care what the book says, too long for your throat is too long.

All good advice but I must ask to be sure...these cases have been fired only in the guns they are going back into?? If not you can have problems down the base if it was fired in a gun with a slightly larger chamber than yours.

Also re grinding the shellholder...you should only have to remove about .010-.015" off the top.

you dont say wheather you are full length or neck sizing?
how many times has the brass been reloaded?
Once fired or 3 or more times?
Was the cases fired in those rifles or are they range pick up?
I would find what is causing the skuff marks? does it happen when you resize the case or after chambering in the rifle?
isIt happing to both?
The brass may be work hardened and springs back if you have reloaded it a few times.
Make sure you use enough lube on the inside of the neck because the expander will pull the sholder and neck out as yoou remove the case from the die.
i have never had to alter a SHELL HOLDER.
but I see where you might have too.
does the die have a roll crimp, if so you may be bulging the necks when yo seat the bullet.
also make sure the expander is the correct size if it too small and the bullets are hard to seat you can cause bulges in the cases .
dave

Thanks for the responses. My post refers to chambering the empty cases - I haven't loaded them yet. They've been once-fired in that rifle. Interestingly, not all cases are equally affected & it appears unrelated to case manufactuerer. Just tried trimming the cases back even further - nope - bolt still very sticky. This after full length resizing.

Hivelosity - you're the man! Discovered the problem is I'm underlubing the inside mouth of the case. So simple I could kick my ass all the way to Ohio. Thank you sir.

hivel is correct. i was having one heck of a time loading 7x57 and the problem went away after dipping necks in motor mica.