I have been reloading rounds for a 280 AI and I have used brand new brass from Nosler, On the new brass the loaded rounds seat just fine and fire great but however after I have cleaned my brass, loaded the 2nd time they won't seat and don't want to chamber, it feels tight and i don't want to force it. I took measurements with a micrometer and everything seems to be in specs, I have never had this problem before with my other rifles on previous fired brass. could it be the bullets I'm using, The rifle is a Rifles Inc. and the bullets are Barnes TSX 160gr. the load was developed by Lex and they shoot very good. Just wanted to know if anyone has experienced this. I would like to reuse my once fired brass as 280 AI new brass is not that cheap. Any thoughts?

TRY AN EMPTY PREPPED CASE AND SEE IF THE BOLT CLOSES WITHOUT A BULLET.ALSO MAKE SURE THE PRIMER IS SEATED AT LEAST FLUSH .

Sometimes the inside neck sizer will drag the shoulder/neck out a tad. Try a litle Imperial die wax on a Q-tip to lube the
neck/shoulder junction on the inside.

RvS is on the right track. Size a case and try it. you may have to adjust your die a tad to get the case to seat. Hopefully it seats with out having to play with the die. Then seat a bullet in the case that just chambered. Dummy round no powder or primer. If it chambers try what ever crimp you had on it, if you are crimping. You could have a long bullet for the chamber, a slight bulge at the front of the case, the shoulder may be a touch long or the neck may be a little big. Another problem could be trim length but that's not to often as most chamers are necked a little long. For a custom chamber it might be closer to print length though.

If there is a sizing problem you should be able to see shiny spots on the case where it is contacting the chamber. If the bullets are seated too long for your throat you should see spots on the bullet where they have contacted the lands. A magnifying glass will be helpful.
As a side note, I never load or resize more than 1 or 2 cases without checking them in the rifle that they are for. That saves you from loading a bunch of rounds and having to rework them.

I've got 2 280 AI's. On one of em I had to grind the bottom of the die down in order to hit the shoulder enough to chamber the rounds. I have a buddy that had the same thing with his Nosler rifle, we had to grind a skoche off the bottom of his sizing die to be able to push the shoulder back at all. I would check the shoulder on fired brass and after sizing to check the position of the shoulder since I know this caliber to be sensitive to this.

If I had to do it over again, my 2 rifles would just be regular 280's. At least screw your die in a bit and try the brass after that...
good luck!

Lots of good advice already. Have the cases been trimmed to length?

Take a round and color it with a sharpie marker, then chamber (or attempt to, LOL) and extract and see where it is rubbing.

I didn't think i would have to case trim until after the 3rd or fourth firing?....i will try it, I'm going to check for markings i haven't noticed any but will try the sharpie.

just try a fired case back in the rifle and go from there.
i shoot a 7x57 ackley,and a 7x57 i.c.l. and just neck size for 3-4 firings.
i then anneal and full length size. [i don't really "have" to but they are hunting rifles.
you have to be careful when neck sizing so the expander doesn't pull the shoulder/neck junction forward.
you can fireform regular 280 brass in the ackley no problem so you don't have to buy pre-made ackley shouldered brass.
you can be making the cases longer by the full length sizing too.
i really have this problem with my i.c.l. brass [because the body diameter is so much bigger than my dies] if i full length size it i have to trim most all of it.

Just because it's a fired case, doesn't mean it won't chamber. Many times a fired case will re-chamber without any trouble, even though it hasn't been resized. I like to decap my cases without resize and then find a case that won't chamber. From that point I resize that case in small amounts checking each time until I can chamber without bolt pressure. At that point I mark that spot on the Die, and resize only the cases that won't chamber.
It takes time, but it puts all the cases to be reloaded closer to the same basic measurement.
This method is specific to each firearm being reloaded for, as Chambers from rifle to rifle are different.

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:
I've got 2 280 AI's. On one of em I had to grind the bottom of the die down in order to hit the shoulder enough to chamber the rounds. I have a buddy that had the same thing with his Nosler rifle, we had to grind a skoche off the bottom of his sizing die to be able to push the shoulder back at all. I would check the shoulder on fired brass and after sizing to check the position of the shoulder since I know this caliber to be sensitive to this.

If I had to do it over again, my 2 rifles would just be regular 280's. At least screw your die in a bit and try the brass after that...
good luck!

Sometimes a die may actually lengthen a case by forcing the shoulder forward as is sometimes the case with partial full length sizing and this may be what is happening witha slightly deeper shell holder . I believe that Redding makes different depth shell holders to overcome this (not uncommon) problem
If the die is screwed in far enough to engages with the shell holder and an adjustment was needed I would rather face of the shell holder before altering the die simple because this is a less expensive replacment part if too much is removed. Tthe die is then still full length in case a further similarly chambered rifle needs the length of the die as it is. Having a shell holder for a specific rifle and marked as such, is a simple solution.
There is, or can be an annealing differential in some brass and springback may effect some cases more or less than others.
I might look at this aspect of the problem as well. If you dont have a case length guage then a suitably sized nut with the thread removed can be slipped over the neck of the cases and a measurment taken to the base, to see if there is a length difference that is causing the chambering difficulty.

I second the recommendation to be sure to lube your necks before sizing. Your expander ball may be pulling the shoulder just a bit, in addition it introducing concentricity problems.

If there's not enough clearance on your dies you should consider changing them out. If you are at the limit you may not be properly forming.