Brass shavings in FL 7mm Rem Mag sizing die

[Jura]

Innovative Technologies - Reloading Equipment

Our patented resizing die can reload Winchester, Remington and Weatherby belted magnums up to 20 times, instead of just 2 or 3 times and the top of the die is a chamber width gauge.

www.larrywillis.com

Evening Guys,
I have an issue resizing my once-fired 7mm Rem Mag Hornady cases.

After firing there is a bulge at the front of the belt which is more than 14 thou than the original unfired case.
Following the instructions from Larry Willis, I am full-length resizing (Redding FL Die) before using his Belted Magnum Collet Resising Die.

However, on resizing, I am shaving off a circular slither of brass (photo below.

Any advice as to where I m going wrong?

​

 

[Bowland blades]

Innovative Technologies - Reloading Equipment

Our patented resizing die can reload Winchester, Remington and Weatherby belted magnums up to 20 times, instead of just 2 or 3 times and the top of the die is a chamber width gauge.

www.larrywillis.com

Evening Guys,
I have an issue resizing my once-fired 7mm Rem Mag Hornady cases.

After firing there is a bulge at the front of the belt which is more than 14 thou than the original unfired case.
Following the instructions from Larry Willis, I am full-length resizing (Redding FL Die) before using his Belted Magnum Collet Resising Die.

However, on resizing, I am shaving off a circular slither of brass (photo below.

Any advice as to where I m going wrong?

​

Struggled to understand but i think ? Your die is a tad tight for your brass . If that's the case a bushing Die can sort it , just work out what bushing size you need

 

[Donkey Basher]

Are you saying that the shaving of brass is coming off the bulge above the belt, ie its from the 14thou extra diameter fo a fired case? If not, where is it being removed from?

 

[Ronin]

Your not doing anything wrong - the steel edge of the die internal edge is shaving a tiny amount of brass off the case as it travels along the die outer surface

To resolve this you could polish the edge very carefully with lapping rouge and use plenty of sizing wax when re sizing

If you polish the edge too far you will reduce the amount of sizing taking place

 

[Steff]

Innovative Technologies - Reloading Equipment

Our patented resizing die can reload Winchester, Remington and Weatherby belted magnums up to 20 times, instead of just 2 or 3 times and the top of the die is a chamber width gauge.

www.larrywillis.com

Evening Guys,
I have an issue resizing my once-fired 7mm Rem Mag Hornady cases.

After firing there is a bulge at the front of the belt which is more than 14 thou than the original unfired case.
Following the instructions from Larry Willis, I am full-length resizing (Redding FL Die) before using his Belted Magnum Collet Resising Die.

However, on resizing, I am shaving off a circular slither of brass (photo below.

Any advice as to where I m going wrong?

​

Skip the collet die and all will be fine.
Neck size or a slight F/L resize. Never mind about the bulge.
Your cases may then not fit into another rifle of the same calibre but I assume you are reloading for your chamber only. So what the heck.

 

[Jura]

Struggled to understand but i think ? Your die is a tad tight for your brass . If that's the case a bushing Die can sort it , just work out what bushing size you need

I think you may be right that the Redding die is too tight.

When I bought the cases new I sized them all using Hornady One Shot with no problem.
However, after firing I cannot size using One Shot and have resorted to Imperial Case Sizing Wax which still requires considerable effort to resize.

 

[Jura]

Neck size or a slight F/L resize.

Tried that with both the Neck sizer and the FL sizer but I need to bump the shoulder back which is now plus 10 thou after firing.

 

[kenbro]

I used to use a Willis die for my 257 Weatherby Mag to size down to the belt, no problems, but, I don’t think it was a collet type.
Ken.

 

[Steff]

Tried that with both the Neck sizer and the FL sizer but I need to bump the shoulder back which is now plus 10 thou after firing.

What is it then? The shoulder or the bulge above the belt?
The collet die won‘t help you on the shoulder. On the contrary. If it didn‘t shear off material it would push it … but where? Presumably it will add to the length of the case body, which would see you having to F/L size again.
Therefore my approach would be to push back the shoulder as much as necessary using the F/L die and be done.

You mentioned that it requires great effort to F/L size the fires cases. Your using Imperial wax, which is a good start. But which press do you use? Maybe a tad small for calibre? Just a guess.
And then again, why do you need to push back the shoulder by 10 thou? Because of the new case dimensions?
As long as they fit into your chamber all is well and an occasional bump of the shoulder by 2 thou will be perfect.

 

[Jura]

Therefore my approach would be to push back the shoulder as much as necessary using the F/L die and be done.

