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Odd issue FL resizing

JackWagon

I'm not sure what the heck is going on. To get my shoulder bumped back far enough I am having to set the cam over on my press way to much to get the bolt to close. So much so it stops bumping anymore.

Rifle Howa 1500
Barrel Shilen alternut
Rounds fired exactly 1675

Pulled the barrel, chamber looks fine, no carbon ring or anything like that. I also put on a brand new unfired barrel.

Brass is annealed each firing. I tried both
12th firing
3rd firing (Both Lapua and Peterson)

Chamber headspace is golden. Checked with both go, no go and the scotch tape method for both barrels. Still the same issue.

Two different (One almost brand new) Forster FL sizing dies. (No expander ball or decap pin, I use a expander mandrel for neck tension) At this point I am somewhat pointing my finger at my Rock Chucker but everything feels tight and it does my .223 brass fine.

I'm at a loss.
 
Do the fired cases chamber without issue? If so, you could be extruding the cases, i.e., lengthening them during the sizing process.

The press will reach a point, once all of the slack is taken up, where it won't size the case any further with a standard shell holder. The Redding Competition Shell Holders might be a solution to increase sizing but what concerns me is the reason you have to size the cases so much so that they will chamber.

I assume you are taking fired case datum line measurements with a bump gauge and caliper. With cam-over on a standard shell holder, you should be able to push the shoulder back .001 to 002" without any difficulty. The case should then chamber without any problem. What are your fired versus sized datum line measurements?

The FL die could be the culprit. If possible, try another FL die.
 
Were shoulders bumping before cam-over/shell holder contact?
Are you bumping for chamber fit?
 
Last edited:
Thank you, I have two FL dies, both Forster (One is almost brand new) Since I pulled the barrel last night I don't have an exact measurement as the headspace is surely different than what is was. All I have is the hornady 350 gauge and lets be honest, it covers way to many calibers to be accurate.
 
mikecr said:
Were shoulders bumping before cam-over/shell holder contact?
Click to expand...
Yes sir, they were without much cam over at all. I usually just set the bump to where I can barely feel the empty case when closing and called it good. This has not been a progression, just suddenly.
 
I solved that problem (for my press) with the Redding Competition Shell Holder set ... where I set the die height with the .010 holder for slight cam-over, and then reduced the shell holder size until the shoulder bumped perfectly. Most work great using the .004 shell holder and give me a great 2/1000-ish bump. A set for each caliber I reload was a great investment ... and I use the shell holder rack from Inline Fab to keep them organized. Remember ... it's not a "problem" if you can solve it with money - it's an "expense". LOL

1687184765586.png
 
JackWagon said:
I'm not sure what the heck is going on. To get my shoulder bumped back far enough I am having to set the cam over on my press way to much to get the bolt to close. So much so it stops bumping anymore.

Rifle Howa 1500
Barrel Shilen alternut
Rounds fired exactly 1675

Pulled the barrel, chamber looks fine, no carbon ring or anything like that. I also put on a brand new unfired barrel.

Brass is annealed each firing. I tried both
12th firing
3rd firing (Both Lapua and Peterson)

Chamber headspace is golden. Checked with both go, no go and the scotch tape method for both barrels. Still the same issue.

Two different (One almost brand new) Forster FL sizing dies. (No expander ball or decap pin, I use a expander mandrel for neck tension) At this point I am somewhat pointing my finger at my Rock Chucker but everything feels tight and it does my .223 brass fine.

I'm at a loss.
Click to expand...
take .010 off shell holder
 
OK, I have a little more data now from some cases I fired yesterday. They where tight when closing the bolt, not to bad mind you and the rifle shot really well, not great but well. I cleaned and just checked them without sizing. The bolt close is about the same. I'm going to grab a few and use my spare FL sizer, in the past .002 bump would get them just right. So we will see.

Obviously I did something stupid along the way so I may have to get out some really good grease and not have to take it dry and order some new Lapua from midway.
 
JackWagon said:
Thank you, I have two FL dies, both Forster (One is almost brand new) Since I pulled the barrel last night I don't have an exact measurement as the headspace is surely different than what is was. All I have is the hornady 350 gauge and lets be honest, it covers way to many calibers to be accurate.
Click to expand...
The Hornady .350 headspace is not designed to measure your.223 case. You need a .330
IMG_2934.png

INSTRUCTIONS
 
JackWagon said:
I'm not sure what the heck is going on. To get my shoulder bumped back far enough I am having to set the cam over on my press way to much to get the bolt to close. So much so it stops bumping anymore.

Rifle Howa 1500
Barrel Shilen alternut
Rounds fired exactly 1675

Pulled the barrel, chamber looks fine, no carbon ring or anything like that. I also put on a brand new unfired barrel.

Brass is annealed each firing. I tried both
12th firing
3rd firing (Both Lapua and Peterson)

Chamber headspace is golden. Checked with both go, no go and the scotch tape method for both barrels. Still the same issue.

Two different (One almost brand new) Forster FL sizing dies. (No expander ball or decap pin, I use a expander mandrel for neck tension) At this point I am somewhat pointing my finger at my Rock Chucker but everything feels tight and it does my .223 brass fine.

I'm at a loss.
Click to expand...
I think I may be missing something. I never paid attention to cam over. Are you saying that turning the die down farther you don't get more bump? Don't see how that is possible.
 
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Nutted bbl, right? Set hs with a go gage and a single piece of tape when you go back together with it. If the issue is still there, you might take some off the top of the shell holder or bottom of the die. Sounds like something changed and it may be as simple as this.
 
gunsandgunsmithing said:
Nutted bbl, right? Set hs with a go gage and a single piece of tape when you go back together with it. If the issue is still there, you might take some off the top of the shell holder or bottom of the die. Sounds like something changed and it may be as simple as this.
Click to expand...
Yes sir with a quality nut from northland.

You just nailed it. I got it corrected. I grabbed an old lee shell holder and ran over to my friends shop as I don't have the gear to do it right. We put it on the end mill and shaved some off the top and my brass is sizing correctly now without any undue cam over.

I almost ordered the redding comp set and thought, why I have a bunch of old shell holders so lets give one a try.
 
JackWagon said:
Yes sir with a quality nut from northland.

You just nailed it. I got it corrected. I grabbed an old lee shell holder and ran over to my friends shop as I don't have the gear to do it right. We put it on the end mill and shaved some off the top and my brass is sizing correctly now without any undue cam over.

I almost ordered the redding comp set and thought, why I have a bunch of old shell holders so lets give one a try.
Click to expand...
Glad you got it. The Redding set wouldn't have helped. They get thicker and you need thinner.
 
Last edited:
JackWagon said:
Yes sir with a quality nut from northland.

You just nailed it. I got it corrected. I grabbed an old lee shell holder and ran over to my friends shop as I don't have the gear to do it right. We put it on the end mill and shaved some off the top and my brass is sizing correctly now without any undue cam over.

I almost ordered the redding comp set and thought, why I have a bunch of old shell holders so lets give one a try.
Click to expand...
I think Lee shellholders are a little on the thick side as I had the same issue with a 223 years ago, and had to shave some off the top.
 
Hey JackWagon, just an FYI, you have an "adjustable" chamber.

You can adjust it to what ever die you want, or what ever shoulder bump you want , without removing any metal from anything.

Jim
 
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