303 Reloading Issue I hope this is the right forum

[bearhunter]

I'm just about willing to bet the shoulders of his cases aren't being set back at all with his present set up.

If he decides to go with the cheap, easy fix of removing a hundred thou or so off the base of the FL sizing die, he's obviously going to have to be careful not to set back the shoulders to far.

I had a similar issue with a die and trimming the base of the die worked for me. It turned out that the die had been reamed to deep IMHO.

 

[Frost Cracked]

I'm just about willing to bet the shoulders of his cases aren't being set back at all with his present set up.

If he decides to go with the cheap, easy fix of removing a hundred thou or so off the base of the FL sizing die, he's obviously going to have to be careful not to set back the shoulders to far.

I had a similar issue with a die and trimming the base of the die worked for me. It turned out that the die had been reamed to deep IMHO.

When I ran the case as far as I could into the die without the shell holder, it did push back the shoulder somewhat, leaving a longer kneck than a factory case.

 

[bearhunter]

When I ran the case as far as I could into the die without the shell holder, it did push back the shoulder somewhat, leaving a longer kneck than a factory case.

Thats to much set back if you were using a shell head holder, which you weren't.

Instead of pressing the case all the way into the die, put a rubber band around the web, in front of the rim.

Push your case into the die, so that the rubber band is just starting to compress, then try chambering it.

If that doesn't work, you will need a new sizing die.

Measure the thickness of your shell head holder, from where the case bottoms out to the top of the die.

That is as much as you want to remove and it will allow you to adjust the height of your die to the proper point, that just sets back the shoulders a few thou.

You may even be able to run the shell head holder all the way up to the base of the die.

If it were my die, I would remove .050 inches on the first pass and check to see if the shoulder was set back with the shell head holder tight against the base of the die. It may not take much to fix this.

If you don't have access to a lathe or grinder, it may be cheaper to just purchase a new sizing die.

Most local gunshops have single pieces out of die sets they've picked up from different sources.

 

[cosmic]

Well - The question begs is your die off-spec? Using once-fired brass from your rifle, are you able to resize it properly? To be specific, does the die even come in contact with the base of the case?

 

[Frost Cracked]

After a bit more fuddling around I am deciding to just get a new set of dies...

I have the Hornady set, what would be a good alternative? Lee? RCBS? Dillon?

 

[nitro-express]

After a bit more fuddling around I am deciding to just get a new set of dies...

I have the Hornady set, what would be a good alternative? Lee? RCBS? Dillon?

LEE dies are usually decent in 303 Br. I'd try that one first.

I was mislead and assumed when you said "collet" that you were using a LEE Collet die.

I tend to solve issues or problems by addressing the root cause. IMHO you will be doing more harm if you trim off the bottom of you die or shell holder. Setting the shoulder back too far on the 303 Br case will give you insipient head separation very quickly.

You've determined that the range brass you have is a bit too large in the PRE area just above the web. I think I'd fix that first. Commercially, the tool used would be a roll sizer, but you are not a commercial reloader, that tool is expensive. But, a 44 Mag die will size that area of the brass. It may be an arbor press job if the shell holder limits the sizing range, but it should work.

Bottom line: Two issues, the first is that you have to remanufacture the range brass, second you have to reload the fireformed brass. The tool you use for one may be wrong for the second.

Nitro.

PS: the old manuals stated that you should only reload cases that have been fired in your rifle. Range brass is a bit of a crap shoot, critical culling is needed.

 

[bearhunter]

LEE dies are usually decent in 303 Br. I'd try that one first.

I was mislead and assumed when you said "collet" that you were using a LEE Collet die.

I tend to solve issues or problems by addressing the root cause. IMHO you will be doing more harm if you trim off the bottom of you die or shell holder. Setting the shoulder back too far on the 303 Br case will give you insipient head separation very quickly.

You've determined that the range brass you have is a bit too large in the PRE area just above the web. I think I'd fix that first. Commercially, the tool used would be a roll sizer, but you are not a commercial reloader, that tool is expensive. But, a 44 Mag die will size that area of the brass. It may be an arbor press job if the shell holder limits the sizing range, but it should work.

Bottom line: Two issues, the first is that you have to remanufacture the range brass, second you have to reload the fireformed brass. The tool you use for one may be wrong for the second.

Nitro.

PS: the old manuals stated that you should only reload cases that have been fired in your rifle. Range brass is a bit of a crap shoot, critical culling is needed.

Don't tell any of the several thousand pieces of brass I have on hand and regularly shoot out of different rifles, chambered for the 303Brit any of that.

After 50+ years of reloading the stuff, I haven't had any issues.

As for removing material from the bottom of the die or thinning the shell head holder, it's not an uncommon practice, because it works well.

If the OP can't do the work himself or is uncomfortable with it, purchasing a new to him set of dies is a good option and in the long run may end up being the cheapest route.

 

[Snider shooter]

Don't tell any of the several thousand pieces of brass I have on hand and regularly shoot out of different rifles, chambered for the 303Brit any of that.

After 50+ years of reloading the stuff, I haven't had any issues.

As for removing material from the bottom of the die or thinning the shell head holder, it's not an uncommon practice, because it works well.

If the OP can't do the work himself or is uncomfortable with it, purchasing a new to him set of dies is a good option and in the long run may end up being the cheapest route.

Most of my brass is range brass. Only time I fire factory is if it comes in with a gun I buy. I believe I have 15 Lee Enfield 303’s and 6 303’s of different makes. Most of my brass is over 25 firings with cast bullet loads. Range brass saves me a lot of money
Buying a new die is a cheap route to go. Hornady Unique case lube is used during any hard resizing or case forming. Definitely gets used on 303 range pickups. I have about 800 brass mostly range pickups, anyone want to do the math for what they cost new.

 

[bearhunter]

Like you, my brass is all range pick ups. At least 3000 on hand and all mixed manufacturers. The only range brass I don't keep, when I'm sorting through the scrap brass buckets at the range are those with Berdan primers, which always seem to show up.

I don't shoot cast lead out of any of my 303Br chambered rifles, other than a Martini with Metford rifling and the cast lead bullet is powder coated.

I don't really know how many reloads are on my cases.

The first thing I do with them, after collecting enough to make processing worthwhile, is to boil the cases in water with lemshine.

This removes all of the dirt, inside and out.

Then I put the cartridge cases into the oven at 500F for appx 15 minutes and now allow them to slow cool.

This softens them up pretty close to new cases.

They then get lubed, on the outside and inside the neck, sized and decapped. Then, I try to keep them sorted by manufacturer.

I dont' try to sort surplus military spec cases.

When I'm sorting them for manufacturer, I also inspect the cases for such things as cracked necks and very defined expansion rings.

In all the years I've been doing this, I've only had one case head separation and that was inside the sizing die.

When I reload the military surplus cases, they are all full length sized, so that the shoulders are just bumped back. This sizing die is purposely set and isn't used for any other cases. The loads on these cases are used in all of my rifles. They shoot acceptably but of course aren't tuned to each individual rifle.

The best shooting rifle with these rounds is a Martini with Enfield rifling. You would think these rounds were tuned specifically for it. If the groups open up, I blame it on my aging eyes not seeing the iron sights well.

The commercial cases are neck sized only and each of my rifles has at least 100 cases set aside for them and they don't get used in other rifles.

Tedious, yes, but I'm retired and time isn't as much of an issue as it was when I was still working for a living. Now I play for a living.

 

[Standardvel]

I would try inserting a feeler gauge between the casing head and shell holder while resizing a case that doesn’t chamber easily, you could have a sloppy shell holder or a thin rimmed case is sitting too low to be resized completely.