resizing problem 243, new gun

I had a rifle that I could not make shoot better than 3-4" groups at 100 yards, numerous powders/loads and more than 250 rounds. My dealer sent it back and the company sent me a completely new rifle (explanation of company was that the rifle did not meet company specs). My problem is that I have about 50-100 cases that have been fired at least once, neck sized and primed and do not easily chamber in the new rifle. I say easily because they will chamber but it is difficult to close the bolt.
How do I resize them? Remove the depriming pin from full length resizer die? Do this and only resize front 2/3-3/4 of case or whatever is necessary to chamber normally? Or do I just force them into the chamber and fire form to the new gun, (this is my least favorite option)??
Relatively new to reloading and don't want to do something stupid.

Pop the primers and Full Length size them.

OK, so I'm stupid. How do I pop the primers. Chamber them and pop with firing pin, or deprime with the die? If you are suggesting depriming, is that at all dangerous with a "live" primer?

Not knowing what type die you have, if your die allows you to remove the pin from the expander ball, do it and full length size the cases. No need to remove the primers. If it's a Lee style one piece decapper, just raise it so it won't remove the primer. There should be room to do this.
Make sure that you set up your FL die to touch the shell holder when you're sizing.
I'm guessing that these cases are not loaded, just primed.

NCsmitty

What bullet?

Thanks for your replies.
No they are not loaded. I am using Lee dies, have not tried but looks like I can loosen/raise depriming pin enough to not touch primer and full length resize.
No bullets.

What a timely thread - I just discovered about 200 .243 loaded rounds I have that fail the chamer length guage! Long of the story- I recently bought a new 700T 308 and was sighting it in. Some of the reloads using military cases wouldn't chamber. I bought a cartridge length gauge and discovered that they were a bit large at the case head and wouldn't headspace correctly. Probably fired originally in a machine gun. so I gently deprimed them with no problem (wear safety glasses if you do this) and was able to reuse the primers in other cases since these are range loads I will take the chance they fire ok.
A chamber gauge is a special cylinder that you drop your cartridge into and visually check if it will headspace to SAMMI specs and they also check the overal length to indicate cases that may need trimmed. I use one after sizing to check 223 brass to find the ones that need trimmed.

I got to thinking about all the other calibers I load so I purchased a chamber gauge for each one (about $16-$25 each) I found that some of the 30-06 cases I used to make 270 rounds had a rim diameter that wouldn't let them go into the gauge all the way - a slight touch with a file while checked in a drill press took just a hair off the rim and they now chamber correctly. If the case falls below the gauge face, this indicates a dangerous condition and your dies could be setting the shoulder back too far. I recommend you get a gauge.

Unfortunatly I have over 200 loaded FC 308 cases I got a few years back and had sized them down to 243. Almost none of them will fit completly into the 243 case gauge, so now I have to pull all of them. They were from a prison practice range and I suspect the guards used M-14's since FC is commercial brass.

I don't know what to do with these - one option is to try and resize them further to fit, then fire form them to my gun - might need a small base die at worst case.
... or load them with a light charge and wad and fire form them back out in my 308 , since their head stamps are for 308 anyway. I don't know if I can expand the mouth back to 30 with the dies.

As to your problem, I have on several occasions pulled the bullets, dumped the powder into the scale pan, taken the decapping rod out of the die and bump sized the case until it fit. You might try 3/4 sizing but you will probably have to put the expander ball in to resize the mouth afterward. This would cause you to run them through at least twice so the suggestion to decap them and resize normally is probably the easiest and fastest and if you waste 100 primers - that is about $3.50. If you can reuse them then thats ok too.

good luck and just take it easy and safe.

SyberShooter, sizing down 308 cases to 243 often can create a thick neck situation. You'll probably have to turn the necks down to the proper size to work. Too thick necks can create a high pressure situation as the brass is so tight it cannot release the bullet properly as it has no place to go.
Here's a link to one of the tools for doing this.

http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0044096216308a.shtml

Of course for the cost of the tool, you could just buy new brass.

NCsmitty

That is exactly what happened - I just wen out and pulled a few and put them in the case gauge - stuck out, Took my die, lubed a fired 243 case and sized it - checked out perfect. Resized the bad case without the decapper and checked its fit - OK, put the decapper/expander back in and resized it again and this time it wouldn't go all the way in. Result is just as you said - neck brass too thick. Since I have a case trimmer couldn't I just use an inside neck reamer cutter for a lot less $$ ? of course it gives me an excuse for another piece of gear. Is it better to ream the inside or the outside?

SyberShooter, outside cutting is the preferred method but inside reaming is also acceptable. RCBS has reamer bits for their trimmers and Wilson also makes inside reamers.
I checked and several companies make outside trimmers for around $30 or so. Grafs seemed to have more stuff than Midway.
You just need to end up with brass that fits the chamber and still grips the bullet properly.

Good luck.

NCsmitty

From what I am reading today in some inet forums, the outside turner will true the case necks while inside reaming will just make the hole larger, thus if the wall thickness is uneven it will remain so. Not good for accuracy. I am beginning to be more inclined to blow them back out to 308 and just get some new 243 brass. I have an outside neck turner for my Lyman but the bushing is shot on that trimmer from using a power adaptor to trim a pile of 223, gotta send it in to be rebuilt. I have an RCBS and Forster trimmer so could use an attachment for one of those. Don't have a hand turner yet.

So, if I decide to fire form them back to 308 (no bullet, just a stopper wad)... instead of using a fast pistol powder like I normally would, do you think I would have any problems using a jumble of scrap powder I have from dumping various cases over time. This bottle is a mix of everthing from bullseye to 4064 and I was looking to use it up instead of valuable powder - so if I put in say 10-15 grains, some cornmeal and a cleaning patch or styrofoam neck plug - does anyone think there will be a problem firing these back out to 308?

There is sometimes a good reason to use either or both methods.

Some brass in some calibers will thicken inside the neck at the case shoulder / case neck intersection.

Unless reamed, it will pinch the base of the bullet when long bullets are seated.

Neck turning will do nothing about it. Only reaming will remove it.

I had a 22-250 years ago that would consistently shoot sub-1/2 MOA with neck-reamed cases.

So, don't believe everything you read if you haven't tried it in your rifle.

rc

Have your rifle handy and check the first shells after the resizing If they are still a snug fit you may need to lower the sizing die body a bit to get a firm cam over to get them sized enough for the new chamber. I have had three rifles (2- Savage and 1- Ruger ) that needed this heavier cam over to chamber well.