Tell what I’m doing wrong.

[rharfo]

Been reloading multiple calibers for 20+ years. I am full length resizing 6.5 PRC brass with Hornady die. Multiple resized empty cases have stiff bolt closure. No matter their length. Per Hornady instructions the die is bottomed out on the shell holder. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong. Thanks

 

[sedancowboy]

You might have a tight chamber and need a little more sizing. The quick and cheap fix is to take a little off the top of the shell holder and see if that helps. You can do that by laying a piece of emery cloth on a flat surface and polishing off of the top of the shell holder a little at a time until you get where you need to be. You could measure your shell holder and see if it is a little tall. You could also try a different brand shell holder. Most are .125 from top to base of the case. All this can be determined by a Hornady headspace gauge.

 

[L.Sherm]

Are these new cases or fired cases?

 

[rharfo]

Are these new cases or fired cases?

Fired

 

[L.Sherm]

I would do as sedancowboy suggested, if that doesnt work I would look at the die out of spec.

 

[shawnb]

Are you measuring how much you're setting the shoulder back? I dont think it happens very oftern but i had a setup in 7mm rem mag that had the sizing die bottomed out on the shell holder and it wasnt sizing enough. I had to switch to a different shell holder i had that allowed the die to be turned in a slight bit more

 

[cowboy]

If you don't want to mess sanding on your shell holder you can get the same results by sanding down the bottom of your sizing die.
Any gunsmith could take a couple thousands off either one in a matter of minutes if you don't feel comfortable doing it.
The problem you are having is actually not that uncommon.
Good luck.

 

[rharfo]

Sounds like the first thing to do is try a different shell holder. I think I have 3 different brands.

 

[gohring3006]

You need to measure your fired cases and measure a sized case to see exactly what's going on. (Measure the shoulder datum.) It's possible you could be stretching the case during sizing.
It could be a barrel head space problem, or die problem hard to tell, but getting some baseline measurements is where I would start. Sometimes it can take a couple firings before the case is fully formed to your chamber.

 

[gohring3006]

Also, does a not-sized fired case chamber easily?

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

I'd pick up a couple different she'll holders of different brands assuming you have a bit of camover already with the current one your using.

 

[eschafer]

slide a piece of shim stock or feeler gauge beneath the case head and on top of the deck of the shell holder... and size with feeler gauge in place..... start with .002" and add more until the shoulder moves as required..... often you can get as much as .008"-.010" beneath.... some shell holders are sloppier than others...

 

[rharfo]

Also, does a not-sized fired case chamber easily?

Fired cases are smooth

 

[gohring3006]

Fired cases are smooth

You're definitely stretching the case. I would say it's a die problem, I would try the shell holder trick. Maybe the Redding competition shell holder kit would be a better route.