in reloading the 17 fireballi found it impossible to seat a hornady bullet the case necks seem very thick.i had to use a neck expander from my neck turning tool to seat the bullets,the cases were once fired from factory ammoand using rcbs full length die set,this was my first time reloading for this rifle[rem 700vsf]also a bullet would not go into a fired case,any toughts

sure sounds like some bum brass, or if its the first time you used the dies, the expander nipple could be a bit undersized. i'm using redding dies, but have never had a bit of trouble. fun round, the blackbirds have come back for the summer

If a bullet would not go into a fired case I would be concerned. What is the fired brass like for pressure signs.

Von Gruff.

the cases did not show any of the usual signs of high pressure such as flat primers or an ejector mark,bolt lift was alittle hard.Iturned the necks down and i was able to seat the bullet.now if the weather would cooperate i will test my reloads

As already mentioned check the expander. It is the last part of the die to "touch" your case. The expander should take the case neck to the correct inside diameter to seat bullets. Rarely you can get an under size one.
A trick I have been using for my 17 Mach IV (17 Fireball's papa)is to use a Lyman VLD chamfer tool to provide a long tapered chamfer easing the flat based bullet's start into the casemouth. You need to go slowly here to allow the bullet's base to get centered and started into the mouth. A quick seating stroke is out!
Hope this helps

muck