Encountered my first issue.

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Pyd

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Location
Ontario
Ruger M77
.220 Swift
Lee single stage press
RCBS dies (x2)
Brass is Super W-W

My first step of reloading was full case resizing in the die, I followed instructions for setting it up with extreme care.
By all accounts, my brass has been resized, with the exception of trimming the case.
When I chamber an existing round (same brass, unfired, live), the firearm accepts the brass as normal, however, when I chamber one of the exact same rounds (empty/unprimed), but ran through my resizing die, the bolt is very tough to close.
I am perplexed.
Am I missing something here? Could I have done something wrong?

A little more background.
The gun was inherited, it came with many reloads which I am still currently shooting. I managed to come across the dies a year later from the same fellow who once had the rifle (they went to another family member). It appears he was only neck sizing prior to me getting the gun and ammo/brass. I am assuming that because of the great deal of effort it took me to resize the cases in full.

I now have the used brass clean, resized and ready to trim, but the gun is fighting the drop of my bolt handle.

Edit.. I just trimmed the resized empty casing manually, it is now the exact same length as the loaded case that cycles fine. Yet my resized clean brass will not let the bolt close without effort, too much effort.
I can not get my head around this..
 
Likely your FL dies needs to be adjusted in the press. Tighten it down a little at a time til the brass chambers.
 
Thank you.
Is there a recommended adjustment to start this? 1/8 turn, 1/4 turn on the die?
 
I have the instructions for the die, but there is no mention of adjustments to counter an issue like this. The instructions seem to cover basic set up and usage.
I was hoping for a voice of experience with this one, in my head, it doesn't make sense to make something smaller and develop issues as though I had made it larger.
Also, die adjustments aside, I would like to know what is happening, not only to fix this issue but to better understand the logic behind the adjustments.
 
I have watched some videos on the topic, and they indicate another issue I was having tied in with the same problem.
If I drop the die a 1/4 turn, I get a dimple just below the neck. The guy making the video says that is not an issue and can be expected. I don't buy that.
I am trying to get everything perfect to maximize this accurate cartridge, and I find it hard to believe that a dimple in the brass will not affect anything, after all the tiny details I have gone through and studied, that seems to against everything I have learned.
 
A cartridge gets bigger in every direction when you fire it(not just the length).
And some times the internal dimentions of reloading dies are bigger than your chamber,
and since brass will spring back a bit when it's pulled out from a resizing die you may need to go beyond
the instructions to get your brass small enough to fit in the rifle.
1/8th of a turn more until it fits sound good.
 
Put a case in the press with the FL die installed. Run the ram all the way up. Look and see if your can see daylight between the die and the shell plate. If you can, lower the ram, tighten the die a 1/8 to 1/4 turn and repeat the above until you no longer can see daylight between the shell plate and die.
 
Thank you, gentlemen.
I will wait until my son gets home from school to try to make changes. We took this project on together.
Right now I use the Lee case lube, it came in my kit. Is there a thinner alternative I can use if that is partially responsible for the "dimpling"? I try to keep it very thin, but if not, what do I turn to?
 
A swift is known to have its cases grow it is a long tapered case operating under high pressure. The straighter the case the less they grow when fired. When you full length resize and shrink the case diameter the brass has to go somewhere so length is where some of it goes. If a case is too long the rim of the case when chambered in the rifle will contact the area of the chamber that is cut a smaller diameter where the bullet is to sit. You could look at some of your resized brass that you have chambered and see if it looks to have the brass in the neck rolled inward if it does your brass would be really long.
 
farmboy108 said:
A swift is known to have its cases grow it is a long tapered case operating under high pressure. The straighter the case the less they grow when fired. When you full length resize and shrink the case diameter the brass has to go somewhere so length is where some of it goes. If a case is too long the rim of the case when chambered in the rifle will contact the area of the chamber that is cut a smaller diameter where the bullet is to sit. You could look at some of your resized brass that you have chambered and see if it looks to have the brass in the neck rolled inward if it does your brass would be really long.
Click to expand...

The brass did elongate during the sizing stage, but I brought it back down to the exact same length as a case that does chamber, it was my first thought too.
 
Pyd said:
Yes, I am using digital Mitutoyo calipers.
I considered the case was too long, so I trimmed it to match a case that fed perfectly, did not help.
Click to expand...

Case length measured for purposes of chambering is not measured from top-of-neck to base. It is measured from a reference point on the shoulder to the base.

If you are a do it yourself kind of person you can make a gauge to measure cartridge length by drilling a hole in a block of metal where the hole diameter is the same as that of the case at the reference point. The case length would then be the length from the top of the block to the base of the case, minus the thickness of the metal block. You could also buy a case gauge, which I highly recommend, and use it with your caliper as described above.

There is some good device above. Keep the shoulders free of lube and turn your die down by 1/8" at a time until you cartridges chamber easily. Dimpled shoulder are not normal.
 
Trinimon said:
Put a case in the press with the FL die installed. Run the ram all the way up. Look and see if your can see daylight between the die and the shell plate. If you can, lower the ram, tighten the die a 1/8 to 1/4 turn and repeat the above until you no longer can see daylight between the shell plate and die.
Click to expand...

Pyd, you're not alone . . . the problem you're having seems to pop up quite regularly on this forum. In many cases, adjusting the die a bit deeper (as described by Trinimon and others) turns out to be the solution. Presses give a bit . . . if your die is not touching the shellholder when you're actually resizing a case, you're not getting complete sizing. Hopefully this is all it will take to solve your problem.
 
First thing is to relax. Nothing is going to explode or damage your rifle.
It's most likely that the shoulders aren't getting resized completely. Like Dmay says, adjust your sizer die. The shell holder should just kiss the bottom of the die with the ram all the way up. Do that, then adjust the seater plug for the OAL. You have to be sure to move the ram all the way up every time too. It's easy to sometimes not do this.
You do need to check case lengths(either a vernier calipre or case gauge), but only trim as required. The .220's max case length is 2.205". Trim to is 2.195". If the cases are between that, you're fine. Better to have 'em all the same though.
Excessive case lube on the shoulder really isn't a big deal. Doesn't hurt anything and the dimples will come out upon firing. No safety issue at all.
 
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