I have a 280 AI in a Sako 75 action that was rebarreled by Hart. When chambering a case there is minor bolt resistance: without a case the action is butter smooth just like all Sakos but with a case in the chamber it is a little stiff until the lugs are engaged and the downstroke of the bolt is then fine.

It appears that there is contact just forward of the pressure ring. In other cases most of the time there is a slight elevation at the pressure ring and there is none on this case even after several firings, the case body remains smooth from the case head forward. That tells me that it is a tight chamber and the body die is not sizing that area. When raising the case up into the die there is no resistance until it gets to the shoulder. And yes, before anyone suggests moving the shoulder back, I measure and move the shoulder .001", so it is not binding there.

My question is: should I send a case off to Redding and request a custom die or get the Willis collet? Are there any other options?

Title of you post is the body die is too small.
Sounds like it is too large at the base.
Sacrifice a few cases by spin polishing them a little smaller near the head.

You can also try sizing some oversized .270 or 30-06 brass and trying to close the bolt on it.
By over sized I mean brass fired in a normal to large chamber that has a readily visible pressure ring. These will tell you more about you sizing die compared to your chamber.

I'd contact redding. As much as a proponent of the body die as you are, they owe you one!! That is definately one of the features of the body die that I like...they definately seem to size less than most any fl die.
KNowing you I'm sure that you have the point of problem figured out. I would send them the die and some offending brass...I would say they need to match you up with another die that hits that area just a tad harder....I've seen .0005" stop chambering totally in it's tracks....you probably need much less than that.

Just another thought.
Could your rifle's chamber be slightly undersized, tight?
A chamber cast may be in order.

muck

How much trouble is a chamber cast? Is it a DIY kind of thing or a go to a gunsmith thing?

It is only a minor inconvenience now and would not want to have the barrel pulled for a chamber cast.

How about a body die for the reg 280 rem




think it would size the case body closer to the shoulder too much?

Edit to add: No, don't think it would work

I'm not sure about removal of your barrel for a chamber casting.
A good question to ask on the gun smithing forum.

muck

I just did a search on the gun smith forum. Here is a link to the discussion.
http://forums.accuratereloadin...?r=13810564#13810564

One of the joys of wildcat rifles, I guess. I just posted below about the confusion sometimes about the differences between the 280 AI chamber and the 7mm-06 Improved chamber which can cause tight case bodies. There are a lot of specs for similar wildcats that get inadvertently swapped or mis-labeled and result in slight differences between chambers and dies. Sometimes it is just bad data floating around for which the 505 Gibbs is famous.

If you decide you can't live with the issue, getting another custom fitted die would be the safest solution followed by having your chamber honed a tiny bit. I have seen it done successfully at home by brazing a fired case to a rod and putting a small amount of abrasive on the case (only in the desired area), chucking the assembly in a drill and carefully honing the chamber. Use lab grade abrasives like the ones available for fire-lapping. Not valve grinding compound.

It's not necessary (or desirable) to remove a barrel for casting. The kits come with easy to follow instructions.