As real as it gets....

[timeout]

You can check for case head separation with a bent paper clip etc , that information is also here and I check every case before reloading them....

That's good advice!

 

[270 ftw]

Jody

I literally had the exact same thing happen. Same caliber, same brass, & same die. Burned a nice ring on inside of my chamber. It is probably the Forster die. Mine was reamed too short. Following the directions exactly and using a +.010 redding comp shell holder the die was bumping the shoulder back .014 thou.. that means with a standard shell holder it would of been .024 thou which im guessing you used. Brass cant survive very long with that happening. Btw my chamber is a custom cut saami minimum done by Phoenix Custom Rifles. Shout out to Keith, rifle shot sub 1/2 moa for the first 1400 rounds and has now opened up to 1 after all the abuse i put on the barrel. First 8 inches looks like the Bonneville Salt Flats. Anyways...if your chamber is anything over saami minimum you could be getting even more bump. So i called them up, spoke with a Scott. Shout out to Scott & forster. Super nice guy and great customer service. At first I could tell he didnt really believe me, Im sure they get a million calls that end up being user error. But I sent them the die back and some fired brass. They sent me the die and my brass back with a nice letter. They didnt come right out and say that the die was messed up, it was pretty funny how they worded it actually. But believe me the die was messed up and they are making me a new one free of charge and I got to salvage the decap expander assembly from the messed up one. I guess they didnt want to put in writing that they made a mistake directly. Kind of bothered me, but they are still making it right.

So, get that Hornady headspace comparator tool with the C375 insert for .270 win to verify all this. Your fired brass should measure somewhere in the 2.048ish range (thats my chamber, my tools, my measuring technique, tolerances, etc lots of variables blah blah blah but it should be in the ball park). Thats base to datum line. Dont forget to pop the old primers out before you measure. Size one and re measure. Based on my conversation with Scott i think they are looking for .004 bump on a saami minimum chamber with die in contact with the shell holder. Then you can use something like the Redding competition shell holder set to get the perfect .002 thou bump or shims or just fiddle with it and waste 12 pieces of brass trying to adjust right lol good luck

 

[Zero333]

In a pinch, you can use a pistol casing....

A pic I found on the interweb.

 

[Jody Simcox]

Jody

I literally had the exact same thing happen. Same caliber, same brass, & same die. Burned a nice ring on inside of my chamber. It is probably the Forster die. Mine was reamed too short. Following the directions exactly and using a +.010 redding comp shell holder the die was bumping the shoulder back .014 thou.. that means with a standard shell holder it would of been .024 thou which im guessing you used. Brass cant survive very long with that happening. Btw my chamber is a custom cut saami minimum done by Phoenix Custom Rifles. Shout out to Keith, rifle shot sub 1/2 moa for the first 1400 rounds and has now opened up to 1 after all the abuse i put on the barrel. First 8 inches looks like the Bonneville Salt Flats. Anyways...if your chamber is anything over saami minimum you could be getting even more bump. So i called them up, spoke with a Scott. Shout out to Scott & forster. Super nice guy and great customer service. At first I could tell he didnt really believe me, Im sure they get a million calls that end up being user error. But I sent them the die back and some fired brass. They sent me the die and my brass back with a nice letter. They didnt come right out and say that the die was messed up, it was pretty funny how they worded it actually. But believe me the die was messed up and they are making me a new one free of charge and I got to salvage the decap expander assembly from the messed up one. I guess they didnt want to put in writing that they made a mistake directly. Kind of bothered me, but they are still making it right.

So, get that Hornady headspace comparator tool with the C375 insert for .270 win to verify all this. Your fired brass should measure somewhere in the 2.048ish range (thats my chamber, my tools, my measuring technique, tolerances, etc lots of variables blah blah blah but it should be in the ball park). Thats base to datum line. Dont forget to pop the old primers out before you measure. Size one and re measure. Based on my conversation with Scott i think they are looking for .004 bump on a saami minimum chamber with die in contact with the shell holder. Then you can use something like the Redding competition shell holder set to get the perfect .002 thou bump or shims or just fiddle with it and waste 12 pieces of brass trying to adjust right lol good luck

FWIW...I have a co-ax press and don’t use shellholders... I’ve got to learn about getting my die setup properly.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[243winxb]

May take 3 firings , neck sizing, for brass to fully expand to the chamber.

Try for a crush fit when closing the bolt. Then measure head to datum. This will give a true measurement.

 

[270 ftw]

FWIW...I have a co-ax press and don’t use shellholders... I’ve got to learn about getting my die setup properly.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Im jealous, i want that press. Being able to just leave the lock ring set after you get it adjusted where u want...very cool set up

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Im jealous, i want that press. Being able to just leave the lock ring set after you get it adjusted where u want...very cool set up

why cant you leave the lock ring adjusted on your regular press if you like? leaving lock rings locked down leads to complacency in sizing your brass thinking they'll have the same bump every loading which is far from the truth. adjusting your die every session is the only way to make sure your brass is being sized properly

 

[jimmymac]

why cant you leave the lock ring adjusted on your regular press if you like? leaving lock rings locked down leads to complacency in sizing your brass thinking they'll have the same bump every loading which is far from the truth. adjusting your die every session is the only way to make sure your brass is being sized properly

I leave mine locked down and use a known quantity of shims, size a piece, then check it against a fired piece. Then I typically run it in to my chamber using a stripped bolt. If all is good I continue. If work hardening is preventing a proper bump, I adjust my shims. A small adjustment on the order of .001 is usually all that’s required. With that amount of fine adjustment, I can’t imagine not leaving my die locked down. To leave it unlocked, puts me in a spot where I’m going to have to use course adjustments, then fine to get where I need to be. No thanks. YMMV

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I leave mine locked down and use a known quantity of shims, size a piece, then check it against a fired piece. Then I typically run it in to my chamber using a stripped bolt. If all is good I continue. If work hardening is preventing a proper bump, I adjust my shims. A small adjustment on the order of .001 is usually all that’s required. With that amount of fine adjustment, I can’t imagine not leaving my die locked down. To leave it unlocked, puts me in a spot where I’m going to have to use course adjustments, then fine to get where I need to be. No thanks. YMMV

Actually i put an o-ring under mine and can give it a little turn when i need a bit more. Aint even got time for shims but that wasnt in the spirit of my message above

 

[Delfuego]

O-Ring plus Sharpie on the press for reference.

