i recently started reloading my .243 win. its a remington 700 adl. i used fireformed brass with hornady 95gr sst's and 34 grains of varget. i several groups under .75" with all under 1 inch. problem is my reloads chambered very hard. i had to force the bolt forward and push it down pretty hard. so i decided to full length size. i still have the same problem chambering them. the oal is under max by .004 any suggestions?

quote:

problem is my reloads chambered very hard

1. Check case length? If too long, trim.

2. IS your cartridge OAL really not pushing the bullet into the lands? Check bullet ogive for possible signs of engraving.

3. Check chamber & locking lugs in action for obstruction (dirt, grit, ect.).

4. Use graphite on case neck to ensure Die is adjusted to where you desire it to be. If not & issue persists; adjust Sizing Die 1/4 turn down at a time to see if this really is a potential "Sizing" issue.

5. Do you use the same Shellholder every time with this Die Set?

6. Check RCBS Die Set - should state "F/L" on the Sizing Die.

Good Luck.

I'm not an expert here craveman. I was watching my own post and saw this and I would suggest!.1st.Make sure Full length die is bottoming out on shell holder.Lubricate shell.Resize.Don't prime!Measure CASE LENGTH!!Trim case.Should chamber!.DONT PRIME.Seat projectile.If it is now hard to chamber then you are seating your projectile well into the lands.In all respects it is not a hot load.Good accuracy!! aka seated into the lands!!Dont blow it up!Read the book!!.

the case is trimmed .004 under max. the case itself chambers hard without even being loaded. i screwed in my shellholder until it hit the ram and then a quarter turn more. i am using the full length sizing die as i decap them at the same time. bolt face and chamber are squeaky clean.

Make certain that the neck has clearence. A tight neck in a .243 really boosts pressure.
Good luck!

Check the neck shoulder juncture. If your seating die is screwed down too far, you may be bulging the case at the shoulder just enough to cause problems. And it doesn't take much!

Yes and I forgot; If the inside expander needs
lube it can pull the shoulder neck junction
forward a schosh. Use a Q-tip and Imperial die Wax and lube the shoulder neck junction just a tad on the insid.
Good luck!

ARE U USING 243 BRASS?NOT NECKED DOWN 308 OR SIMILAR?

If you have a very tight (close to minimum SAAMI specifications) you may have to use a set of small based dies.

it is .243 brass. all factory ammo that ive fired out of this rifle. hornady, rem, federal and winchester.

Two things to try. Small Base dies will probably fix it though.

I had a simular problem with my 270 WSM. A quarter turn more after bottoming out did not fix my problem. So this is what I did and it worked and I have had no issues since even with brass life.

I bottomed out shell holder and went a 1/4 turn more. I then went 1/8 turn more and more until the neck started to buckle. I then backed it off slightly until no more buckles. I then sized a new case and it fit perfectly. 270 WSM was a new case when I started reloading so SB dies were not available yet, if they are yet even. So this was my only option. Basically the shoulders needed bumped back slightly because my chamber is tight. I have not seen any issues with cracking or shorten brass life.

You may also try another FL die if a friend has one. It is possible the die is little off also although unlikely.

A word of caution though small incriments or you will buckle the brass to much and get it stuck. I know from experience.

If you have access to a headspace gauge - check it I have seen some with short chambers

I had a similar problem with a .243 I had several years ago. The FL sizing die was not pushing the shoulders back quite enough. I ground down the surface of the shell holder just a little and the problem was solved. However, this should only be done if the problem is the sizing die not pushing the shoulders back enough. As others have stated, there can be other problems that cause a cartridge to be hard to chamber.

If you do decide to machine the shell holder surface down a little, be careful to not go too far as too thin a top section can break when trying to extract the case from the sizing die. I'd say not to reduce the shell holder any more than 1/2 the distance from the surface to the case rim.

Also, if you do this, mark this shell holder so that you don't accidentally use it with another caliber and end up sizing those cases incorrectly.

Oh, I almost forgot. If the die isn't sizing the case properly, you can probably return it and get another die (most manufacturers will do that for no charge). Check with the manufacturer to see what their procedure is for getting the correct size sizing die.

Pick up a Redding Body Die...

even with a loaded round, you can push the shoulder back if it does not chamber...

if it still won't chamber after that, then the length is too long and it needs to be disassembled and trimmed..

quote:

Originally posted by hawkins:
Yes and I forgot; If the inside expander needs
lube it can pull the shoulder neck junction
forward a schosh. Use a Q-tip and Imperial die Wax and lube the shoulder neck junction just a tad on the insid.
Good luck!

Or just put your lube on the die's spindle and it will do the same, instead of having to lube all the necks.. as all the necks will be passing by the spindle anyway...

quote:

I bottomed out shell holder and went a 1/4 turn more. I then went 1/8 turn more and more until the neck started to buckle. I then backed it off slightly until no more buckles.

how did you manage to buckle cases if you were bottomed out? if you bottom it out and then go a quarter turn more then you will just bottom out at a different point in the rams stroke.

i took a sharpie and colored one of my loaded rounds completely. i loaded it several times and noticed that there was a spot wore on the shoulder and the base was kind of ground down from being turned on the bolt face. im going to take my grinder to my shellholder after a quick nap. i dont trust doing it after working 12 hours and getting home at 645 am. i might lose some of my finger if i do. i also tried decapping all my cases then i took the decapping pin out of the die and sized some. they still chambered hard.

