[jsthntn247]

I am having a problem getting my reloaded brass to chamber in my Remington 700 257 Wea. I am doing as described and turning my die a half turn past where it meets the shell holder to bump the shoulders back enough but the bolt still won't close without allot of force. I tried turning a half turn down and chambering until I got almost 6 full turns past where the instructions say should work and it still won't. I colored a reloaded case and chambered it and it is putting a mark on the case starting at the shoulder and scratching down the side of the case half way down. I thought about getting a collet die for belted cases with a bulge(http://www.larrywillis.com) but their is no marks above the belt when I chamber. Any thoughts??? I even took the die back and exchanged it but still won't chamber smoothly as factory ammo.

 

[jbpmidas]

I have had the same issue with my 700 in .30-06. What brand dies are you using? I was using Lee.

 

[jsthntn247]

Using rcbs dies. I'm thinking my chamber is out of spec or has a burr in it which is causing the single mark. I am confused because it cycles factory ammo fine

 

[miker84]

Are you trimming after sizing?
What is the case's OAL?

 

[jsthntn247]

Yes, brass has been trimmed. Oal is 3.170, which is no where near jammed.

 

[miker84]

Weird. You'd think the factory ammo would hang up too if it was the chamber.

 

[jsthntn247]

The only difference I can find between my reloads and factory is the area right above the belt. Mine measures .512 and factory is .507. However, the marked case showed no marks there.

 

[miker84]

Did the reloaded brass come from the factory ammo fired from your rifle? I'd be curious as to how the belt of the new factory case looks compared to the reloads.

 

[Guest]

One important rule for reloading any type of round is to have a headspace gauge on hand. Using the gage will tell you whether you have "bumped" the case enough to chamber.

 

[Stumpbud]

I have seen it where the crimping process is causing the case to squat causing a bulge on the case.
Try soft seating one at the same length and try it in the chamber.

 

[jsthntn247]

The cases were fired once as factory new and then reloaded once and have only been used in my rifle. I do not crimp my brass either. I am clueless on this one.

 

[Stumpbud]

Have you tried bumping the shoulder less, it sure looks like it is bulging the cases. I would try just sizing the neck only.

 

[Reloader]

You may have to buy small base dies. Usually these are for reloading for a variety of different rifles of the same caliber, where there may be differences in the chambers. I don't like them as they are hard to resize. If you are getting marks down the side of the brass your chamber may be a little tight and you might need small base dies. Try screwing the full length sizer down until it touches the shell holder.

 

[smoffett]

You may have to shave a small amount off the top of your shellholder. This will allow the brass to go a little farther inside the sizing die, thus bumping the shoulder back more. You're currently going all the way up against the die with the shellholder (aka "camming over") so there's no way to bump the shoulder back any further without either grinding some off the shellholder, or grinding some material off the bottom of the die. An alternative is to buy the Redding Competition Shellholder set (http://tinyurl.com/45wtska), which gives you varying thicknesses in the shellholders, so you can precisely control how deep the brass goes into the die. HTH.

 

[SJ]

You may have to shave a small amount off the top of your shellholder. This will allow the brass to go a little farther inside the sizing die, thus bumping the shoulder back more. You're currently going all the way up against the die with the shellholder (aka "camming over") so there's no way to bump the shoulder back any further without either grinding some off the shellholder, or grinding some material off the bottom of the die.

This was my thought too. Once it cams over no matter how much you screw it out it will not bump the shoulder back any more.

 

[jsthntn247]

I called RCBS and they told me to send the die in with 5 fired cases. I also thought about a redding bodly die. Anyone ever tried one of these for a tight chamber?