Having a problem

[82bluestang]

I have a marlin xs7 in .243 and I am using hornady brass. I'm having a problem with the bolt being very hard to lock. My case overall length is about .015 shorter than listed after being fired once. I ran it through my fl die and the oal under listed length and made sure the primer was seated flush or deeper amd for some reason I'm dimimg the primer and the bolt is hard to get to lock. Any help or ideas would be great. Thanks in advance.
Matt

 

[farout]

The case OAL measurement runs from the case base to the the end of the neck. There is another important measurement on fired cases. That is the length from the case base to the mid point on the case shoulder. When first fire a case, the body usually stretches in this area based on the amount of headspace. Once fired the case expands to fit the chamber snugly. This can make the bolt harder to close, but it is usually not too hard. A full re-size of the case should resolve the issue, but for you, it appears it did not. I would try full length sizing again and make sure to follow the FL die setup instructions closely. The die has to be setup correctly to push the shoulder back and make the bolt easier to close again. Most die setups say to screw the die down until it touches the cartridge holder and then turn another 1/8 turn.