Yes, agreed that's exactly what I am doing and the FL die is bumping the shoulder back by two thou OK; however, what concerns me is a) the sheer force required to resize and b) the shavings coming off the brass case (possibly from the bulge). Two things I have never experienced before.

PS: Have I got an oversized chamber or an undersized die?

 

[Steff]

Yes, agreed that's exactly what I am doing and the FL die is bumping the shoulder back by two thou OK; however, what concerns me is a) the sheer force required to resize and b) the shavings coming off the brass case (possibly from the bulge). Two things I have never experienced before.

PS: Have I got an oversized chamber or an undersized die?

Oh, I see. I was assuming that the shavings occurred on the collet die. Sorry.
Hard to say if it‘s the chamber or the die. I would try another brand of cases first before taking any other (more expensive) action. Hornady brass can be excellent but they can also be a complete failure.

 

[Selous]

Are you having problems chambering the fired brass? If you are then I would adjust the Willis die just enough to chamber the brass. If the cases chamber easily I wouldn’t use the Willis die at all

 

[Sinistral]

Tried that with both the Neck sizer and the FL sizer but I need to bump the shoulder back which is now plus 10 thou after firing.

I don't understand how that can happen.
I've had a Tikka M65 7mm RM for 30-odd years now, and only neck-sized the fired cases with a Lee Collet die. I've never bought into the Larry Willis theory that the tiny area above the belt isn't resized in conventional FLR dies. When the belt expands the area above it expands proportionately, and doesn't bulge as claimed. As it's constricted and supported by the chamber walls it simply can't.
Occasionally the bottom of the Lee Collet will bind on cases where the belt has expanded beyond limits. This happens on only about 5% of cases after 3-4 firings. Full-length resizing restores the case dimensions uniformly, just like any non-belted case. I think all the separate steps/piecemeal approach is screwing up the geometry of your cases in some way.

 

[Jura]

Are you having problems chambering the fired brass?

I haven't tried that yet I will try some in the chamber tomorrow.

 

[Jura]

I don't understand how that can happen.
I've had a Tikka M65 7mm RM for 30-odd years now, and only neck-sized the fired cases with a Lee Collet die. I've never bought into the Larry Willis theory that the tiny area above the belt isn't resized in conventional FLR dies. When the belt expands the area above it expands proportionately, and doesn't bulge as claimed. As it's constricted and supported by the chamber walls it simply can't.
Occasionally the bottom of the Lee Collet will bind on cases where the belt has expanded beyond limits. This happens on only about 5% of cases after 3-4 firings. Full-length resizing restores the case dimensions uniformly, just like any non-belted case. I think all the separate steps/piecemeal approach screwing up the geometry of your cases in some way.

What cases are you using in your 7mm Rem Mag? @Sinistral

 

[Selous]

I haven't tried that yet I will try some in the chamber tomorrow.

If you find it’s not chambering easily then try the Willis die and if that sorts your problem that’s great, it was the expansion in front of the belt. Bear in mind the other more common cause of tight chambering is if the shoulder also needs bumping back.

 

[Selous]

I don't understand how that can happen.
I've had a Tikka M65 7mm RM for 30-odd years now, and only neck-sized the fired cases with a Lee Collet die. I've never bought into the Larry Willis theory that the tiny area above the belt isn't resized in conventional FLR dies. When the belt expands the area above it expands proportionately, and doesn't bulge as claimed. As it's constricted and supported by the chamber walls it simply can't.
Occasionally the bottom of the Lee Collet will bind on cases where the belt has expanded beyond limits. This happens on only about 5% of cases after 3-4 firings. Full-length resizing restores the case dimensions uniformly, just like any non-belted case. I think all the separate steps/piecemeal approach is screwing up the geometry of your cases in some way.

I know what you mean, the area in front of the belt has essentially been fire formed to your chamber. If you need to use fired brass in different rifles then I see there could be an issue but if it’s only brass for the same chamber it should be fine. I only neck size too!

 

[sikadog]

My 264 win mag when fl resized still is difficult to chamber, every 3 reloads I run them through the Willis die and they are back to original size, no shaving no bulge just good.

 

[Sinistral]

What cases are you using in your 7mm Rem Mag? @Sinistral

All kinds, but only from new.
Norma, Federal, Remington, RWS.

 

[Jura]

I just dug out a box of factory Remington 7mm Rem Mag head stamped R-P. They had been FL resized (same die) no shaving came off and no bulge in front of the belt. The attached photo shows the Remington at the top and Hornady below.

So, I conclude that it must be the Hornady brass at fault. Once I have fired all the Hornadys off I will not attempt to reload them and will buy RWS, Norma, etc brass