270 Wby brass won't go into sizing die!!

[sambo3006]

I got a brand new set of RCBS 270 Wby dies and picked up two different lots of once fired brass totalling 38 pieces. I tumbled all of it and wiped it off. I lubed up with Imperial sizing wax as usual and couldn't get the ram to go all the way down on the brass. I lacked maybe a 16th or 32nd of an inch. I didn't try every piece of brass but none of the brass I sampled from either lot would go all the way into the sizing die. I tried to chamber some of them in my Mk V and they wouldn't go either. What gives? Do I have a die set and chamber that are both close to minimum spec and two lots of brass that came from large chambers? The odds of that seem pretty low but I am stumped. Ideas?

Sam

 

[Winchester 69]

Has the die been cleaned?
.

 

[sambo3006]

Yes, always do that right off the bat.

 

[boomtube]

Put more lube on the lower portion of the case. Imperial is good but it has to be applied fully.

Then push harder.

Then, look at the gap between the die bottom and shell holder top. With the case still in the die, adjust the die down until that gap closes.

 

[sambo3006]

I just measured some of the brass just above the belt and it is all pretty consistent at 0.512-0.513". Some fired 7 mag brass to compare was measuring 0.507-5.10" and some sized 300 WM brass was measuring 0.505-0.509". This area of the case seems to be where the resistance is, does this diameter indicate too much head expansion?

 

[AJ Peacock]

According to the drawing on Quickload, the diameter in front of the belt on 270 Weath Magnum should be .512", so that does not appear to be your problem.

Have you tried to remove the depriming rod completely from the equation? Is the rod contacting the web inside the cartridge?

AJ

 

[sambo3006]

I think I'm going to call RCBS tomorrow. I have tried it without the expander/decapper rod with the same results. I noticed that there is a line on the brass just above the belt where the die stopped squeezing down the case body and you can literally feel a ring of brass with your fingernail at that point. The sized ones are all like this and none will chamber. Sounds like maybe the die is too tight. I can think of no other explanation at this point. Thanks for all the good suggestions, guys and I'll post on here if I get it figured out.

Sam

 

[sambo3006]

According to RCBS, the die may have been made near the end of that reamer run and may be on the tighter side. They want the die, a couple pieces of the brass that won't size and a couple of pieces of brass fired in my rifle. I don't have any! The reason I picked up the once fired brass was to save some money over new brass! I'm going to try to size some of the brass in my buddy's 270 Wby die. If they will resize and chamber in my rifle, then hopefully they will then fit in the die I have after firing in my rifle. Otherwise, off to RCBS it will go.

 

[kraky]

You do know that NO belted sizing die is designed to go all the way down to the belt right?
Die manufacturers feel that if they made the die go all the way to the belt sooner or later someone would manage to push the belt back when sizing and ruin headspace....so they all leave a tad of room over the belt.
Belted mag chambers are all over the place with headspace issues and most belted mag brass is made brand new quite undersized.
I would highly recomend that if you don't want to buy new brass that you get one of the belted mag collet dies which will bring all your brass back to factory spec right down to the belt. Then you can decide if you have a headspace issue with not getting the shoulder knocked back far enough.
I know this because I load for a friend and myself many different wby calibers. His guns are custom but have loose chambers and we have to use that belted mag collet die quite often especially when swapping from gun to gun. It's an expensive die at about $100 but the first night I used it I made the money back....besides....I made my buddy buy the die.....smart???

 

[sambo3006]

You do know that NO belted sizing die is designed to go all the way down to the belt right?
Die manufacturers feel that if they made the die go all the way to the belt sooner or later someone would manage to push the belt back when sizing and ruin headspace....so they all leave a tad of room over the belt.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the belt sits down flush with the top of the shellholder and the die should come all the way down to touch the shellholder (and the arm should actually cam over a tad) if full length sizing is desired. That's the way I understand it.

I was told something very similar by RCBS to what you said about dies not being designed to size the belt. I don't want to size the belt, I just want the $%#!% brass to resize and chamber!--grins

 

[Innovative]

Sam,
You've described a very common symptom when reloading belted magnum calibers. Your used cases were probably reloaded at least one or two times before you bought them. In the process of resizing, conventional resizing dies bump the shoulder back, and swage the case inward so they will rechamber. However, conventional resizing dies also push the brass back towards the belt, and this usually causes a slight bulge in your case - just above the belt. Read my website, and you'll see how to solve this problem. You'll also see a page with reloading questions & answers, and a page with testimonials about our unique resizing die.

The "top" of our Belted Magnum Collet Resizing Die measures the width of your handloads, so that you'll know when a little "extra" resizing is needed. If your cases don't fit down to the belt, then you can slip the collet over the case, and resize those cases in the bottom of the die. This die ONLY reduces the area just above the belt. So far, over 2,400 shooters now use this die. You to reload cases up to 20 times with this die, and you'll know that your handloads will ALWAYS chamber.

- Innovative

 

[mo]

I have one of Larry Dies.... It will cure the problem, and for the price Wby brass, it wil pay for itself in no time! It's worth the 100 bucks!!! MO

 

[sambo3006]

I tried my buddy's RCBS 270 Wby sizing die and glory be! The brass sized nicely and chambered slick as a whistle. That stinking die is going back to RCBS to be replaced. It wouldn't suprise me if it was outside of their specification range all together. Problem solved.

 

[Innovative]

Sam,

When you get your new RCBS die, keep an eye on your case width just above the belt. Remember, your case width starts out at .507" when they're new. If your handloads expand to the point where they're just .001" too wide - they won't fit. Your conventional resizing die alone seldom works properly with belted magnum calibers.

- Innovative