Another noob question: Hard to chamber reload Why ? 270WSM

volks_r_us

volks_r_us

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Hey guys

I did My first 270WSM reaload this week end and gained alot of accuracy VS factory load. I was bout to sell that Ruger M77 Mk2 before I fired my first reload, with factory load that thing is less accurate then a .22 at 100 M.

While most of my 24 round chamber like factory load about 5 of them were hard to chamber. I was not sure if I should force the bolt down to fire them. Which in the end I did.

I still dont understand why they where hard to chamber seems to me that the were to long . But after I mesured at the range the COL and brass lenght they were all on spec and some identical to others that would chamber like a breeze.

I noticed that Brass cartridge over nickel seem to have more problem. All brass where once fire with the same gun and nickel one where found at the range on the ground.

I use lee die and all case were trim and are within spec. when I press them I press them twice and turn brass 1/2 turn between stroke.

Before I reload everything again I would like make sure I wont have this problem again.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ruger all weather M77 Mk2 270WSM
Bullet Hornady 130Gr SST
IMR 4350

at 168ft 58.2gr
IMG_2383.jpg


at 249ft 60gr
IMG_2387.jpg


Im really satisfied with these group only problem I need different loads depending of the distance. 60gr at 168ft was opening 3-4 inch
 
The nickel case had a bigger case headspace than those fired in your rifle (because it was fired in a different rifle) and you did not full-length resize them. When you size your cases, keep the (unloaded) rifle besides you and try to cycle a resized case in it. I suggest you to try this everytime you change heastamp, or if you take once fired brass from others. If the bolt is stiff, then you have to size you brass a bit more until it chambers freely.
 
UPDATE CHECK NEXT POST

I think I found the Problem. the pin inside the die was set flush with the ajusting bolt as say in the lee manual. This was stoping the brass to enter completly the die. the whole thing was blocking about 1/4-1/8 before the shell holder could touch the die.

I noticed the about 1/8 of the neck was not resize. ,because the brass could not go deep enough. I raise the center pin about a bit less then 1/4" and it now enter completly the die. then I tested into the rifle and it work.

Baribal
Lee die dont full-lenght resize ? , how do I do a full-lenght resize ?
 
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I agree, you need to turn your full length sizing die a bit closer to the shell holder, this will bump the shoulder back and allow easy chambering of brass that was not fired in your chamber.

Care should also be taken to ensure that the lock ring of the resizing die does not back off. This often results in inconsistant sizing and some rounds may simply refuse to chamber. Be sure to use the same shell holder each time you resize. If you already have the sizing die in firm contact with the shell holder, it maybe that the shell holder is slightly oversized, so you can decide if you want to simply replace it, machine down it's height, or machine down the length of the sizing die.
 
Well I thought I found the problem. I just ran 24 brass into the press, only 4 brass chamber real easy , another 15 are hard or barely impossible to chamber.

Why ? how do I fix this now

And yes when the shell holder touch the die when I pull down the handle
 
I just when back in there , and turned the die 3/4 of turn further in. it the does make a contact with the shell holder everytime I pull the handle down. I ran all the problematic brass again into the die they still dont chamber properly .

All brass were all fire only once with the same rifle.

Does the center pin in the die as anything to do with the brass chambering ?
or it's just for the bullet seating and primer removal.

I noticed something, if I lower the pin flush with the tightening bolt. Torque it like a maniac and pull the handle down. The shell holder will not touch the die. I have to force it and then the center pin will pop back up .1 of a inch then the shell holder will touch the die. Only then the brass will go all then way into the die. This is how my die is set up at the moment
 
Stop torquing like a maniac. The pin is supposed to protrude the top of the die. The shoulder needs to be bumped back a hair more, and the easiest way to do that is to use a shellholder that is thinner. I have 3 or 4 #5 shellholders here that all measure different thicknesses. If you only have one, you can polish it to knock .001" off it, or polish the bottom of the die. I would try the shellholder first. This is a common occurrence with WSM cases...
 
volks_r_us said:
I have a Lee Shell holder with lee die right now , I will buy a RCBS shell holder, tonight after work and see what it happens.
Click to expand...

Mine are all lee, and they still measure different...If you have 2 now, try polishing one down a bit on the top...
 
