I was resizing cases from two different rifles of the same cartridge(458 Lott) and found the ones fired from one to be MUCH easier to resize than the ones fired from the other.Both rifles are same model Ruger bolt actions that I bought months apart.The cases are from the same manufacturer(Hornady).The same die,etc..was also used.Is one chamber larger than the other?

If the cases have also been reloaded the same amount of times I would say, yes the chamber is larger in one rifle.

No,the cases have not been reloaded the same number of times.The ones that size the easiest have never been sized before.The others have been many times but are the same length.

The more times you resize a case without annealing it the harder it will size. Brass work hardens and becomes more springy as you continue to load it. This could be contributing to the difference in resizing between rifles.

Get a micrometer and measure the fired cases.
Assuming you load a box of ammo from new brass and fire some of it in each gun the gun with the large chamber will have larger brass after firing.
You may be able to detect it with a micrometer much easier than a sizing die. Variation in the amount or type of case lube used can make you think the cases are different.

I find that in belted magnums, there is a pressure threshold beyond which the fired cases do not want to go back in the chamber. Some loads do it and some don't. If one rifle has a shorter throat, and the bullet is into the lands, that would make enough pressure difference. Just a thought.

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Originally posted by SR4759:
Get a micrometer and measure the fired cases.
Assuming you load a box of ammo from new brass and fire some of it in each gun the gun with the large chamber will have larger brass after firing.
You may be able to detect it with a micrometer much easier than a sizing die. Variation in the amount or type of case lube used can make you think the cases are different.

I am going to try firing a new case from both,then measuring.In this case,there is no doubt, that it is not caused by the amount of case lube.The once fired cases size as if they were already sized.

I am not on a commission.
I found this tool solved my problems in this department.
Belted magnum cartridges have been around for over 50 years, and most shooters that reload them are familiar with the case expansion problems that occur "just above" the belt. This usually happens after just 2 or 3 firings - wasting perfectly good cases. Many shooters have discovered this problem when they find their handloads begin to stick in their chamber, or when they no longer chamber at all.

Unlike non-belted cases, the belt prevents conventional full length dies from traveling far enough down the case. This limits the amount of resizing, and brass is plowed rearward. The brass builds up just above the belt at each reloading, and cases expand. Neck sizing dies don't bump the shoulder back or resize the tapered case wall. The best solution is to full length resize, and use this collet die to reduce case width.

Our unique Belted Magnum Collet Resizing Die solves this problem and has several other great features. The top of this die is a case width gauge that shows when a little "extra" case resizing is required. This resizing die is used to eliminate the case bulge at the expansion ring, after using your full length (or) neck sizing die. Our collet die insures that your belted magnum ammo will always chamber properly and your cases are now able to last for up to 20 firings, even when using hot loads. Our resizing die uses a collet that fits over the cartridge case, until it bottoms against the belt. The case is then pressed into the sizing die. The collet allows your case to go farther into the die where it only reduces the area "just above" the belt.

This ONE die and collet is universal and works on ALL of the popular belted magnum calibers including: .257 Weatherby Magnum, 6.5 Remington Magnum, .264 Winchester Magnum, .270 Weatherby Magnum, 7 x 61 Sharpe & Hart, 7mm Remington Magnum, 7mm Weatherby Magnum, 7mm STW, .300 H&H Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum, .300 Weatherby Magnum, .308 Norma Magnum, 8mm Remington Magnum, .338 Winchester Magnum, .340 Weatherby Magnum, .350 Remington Magnum, .358 Norma Magnum, .375 H&H Magnum, .416 Remington Magnum, .458 Winchester Magnum, .458 Lott Magnum and several belted wildcat cartridges. There are no extra collets to buy when resizing different calibers. The U.S. Secret Service was one of our first customers to purchase this product.

So far, we've sold over 2,800 of these dies. Unfortunately, the high cost of manufacturing them usually requires us to build a waiting list before each production run. These dies are now in back in stock. So . . . . if you would like to get one, don't wait too long.



http://www.larrywillis.com/

Thanks Bob! I might give that resizer a try.

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Originally posted by Bob from down under:
I am not on a commission.
I found this tool solved my problems in this department.

http://www.larrywillis.com/

Bob, has this die helped extend case life for you? Sounds too good to be true when he claims over 20 reloads on a single case.

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.Is one chamber larger than the other?

Certainly seems a safe assumption. ??

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Originally posted by Jim C. <><:

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.Is one chamber larger than the other?

Certainly seems a safe assumption. ??

I am going to try firing a new case in each rifle, then measure and try to resize both, to see if there is a size difference.I should do it in the next 2 or 3 weeks then report back here.

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I am going to try firing a new case in each rifle, then measure and try to resize both, to see if there is a size difference.I should do it in the next 2 or 3 weeks then report back here.

Actually, it shouldn't make any difference to you if they are different; it shold be expected in fact. Any two rifles in the same cartridge are likely to be somewhat different in chamber size. So what? With proper lube and a decent press you can easily resize anything you wish, so long as they have the same head size anyway.

I spent part of this morning converting .308 to .22-250. The cases were certainly larger than "normal" for that die at first but they took on the new dimensions quite easly with a bit of pressure and some Imperial Die Wax! Actually, I've done the same thing with a variety of case lubes and substitutes, for years.

It's just not a major issue to have fired cases fit a size die before they are sized, they WILL afterwards! And how many times they have been reloaded is virtually irrelivant, there simply isn't a lot of difference.