Resizing 243 Win brass issues

quinnjoblow

quinnjoblow

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I haven’t reloaded for 243 Win since 1992-93 after selling my Remington Model 7. I had issues resizing the brass then with the Lyman dies I purchased at the time. I just assumed the reloading issue I had were because I was new at the skill and was doing something wrong.
When I tried to full length resize the brass I was never able to bring the shell holder all the way up to the bottom of die. Way too much resistance that I would almost bend the arm of the reloading press and warp the table. I could get the brass to about 1/16 of an inch before this would happen. The resized brass would fit into the chamber but when I would cam the bolt to lock it in place it would jam the bolt so bad I would have to smack it into place with the palm of my hand. After shooting the rounds the brass would extract no problem but had smear marks in the brass on the head stamp where it rubbed on the bolt face. Ot was obvious to me that the brass wasn’t fully resized. I have reload other calibers since then, 308 Win, 30-30 Win, 30-06. I have never had this problem with other rounds. Case goes in flush with shell holder. The only difference is that I use RCBS for 30-30, Hornady for 308.

I sold the Remington model 7 and I stopped reloading for it in 1993. Fast forward to 2021 I purchase another 243 Tikka T3x.
I dug up my Lyman dies and my same 1993 era brass and started reloading for it. Same thing started happening again. Cases are FC 243 once fired, sized to 2.045 within spec. I call Lyman Customer support and get a second opinion on what I’m doing wrong. We verified the die set I had was indeed a full length die set. They felt that it might be a issue with the size die body. I had them ship me a new die body.
Well I tried the new die body today. While sizing I’m able to get the shell holder flush with the bottom of the die but I have to use major force. A lot more force than I would use to resize 30-30 brass. And I am only resizing the brass. I use a separate depriming die. I’m lubing the cases properly.
Has anyone else had a problem where one caliber seems to be a harder chore than others?
 
I would wager that if you were using rcbs or redding equipment that you would not have any issues.

Lyman,Lee & hornady equipment is NOT in my inventory for various reasons.

Measure the web of a piece of fired brass from your Tikka.
compare the dimension to a drawing from a manual.

The lube used will give varying results with different head stamp brass-adjust dies accordingly.
Any spray/lanolin base lube will give you issues sooner than later.

Imperial Sizing Die Wax,now distributed by Redding is your best option for tight chambered resizing & forming brass.

when reloading for hunting rifles,set the shoulder/headspace back .003" on bottle neck cases for ease of cycling/function of the firearm.

Do NOT attempt to chamber a round in any bolt action rifle by BEATING on the bolt handle.
 
quinnjoblow said:
....Same thing started happening again. Cases are FC 243 once fired, sized to 2.045 within spec....Has anyone else had a problem where one caliber seems to be a harder chore than others?
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Its not the caliber that is the problem. .243 Win is one of the .308 Win family, along with .260 Rem and 7mm-08 Rem: These are all the same case dimensions from case head to datum line on the shoulder. They all can use the same headspace gauge and have the same SAAMI headspace spec.

If you are trimming to exactly 2.045", that may be your problem? That is the case length max SAAMI spec. Your rifle's chamber may be a thou shorter.
Or your calipers may be off a thou or two and your cases have grown too long but your calipers are reading wrong. I have two pairs of calipers and they read about 2 thou different from each other.

I like to trim several thou less than max case length, just in case my measurement tools are off.
 
coyoteking said:
Sounds like your old model 7 had a chamber that was way out of spec. I’d get some different brass and try it in the Fl die.
Click to expand...

^^^^ Agree. It would be very easy to acquire some new brass to see if the problem is that old brass. I suggest you buy a new box of factory ammo, fire it in your new Tikka, then measure the cases and compare.
 
It sounds more like he's using brass cases that need to be re annealed and is worrying to much about where his shell head holder is when he's at the top of the sizing stroke.

The shell head holder doesn't have to touch the bottom of the die.

IMHO, he's trying to bump back the shoulders on fire hardnend cases.

