Thick rim on 6.5x55 Norma brass?

oppy

oppy

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So, this is a weird one. I'm loading up a bunch of 6.5x55 brass. I have some once-fired Norma, and some twice-fired S&B, all fired from the same rifle (refurbished M96 Mauser). Brass has been tumbled and cleaned, so the next step is to full length resize and deprime.

I put my RCBS Shell holder #2 into my press. The S&B brass slides in and out of the shell holder effortlessly, as expected. The Norma brass, OTOH, either refuses to slide in to shell holder, or, if it does, is very "stiff", requiring a lot of force.

I have two of the RCBS #2 shell holders, both exhibit the same symptoms with the Norma brass.

Any thoughts/ideas on what the problem might be?
 
May or may not be any help to you? I only have Norma previously fired cases, so I have never tried any other brands. I have a set of Lyman brand sizing dies that I use in my RCBS Rockchucker press without issue. The shell holder is Lyman brand #27, and I have not had any difficulties with it at all.

From your post, one would think that if anyone in the world knows how to size and make stuff for 6.5x55, that would be Norma? I have read multiple times on Internet that some USA producers use same size rim as for 30-06, etc., even though the 6.5x55 from Sweden is supposed to be slightly larger. I did not know about a thickness issue, though.

From SAAMI 2015 - if my eyes still work - cartridge drawings, not chamber drawings - diameter of rim for 6.5x55 is listed as .4803" -.010"; for 30-06 is .473" -.010". Thickness of rim for 6.5x55 is .059" -.010"; for 30-06 is .049" -.010".

It is possible, I suppose, for a portion of a rim to get "pulled back" upon extraction - case head would no longer be dead flat - might not fit into a shell holder??
 
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I wonder if the issue is with the brass not being sized enough near the base. I would try resizing… turning the brass 3 times during each resize downstroke.
 
Using a Hornady #19 shell holder the 1F Norma and Lapua Brass I have slides in no issues. Tried some Hornady and again, no issues.
 
JEC said:
I wonder if the issue is with the brass not being sized enough near the base. I would try resizing… turning the brass 3 times during each resize downstroke.
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I do not think he can get the case rim into the shell holder, to size it even once?? RCBS table says to use their #2 shell holder, but OP says that his Norma made cases will not fit.
 
JEC said:
I wonder if the issue is with the brass not being sized enough near the base. I would try resizing… turning the brass 3 times during each resize downstroke.
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I'm not sure how resizing the brass is going to affect the thickness or diameter of the rim and that is where his problem is.
 
Paul_T said:
Using a Hornady #19 shell holder the 1F Norma and Lapua Brass I have slides in no issues. Tried some Hornady and again, no issues.
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That Hornady #19 is correct for 6.5x55 as per the Hornady shell holder table. Interesting that Hornady lists different shell holder (Hornady #2) for 30/30 Win, whereas RCBS says same size (RCBS #2) for both 6.5x55 and 30/30 Win
 
I have a similar problem but in the other direction. I bought 45 Auto Rim brass to use in my S&W Model 25 revolver and a #13 Lee shellholder which is designated for the 45 AR. The issue is that the cases sometimes slip out of the shellholder upon retraction from the size die so the shellholder interior dimension is obviously too large for the rim. i have tried both new Starline and Remington 45 AR brass and have the same problem with both brands. The Lee Auto Prime shellholder (also a #13) seems to retain the cases better and a check with my Mititoyo caliper shows that the interior dimension is marginally smaller with the AP shellholder vs. the regular shellholder.

Obviously this is a quality control issue with the shellholder. I'm going to try a couple other brands of shellholder and see if that fixes the problem. You may have to take the same route as other posters are apparently not having the same problem with other shellholder brands.
 
