Case resizing question for rifles.

Adjusting the sizing die down will not caused a rolled shoulder. With the die in contact with the shell holder/shell plate with the ram up, the case is getting sized as much as it possibly can i.e. it is being full length resized.

The position of the body of the seating die sets whether or not you are crimping when you seat a bullet. If you screw it too far down, the case shoulder will hit the shoulder on the inside of the die, causing it to be flared out or "rolled". This of course increases the diameter of the case at the shoulder to the point where the action cannot close on the chambered round.
 
I was having a similar problem when resizing. I'd resize and when I chambered a round the bolt wouldn't close. Turns out my problem was I wasn't lubing the inside of the neck of the brass well enough and when I would go to pull the brass out of the die the neck expander was pulling the shoulder of the case out of whack.

Try lubing the crap out of the inside of the neck with a Q-tip.
 
Your first sentence, "I recently bought 2000 .308 cases and decided to prepare them for loading (resize/deprime/clean/trim) before actually loading them. I went through about half of them(on a single stage press!) before deciding to load some rounds", may tell the whole story. Betcha the 2000 cases weren't new and that some were seriously hot loaded. This can result in the web being crushed, and thus the base of the cartridge is over diameter. It's almost impossible to swage the base down to size, and your best bet is to discard all the suspect cases.
 
Correct set up of a resizing die should not as great a problem as you describe.I believe that if you trial chamber your empty resized cases with a stripped bolt,you will get a much better "feel" for the extent of rezing die adjustment that is necessary.When reloading for a Garand or M14 you really must do your trial chambering with a stripped bolt in order to ensure that your cases are sufficiently resized to avoid an out of battery detonation due to a case not completely chambering.

On the relationship of the shellholder to die bottom,there is a finite mechanical
limit to how much adjustment can be achieved.If you lower the press handle to full travel and then position the shellholder at maximum height,you need to screw the die into the press to the point where it makes full contact with the shellholder.When you achieve this full contact you must then raise the press handle enough to separate the shellholder and the die bottom.Next,with the shellholder and die bottom out of contact,you should turn the die down an additional 1/8 turn and lock it in place with the locking ring.Having done this, lower the press handle to full travel again and you will feel hard contact with no slack between the shellholder and the bottom of the die.This is your initial FL resizing position where you should begin trial chambering resized cases in your rifle with the stripped bolt.If you still feel resistance with from resizing at this initial position,then continue trial resizing and chambering with the die lowered in additional small increments until you have reached the end point where a resized case chambers freely with the stripped bolt.

Most rifles should freely chamber cases which are resized at this initial full contact plus 1/8 turn position.Others may require the die to be turned down a tad more(again with the shell holder out of contact with the bottom of the die).This is a try and try again process until you get it right.

Re the improperly or insufficiently resized cases,all you need to do is to run then thru the resizer again after you have established the correct resizing position.If you have resized the cases too much and set the shoulder back too far the first time,you cannot correct this by resizing.If the difference is'nt overly excessive and cases have not been distorted in the process,the case could still be reloaded and fired which would fireform the case shoulder and move it forward into full contact with the chamber.

Again,I would leave my seating die in the box until the resizer die is sorted out.If you still have problems with your resizer die after all of the above and wish to eliminate the unlikely possibility of the resizer being off spec,I suggest that you have another experienced reloader use this die to resize cases for your or his rifles.If it does'nt work for him,then I would return the die to the manufacturer for investigation and correction.
 
I think you may need small base dies. I had a couple once fired 22-250 from my brothers 788 end up with my shells once (he shoots win and i shoot rem). I loaded up some rounds and headed to the range. Everything was good untill i chamberd one and the bolt was tight. next one closed fine. then it happend again. i looked at the head stamp and the two tight ones and lone behold they were win. I FL'd and loaded all the cases in the same sitting. I guess his 788 is loose compared to my T3. And if your m14 is 7.62 by 51 that would explain why that bolt closes. Mill spec is looser than Saami.
 
tjhaile said:
Adjusting the sizing die down will not caused a rolled shoulder. With the die in contact with the shell holder/shell plate with the ram up, the case is getting sized as much as it possibly can i.e. it is being full length resized.

The position of the body of the seating die sets whether or not you are crimping when you seat a bullet. If you screw it too far down, the case shoulder will hit the shoulder on the inside of the die, causing it to be flared out or "rolled". This of course increases the diameter of the case at the shoulder to the point where the action cannot close on the chambered round.
Click to expand...

Read carefully.
Adjusting the sizing die down doesnt cause a rolled shoulder.
Adjusting the seating die too far down does.
From what I've seen 99% of "sticky " rounds are from sloppily set seating dies.
 
Go to Sinclair's web page and order a body sizing die. This will allow you to run loaded rounds through the die without any danger. Also order a new shell holder. If yours is a couple thou thicker and your die a thou or two long you could run into the problem you are seeing.
Toss the FC brass and sort the others by head stamp then by weight. Keep track of what rifle they are used in.
 
I've been really busy lately and havent had a lot of free time untill a couple of days ago.

I painted a few sized cases with a dark marker, and tried to chamber them. They were hard to chamber (as before), and when extracted, the paint was scratched on the shoulder.

I re-adjusted the sizing die, about 1/2 turn further down after it touches the shellholder at the top of the stroke (it was about 1/4 further down before, per RCBS instructions). Newly sized cases chamber like a dream!
Now when i size cases that i previously sized (improperly), i can feel a distinct resistance at the very end of the stroke. Im guessing its the shoulder of the case being sized properly.

I also noticed that cases that required SIGNIFICANT effort to pull the neck expander out were also harder to chamber (due to the expander pulling the shoulder "out of whack" :) ), thanks to archie_james_c for this suggestion! I now take extra time to make sure the insides of the necks are lubed properly.

I now need one of those "body sizing dies" like maynard suggested, to resize a couple of hundred rounds that i loaded with improperly sized cases. Any dealers that sell these dies in Canada?

Thanks EVERYONE for the suggestions!
 
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I would guess that Archie James C has got it right.
A dry inside neck may easily stretch the shoulder out as the sizer comes out, making it hard to close the bolt.
This could also let the case go in the chamber by hand, apparently full in, even to sounding like it hit bottom.
Like he said, lube the inside of the neck, resize, just like you are doing, and see if that does it.
I like a bronze brush that fits the neck easily, with a bit of cloth wrapped around it to hold some lube, for cleaning and lubing the neck.
 
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