Reloading Sizing Issue

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greatwhite

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Again I am new at reloading but I am having a sizing issue with my 270 Winchester. My firearm is a Parker Hale Midland 2100.

I have the lee Challenger Kit. I am using lee full length resizing dies.
I deprimed and resized a few cases and trimmed them loaded and tried to chamber them in my rifle the bolt would not close. So I removed the bullets with a bullet puller and tried resizing them again and again I have tried to place an unloaded but resized case without primer into the firearm and still the bolt will not close. The rifle works fine with factory ammo.

It's obvious I am doing something wrong. I here the full length resizing die and it deprime fine. I have adjusted the die correctly which according to the instructions said to raise the ram and screw in the Die until it touches the bullet holder than lower the ram and screw in another 1/3 turn. I also tried adjusting it further. I have read there should be a bump on the neck of the case but there isn't.

I have also taken the Die apart and it seems OK I cleaned it to.

What else can I try.
 
greatwhite said:
Again I am new at reloading but I am having a sizing issue with my 270 Winchester. My firearm is a Parker Hale Midland 2100.

I have the lee Challenger Kit. I am using lee full length resizing dies.
I deprimed and resized a few cases and trimmed them loaded and tried to chamber them in my rifle the bolt would not close. So I removed the bullets with a bullet puller and tried resizing them again and again I have tried to place an unloaded but resized case without primer into the firearm and still the bolt will not close. The rifle works fine with factory ammo.

It's obvious I am doing something wrong. I here the full length resizing die and it deprime fine. I have adjusted the die correctly which according to the instructions said to raise the ram and screw in the Die until it touches the bullet holder than lower the ram and screw in another 1/3 turn. I also tried adjusting it further. I have read there should be a bump on the neck of the case but there isn't.

I have also taken the Die apart and it seems OK I cleaned it to.

What else can I try.
Click to expand...

Take a look at the side profile of the brass after sizing and after bullet seating and crimp. Just compare it to a factory round. Make sure the die didn't bulge the case where the straight walls begin the first bend. I've seen cases get bent there under a few different circumstances. Inside wall cases not being reamed enough after trimming, bullet seating die set up for too much crimp....

Once that case is bulged there it's near impossible to fix it.
 
- Brass is not from my rifle
- Yes Brass is for a 270 Winchester
- Yes Dies are for the 270 Winchester
- I did not test the brass before resizing.

- I am hoping to get over to a friends farm sometime this week to fire a factory round so I can test it, probably Tuesday or Wed before I will have time..

- Note I did reload a couple last year for testing and I think they were from my rifle those did work.
- I have taken a case with no primer and no bullet and put it in the chamber you can see just a portion of it sticking out and the bolt will not close.
- I am using a Lee 270 specific case trimmer.

It's funny I have no problem reloading for my 375 Winchester.
 
Is it possible that the Die itself isn't working. I know a few people near Ottawa that also reload. I might have to try and contact them and give them some case and Dies and see if they can get them to resize properly, maybe I am doing something wrong and just don't realize it.
 
greatwhite said:
- Brass is not from my rifle
- Yes Brass is for a 270 Winchester
- Yes Dies are for the 270 Winchester
- I did not test the brass before resizing.

- I am hoping to get over to a friends farm sometime this week to fire a factory round so I can test it, probably Tuesday or Wed before I will have time..

- Note I did reload a couple last year for testing and I think they were from my rifle those did work.
- I have taken a case with no primer and no bullet and put it in the chamber you can see just a portion of it sticking out and the bolt will not close.
- I am using a Lee 270 specific case trimmer.

It's funny I have no problem reloading for my 375 Winchester.
Click to expand...

A .375 Win is a straight walled cartridge and you probably use it in a lever gun. Tolerances are 'loose' to say the least compared to a bottleneck cartridge for a modern bolt gun. You probably also only sourced the brass new or from your own rifle which means that for the first three reloads or so it usually doesn't require a lot of effort put into resizing or trimming.

If the .270 brass was sourced from another rifle and does not chamber, then it will definitely need proper full length sizing which entails sizing the case, bumping the shoulder, and sizing the neck properly. Either you are not sizing properly - go with more cam over by lowering the die more than the prescribed 1/3 turn or there is something wrong with the die which is very unlikely. Once the properly sized case will chamber in your rifle, it will probably also require trimming to length. There is little room for shortcuts in this process. A great deal more care is required when reloading for a 270.
 
Chambers and dies vary in size, meaning in diameter and headspace length. I buy bulk once fired Lake City 5.56 and 7.62 brass and size them the first time with a small base die.

A small base die sizes the case back to minimum SAAMI dimensions, meaning reduces the case diameter more and pushes the case shoulder back further than a standard die.