I once had a similar problem W/8mm-06 A.I. reloads.

I found that my bullet seating die (the die itself, not the bullet seating plunger) was coming down too far bulging the case @ the shoulder. Perhaps it was trying to crimp the case mouth when there was no place for the crimp on the bullet?

I backed off the die, reset the lock ring nut & readjusted the plunger for proper COAL.

That cured the problem.

Try putting some "Dykem" or other "high spot idicator die" on the case. Let it dry, then chamber a round that is giving you problems. The place where the case is contacting/interfering W/the chamber, if that is the problem, should show.

If you can slide a bullet into the neck of a fired case, you don't have a problem with the neck being too small.
Have you tried to chamber a case after you resize it before you charge it and seat a bullet?
That will help you learn at what point your problem is. Is your case necks well chamfered? What style bullet are you using?

im using 75 grain hollowpoints, 87 grain hollow points and 95 grain sst's. i took a decapping pin from a .22-250 die and put it in so it wouldnt get hung up on the neck. ive got it seated far enough out so it doesnt size my cases at all and now they seem to chamber fine. unless i put a little too heavy of a crimp on them

quote:

unless i put a little too heavy of a crimp on them

Sounds like you're making progress with your .243 issue.

Appears the cases are being buckled when too much crimp is applied.

I'm not familiar with the bullets you're using; the 75 gr. HP's, 87 gr. HP's & 95 gr. SST's. Although I'm pretty sure the 95 gr. SST's do not have a cannelure (correct me if I'm wrong).

There's a whole "New School of Thought" on applying crimp; whether or not the bullet has a cannelure especially with a Lee Factory Crimp Die. I'll not go down that Road at the moment.

Until you get this issue all sorted out I'd suggest:

1. Place a sized, trimmed, empty cartridge case in the Shellholder.
2. Lower the Ram so the cartridge case is all the way up.
3. Screw the Bullet Seating Die in the Press until you feel it bump the case (begining of crimp).
4. BACK the Bullet Seating Die off one complete turn and secure the locking nut. This ought to give you optimum Seating Stem adjustment for seating pretty much any .243" bullet you desire.
5. Purchase a Lee Factory Crimp Die for Crimp applications.

If you were buckling the cases when applying crimp with the Seating Die, this could easily explain the hard chambering.

Remember to adjust your F/L Sizing Die correctly again after all this "experimenting".

Good Luck.

Why are you crimping .243 rounds?

If you are crimping it is easy to bulge the case . With the correct expander no crimp is needed.
Good Luck!

I would bet you are not bumping your shoulder back.

Measure the C/L datum point of a once fired case from your rifle. FL size as you have done before and then measure. If the datum has not been pushed back then you need to either surface grind your shell holder or your die to allow for more stroke.


I have done this more than a couple times on short chambers. On the other hand my 7Mag die is above the shell holder .023 for a .002 shoulder bump.

Measure your brass.

ive got two remintons one a 6mm and the other a 243 that require small base dies due to tighter then normal chambers. Good thing is there both tack drivers. As to crimping i agree with the others it will do more harm then good when loading for a bolt gun

the hornady 95gr sst does have a cannelure

i crimp because i dont want my bullets moving around. im not sizing at all now not even neck sizing so i need something to hold the bullets a little better. i also like the extra 50 or so fps ive been getting with crimps. i seat my bullets out pretty far and i dont want them moving. oal on the hp's is 2.738 and sst's is 2.720. both .015 off the lands

quote:

Originally posted by craveman85:
im not sizing at all now not even neck sizing so i need something to hold the bullets a little better.

Maybe this is your problem, you need to bump the should back.

I don't even crimp my 300 Win Mag rounds and the bullets don't move around in them, so I'm guessing you won't have a problem with the bullets moving if you don't crimp the 243.

quote:

im not sizing at all now not even neck sizing so i need something to hold the bullets a little better.

At the range I fire a round then take the next round I am going to fire and insert the bullet into the neck of the first case fired, a loose fitting bullet in the fired case tells me I do not have a bench rest chamber, it also tells me I must do something with the neck of the fired case, I prefer the versatile full length sizer die adjusted to size cases that fit the chamber from full length sizing to adding as much as .011 thousands to the length of the case between the head of the case to it's shoulder over full the length of the case from the head of the case to it's shoulder, then there is neck sizing, with the full length sizer die.

If I do not size the neck the bullet will fall into the case, it is a time event thing. the neck must have bullet hold, the bullet must be held until the trigger is pulled.

