.375 H&H issue

[K3]

I have been using my aluminum Lee Challenger press since July now. I'm very happy with it so far, but ran into a 'gotcha' last night.

I had FL resized 24 pieces of .375 H&H brass no problem a few days ago. Last night I went to load them. A Remington LRM primer, little dab of RL15 (OK a big dab!), and a Barnes 270gr TSX. Should be some nice loads.

Problem: I went to seat the bullet. The OAL for this cartridge is 3.57". I had to seat the die (Lee) way high, and even then I couldn't lower the ram fully without seating the bullet way too deep. I'm betting that had I lowered the ram fully, I'd have an OAL of 3.25". I had to lower the ram and go by sight and feel to get the bullets seated correctly. Now, I was able to do this, because I'm just that good , but I'd rather be able to lower the ram correctly.

What is interesting is that I can load other cartridges with an OAL of 3.34 with no problem and even room to spare. What's the deal on this one?

I do have a Lee Classic Cast Press sitting in a box. Just haven't put it up yet.

Is it a press size issue? A press/die combination issue?

 

[BigG]

I used to load .375 H&H to same as factory length in a Lee hand press. I don't know why your press won't do the same. You need to back the bullet seating stem out enough to let the bullet be higher. The die should be screwed down to just let the ram knuckle over, as all dies are. The bullet seating stem is screwed into the die for shipment, I would imagine. I don't think it will insert back in the plastic case with the stem screwed out to proper seating depth. HTH

 

[K3]

The bullet seating stem was all the way out. Almost unscrewed. The die was backed out a ways too, and I didn't like the way it could cantilever in the press. Needless to say, I didn't seat any boolits with it like this. I finished my production run with the Mark I eyeball method.

It looks to me like .375H&H with the Barnes TSX will not fit properly.

I guess I ought to break down and mount my cast press.