Brass Won't Chamber - Perplexed

[Lefty Trigger]

All you needed to do was lap a shell holder on wet and dry sandpaper removing a few thousandths at a time until the case would chamber.

I tried that as recommended from members on this forum, could not get enough to get it done. I ended up having a machine shop surface grind the bottom of the die about .015 to get me enough to resize brass for it. When I sold that gun that die went with it. If I really liked it I should have sent it back to Winchester and made them fix it but it really wasn't a great shooter anyway.

 

[JFrank]

I'm having issues chambering resized brass out of my pre-64 M70 .220 Swift and cannot narrow down the cause.

I had reloaded once fired Hornady brass and noticed while at the range, some of them would not chamber in my M70. I figured I didn't have my FL sizing die turned down far enough. I did fire the rounds out of another .220 Swift later. I then cleaned the brass, ran a few through the FL sizing die, measured headspace with a comparator, and proceeded to test. They would not chamber. I then incrementally started to turn the die down to the point where I can no longer turn it down and still get cam over. Still will not chamber.

Fortunately, I was able to find a piece brass that was 1x fired and would chamber easily in the rifle. I proceeded to take measurements of that case and the other cases I had used to test that would not chamber.

Good Case

• Headspace = 1.728
• Case length = 2.196
• Case width at base= 0.442
• Case width at mid point = 0.425
• Case width just below neck = 0.405

Bad case

• Headspace = Started at 1.728, took it all the way down to 1.722
• Case length = 2.196
• Case width at base= 0.440
• Case width at mid point = 0.425
• Case width just below neck = 0.404

In every way I measured, it seems the bad case is smaller so I cannot figure out why it won't chamber but the other case will.

I'm guessing it might have something to do with the brass having been fired out of two different rifles but considering all the brass went through the FL die anyway, I'd think it would get it consistent. Both the good and bad cases all chamber in the other rifle, which is a Ruger No1.

What am I missing!?!?

Neck OD and OAL or Datum is off a bit
Order a case gage, preferably Sheridan

 

[copperking81]

Update.

I finally got to the range. I brought both rifles, the Ruger #1 and the pre-64 M70 which was having the problems with the resized brass fired from the Ruger #1. Both chambered in .220 Swift. I used new, unfired Hornady brass in both rifles.

To summarize the results after firing....

• Before resizing - the brass fired from the Ruger #1 measured longer from the base to the datum line than brass fired from the M70.... it varied from .002 up to .004 inches longer.
• I resized all brass using the same Redding FL die I've been using.
• After FL resizing - the Ruger #1 fired brass still measured a bit longer. Only about .001 - .002 inches (mostly .001) but I still thought that was odd.
• Here's what matters...
  • Brass fired from the M70, after resizing chambered with no problem in the M70. Very smooth and even seemed to chamber easier then before it had been resized.
  • Brass fired from the Ruger #1, after resizing would not chamber in the M70. I got one to chamber and it took significant effort. The rest no joy. Even when I cranked the FL die down and reduced base to datum line further than that of the brass fired from the M70, that brass still would not chamber.

While I don't know the specific reason brass fired from the Ruger #1 won't chamber in the M70 even after FL re-sizing, I consider the matter settled. To avoid the problem, I will now have dedicated .220 Swift brass for each rifle... and brass for the third .220 Swift I'm about to purchase

 

[Martin52]

....To get to the die's full sizing potential, you have to have a bit more contact than touching with no load. .

I agree with that, although my most recent custom die when adjusted for a 0.001 bump has 0.020 clearance above the top of the shellholder. Custom die maker says that is fine.....the last cases I resized varied in headspace from 1.627 to 1.632, I think the clearance allows the press to flex. Not quite what I expected.