I need some guidance on setting a die up..

Depends on your die, I think, on some the belt will go up inside the die, but it's not really contacting the die/ being sized. The die just comes all the way down to the shell holder so you have a point of reference for adjustment.
I guess in all of this I'm not sure if I have the doe setup correctly or if it sets up any different than non belted dies.

And yes I have loaded for 26 nosler, 6.5 creed/prc, 300/270 wsm and a few others.

I will order some of that Imperial Wax. I hear it's good stuff.
 
I guess in all of this I'm not sure if I have the doe setup correctly or if it sets up any different than non belted dies.

And yes I have loaded for 26 nosler, 6.5 creed/prc, 300/270 wsm and a few others.

I will order some of that Imperial Wax. I hear it's good stuff.
What kind of die do you have?

I'm not aware of any Belted Mag dies that really set up any differently than non belted mags.
Raise the ram, screw die in til it touches the shell holder, back off 1/2 to 1 turn should always be a safe starting point.

Then sneak up on your .002 shoulder bump or whatever you're aiming for.
 
What kind of die do you have?

I'm not aware of any Belted Mag dies that really set up any differently than non belted mags.
Raise the ram, screw die in til it touches the shell holder, back off 1/2 to 1 turn should always be a safe starting point.

Then sneak up on your .002 shoulder bump or whatever you're aiming for.
It's a Hornady run of the mill two die set. The New Dimension Set I'm pretty sure. I ordered the imperial wax…when it comes in a few days I'll tackle it again. Thanks for all the input!
 
It's a Hornady run of the mill two die set. The New Dimension Set I'm pretty sure. I ordered the imperial wax…when it comes in a few days I'll tackle it again. Thanks for all the input!

No problem, and good luck!

Same dies I'm using. The belt goes up in there and touches that little shoulder inside but doesn't actually get sized, only the body of the case just above the belt.

Imperial sizing die wax is good stuff a little goes a long way apply it with your fingers just enough that you can say it's completely covered but the thinnest coating you can get on it. And try not to get any on the shoulder. With these expander ball dies I also put a tiny bit of the wax on the inside of the case neck.
 

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Try this…
Set your die up just so you a gentle cam over, not jamming the shell holder into the die.

Slide a piece of paper between the brass HS and holder (taking up slop in the holder while pushing brass deeper into the die), run brass into die. Try to chamber said brass if it won't chamber fold the paper in half (doubling the thickness) and size brass again.
And lube the inside of the neck will help to not pull the shoulder back out.
 
I'm not positive since I don't use Hornady dies, but setting it to contact the shell holder is likely the correct and safe starting point. The brass will be worked a little more than necessary, but that's not something to worry about.

Since you aren't concerned with exactly .002" shoulder bump (and don't have the means to measure it), you can unscrew it a bit at a time until you achieve the desired brass to chamber clearance.
 
Please elaborate…
I have had the same problems with fired 7mag, 300Win mag, and 7 STW brass that I got from other people.
I resized like I have for 40 years without a hitch but all that brass was fired from my chambers.
No matter what I did they either wouldn't chamber or where extremely hard to chamber.
Even using Redding custom shellholders I couldn't fix the problem, the shoulder was pushed back but the body wasn't getting resized.
After checking the size of the case just above the belt I found that I wasn't able to get that part sized down enough. So, I ordered a Willis die and used it, on some I had to run it through 2-3 times while adjusting the collet around the case.
I ended up having to do that with several hundred cases. After those cases were fired in my chambers they all have resized normally so far.
 
I've never tried resizing belted magnum brass that wasn't fired through one of my rifles, so it could simply be that your chamber is more than a little tighter than the one they were fire formed to.

I checked my RCBS 7 RM and 30-338 full length dies, and they also have the relief cut for the belt. If yours doesn't then that seems quite odd.
 
I had enough trouble with the belted mags that I went to the Ultra mags, Just me.
Virgin brass dedicated to that rifle might solve the problem.
Seems like someone makes a special die to solve the belt problem.
 
Really not a good idea of using fired brass from another chamber, especially in a belted mag. Try and find a some virgin brass and fire form those in your chamber ( or factory rounds fired in your rifle ) and try setting up your die with those and see how they work before you spend needless money on other dies.
 
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