That may cure the thing. I suggest you put your hands on a cartridge headspace gauge, from Hornady. Jimmy, at Dante will know what the thing is. This is an easy to use tool that fits your standard caliper and will help to know how much you may remove from the bototm of the shellholder..

Another thing it could be is a thick neck. Measure the neck of a spent case (fired from YOUR rifle) and compare it with with one from a hard to chamber case. WSM brass varies quite a bit in neck wall thickness and the rifles chamber necks are not all the same.

Let us know what you found.
 
Ok here is another update

I decided to sand down the shell holder with a 800grit sand paper on a flat metal surface.

Orignal tickness was 0.250"
it's now down to 0.247-0.246"

I tried to repressed a few of the problematic brass at 0.249-0.248 they were still hard to chamber. I could feel the bolt extrator notch (mauser action) grinding the brass.

At 0.247-0.246" I repressed all the problematic brass , they all fit the gun now Alleluia !!!:rockOn:

IMG_2399.jpg


Now should I repress all the brass even the ones that were fitting the gun before I polished the shell Holder ?

here some pic of the brass.
nickel plated one was found at the range , reloaded and fire once with my rifle.
Both yelllow brass where fire twice with the same gun , and only reloaded once

IMG_2388.jpg



right side was done before the shell holder Mod
IMG_2390.jpg


IMG_2391.jpg



IMG_2392.jpg



Only the left side was press with the polished shell holder
IMG_2393.jpg


IMG_2397.jpg


IMG_2398.jpg
 
What you can do is trim,deburr and measure the COL then full resizing after cleaning and pollishing the brass and MAKE sure you are not chambering the live round inside your house as it can detonate and officially ILLEGAL( loaded firearm inside the dweling)
 
I thought you were suppose to trim after resizing :confused:
Good chance I'm wrong , I'm the noob.

clean , resize , trim , deburr , prime , powder , bullet . This is what im doing at the moment
 
I have a 7mm WSM, and a 6.5-270 WSM, both are custom reamers with match target chambers. In both I have a problem with closing the bolt after the second reloading. In both standard dies with standard shell holders could not return the brass to pre-firing headspace.

I needed to take 5 thou off a redding body die, and then use a set of competition shell holders (they vary in thickness) in order to set my headspace back to the pre-fired spec.

After doing this chambering was easy.
 
roberti11 said:
I have a 7mm WSM, and a 6.5-270 WSM, both are custom reamers with match target chambers. In both I have a problem with closing the bolt after the second reloading. In both standard dies with standard shell holders could not return the brass to pre-firing headspace.

I needed to take 5 thou off a redding body die, and then use a set of competition shell holders (they vary in thickness) in order to set my headspace back to the pre-fired spec.

After doing this chambering was easy.
Click to expand...

OK now I'm starting to get confused.
You took 5 thou off (the base??) of a Redding body die which should allow for further setback of the shoulder or increased shoulder bump.

Then you resize using competion shell holders which are thicker than standard in different stages and in effect reduce shoulder bump.

I might be miss reading this but it sounds like one step forward and one step back.:confused::confused:
 
DOUGLAS D said:
OK now I'm starting to get confused.
You took 5 thou off (the base??) of a Redding body die which should allow for further setback of the shoulder or increased shoulder bump.

Then you resize using competion shell holders which are thicker than standard in different stages and in effect reduce shoulder bump.

I might be miss reading this but it sounds like one step forward and one step back.:confused::confused:
Click to expand...

When you remove a small amount on a lathe it is not possible to get it exact, so I removed ~6 thou to ensure I would be able to bump the shoulder enough. Of course 6 thou is way too much.
Now I could play with the lock nut on the die, and adjust its position relative to a standard shell holder. But instead I just used the competition shell holders one by one to get the one that gave me the correct set back on the shoulder to get the headspace back to where I wanted it.

For this particular case, I used the shell holder that was +4 thou, this combined with 6 thou I removed allowed me to bump the shoulder back by ~2thou ((+4 -6=-2), which was what I needed to get to. There is no way I could have removed only 2 thou with a lathe.
 
OK I understand what you've done now and it makes sense
I've stoned down a Lee shellholder in the past but I've never machined down a die simply because I've never had to. (yet :D)
 
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