Brass not being bumped back

[Aloeus]

Hello All,
I'm trying to resize my 270wsm once fired brass, and despite using 2 different FL dies (Redding and Lee) I cannot get them to bump back. At all. I have set up the dies as instructed - turn until it makes contact with shell holder, pull the press back and turn it a little more. From what I understand this should resize the brass back to saami spec, basically around where my new brass is. The problem is it doesn't seem to bump the shoulders back at all - with either die. I have longer brass from another rifle that measures about .008 longer than new. Neither die even touches this stuff.

If neither die worked, my next thought was the shell holder (it must be too tall right?). According to Redding the standard shell holder height should be .125 from top to the plane that holds the case. I measured mine, and its about dead on to .125, certainly not something like .008 longer.
I'm at a bit of a loss. The next step seems to be to file the shell holder down, but I'm not sure I can take .008 off without weakening the holder too much. (The RCBS holders that change this dimension go up, not down, so I don't think they will work.)

I'm using Hornady one shot lube, it seems to work fine. The cases go in and out pretty easily, I'm just bottoming out the press on the shell holder. New rifle will not chamber the old (longer) brass, it will chamber its own brass but roughly- I have to put some force on the bolt. chambers new brass fine. It seems like a tight chamber, but I would think my dies should be able to bump at least the long brass back a little.

For added confusion: I've used the Redding die with my friends coax (I have a lee press) and it resized things fine, I was able to bump the long brass at least back like .004 and get it to fit the new rifle.

Any Ideas? Thanks,

 

[KNOTFERSAIL]

No problem taking .008 off. I use on that I took .007 off (.118) and works like a champ,and it's easier on the press because you don't have to "cam over" so hard.

What I did was use 600 grit sand paper with a little drop of water on it on my bench,with shell holder in hand and upside down a few slow and steady passes over the wet paper you will take a .001-2 no problem just keep checking the depth of holder until you take .008 off. Or until your brass chambers.

 

[tim_w]

I would just make sure the shell holder is actually kissing the die base before grinding. You can also order a redding comp shell holder of the thickness needed.

I never understood camming over. It's not as if pressing harder (more force) is going to go past shell holder seating against the die base. Your not going to compress the shell holder alloy or the die. Cam over IMO increases the time the case is compressed in the die and that decreases some of the spring back. Same thing can be accomplished by holding at the bottom stroke for an extra couple seconds without camming over.

Personally on once fired brass unless it was a wickedly hot load I set die to set shoulder bump to 0.000 of the fired case. This gives real world headspace off the chamber of 0.0015" - 0.002". But it reduces body diameter and does compress the shoulder as the brass flows. So in actuallity it's still sizing the shoulder. The fact your cases sized without contact on the shoulder grew by 0.008" is confirmation of this.

 

[2buffalo]

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[338 dude]

If I was going to file anything it would definitely be the shell holder not the die! you could also try sliding a .002 or a .003 feeler gauge under the case in the shell holder and see if that helps at all.

 

[KNOTFERSAIL]

If I was going to file anything it would definitely be the shell holder not the die! you could also try sliding a .002 or a .003 feeler gauge under the case in the shell holder and see if that helps at all.

Exactly what I did before I wet "polished" my shell holder

 

[FEENIX]

Check ~at the 2.00-minute mark.

 

[Lonewolf74]

The Redding comp shell holders won't help him. They are .002-.010 TALLER on the collar then standard shell holders making it so the die can not size the case as far down. The OP needs a shorter shell holder so he can size more, not less.

 

[DUSTY NOGGIN]

soot the case , remove bolt plunger and either hook under the extractor or remove that too .. and see where its hitting

 

[parshal]

I've had this happen a number of times since I chamber my rifles with near zero headspace. I end up taking .015-.020 off the bottom of the die. Some are very difficult to shorten and some like Forster machine beautifully. I've tried the shims on the shellholder and they just don't work as effectively long term.

 

[sedancowboy]

I don't want to derail this thread with a argument about Redding Competition shell holders but they do the opposite, they allow less sizing not more. A standard shell holder is .125 in height. The Redding Competition Shell holders start at .127 in height which is .002 less sizing. Meaning that the case goes into the die .002 less than a standard shell holder. They go from .127 to .135 which is .010 taller than a standard shell holder. If you notice they are labeled as +.002-+.010 not minus.
Now the reason for the confusion is that the directions state that you start with the +.010 shell holder which is the tallest and if you want more sizing you go the the next lowest but at no time do they size as much as a standard shell holder that is .125 tall.
There are many threads that have been derailed with this subject and I hope this is not the case here.

 

[Aloeus]

No problem taking .008 off. I use on that I took .007 off (.118) and works like a champ,and it's easier on the press because you don't have to "cam over" so hard.

What I did was use 600 grit sand paper with a little drop of water on it on my bench,with shell holder in hand and upside down a few slow and steady passes over the wet paper you will take a .001-2 no problem just keep checking the depth of holder until you take .008 off. Or until your brass chambers.

This is almost certainly my next step, already have another shell holder on order just in case I mess something up. Thanks for the instructions.

I've had this happen a number of times since I chamber my rifles with near zero headspace. I end up taking .015-.020 off the bottom of the die. Some are very difficult to shorten and some like Forster machine beautifully. I've tried the shims on the shellholder and they just don't work as effectively long term.

Good to know I'm not the only one who encounters this, although I know my rifle is not near zero headspace, its a factory Tikka. And the old thompson center is even longer still, yet I have 2 dies that will not size them and a shell holder that appears to be in spec. Oh well, on to shaving things down.

 

[Aloeus]

I don't want to derail this thread with a argument about Redding Competition shell holders but they do the opposite, they allow less sizing not more. A standard shell holder is .125 in height. The Redding Competition Shell holders start at .127 in height which is .002 less sizing. Meaning that the case goes into the die .002 less than a standard shell holder. They go from .127 to .135 which is .010 taller than a standard shell holder. If you notice they are labeled as +.002-+.010 not minus.
Now the reason for the confusion is that the directions state that you start with the +.010 shell holder which is the tallest and if you want more sizing you go the the next lowest but at no time do they size as much as a standard shell holder that is .125 tall.
There are many threads that have been derailed with this subject and I hope this is not the case here.

Hopefully anyone who sees this thread with a similar problem will not make that $60 mistake, I nearly did.

 

[doverpack12]

It seems your press may be flexing if things work correctly on your friends but not on yours. Have you looked to ensure full die contact with shell holder with a piece of brass? Shine a light behind or use a white piece of paper to look for any air gap.
You might need to screw the die down further to counter the flex