wsm loading issues! any info would appreciated.

drummerboy73

drummerboy73

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My girlfriend shoots a .270 wsm. The rifle shoots quite well and she really likes it. I am however having issue with loading ammo for it. I full lenght resized the brass, trimed it to lenght and seated the bullets just off the lands.The problem I'm having is 70% of them won't chamber properly. the bolt is very hard to close and open.I'm concerned if in a hunting situation where a second shot is needed she will be hooped as she has a very hard time opening the bolt, heck i have hard time. there seems to be a slight mark on the mouth of the cases when there are ejected from the action. are they to long? Is the shoulder not being resized properly?

I've double checked everything, case length , bullet depth ect... I try messing with the die, setting both higher and lower in the press but nothing seems to work. What the heck is goin on??? The brass we are using has only been fired in this rifle so I'm really baffled...:confused:

Any help would be greatly apreciated.
 
I'd venture a guess that the problem isnt with your resizing die but rather with how you are seating your bullets.
Nothing destroys a perfectly resized case faster than an improper setting on the bullet seating die.
Re-read your instructions again and load up a couple of unprimed cases.
Cycle them through and let us know how that works for you.
 
In my 7 WSM X-bolt I was distorting the shoulder when I was seating the bullet. It wasn't major, and I thought I had poor chamber. I tried some factory loads, and they worked real slick, so I knew the problem was with me, not the gun. So, after you full-length size, and trim to correct length, they should shamber without a problem, then when you seat the bullet, make sure you don't push out the shoulder like I did. There should be a gap [like the thickness of a nickle, but with mine it was a bit more] between the shell holder and the bottom of the seating die. If this is what you're doing and it still isn't chambering well, then perhaps your sizing die is a bit off spec, or needs to be adjusted slightly. Try some factory loads, maybe your chamber in the gun is off. If the facotry loads don't fit well, then you'll know.
 
This is common with reloading WSM.

I have 2 of these a 6.5-270WSM and a 7MM WSM, this happens with both by the 2nd or 3rd firing. You need to take 5 thou off the bottom of your die and then adjust the position wrt the shell plate to push the shoulder back enough to get smooth chambering.

I shoot a Match 7MM WSM in F-O, so my actual solution was to get a redding body die and remove 8 thou and then use a set of Redding competition shell holders (they are progressively thicker than a standard shell holder) and find the combination that gave me enough set back of the shoulder to allow easy chambering.
 
Yep, very common with WSM cases. You need to bump the shoulder back more. Take a couple or 5 thou off the die. Start at 2 and then try sizing again. If you have more than one shell holder, put a mic on them and see if one is thinner.
 
blargon said:
Yep, very common with WSM cases. You need to bump the shoulder back more. Take a couple or 5 thou off the die. Start at 2 and then try sizing again. If you have more than one shell holder, put a mic on them and see if one is thinner.
Click to expand...

do you have to take the die to a machine shop to get this done? I wouldn't have a clue where to begin modifying a die.
 
I had the same issue with my 7mm SAUM. I was adjusting the die so the press would cam over a the top but the cartridge still wouldn't chamber properly. Upon closer inspection of the brass and die relation, I noticed that even when the press was caming over a the top of the stroke, there was still a slight gap between the die and shell holder. I had to screw in the die a little more for a stronger caming over pressure on the brass so the die would contact the shell holder. Problem solved.

I guess the shorter brass is a little stiffer and resist "normal" resizing force.
 
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With my 300wsm I had the same issue, as stated above I needed to bump the shoulder. But i took a little off the top of the shell holder instead of the bottom of the die, just because a new shell holder is 4 bucks.
 
bcsteve said:
I had the same issue with my 7mm SAUM. I was adjusting the die so the press would cam over a the top but the cartridge still would chamber properly. Upon closer inspection of the brass and die relation, I noticed that even when the press was caming over a the top of the stroke, there was still a slight gap between the die and shell holder. I had to screw in the die a little more for a stronger caming over pressure on the brass so the die would contact the shell holder. Problem solved.

I guess the shorter brass is a little stiffer and resist "normal" resizing force.
Click to expand...

I tried that..problem not solved.
 
GRiNGo said:
With my 300wsm I had the same issue, as stated above I needed to bump the shoulder. But i took a little off the top of the shell holder instead of the bottom of the die, just because a new shell holder is 4 bucks.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the same thing...gonna try and shave it down a bit see what happens. shell holder is way cheaper to replace. also gonna try a different die.
 
drummerboy73 said:
I'm thinking the same thing...gonna try and shave it down a bit see what happens. shell holder is way cheaper to replace. also gonna try a different die.
Click to expand...

Yes shellholders are cheaper. I actually had 3 shellholders for mine, and they all were different thicknesses, so I tried the thinnest one and it worked fine.
 
This is a problem that has appeared more frequently with the advent of the Short Mags.
I had to modify a shellholder to get it to size a 300 WSM enough to chamber properly as well. Pain in the a@@, but relatively easy to solve. Eagleye
 
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