I had to lap .003 off the top of a shell holder to size my uncles .270 cases fired in his rifle. These were cases only fired in his rifle and my RCBS full length die would not push the shoulder back enough.

There are two things you can try when sizing range pickup brass fired in another rifle.

1. Full length resize the cases again and pause at the top of the ram stroke for 4 to 5 seconds. This reduces brass spring back after full length resizing and may allow the case to chamber.

2. Slide a feeler gauge between the deck of the shell holder and the base of the case, starting with a .002 feeler gauge and working up with thicker gauges until the case chambers. This will lift the case higher in the shell holder and push it further into the die and push the case shoulder back further.

NOTE, you do not have a problem with .375 Winchester cases because they are a straight sided case without a shoulder.

Below when full length resizing and squeezing the case it actually moves the case shoulder upward in the die and longer than its fired headspace. So the cases not fired in your rifle did have not the case shoulder pushed below the red dotted line and are longer than your chambers headspace. And this happens many times when sizing cases not fired in "your" rifle. This is because the brass wants spring back to its fired size and is a problem when fired in a larger chamber.

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greatwhite said:
Not sure about the Gap but I have turned the Die in as much as 3/4 of a turn luckily didn't break the pin
Click to expand...

If you are concerned about the pin, it is sticking out too far. Loosen the collar and back it out a long way.

Now turn the sizer die in 2 more full revs. This means the die should hit and stop on the shell holder, giving you all the sizing the die can deliver.

I often size with the die hitting the shell holder. 100% of pistol brass is sized this way.

If this 100% sized brass chambers, you can then adjust the pin so it sticks out the bottom.
 
- Brass is not from my rifle
- Yes Brass is for a 270 Winchester
- Yes Dies are for the 270 Winchester
- I did not test the brass before resizing.
Click to expand...

Its probably not so much that you are doing something wrong; as it being the bad combination of fortune resulting in you not doing enough. If the cases were fired in a chamber much bigger than yours there isn't a guarantee that they can be sized to fit in yours with your dies. If they were fired in yours its a reasonably good guess that they will go back in. I got a friend back in business with the feeler gauge trick just last night. If it works, you will likely only have to do it once.
 
So slip the feeler gauge between the case and the case holder?

Dogleg said:
Its probably not so much that you are doing something wrong; as it being the bad combination of fortune resulting in you not doing enough. If the cases were fired in a chamber much bigger than yours there isn't a guarantee that they can be sized to fit in yours with your dies. If they were fired in yours its a reasonably good guess that they will go back in. I got a friend back in business with the feeler gauge trick just last night. If it works, you will likely only have to do it once.
Click to expand...
 
greatwhite said:
I have this set

https://leeprecision.com/reloading-dies/rifle-dies/pacesetter-3-die-set/
Click to expand...

OK, then you can't be using the 'wrong' sizing die, ie the neck sizing die. Like Ganderite says, make sure the proper shellholder is installed, loosen off the depriming pin mandrel so it can't act as a stop, raise the ram all the way, screw the die down until you can't screw it down any further, lower the ram, crank the die down at least a full turn, and give it a try. If this doesn't work and you don't have a set of feeler gauges then adding an additional 1/3 to 1/2 turn down of the die might be worth a try, but it is going to start putting additional stress on your press, die, and shellholder. Something could break. I would suggest trying the feeler gauges before that.

If you are going to use the feeler gauge trick, yes, the feeler goes in between the case head and the shell holder. The depriming pin mandrel MUST be loose enough to slide for this!!
 
greatwhite said:
So slip the feeler gauge between the case and the case holder?
Click to expand...

You want the case sitting on top of the feeler gauge that you slide into the shell holder. This will raise the case off the shell holder by the thickness of the feeler gauge and push the case further into the die.

If you use a .002 feeler gauge the case shoulder will be pushed back .002 more, a .004 feeler gauge will push the shoulder back .004 more and so on.

The problem you are experiencing is very common when sizing cases fired in a different chamber. This is why I use a small base die when I buy bulk once fired 5.56 and 7.62 brass the first time I size the cases.

A small base die reduces the case diameter .002 to .003 more than a standard die. And this same small base die also pushes the case shoulder back .002 to .003 more than a standard die. Meaning a small base die will size the case back to minimum SAAMI dimensions.

Bottom line, if you want to use range pickup brass or once fired brass you may need to lap the top of the shell holder or buy a small base die.

Also having a Hornady cartridge case headspace gauge is nice to have. Below I'm measuring a "fired" 5.56 case from my AR15, I then adjust the die to give me .003 shoulder bump. Measuring the case before and after sizing ensures the case will chamber without any problems.

OJqNmQH.jpg
 
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