I have Winchester brass I have a new Hornady full length resizing die. I cannot camber the re-sized brass in my rifle, but a new winchester brass cambers fine.

the resized brass will go in the chamber about 7/8 of the way

I noticed that about 3/16 above the rim is not re sized.

I checked the diameter of a new case by the rim it is .550 and a re sized case is .555

Do I have a bad die or any other suggestions?

If you are running your die all the way to the shell holder and your brass still wont chamber you have a problem for sure.

I would call your die manufacture.

I load 300WSM with Redding F/L dies and winchester brass. The first time I tried to size a case it wouldn't chamber in my rifle. I then removed the decapping stem and put the base of the die on a grinder and removed some of the steel at the base of the sizing die, which then allows the shoulder to be pushed lower. Voila, they load and chamber with no problem. You can grind the top surface of the shell holder but grinding the die is a lot easier and causes no ill effect on the die.

Both in my experience and anecdotally, the WSM line of cartridges seems to be loaded to pressures that often exceed the limits of elasticity of the brass. The resulting swelled head (as evidenced by your measurements) may not allow brass to be resized sufficiently to re-enter the chamber without excessive resistance. After all, the resizing die is not designed to resize the portion of the case below the normal pressure ring.

What happens when you attempt to rechamber fired, unsized brass? If it rechambers without resistance then you are obviously doing something to swell some portion of the case in the resizing process.

Whoops, just re-read your post and it appears that you are not using factory loads as your brass source, but rather are starting with new, unfired brass. If this is the case then your loads are generating significantly excessive pressures.

I have not shot any loads in my new Thompson Venture yet. The fired brass was purchased from someone else on this site.

I called Hornady and they said send the die back to them and they will check it out.

I will post what they find when I hear from them.

I have two or three sets of 270WSM dies and I have to set the sizing dies so that the ram cams over to fl size them so they chamber without the bolt getting stiff. It doesn't matter if I am loading near minimum or maximum loads.

I went as far as I could meaning I sized till the ram hit the shell-holder which leaves about 3/16 of an inch that can't get re-sized, which would mean this is about the size of a belt on a belted case, this may be one advantage of the belted cases.

There is a champer on the re-sizing die and doesn't allow to re-size completely this may be why Luckyducker ground the die to eliminate this champer.

Welcome to the WSM world!

I had the same issues and Ed Scarboro's answer above is the same one the Redding tech gave me.

I have also found slightly stiff bolt lift even with loads well below max. I suspect it has something to do with the large amount shoulder surface area that is somewhat perpendicular to the bore.

405wcf

Sounds as if your die isn't set to cam over. After the shell holder hits the die, screw the die down about another 1/8 turn or so. Gradually keep turning it down until the case chamber. I load for a .270 WSM using Win. cases & have no problems. This is the solution, I think.
good luck.
Bear in Fairbanks

quote:

The fired brass was purchased from someone else on this site.I checked the diameter of a new case really used fired brass? by the rim it is .550 and a re sized case is .555

If the diameter is growing from the sizing, the lube is not working. To much friction while sizing. Make sure when sizing, there is no day light between the shell holder & die. When you get the replacement die. Edit: The used brass is at its maximun. A tight chamber will measure .556" The new die is not going to size the web area if this is the problem. Buy new brass.

I received my full length sizing die back from Hornady, they said they cleaned and polished the die. I sent along two fired cases that would not chamber in my rifle. when I got them back one would camber, but the other one wouldn't. I tried to re-size a couple of my cases that would not chamber before I sent in the die, but they still will not chamber.I have ordered a redding die set and will see what happens.

My conclusions from this exercise are
1. Maybe Hornady dies are no good, will find out when I get the Redding die set.

2. Never again will I buy used brass from someone else, it usually isn't that much cheaper
than new brass anyway.

i had the same thing happen just do the same as luckyducker it worked for my 325wsm.

I neck size as much as possible and when I couldn't get my 7WSM or 270WSM to work with neck sizing alone I sent them down the road.

My experience is, as Stonecreek points out, that the WSM's are loaded beyond their limits of elasticity and only FL sizing will work. And them not very good either.

I have no use for the WSMs anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by bluemule1:
I have Winchester brass I have a new Hornady full length resizing die. I cannot camber the re-sized brass in my rifle, but a new winchester brass cambers fine.

the resized brass will go in the chamber about 7/8 of the way

I noticed that about 3/16 above the rim is not re sized.

I checked the diameter of a new case by the rim it is .550 and a re sized case is .555

Do I have a bad die or any other suggestions?

quote:

Originally posted by bluemule1:
2. Never again will I buy used brass from someone else, it usually isn't that much cheaper
than new brass anyway.

IMHO, if the trouble you experience has to do with sizing "pick up" brass to fit your chamber, you have potentially saddled yourself with a big liability from the start. If you have no control over what the fired brass (i.e. the chamber in which it was fired) looks like in comparison to your own chamber, it is a bit harsh to blame your dies. The dimensions of a sized case depends on 1) dimensions and setting of the resizing die, as WELL AS 2) dimensions of the brass before sizing.

It sounds to me like you need to buy some factory new brass, and that you'll likely have no problem resizing this brass with your existing (or new) resizing die. In hindsight, you'll have to determine whether the savings on the 1ce fired brass was worth all the hassle of returning dies etc.

- mike

The only problem I have had with the WSMs (270 & 300) is that after firing with either mild or warm loads is the case face becomes convexed (pushes out). I believe the face thickness is too thin in relation to the diameter by design. I realized this when I saw a shiney ring left on the case face just outside the primer pocket on resized brass. This was made by closing a tight bolt on a F-L resized case. By the way the fired cases extracted easily with NO sticky bolt. The cure for me was to do as others have said and have the ram arm of the press cam completely over on my RCBS Jr. Press. Some presses like the Lee Turret press won't do this and I could never could get the face pushed in enough with the Lee to allow easy chambering.

Shortening the die or top of the shell holder will work but I think you could possibly end up doing alot more trimming on your brass as you will probably be decreasing case dimensions (shoulder to face as well as diameter) below specs and be pushing the brass out towards the case mouth when you resize. That metal has to go somewhere.
P.S. sometime back another forum member requested everyone to check case head/rim measurements. When I checked several different lots of new brass and found it varied by .0005".

I received the Redding dies, not much difference, from the hornady dies.

I tried the cam over as some of the posters suggested, but if I go too far the case starts to distort past the neck, and most of the fired brass still will not chamber

My conclusion to this is it is not worth the grief to go to a short mag for what a hundred feet per second or so.

The belted mags don't have this problem, that's why they have a belt.

Any one interested in a 270 WSM with dies and brass?

What case lube are you using and how much are you applying to the neck/shoulder area?

quote:

Originally posted by bluemule1:
I received the Redding dies, not much difference, from the hornady dies.

...
My conclusion to this is it is not worth the grief to go to a short mag for what a hundred feet per second or so.

The belted mags don't have this problem, that's why they have a belt.

So was the brass you are sizing and (not) chambering fired in YOUR chamber, or was it "pick up" (or bought as 1ce fired) brass??

If pick-up, buy some factory brass or factory loads, fire in your chamber and resize, then see if the sized brass chambers.

I realize you are frustrated with your short magnum experience thus far, and I realize that short magnums are often fired at high pressure. But I think you are not being entirely rational if you conclude that "short magnums in general are more trouble than they are worth" and "getting a regular (belted) magnum will fix my woes".

There is something specific to your combination of brass, chamber(s?), dies and die adjustment which is not right. We just have not hit upon it yet.

- mike