Well, I found out that Norma does have a thicker rim on their brass, I've found a couple of other forum posts that cite this same problem. The solution seems to be to try different shell holders
 
RCBS uses the same same shell holder for 6.5x55 and 30-06 / 308, etc. Lee and some other die makers use a different shell holder for 6.5x55. LEE has #2 for 30-06, number 3 for 6.5x55. The LEE #3 shell holder works with my Norma brass.
 
jethunter said:
RCBS uses the same same shell holder for 6.5x55 and 30-06 / 308, etc. Lee and some other die makers use a different shell holder for 6.5x55. LEE has #2 for 30-06, number 3 for 6.5x55. The LEE #3 shell holder works with my Norma brass.
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RCBS cites a #2 for 6.5x55 and a #3 for .308/30-06
 
jethunter said:
RCBS uses the same same shell holder for 6.5x55 and 30-06 / 308, etc. Lee and some other die makers use a different shell holder for 6.5x55. LEE has #2 for 30-06, number 3 for 6.5x55. The LEE #3 shell holder works with my Norma brass.
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This /\

I have used a Lee #3 shell holder in my hand primers and RCBS Rock Chucker for close to 40 years.

The only affordable and available brass/cartridges back then was PPU in white, flimsy, paper boxes.

That brass was terrible, when it came to consistent dimensions.

The rims were often over diameter and the thickness was all over the place.

Some were so bad, I didn't even try to salvage them and just tossed them.

Those of us that shot those rifles back then, went to all sorts of extremes, to make up shootable cases. The best were made from IVI 7.62x51 blank fired cases.

The petals on the case mouth could be easily cut off and then trimmed, and sizede for fireforming.

Yes, I know, the case dimensions are smaller, beggars can't be choosers.

Many US manufacturers of 6.5x55 went with rims that were standard .473 rather than the Swede .480 spec, as well as the standar .473 web instead of Swede spec .477 diameter.

Yes, there was a noticeable bulge on the web, but neck resizing only, kept things safe to reload.

This is likely when RCBS first reccomended their #2 shell holder for the 6.5x55

I have a bunch of mid fourties cases, made in Sweden and their case heads all fit easily into the #2 RCBS shell holder.

Norma cases as well as Lapua seem to be made with thicker rims

International Firearms brought in a few million Norma made unprimed cases, back in the mid seventies, because Dominion/IVI/CIL was no longer making it and had sold the equipment into the US.

Those cases were excellent but required the Lee #3 shell holder.
 
ted_dent said:
I have a similar problem but in the other direction. I bought 45 Auto Rim brass to use in my S&W Model 25 revolver and a #13 Lee shellholder which is designated for the 45 AR. The issue is that the cases sometimes slip out of the shellholder upon retraction from the size die so the shellholder interior dimension is obviously too large for the rim. i have tried both new Starline and Remington 45 AR brass and have the same problem with both brands. The Lee Auto Prime shellholder (also a #13) seems to retain the cases better and a check with my Mititoyo caliper shows that the interior dimension is marginally smaller with the AP shellholder vs. the regular shellholder.

Obviously this is a quality control issue with the shellholder. I'm going to try a couple other brands of shellholder and see if that fixes the problem. You may have to take the same route as other posters are apparently not having the same problem with other shellholder brands.
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I use the Lee 13 for 45 AR without any problems. May be a Lee QC issue with the shell holders.

As for the 6.6x55, I have it in the back of my mind that the correct rim thickness is thicker than what American makers consider "standard". If I had that problem i would take a piece of thick brass to the LGS and try different brands of shellholders.
 
Ganderite said:
I use the Lee 13 for 45 AR without any problems. May be a Lee QC issue with the shell holders.

As for the 6.6x55, I have it in the back of my mind that the correct rim thickness is thicker than what American makers consider "standard". If I had that problem i would take a piece of thick brass to the LGS and try different brands of shellholders.
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I also use Lee #13 with Starline brass, have no probs.
 
Perhaps to assist OP or others - the shell holder number from one maker to another do not necessarily match up - a Lee #2 and an RCBS #2 and a Hornady #2 and a Lyman #2 might be for entirely different cartridges. Have to read the charts and understand what it is that you want. In my limited experience, however, a Lee shell holder (or whichever brand) seems to work fine with an RCBS die set (or whichever brand) in my RCBS Rockchucker or Partner Press (or which ever other brand of press that accepts standard shell holders).
 
I have 2 - RCBS #2 Shellholders on my bench, and both accept Lapua, Norma, PPU and RWS cases without any issues.
My RCBS #3 will accept Winchester and Federal cases, but will not accept any of the European made ones. Dave.
 
Rcbs says number 2 for 6.5 x55 and I have found it a bit tight with some brass though it always worked for me. But I think the number 2 is really made for 30 30 type brass and only fits 6.5x55 by the way
 
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