OP, what type of sizing lubricant are you using?

Which reloading press do you use?

I was just loading up some 243 Win for two different rifles I have, one of which is a Model 7 and the other is a Rem 700 long action.

Both are fitted with custom barrels and the chambers are cut with the same reamer. The dimensions of the reamer are within a few thousandths of SAAMI spec minimum and will just allow factory loads to be chambered.

I full length resize all of the cases for these rifles, because I have to.

The base of my sizing die is appx 1/16 inch from the shell head holder when the stroke reaches the top.

The dies are Bonanza, small base, match.

The only time I like the shell head holder to come into contact with he base of the die is when I seat the bullets. This helps to achieve more consistent seating depths, when measured on the bullet ogive diameter, with a "nut" gauge.
 
DANS40X said:
I'd bet dollars to donuts that his choice of dies was/is the culprit....since he has the same issue w/ the Tikka.
Click to expand...

I am not sure it's the dies. Especially since he's using the 1f brass from the model 7. Same brass, same dies, hasn't been shot in the Tikka yet. Could be the rem7 chamber was a bit oversize at the base or maybe the brass needs trimming.

I have all makes of dies, about 90 sets. I've had as many issues with rcbs dies as Lee or Lyman, 1 of each. Not often its the dies, but when we have problems the first thing we blame are the tools.

I'd look at the brass and sizing lube before I bought a new die set.
 
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Take the expander ball out and polish it. Ensure that the ball isn't bottoming out in the case before the die is down all the way.
Test run a piece of brass in the die without the expander ball/deprimer in the die. Lube the expander ball with graphite before resizing. Then run a brush in the case mouth with graphite on it before resizing.
 
If you have 308 dies ? try one with the depriming stem removed
this will push back the shoulder and size the base
then try the 243 die to do the neck and push out the primer

and yes 243 will be harder to size than 3030

243 you will have to do standing when 3030 you can do sitting in a chair
 
I would have to agree that your case length may very well be the culprit here. 2.045 is listed as max. length in my old Lyman manual with 2.035 as " trim to length". My guess is perhaps a slightly short chamber in your rifle, or as has already been mentioned, maybe your measuring tool is off a bit. Either one would create problems when you're right at the limit for case length.I would try trimming a case back to 2.035" just to check. Good luck....catnip.
 
I’m using the RCBS bottled lube and green pad method. And my press is an RCBS Rock Chucker. I use lube sparingly and have never had any issues with excessive lube. Since I haven’t loaded 243 in a long time I’m not sure where the original once fired brass came from or if every single piece was at some point fired through the Remington Model 7. I will try to get back at it this weekend.
 
It's probable the die was cut with maximum tolerances. (Or you have had 2 rifles in a row with "tight" chambers)

You say you set your die up to "touch" the shell holder. Set it up so that it touches the shell holder then turn it in another half turn so that when you hit bottom the press must "cam-over" the stop. Also, you may want to try a better lubricant such as Redding Imperial Sizing Die Wax.

Failing that you could sacrifice a shell holder and have it ground down a couple thousands of an inch or try an borrow anther sizing die.

You could also try a "small base" type die. One for a .308 Winchester with the de-capping rod removed would work.
 
I have a Seven in 243 and found I had to slightly cam over with the press/shellholder on the die to get the brass chambering easily. If you are finding it really hard to finish the resize step and you aren't tearing off rims, I'd suggest the decapping stem is protruding to far and contacting case base. I've done this a few times throughout the years and it's okay unless you heave on the ram lever.

As to die quality: I've used Hornady, Lee, RCBS, Forster and Lyman... don't care for the last one but they were older "All American" (or something like that) sets.

Lube: I doubt is your problem or you'd have reported tearing off rims by now. But you want a film of oil on the case body, non on the shoulder/outer neck except a dip in graphite and brush inside of neck. Examine the die for the decap obstruction I mentioned or something on the case mouth... though I couldn't imagine what that might be with those dies.
 
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