Testing Cases After Resizing?

Newbie alert...I am new to reloading and have full length resized some 7mm STW, 6.5 Creedmoor and .308. I deprimed as well on the press.

I thought I would chamber a few empty cases and see how they cycle. I noticed the bolt was more difficult to close on the newly resized brass. Is this normal? No bullet in the case, no primer but I did deburr the outside and inside of case after resizing.
As stated check and trim if necessary. But you want to set your sizing die up correctly. Take a few pieces of fired brass and check them with the correct datum bushing of a headspace comparator. Say the average is 1.500. You need to set the your sizing die up to only bump the shoulder back to 1.4985 to 1.498. So only bump the shoulder 1.5 to 2 thou back from fired. It will allow good chambering and work the brass less and give more consistent accuracy. Book spec may not be exactly what your chamber is so go off your fired brass. Factory ammo/new brass is usually about 7 to 12 thou bumped back so it feeds in every chamber. But it doesnt give the best performance. Buy the Hornady bullet and headspace comparators. Next start annealing your brass. I use a Annealezz. You will get more consistent neck tension and your brass will last much longer. Then start neck turning😀 and primer pocket uniforming and your there. Just kidding I dont even turn necks yet, probably will, or uniform primer pockets. And I get sub half moa from a few rifles. But I may need to start to get to that .25 moa level
 

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As others have stated, you're probably not actually full length sizing and "bumping" the shoulder back. When I first started reloading, I had several "reloads" on a batch of brass that started to become difficult to chamber. Found out I had to "cam over" my press significantly to actually bump the shoulder back. Without the proper tools, you will never know or be able to consistently set up your die. Get yourself a case length comparator and do more research so you really understand what's going on.
 
Newbie alert...I am new to reloading and have full length resized some 7mm STW, 6.5 Creedmoor and .308. I deprimed as well on the press.

I thought I would chamber a few empty cases and see how they cycle. I noticed the bolt was more difficult to close on the newly resized brass. Is this normal? No bullet in the case, no primer but I did deburr the outside and inside of case after resizing.
Most likely your adjustment on your sizing die is not going down far enough to get to the belt I would try adjusting my die and running a few brass through it two or three to see if it is an adjustment problem
 
Most likely your adjustment on your sizing die is not going down far enough to get to the belt I would try adjusting my die and running a few brass through it two or three to see if it is an adjustment problem
You may also want to invest in some lime and she'll checkers they do not make one for 7 mm STW but 65 Creedmoor 308 and up to 338 Lappula mag they do make
 
I dont recall the exact issue with the rcbs fl die I had however I fought it for a few weeks with my stw. Ended up buying the redding 3 die set and tossing the rcbs. Rcbs was going to replace it free of charge so I'm not bashing them, just found the redding to work better for me especially with my custom stw.
 
To the OP:
You said you noticed that factory ammo was a little tight chambering also. So pushing the shoulder back enough may not be the problem. It may be the distance from the base to the belt especially if you have a custom chambered barrel. You need to measure your shoulder bump and insure it's correct and try to find some different brass with a shorter distance from the base to the forward edge of the belt and see how it chambers. I have a friend who bought a new CDL 700 in 7mmRM and had 2 boxes of factory ammo that wouldn't chamber at all. Changed brands and all was good. The only measurement that was different between the two was the distance to the belt.
 
Newbie alert...I am new to reloading and have full length resized some 7mm STW, 6.5 Creedmoor and .308. I deprimed as well on the press.

I thought I would chamber a few empty cases and see how they cycle. I noticed the bolt was more difficult to close on the newly resized brass. Is this normal? No bullet in the case, no primer but I did deburr the outside and inside of case after resizing.


Sounds like your sizing die is either not set up correctly for a .002 shoulder bump or the die is not sizing your brass enough just above the case head. I was using a sizing die that would not resize enough .200 above the case head that was making my brass hard to chamber, switched back to my Redding die & problem solved. Just .0005 can make all the difference.
 
Sounds like your sizing die is either not set up correctly for a .002 shoulder bump or the die is not sizing your brass enough just above the case head. I was using a sizing die that would not resize enough .200 above the case head that was making my brass hard to chamber, switched back to my Redding die & problem solved. Just .0005 can make all the difference.
Hey jrg, Did you see the OP's Original post?

"Newbie alert...I am new to reloading"


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I am also new to reloading and found my Forster FL seating dies wouldn't bump the shoulder on once fired 6.5CM brass in spite of screwing the die down 1/8 to 1/4 turned. Hornady comparator with .375 insert proved it wasn't happening. I sent both sizing dies with some brass to Forster and they fixed them. I didn't try sanding or grinding on the dies or case holders myself. Just a thought. Like others mention, you need a comparator. Totally newb info I've provided
 
Newbie alert...I am new to reloading and have full length resized some 7mm STW, 6.5 Creedmoor and .308. I deprimed as well on the press.

I thought I would chamber a few empty cases and see how they cycle. I noticed the bolt was more difficult to close on the newly resized brass. Is this normal? No bullet in the case, no primer but I did deburr the outside and inside of case after resizing.
Buy a reloading manual and read it; also instructions that came with die set.
 
Sorry for the pump fake folks but I chambered a factory Nosler ABLR 7mm STW round and my Sendero simply requires a bit more effort to snap it **** than my Tikkas. The factory round was just like the resized brass.
 

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