New to reloading and have a question

[pat86323]

I recently aquired a lee press, dies scale ect ect ect to attempt to load hunting ammo for my 7mm mag. Ive been keeping brass for ages and after loading up my first batch (10 rounds) the ammo is difficult to chamber. The rifle is a remington 700 buckmasters edition rifle. I have not nor will i likely fire any of these rounds as the difficulty chambering makes me quite nervous. I have since been through all the brass i have laying around and almost none of the empty brass will chamber easily, they start out good until you get to the last 1/4 inch or so then you really have to put some pressure on them to get the bolt to go all the way forward. The case length is within tolerance as i have used both the lee case length guide/cutter and measured with calipers. From what i can see it looks like there might be a tiny bit of swelling in the brass just in front of the belt, but i cant tell for sure and even after measuring with calipers there seems to be no real difference. Any help here would be great......

 

[donger8]

You are probably not setting the FL resizing die properly. Raise the ram and screw down the sizing die until it touches the shellholder. Then lower the ram and screw down the die another 1/4 turn.

 

[pat86323]

i was trying to only neck size, i have the 3 die set from lee. I was trying to get maximum accuracy. Should i just fl size every time anyway?

 

[donger8]

No, but is the fired brass out of the same rifle?

 

[pat86323]

yes it is, except one 20 round box that was fired from my dads rifle......just tried them and they actually chamber quite nicely. Would it be adviseable to steal those after he shoots factory ammo and use them?

 

[donger8]

I suggest that you screw down the resizing die, a bit at a time (1/16 of a turn or so), until the brass rechambers.

 

[pat86323]

tried it......negative. Anyone else want to chime in?

 

[murf]

get a sharpie and paint the side of the case from head to mouth. chamber the case, pull and see where the black is rubbed off. that will be the problem area. let us know and we'll go from there.

murf

 

[pat86323]

it is definately rubbing a ring about 2 millimeters forward of the belt. Does this mean necksizing is out of the question?

 

[rsrocket1]

You said negative to the results of the screwing in of the die, then said is neck sizing out of the question. I think the poster suggesting screwing in the die meant screwing in a full length die 1/16 of a turn at a time, not a neck sizing die. Were you doing that?

The method of bumping back the shoulder is to use a magic marker here too. Start with a full length die and screw it in 1/8-1/16th turn each time until you see that the shoulder is being bumped back. Be sure to lube the case all along the body because the first time will be stiff. Reapply the ink and see if there is rubbing in the chamber. Repeat the screwing in and chambering until there are no rub marks and then screw in another 1/8-1/16 turn. After that you should be able to neck size only for several more shots/case, but you will usually have to bump back the shoulder again eventually.

 

[Walkalong]

Should i just fl size every time anyway?

For hunting ammo, yes. Adjust your sizer to just barely bump the shoulder back some. That way it will size the body a little as well. This ammo will shoot just as well and chamber easily.

There are numerous ways to check how much you have bumped the shoulder back.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=504759

 

[MrOldLude]

Realistically, for hunting ammo, a full-length size should be fine. With a good bullet and a proper load, a FL sized round will still be capable of at least 1 MOA.

 

[pat86323]

i guess ill full length size em for the time being.

 

[gamestalker]

I would buy a neck die if you want to neck them. But even with that you'll still have to use the FL die from time to time to reset the neck and wall when chambering gets too tight. Another option is a collet you can buy when FL sizing. I've never owned one but have researched them and they will extend brass life by leaps and bounds. From what I understand, they will size all the way down to the belt unlike a standard FL die. I think they can be used with a neck die or FL die, but others here can probably better advise you on this. Oh one more thing. Belted magnums will head space at the belt for the first firing and after that head space at the shoulder. So necking will fully incorporate this by not pushing the shoulder back at all.

 

[rfwobbly]

You're also going to need a 6" caliper and a case trimmer in the very near future.

 

[pat86323]

i have a case trimmer, and calipers. As long as i can get great accuracy out of the rifle i dont much care whether i have to necksize or fl size. Im not interested in shooting .5inch groups. Im interested in collapsing lungs and breaking bones on big game. I do like the ability to shoot long range though so accuracy is important, just not real worried about pinpoint precision accuracy.