Die set up

[AWS]

"when I put the no go gauge in the gun bolt shuts easy , so the gun smith cut the chamber to deep ,so now what ???"

Go back to your Gunsmith and see what he wants to do.

Size long and live with it.

My target rifle has a remage barrel so it is spot on, my Valmet combo has a long chamber somewhat common on Euro guns as they are built to handle any factory ammo in any conditions, I have no options but to size them long.

 

[ArtinNC]

Do this and see what you see. Take a magic marker to the neck and shoulder junction. Slide the bushing on the case and give it a twist. See what gets wiped off. I would be surprised if there isn't a ring around the neck.

Yep , so looks like it, sorry to say , looks like it is about at the neck shoulder junction . That is not what I want , if it was half the way up on the shoulder would be ok I believe .

 

[DaveTooley]

Yep , so looks like it, sorry to say , looks like it is about at the neck shoulder junction . That is not what I want , if it was half the way up on the shoulder would be ok I believe .

There is always a mismatch between the FL die and chamber at the shoulder/neck junction. Anything with a hole in that touches midway down the shoulder can be used as a comparator. You're only limited by you imagination.

 

[SKWERLZ]

There is always a mismatch between the FL die and chamber at the shoulder/neck junction. Anything with a hole in that touches midway down the shoulder can be used as a comparator. You're only limited by you imagination.

Yep
Even pistol cartridge casing with primer flattened or removed makes a usable comparator.

 

[dellet]

In a perfect world, set the die where it needs to be. Touching or not. As long as the press delivers consistent pressure, no loose linkage, and the brass is consistent, you should have consistent results.

If you start having unacceptable variations in your sizing, try the shell holders.

The instructions of touch plus some turn are there to compensate for a press that flexes easier than the case is sized, on brass that is shot 27 times without annealing.

Lube can also create problems of inconsistencies that are cured buy smashing then brass harder.

 

[wright brothers]

K22 said in post 14

"Second, it may take a few firings before the cases are fully fire form to the chamber. In the interim, the shoulder should not be bumped as long as the cases chambers without resistance."

I say there is a breath of fresh air in this humpty bumpty happy forum.

 

[AlNyhus]

There's no reason the shell holder has to touch the die when sizing....very few of mine do.

After the cases have been fired enough times to feel snug with a stripped bolt, adjust the die so the bolt just drops freely for most of the bolt drop. Measure that with whatever flavor of 'comparator' you like, record it and you're off to the races.

If it's a bushing die, I set the die up without a bushing to start with. That way, if somethings funky the bushing isn't contributing to the funk.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[justinp61]

That is correct.
IMO .... you should have the barrel set back and
re-chambered to be safe.

I'd talk to the smith and explain what is happening, at least. If I wasn't comfortable with him find another smith and let him check it out.

 

[searcher]

There's no reason the shell holder has to touch the die when sizing....very few of mine do.

After the cases have been fired enough times to feel snug with a stripped bolt, adjust the die so the bolt just drops freely for most of the bolt drop. Measure that with whatever flavor of 'comparator' you like, record it and you're off to the races.

If it's a bushing die, I set the die up without a bushing to start with. That way, if somethings funky the bushing isn't contributing to the funk.

Good shootin' -Al

Good advice!

 

[searcher]

As others noted, the die typically will NOT be screwed all the way down on the shell holder. If the dies were designed to do so, there would be no adjustment in the die to allow the brass to fit your chamber - as is the reason the die instructions should say to back the die off a bit. The dies are designed to allow for adjustment. To expand on what AINyus explains, take your LONGEST fired casing as your reference (measured from base to shoulder) and, once resized with NO bump from that measurement, if the bolt closes with NO discernable resistance, I do not bump the shoulders shorter than that measurement for the next firing. Then, after the next firing, repeat the measurements, again taking the longest case. If the longest case is no longer than that last measurement, you probably have a safe measurement to bump from. You will usually see several cases at the same measurement - all being the longest - when they are fully blown forward. If your chamber was, in fact, a bit deep, if it were a problem as being "too" deep, you would be blowing primers or encountering other such problems. What you are encountering does not appear to be abnormal to me.

 

[Fast14riot]

Oh boy, its posts like this when I miss Guffy!

Art, think of the shell holder as your bolt face, the die as your chamber, except you can move the "chamber" by threading your die in or out. You should aim for around -0.002" base to shoulder from your rifles chamber length.

A quick way to experiment or test small shoulder bump adjustments is to slip a feeler gauge under the case in the shell holder and size it.

For long chambers, I like to fire 2-3 cases a few times without bumping the shoulder until a fired case chambers with resistance. That's when I know the max chamber length, and set my shoulder bump accordingly.

 

[Webster]

"when I put the no go gauge in the gun bolt shuts easy , so the gun smith cut the chamber to deep ,so now what ???"

Go back to your Gunsmith and see what he wants to do.

Size long and live with it.

My target rifle has a remage barrel so it is spot on, my Valmet combo has a long chamber somewhat common on Euro guns as they are built to handle any factory ammo in any conditions, I have no options but to size them long.

If the chamber was cut a little deep I don't think it matters. You have a mini wildcat. As long as you can size it with standard dies you are OK.