I shoot a Swedish Mauser 6.5x55.
I use full length Lee dies & am sure to fully complete each stoke on the press.

I always trim as well, always to be sure I am under the mamimum length

My problem is about 20% of my cartriges will not chamber fully, as I can't close the bolt all the way. What am I doing wrong ?

Boarman.

Are you sure you're setting the shoulder back far enough when you run the brass through the sizing process....

Make sure your dies are adjust down correctly to push the shoulder back for proper chambering.
If you are not sure of this adjustment, there should be instruction with the dies that will explain full length sizing and neck sizing and crimping adjustments.

Tony

quote:

Originally posted by Boarman:
What am I doing wrong ?

Duno, Lets see if we can't figure it out.

There are two main reasons for a handload not to chamber properly. The resizing process and the seating process.

Lets start at the beginning. Is your FL die set up correctly? The generic way is to screw the die in until it touches the shell holder then lower the ram and screw the die IN1/4 turn more. Now lube and resize a few fired cases. Don't forget to put a little lube inside of the neck. Wipe off any remaining lube, check case length, trim if necessary and see if they chamber with ease.

Next is to make sure your seating die is set up correctly. You are using Lee dies so I assume you are using the "Dead Length Seater". This die is a bit different than most other seaters as it should be screwed in until it touches the shell holder and then locked down. With no primer or powder seat a couple of bullets to your desired OAL making sure that they are not so long as to be pig jammed into the lands. See if these dummy rounds chamber with ease.

I use, and would suggestto you, an alternate way of adjusting your sizing die.

1. Screw the sizing die in until it touches the shell holder with the press ram raised.

2. Then UNSCREW the die so it clears the shellholder by atleast half a turn.

3. Size an empty piece of brass

4. Try the sized empty in your rifle to see if it will chamber and the bolt will close.


If the bolt will not completelly and easily close on it,

5. Screw the die in another 1/8th turn toward the shellholder, and try again.

Keep doing step 5 until the bolt closes easily on your brass. That way you will not be creating any excessive headspace and will still have correct size brass for easy fit into your rifle.

Whenever the bolt will first close easily on a sized piece of brass, tighten the lock ring on your die so it can't move. That IS the correct length the die should be set at for YOUR rifle.

If a case which fits properly when empty will not chamber easily when loaded, then you have some other problem.

One such may be that the bullet is seated out too far. To test that, load a DUMMY round (no powder or primer), put the case in the shellholder, and seat the bullet a little bit deeper, by screwing in the seater stem 1/4 turn at a time until you are sure that has either solved the problem, or you're sure overall length is NOT the problem. This, of course, assumes you have a die with an adjustable seater stem.

If that doesn't work, you may want to compare the diameter of the neck of a newly loaded dummy round to the neck diameter of a fired case. Though it isn't real common, sometimes necks thicken enough in brass that when bullets are seated in them , they are too "fat" for the neck of the cartridge to go into the neck of the chamber. If that is the situation, it is time to either inside-ream or outside-turn the necks of your cases to a thinner dimension.

If it is none of those three, then let us know, and we'll ltry some other suggestions.

Gentlemen,
I will load up a few this weekend.

I will let you know how it works.

Thanks for the help

Gentlemen,
Started resizing tonight using your advice. Resized 5 cases and tried to chamber.

Only the Norma brass wouldn't fit. Confirmed die was correctly seated and resized again, no luck.
Took a few measurements, turns out the base diameter of Norma brass is .478 to .4795
All my other brass is under .476

I will try later in my other Swede to see if they chamber

What kind of rifle is your Swede? The proper rim dia for the 6.5x55 is .480. Lapua and Norma do have the correct rim dia of .480. American brass is made with .473, same as the 06, 308 etc. The bolt on both of my Swedes, M70 and CZ 550 will handle both sizes with ease. Maybe you have an Americanized bolt face on your Swede.

quote:

Originally posted by steve4102:
Maybe you have an Americanized bolt face on your Swede.

Sounds like an Amercan-ized chamber. roger

Rifle is a 1900 Oberndorf M-96/38 Swedish Mauser.

All original parts. No modifications I can see.

Boarman,

I've encounter the situation where the sizing die is at the max end of the tolerances, and the chamber is minimum. That situation will result in what your experiencing.
I have that problem right now with a 7mm Mag; tight chamber and loose die, which means not all sized cases will chamber.
Maddening for sure.

Don