F. Guffey

The set up instructions given with sizing dies assume a lot of things. And seldom following the instructions do you ever get the brass sized to the correct length. If possible you would like to set back the case shoulder about .003” from the fully expanded condition it comes out from the rifle. In no circumstance do you ever want to size it more than .006” as you are likely to get a case head separation on the next firing. There have been instances where I followed the instructions and I got a crush fit in the rifle chamber because the sizing die did not set the shoulder back enough. In those instances I have had to grind material off the bottom of a sizing die to get sufficient case sizing. Just take the instructions that the factory sends with their dies, and toss out the part that tells you to size to the shellholder. Or shellholder plus a ¼ turn. You will find that such guidance is inaccurate at best, rubbish on the average.

To properly size cases to a correct length you will need a new piece of equipment that has not been mentioned: case gages. I really like the Wilson type case gage. You size your round and drop it in the gage. This gage measures the distance between shoulder and base. It is a "go" and "no Go" gage. And it is a true measurement, as I have dropped my chamber headspace gages in my wilson gages and found perfect agreement between them. You want to size your case between “go” and “no go”, and for my rifles, I size everything to gage minimum.



If you want to try an experiment, size the case following the factory sizing die instructions. Then measure the sized case length with your case gage. If the case is between the “go” and “no go” of the gage, go buy a lottery ticket. Because it is your lucky day and you are going to be a millionaire. What you will probably see is a case that is over length. On a few occasions you will see an underlength case.



This web site is really useful for showing how to use case gages. I recommend looking at the pictures, and it explains the special case gages needed for the belted cartridges.

http://www.realguns.com/Commentary/comar46.htm

The midsection of the Wilson gage is cut big. It only measures headspace. What the Wilson type gage and the other functionally equivalent gages do not measure is "fatness". This is an important measurement for gas guns and should be controlled. You do not want any resistance to bolt closure due to overlong cases or over fat cases. It is a safety consideration for gas rifles with free floating firing pins, it is a reliability consideration for the other few actions.

For those who want more sophistication than Wilson case gages, Sinclair makes gages that will measure the fired length of a case, and allow you to set the shoulder back from that dimension. I do have these Sinclair comparometers, found them useful when case gages are not available, but they are more complicated than a “go”, “no- go” gage.

On another forum it was claimed the Wilson case gage could be used as a chamber gage, I agree with slamfire1, a case fits the Wilson case gage only where it touches meaning both fired and sized cases fit where they touch, at the shoulder. The neck does not touch, the case body does not touch, the case touches at the shoulder, then the question I asked was "How does it do that"? With a shoulder or datum? Not being mean but thought if they were going to push a product they should know something about the use and design of the product. I have a few Wilson case gages, I use a straight edge and or a set-up table and feeler gages, I measure case length with the Wilson case gage in thousands. the feeler gage becomes a transfer when adjusting the die to the shell holder, after sizing the Wilson case gage becomes a tool to VERIFY the sized case.I could use a dial indicator, dial caliper and depth micrometer but the straight edge is the first tool I reach for, I am a big fan of standards and transfers.
How does it do that?: I placed a 30/06 case into a Wilson case gage then placed the gage and case on a block of lead and hit the head of the case with a straight drift, the case disappeared into the gage with little effort (do not forget to lube the case), I drove the case out of the gage, the case I drove out was a mirror copy of the gage, the case had a con-caved shoulder, I thought that was cleaver of Wilson, I make case gages out of anything, anything cheap but nothing as cleaver as the Wilson case gage, it measures from the shoulder back and from the shoulder forward, meaning 'trim to length' is not necessary when keeping up with two thoughts at one time, again I have a 30/06 with .016 thousands head space, when sizing cases for that chamber I add .014 thousands between the head of the case to it's shoulder. Case protrusion? on that rifle the protrusion is .090, (+ head space) all of my Mausers have .110 +/- very few, military cases have case head thickness of ..210 +/- very little, commercial R-P cases have a case head thickness of .260 +, so it is safer to use commercial R-P cases if unsupported case is a problem? When forming cases for the 8mm 57 the unsupported case is withing .000 thousands of being the same for the Eddystone, the .090 protrusion is measured from the bottom of the extractor cut, not from the cone face of the barrel. The cone face of the barrel looks(to me) like a unintentional way to create a shaped charge ahead of the bolt face, could be 'just me'.

Home made gages: and if you can believe the part where the case fits only where it touches???? why not purchase a 30/06 Wilson gage and use it on the long neck 270 W, 6.5/06, and 25/06?

Transfers and standards? Purchase a new box of 20 rounds that will chamber, fire and eject without a problem THEN save one round, do not fire it just save it for a reference, standard, transfer.

F. Guffey

all good advise so far.

Have you tried to load an empty back into the chamber before resizing it.

Repeat after resizing. This confirms if it is your resizing die.

I almost always neck re-size because I want a perfect match to the chamber. If your doing this than the problem is more likely the bullet seating, land contact or case length.

I am not sure if I saw what die set you are using or what crimp die you are using.

If you screw the bullet seating die down a half turn extra to get a crimp, you can buckle the shoulder of the case! Yes i have done this more than once. So I went & got a Lee crimp die.

If your trim length is 0.004" less than min & your OAL is less than 2.80, I would guess that you have a shoulder issue. Just mic your shoulder before & after sizing and also before 7 after bullet seating. This should tell you if your shoulder diameter is changing during your reloading process and when / why.

Just my $0.20 worth! Be safe and good luck.