Trouble loading new Handloads

[osteodoc08]

My wife bought me a Lyman Press for Christmas and now that we are in our new house, I have a proper reloading room in the basement. Currently I am using a Lyman Turret press, Redding 7mm-08 dies, Lyman universal trimmer, etc.

While this is my first reloading set up, I have been reloading starting at age 6 when I then helped my dad seperate brass in his reloading room.

Anyhow, I took once fired (from my Remmy 700 in 7mm-08) Remington factory brass and Redding 7mm-08 dies and did the following:
1. Cleaned and inspected
2. Resized and deprimed
3. Trimmed to 2.020
4. Primed
5. 45 gr of H-380
6. Nosler 140 gr BT seated to 2.750

When I tried to load one of the above loads, it took much more force to move the bolt handle down than I thought was necessary. I took the round out and inspected it. I didn't see any markings on the bullet to indicate it needed to be seated further. No other signs were evident. I tried more than one of the completed rounds and they all did this. I tried to seat the bullet back another 0.010 without any luck.

What is going on here? I've never had this problem before and I'm at a loss.

 

[highbrow]

Some dies will do a roll crimp if turned in far enough. May try turning out the seating die a bit. Also make sure you chamfer the case mouths after trimming.

 

[osteodoc08]

Case mouths addressed after trimming.

I am using the redding 7mm-08 standard rifle 2 die set and left a skosh of room between the die and the shell holder as per the Redding instructions.

 

[Car Knocker]

Have you tried chambering a sized case without a bullet seated?

 

[NVMM]

Sounds like you need to set the shoulder back a few thousands.
Try turning the sizer down a half turn and see what happens.
You could also smoke the shoulder and see if its contacting shoulder in chamber.

 

[04JRB]

When I had this issue with my remington 700 in .270, it was my full length sizing die that was not adjusted quite right. Just my guess.

 

[feets]

I agree with the sizing die depth. I occasionally have that issue with my 300WM. Setting the die a wee bit lower in the press clears the problem.

 

[osteodoc08]

OK. I'll try setting the sizer die a little lower. Gimme a few minutes. I love this site

 

[fineredmist]

Find a cartridge sketch, measure and compare your actual numbers with the specs. and it will give you an idea as to what is off.

 

[osteodoc08]

OK. I tried seating the resizing die as deep as possible and still no luck. As mentioned by fineredmist, time to compare the specs on the case to what the printed numbers. Then I guess I'll call Redding.

 

[osteodoc08]

I measured the cases and they are in spec, BUT, when I hold them up to a strong light and look at the profile of the shoulder, it LOOKS as if there is a "bubble" or "wave" in the shoulder.

Also, it was Winchester brass, not Remington as originally stated.

I'll try to get some new brass and start again. This kinda thing really puts a damper on reloading, especially since it was a first batch.

I'll buy some factory stuff tomorrow to look at and compare.

 

[mkl]

You might want to try coloring a case with a marker and then chamber and extract. Examine closely and see if you can find a place the marker color is rubbed off. If so, that's your point of contact.

Usually, that contact point will be the sholder or somewhere in the first inch of the case as measured from the head.

Acetone will remove "permanent" marker ink if you don't have one of the water based markers.

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

Been there done that. Neck was probably pushed back and "buckled". This didn't show easily in my reload. After adjusting for NO crimp the rounds were perfect--that was many moons ago.

 

[mkl]

I'm not familiar with the Lyman Turret Press, but would it be possible to adjust your sizing die so that the decapper/expander plug assembly is bottoming out in the case and preventing the sizing die from going all the way down? The decapper pin should only protrude a sixteenth of an inch or so past the case head.

On my single stage press, I need to adjust the sizing die so that the base of the die has a firm "bump" with the shell holder to accomplish full length resizing.

Again, not familiar with the Lyman, but if there is a gap between the base of the sizing die and the shell holder, this could be your problem -- i.e. you are not fully sizing the base of the case.

 

[osteodoc08]

Depriming pin is barely out far enough to pop the primer out. I also tried putting the die as far down as mechanically possible and still be able to function. Still no good.

I even took a piece of 308 brass and ran it through the die. Still not able to chamber it. I'm starting to get a little annoyed and wonder if the die is the problem.

 

[Wildfire]

Head Spacing.

Hey There:
It's already been said. It is head spacing. RCBS makes a good tool for this.
You must learn to read them right . I just use my Digital calipers now instead of the numbers on the Precission Mic.
You should check this measurement anyway. The reason your bolt won't close is there is no or Zero head space. You should have .002".
Some go more and thats OK. Get up to or over .008" and many claim it is not a good thing. Some even say it's not safe. That may be true.
I have checked many Factory rounds from the high dollar stuff and found their head space numbers way off. The worst part was that out of the same box few would match.
turn your die down just a little . If you want more accurate and precisely made rounds the Precission Mic from RCBS or a simular tool will help a lot.

 

[Wildfire]

One More thing.

hey again.
Just saw your last post. Your die maybe too far down and you are crimping the round. It may not show. The shoulder will have a bulge. Look for it.

 

[Car Knocker]

osteodoc08,

OK, loaded rounds won't chamber properly and neither will sized brass. Might I suggest getting a Magic Marker, coating a reloaded round or just a piece of sized brass and then chamber it. Whatever is out of spec should have the ink scraped off when the round is extracted.

 

[Wildfire]

Bulge.

Hey:
If there is a bulge in the brass it will be just at the bottom of the shoulder.
Matters not weather or not the die has a crimp in it. If the die pushed the shoulder bach too far the bulge will be there.

 

[feets]

If lowering the sizing die didn't fix it then back the seating die out a little. Raise it up a wee bit and run some through again. Usually a buckle in the neck shows the case is bottoming out in the seating die. Instead of a crimp you get a squish.
Find a case that will chamber properly and measure the length. Then run it through your seating die and measure again. See what the difference is to make sure it didn't squish. Try to chamber the case again and report back.

 

[Wildfire]

Don't need new brass.

hey there:
You can still use that brass. Pull th ebullets and start over. Resize with out the decapper pin. The brass will come back for you.
the tool I mentioned before will measure your Chamber so you can set your head space to the gun and not to the die.
I never load with out one.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Two things come to mind.
1- The die is not bumping the shoulder and the brass is flowing forward when sized, pushing the shoulder up.
2- The expander ball is dragging and pulling the shoulder forward.

If #1, set the die to touch the shell holder and witht the ram lowered add 1/8 turn to the die. I`m not familiar with the press you have but, the ram should now "cam over" when you size a case. This will remove any spring in the press and insure the die is sizeing all of the case.
If #2- Try lubing the inside of the case mouth with a touch of lube on a Q-tip. A VERY light polish of the expander ball with some 0000 steel wool or 600 grit emery paper will help. Don`t remove metal just polish!

 

[USSR]

...I suggest getting a Magic Marker, coating a reloaded round or just a piece of sized brass and then chamber it. Whatever is out of spec should have the ink scraped off when the round is extracted.

+1. You have to know where the problem is, before you can know how to correct it.

Don