Brass tight in chamber

TroyBoy

TroyBoy

New member
I bought some once fired 7mm Mag brass and I'm having trouble sizing the brass enough so that it will cycle threw my gun. The brass is Win., RP, Federal, and some Frontier. I am shooting an old Savage 110 and the dies are Redding. Any help would be great!
 
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Make sure you're using enuf lube when resizing - had that problem on a 22-250 some years ago. While I'm at it, make sure the die is screwed down far enuf, and maybe look at measuring/polishing the expander mandrel/using graphite or mica inside-the-neck lube as needed. I think that was a problem then too for me. Just seemed to stretch the case a bit with not enuf lubrication betwixt the various moving parts. FWIW.
 
I had the same problem with my 7mm Mag.
I ended up buying a small base die to size cases. Got one from RCBS. I must have a tight chamber in my rifle???
 
What is the difference between regular and small base FL sizer die? I am using One Shot spray case lube which works great on the other calibers I load for. I was not aware they made a small base die for the 7mm but I see RCBS has one listed on their website. I may call their customer service to get their input.
 
Are you fully sizing your brass? The shell holder should touch the die then the die should be turned down another quarter turn. Very few chambers are that tight.
 
I don't think this was debunked, but I'm not sure----

There was "once upon a time" the opinion going around that due the extra pressure in belted magnums, the sides of the cases would expand during firing (more than non-belted cartridges) and that reloading dies could not resize the sides of the cases, back to standards. The die can bump shoulders back and resize the neck, but can't do much to resize the diameter of the case down the side of the cartridge.

Could it be that your chamber is sized different enough from the chamber that the shells were originally fired in, that the side walls are not able to be brought back into standards with your die?

QuarterRound may have your answer?
 
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Odds are you just don't have the die screwed down enough. A case shoulder length gauge will remove all doubt about what is not right.

Jack
 
Small base dies are usually required for semi-autos. Your money ahead to adjust your die correctly and see if the issue goes away. If not either purchase a case gage or soot a sized peice of brass and chamber to see where the bad fit is.
 
Could be the length of the case is too long. Could be that because the rifle is a Savage that its not headspaced correctly (easy to fix this) or it could be that if you take your FL size die and turn .005" off the bottom.

Is the gun a re-barrel job ?
 
I got the Savage new back when I was 12 years old and it hasn't been shot more than 200 rounds. Not a rebarrel job.The brass aren't too long. I tried running my sizer die down to the shell holder and I get dents in the shoulder and some on the sides. I put the brass in my Dad's 7mm that was tight in mine and it cycled fine. I decided to try his RCBS dies to see if his would work. The RCBS dies seem to work fine so my Redding dies might be slightly larger than the RCBS or there is something wrong with the Redding die. I bought the Redding dies used so that might be why they were for sale. Does Redding have great customer service like RCBS has?
 
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Originally Posted By: Jack RobertsOdds are you just don't have the die screwed down enough. A case shoulder length gauge will remove all doubt about what is not right.

Jack

+1 on what Jack said. In my experience, most small base die purchases are made when the trouble really is the shoulders haven't been bumped back enough.

I personally don't care for the "run of the mill" case length gauges on the market, such as the Wilson, Dillon, etc. These will let you know if your cases are "within spec", but not much else. Much better is the Hornady case length bushings that fit into the same holder that works with their OAL gauging system. You can measure one of your fired cases, take a measurement, then adjust your die .0015-.002" less than this measurement.

Works like a charm, and will probably prove that a SB base isn't actually needed.

Mike
 
Originally Posted By: Quarter RoundSmall base dies are usually required for semi-autos. Your money ahead to adjust your die correctly and see if the issue goes away. If not either purchase a case gage or soot a sized peice of brass and chamber to see where the bad fit is.


Jack has hit the nail on the head!

Try this, screw the die down as far as you can tight against the shell holder. Full lenth size a case after you have lubed it. During the full length sizing process, stop with the shell fully in the sizing die, now look at the gap between the shell holder and the bottom of the die. That gap that you are looking at is the "slop" or play in the press. Now, extract the full length sized piece of brass and check it in the chamber of your rifle.

You can continue to size the brass further by simply screwing the die down further.

In worst cases, you have to grind off .003-.006 off the top of the shell holder...PM me if you need further instructions.

Good luck!
 
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