 

[jimmymac]

Actually i put an o-ring under mine and can give it a little turn when i need a bit more. Aint even got time for shims but that wasnt in the spirit of my message above

I get that. It's a different way to skin the same cat like I described above, but leaving the ring locked on the die at a known position is still easier than finding your basis every time with a loose lock ring. Different strokes.

 

[Nature Boy]

Actually i put an o-ring under mine and can give it a little turn when i need a bit more. Aint even got time for shims but that wasnt in the spirit of my message above

I use the same method as Dusty

 

[Jody Simcox]

Just a little follow up.....I shot 7 times yesterday with #7 being the case in the photo... I knocked the primers out of all 7 cases, then ran all 7 through my sizer. One case measured .006” bump, the rest were 4 or less. I am going to discard every piece of brass and purchase new cases. When I set up my die this go ‘round, I’m gonna dial down to the shell holder plate and then back out one full turn instead of down another 1/8 turn...and measure/move from there...

 

[GSPV]

If you can strip your bolt, you can get really close by feel. Just bump it enough that the stripped bolt almost completely closes and you can close it with one finger. Ya can’t use one piece of brass to do it. One trip through the die, just like IRL, has to do the trick.

 

[Jody Simcox]

Jody

I literally had the exact same thing happen. Same caliber, same brass, & same die. Burned a nice ring on inside of my chamber. It is probably the Forster die. Mine was reamed too short. Following the directions exactly and using a +.010 redding comp shell holder the die was bumping the shoulder back .014 thou.. that means with a standard shell holder it would of been .024 thou which im guessing you used. Brass cant survive very long with that happening. Btw my chamber is a custom cut saami minimum done by Phoenix Custom Rifles. Shout out to Keith, rifle shot sub 1/2 moa for the first 1400 rounds and has now opened up to 1 after all the abuse i put on the barrel. First 8 inches looks like the Bonneville Salt Flats. Anyways...if your chamber is anything over saami minimum you could be getting even more bump. So i called them up, spoke with a Scott. Shout out to Scott & forster. Super nice guy and great customer service. At first I could tell he didnt really believe me, Im sure they get a million calls that end up being user error. But I sent them the die back and some fired brass. They sent me the die and my brass back with a nice letter. They didnt come right out and say that the die was messed up, it was pretty funny how they worded it actually. But believe me the die was messed up and they are making me a new one free of charge and I got to salvage the decap expander assembly from the messed up one. I guess they didnt want to put in writing that they made a mistake directly. Kind of bothered me, but they are still making it right.

So, get that Hornady headspace comparator tool with the C375 insert for .270 win to verify all this. Your fired brass should measure somewhere in the 2.048ish range (thats my chamber, my tools, my measuring technique, tolerances, etc lots of variables blah blah blah but it should be in the ball park). Thats base to datum line. Dont forget to pop the old primers out before you measure. Size one and re measure. Based on my conversation with Scott i think they are looking for .004 bump on a saami minimum chamber with die in contact with the shell holder. Then you can use something like the Redding competition shell holder set to get the perfect .002 thou bump or shims or just fiddle with it and waste 12 pieces of brass trying to adjust right lol good luck

FWIW...my fired brass measured 1.9545” case head to datum line as measured with Sinclair comparator body and bump guage insert...what should that be telling me?

 

[270 ftw]

FWIW...my fired brass measured 1.9545” case head to datum line as measured with Sinclair comparator body and bump guage insert...what should that be telling me?

If new Nosler brass chambers in your rifle without resistance on the bolt then im guessing its the difference in tools. The Sinclair comparator might just have a larger diameter hole and takes the measurement a little further down on the shoulder. But if new Nosler brass doesn't fit then that would mean you have a super short chamber. The nosler brass comes sized about .007-.008 thou under a saami min chamber so it should fit everything. Even if you has a short chamber that wouldnt cause the case head separation. It would be the opposite, too long of a chamber could cause it. Brass stretching too much

 

[270 ftw]

FWIW...my fired brass measured 1.9545” case head to datum line as measured with Sinclair comparator body and bump guage insert...what should that be telling me?

Now size one the way you normally do and measure the same way and tell us what you get

 

[Jody Simcox]

Now size one the way you normally do and measure the same way and tell us what you get

Out of the 7 I fired yesterday, 1 was .006” less the others were .003-.004 under

 

[AlNyhus]

Jody:
-Measure a new, unfired case
-Measure a fired case (unsized and no primer)
-Measure a case that you've resized

 

[243winxb]

Do this-

When I set up my die this go ‘round, I’m gonna dial down to the shell holder plate and then back out one full turn instead of down another 1/8 turn...and measure/move from there...

Check the sized brass in the rifles chamber. Try for a crush fit. If the brass chambers, fire it. The next sizing may need the die adjusted down a bit to chamber.

No need to remove ejector or firing pin from bolt.

Comparitors can be confusing. Fired brass may become shorted after firing.