Help with oversize .243 lee die

bankshot said:
you should always full size resize when using brass from another rifle
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This does not always work. Modern rifles seem to have chambers with less tolerance and if you are using old brass that has hardened, when the case comes out of the sizing die it will spring back, just enough to prevent the full length sized case from going into the new chamber.
The solution is to anneal the old case before resizing it.
Annealing is never a bad idea and had the OP annealed his cases, the problem would most likely have disappeared, saving him a lot of work and worry.
I have personally had two new rifles in two different calibres, one of which was a 243, that acted just like the OP describes and annealing cured each one.
 
I'm surprised that you don't have a live round stuck in your die. The right way to do that trick is to use a .308 die with the guts pulled out, or a bushing die with the bushing removed or a body die. That's assuming that sizing loaded ammo is something that you're happy with. I know, lots of guys are doing it and I've done it myself. Still, its occasionally best to do a risk/benefit analysis. Best case you save a few minutes. That's good, but isn't that big of a benefit. Very unlikely but possible bad outcomes are dieing or blowing your #### off and not dieing.
 
It's highly unlikely the die is out of spec. Even a Lee die gets checked ten ways from Sunday before it gets shipped. You absolutely sure it was the FL die? However, from post #3, I'd bet the 'once fired' either wasn't or as mentioned, out of an oversized chamber. The latter is unlikely too though. Set up the FL die again and see what happens.
 
maynard said:
So you squeezed the bullet tighter with the resizing die? Redding body dies do not touch the bullet and only resizes the body and bumps the should back a couple thousands.
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Will that cause a problem do you think? I figured it wouldn't be much different than using the Lee factory crimp die.
 
sunray said:
It's highly unlikely the die is out of spec. Even a Lee die gets checked ten ways from Sunday before it gets shipped. You absolutely sure it was the FL die? However, from post #3, I'd bet the 'once fired' either wasn't or as mentioned, out of an oversized chamber. The latter is unlikely too though. Set up the FL die again and see what happens.
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After trying another set of dies and still having the same issue, I switched out the #2 shell holder that came with the die set with the #2 from my universal shell holder set and to my surprise the problem was solved. Measured with the mic to see what the difference was and the shell holder that came with the die set is 4/1000" thicker than the one that came in the universal shell holder set.
 
woodenpigeon said:
Has anyone else ever bought a new die that seems to be too big? I bought new set of lee dies in the yellow box that has f/l, neck sizer, and seating die. I loaded up 40 tonight and then tried to chamber one and I could barley close the bolt on my tikka t3 .243. Tried some other rounds and there were some that there is no way the bolt is going to close with. The brass was once fired by someone else, so I full length sized them, used the lee case gauge and cutter to trim to the right length and chamfered the neck and cleaned the primer pocket. Loaded rounds and now this. I measured the brass and these vs a new factory federal round are 5 thousandths too big near the bottom of the case and 2 thousandths larger just before the neck. I pulled the bullet, and double checked that I had screwed the die in far enough so that the shell holder was hitting the bottom of the die and then tried with no luck to close the bolt on the empty case. Am I not seeing something here or is this die just too big?
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I don't see where you mention if the problem brass was fired in another rifle or not.

It's been mentioned a few times in this thread as a possible cause to your problem.
 
SuperCub said:
I don't see where you mention if the problem brass was fired in another rifle or not.

It's been mentioned a few times in this thread as a possible cause to your problem.
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You'll need to re read my original post. It's mentioned the brass was fired by someone else. It most likely is part of the problem but once I checked one shell holder vs the other I found the shell holder that came with the dies was 4/1000" thicker than the one in the universal shell holder set. Switched them out and problem was solved.
 
I think all the different fixes have been mentioned. If you are going to grind something...grind the cheap shell holder and not the die. I have seen under size chambers and crappy dies from all the makers. A body die may or not work. Custom reamers from PT&G are often under size to the point that you can't buy dies that will work. You seem to have it fixed by using a different shell holder. Four thou is like going from a go to no-go situation.
 
woodenpigeon said:
You'll need to re read my original post. It's mentioned the brass was fired by someone else. It most likely is part of the problem but once I checked one shell holder vs the other I found the shell holder that came with the dies was 4/1000" thicker than the one in the universal shell holder set. Switched them out and problem was solved.
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I did miss that. ...... I have had more resizing problems with brass fired in another rifle than any other cause.
 
SuperCub said:
I did miss that. ...... I have had more resizing problems with brass fired in another rifle than any other cause.
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Once you have the brass fitting and fired in your chamber again, you should try to use thicker shell holder and see if it works. This will decrease the amount it needs to be sized.
 
SuperCub said:
Once you have the brass fitting and fired in your chamber again, you should try to use thicker shell holder and see if it works. This will decrease the amount it needs to be sized.
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Not meaning to derail but do you guys that bump the bottom of your sizing die with the shell holder, do you segregate shell holders with certain dies, or do you use certain shell holders as standard?
 
silver 55 said:
Not meaning to derail but do you guys that bump the bottom of your sizing die with the shell holder, do you segregate shell holders with certain dies, or do you use certain shell holders as standard?
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I do bump the sizing die when I need a FL resize on the brass otherwise it gets backed off a 1/2 turn for neck size.

The only shellholder I segregate is the one I have thinned a bit for increased sizing in a std die.
 
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