270 case problems

stalkinginengland

Well-Known Member
Evening gents.

Got a problem and I just dont understand it. Loaded 50 rounds that wont allow me to close the bolt. I thought it was bullet seating depth for a start and that something had changed or moved I am using RCBS full length sizing die and bullet seating dies by RCBS to. I have set it up exactly the same as my others, 222 ,243 , 9.3x62. Take the handle to the bottom ( lee press ) screw the die in until it just touches the collett and all the rest. Thought I should try to find out where the problem was so i started from scratch with an empty case ,lube FL resize and the case trimmed to the correct length,Then, placing the trimmed case in the breach,I cant push the bolt forward on the rifle fully to close it in the breach, I then turned the die in a little at a time and the empty case then fitted but tight, another little turn and the case fits the chamber well. I then seated the bullet head in the normal way without touching the seating depth and again all is well and the overall length is as it should be.

My concern is that the FL die is now not set up as it should be according to the set up instructions but works as afr as I can see. Is this normal or am I missing something obviouse. Is it safe to leave the die set up in this way or is the die the problem?

Your thoughts would be greatly received

Regards

Mark
 
Evening gents.

Got a problem and I just dont understand it. Loaded 50 rounds that wont allow me to close the bolt. I thought it was bullet seating depth for a start and that something had changed or moved I am using RCBS full length sizing die and bullet seating dies by RCBS to. I have set it up exactly the same as my others, 222 ,243 , 9.3x62. Take the handle to the bottom ( lee press ) screw the die in until it just touches the collett and all the rest. Thought I should try to find out where the problem was so i started from scratch with an empty case ,lube FL resize and the case trimmed to the correct length,Then, placing the trimmed case in the breach,I cant push the bolt forward on the rifle fully to close it in the breach, I then turned the die in a little at a time and the empty case then fitted but tight, another little turn and the case fits the chamber well. I then seated the bullet head in the normal way without touching the seating depth and again all is well and the overall length is as it should be.

My concern is that the FL die is now not set up as it should be according to the set up instructions but works as afr as I can see. Is this normal or am I missing something obviouse. Is it safe to leave the die set up in this way or is the die the problem?

Your thoughts would be greatly received

Regards

Mark
If you've got your instructions read them again, if not have a look at them on line. My read on them is, raise ram to its maximum height, screw in die untill it touches shell holder, then screw it in a further 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn.
This sounds about where you have got to, so it would seem to me that you should be ok.
dcg
 
I did buy in some used cases but these were cleaned FL sized and trimmed in the same way as the others. I just cant fathom out what moved, if anything. I smoked a case before I started over and it was the shoulders not bumped back enough causing the problem. I just cant work out why?
 
What it sounds like you have done is to set the die to suit the head space for the particular rifle you are using. This is the best way. It means that when the cartridge is fired there is the minimal amount of head space for the brass to move.
 
I think I've worked this one out.

Those used, once fired, cleaned cases you purchased. Did you smoke the shoulder on one, and set the die to "wipe" the soot?

If so I'm guessing that the rifle that they were originally fired in had a longer chamber than yours and so you set up your dies correctly. Except correctly to size them for use in the rifle in which they were originally fired and not your rifle! Which has a tighter chamber.

So they won't, of course, fit it!
 
Or check to see if your ejector is scraping brass off the rim of the case,may not be enuf room in bolt face for case and ejector,measure others if you have any against ones the bolt don't want too close on,hope this helps,I had this myself once with whetherby cases in my ex 30-06,atb swaro
 
Measure the expansion ring of your old cases and compare it to the once fired ones you acquired. It's possible that the rifle that fired the once fired ones has a larger chamber than yours does. Not all dies size down enough.

Had this problem with a 303 P-14 based sporting rifle by Century Arms. The chamber was soooooooooooo tight that only cases fired in could be sized to chamber again. Thought it was a faulty die (RCBS) at first but then we got to checking and tried other sets and in the end we had tried dies from three different makes and none wold size other cases down enough. In the end as I had other 303 rifles and trying to keep cases separate was just too much hassle I had to reamed to 303 Imp.
 
Daft maybe but worth simply checking that you chamber is clean. I had this with my 7mm-08. The ammo was perfect. It just wouldn't chamber. Cause? Sooty black goop that had collected in the chamber almost like a liner in fact. I drilled out a case, threaded it 6mm and stuck it on a rod and used it like a valve grinding tool to shift it all. I think it was a batch of starting loads that were bottom end and dirty that left the deposits in there.

Chris
 
My barrel chambered tight in armalon barrel and works fine through my rcbs dies

Good. glad to here it. We tried RCBS and two different sets of them, Lee and Redding none helped. If I had just the one rifle chambered in 303 at the time it would not have been an issue but at the time I was loading for Eight 303 rifles hence the radical cure ;) which was not cheap. Norma Clark did the deed and it's a nice job the price however was not so nice and was far more than originally quoted.
 
Am I missing something? You screwed the die in until the case chambered smoothly and now you are worried about the die? Unless you are springing your press horribly, your die is doing what it's designed to do. I wouldn't worry about it.~Muir
 
The only other cause, may, perhaps be that you are causing the shoulder of the case to enlarge when seating the bullet and/or crimping it. This isn't very common but can happen in bottleneck (and with crimping straight wall cases) cases sometimes.

I have a Wilson FL Die and an arbor press also a Lyman "Shell Saver" die that usually sorts out cases that have been fired in rifles with "different" chambers...but now if I get cases always buy new, factory, unfired.
 
but.... he got the cartridge to chamber, and then the loaded round to chamber. I don't see what the problem is other than that the die isn't set exactly the same as his others.~Muir
 
but.... he got the cartridge to chamber, and then the loaded round to chamber. I don't see what the problem is other than that the die isn't set exactly the same as his others.~Muir

what i cant understand is this. If I use 2 differant bullet cases and one is from my my rifle and one is from another, and they are put through a FL die and then trimmed, how are the shoulders bumped back to differant lenghts? Why do the ones I bought in not come out at the same length as the others?

Whatever the situation Thanks for the help and at least I know that the loads are safe.

Regards

Mark
 
Well if the die is set using soot to just wipe the soot on the rifle with the LONGER chamber it can only size the shoulder back to that length. Cases fired in a rifle with a shorter chamber that are fied will, of course, already have the shoulder set back the further.

But yes, if you set to size with soot on the cases from the rifle with the SHORTER chamber it will, of course, also set back the shoulder from any longer case put through it.

However it is often, as others have said, the expansion area near the WEB of the case that causes chambering problems. Most standard full length dies do not actually res-size that area just above the web back to "new factory" specification.
 
Back
Top