New reloaded resizing questions

[WiscoHoundsman]

Over the past few months I have collected what I believe to be everything needed to start reloading my 7mm Rem Mag brass. I have removed the primers and cleaned them in a tumbler.

Now for the question. I have a forester coax press and a Redding type s die. I want to full length resize my brass. I set the die up with the press in the raised position and turned the die down to the plate like the instructions said to. When I run a piece of brass through it does not have much resistance until it’s almost a full stroke. I have tried measuring the cleaned brass vs the “ resized brass” and am not noticing much difference. Would that be from the brass being only fired once? It is hornady brass.

Just trying to verify I have resized properly before I do any other case prep work.

 

[HiMtnHntr]

Does the resized brass cycle and chamber in the rifle without resistance? If your bolt is hard to close your dimensions are off.

You would benefit from a set of headspace comparator gauges if you don’t have any. Measure the dimension of a fired case and set your die to achieve as close to that as possible without going over that size.

 

[ericwh]

I set the die up with the press in the raised position and turned the die down to the plate like the instructions said to.

It says to put the ram all the way up, screw the die in until it touches, and then screw the die in another 1/2 turn or something.

 

[DiabeticKripple]

get a set of comparator gauges and throw the instructions in the garbage.

set the die up higher than the press in the up position. slowly turn it in while resizing a piece of brass until you bump the shoulder back 0.001-0.002" and then try and chamber the brass. if it goes in, youre good and leave the die set like that

 

[SDHNTR]

get a set of comparator gauges and throw the instructions in the garbage.

set the die up higher than the press in the up position. slowly turn it in while resizing a piece of brass until you bump the shoulder back 0.001-0.002" and then try and chamber the brass. if it goes in, youre good and leave the die set like that

This. You just haven’t screwed the die in far enough.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Which Type S die do you have? some are neck size only, some are full body sizers with a neck bushing.

 

[LoneStar]

Sorry for jumping in with a dumb question, but comparator gauge is for measuring to bullet ogive. Are you talking about headspace gauge? If yes, which one are you using?

 

[DiabeticKripple]

Sorry for jumping in with a dumb question, but comparator gauge is for measuring to bullet ogive. Are you talking about headspace gauge? If yes, which one are you using?

Hornady makes a set of comparator gauges for measuring headspace as well. uses the same clamp on device as the CBTO comparator set.

https://www.hornady.com/headspace-bushings#!/

 

[TxLite]

It says to put the ram all the way up, screw the die in until it touches, and then screw the die in another 1/2 turn or something.

Be careful doing it this way. Not necessarily a safety concern but if you are screwing the die in this far, you are likely overworking the brass and will see case head separation sooner (I learned the hard way on some nice 7-08 alpha brass).

Get a headspace comparator and bump the shoulder .002” as mentioned above. It will also be more repeatable than guesstimating your bump.

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

Which Type S die do you have? some are neck size only, some are full body sizers with a neck bushing.

Redding type S - bushing style full sizing die

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Redding type S - bushing style full sizing die

good - so the advice from others will actually fix the problem.

 

[wapitibob]

Your type S die won't size the brass ahead of the belt, you'll need a Larry Willis die eventually.

Innovative Technologies - Reloading Equipment

Our patented resizing die can reload Winchester, Remington and Weatherby belted magnums up to 20 times, instead of just 2 or 3 times and the top of the die is a chamber width gauge.

www.larrywillis.com

As mentioned, set the die to only bump the shoulder a cpl thou, then use the Willis die ahead of the belt and your brass swill last a long time.

 

[DiabeticKripple]

Your type S die won't size the brass ahead of the belt, you'll need a Larry Willis die eventually.

Innovative Technologies - Reloading Equipment

Our patented resizing die can reload Winchester, Remington and Weatherby belted magnums up to 20 times, instead of just 2 or 3 times and the top of the die is a chamber width gauge.

www.larrywillis.com

As mentioned, set the die to only bump the shoulder a cpl thou, then use the Willis die ahead of the belt and your brass swill last a long time.

im on 6 firings on Federal brass and have no issues with the belt.

 

[SDHNTR]

im on 6 firings on Federal brass and have no issues with the belt.

OP, You need headspace measuring comparators. And you may find that it will take two or three firings on a belted magnum before the shoulders have grown to meet the chamber walls and are producing consistent measurements. There is quite often a lot of space in front of the shoulders on belted magnum brass. It doesn’t always expand to fully fit the chamber in the first fire. You will know when it has sufficiently grown when all of your measurements of fired brass are the same. Or of course, if they will not chamber smoothly.

Personally, with belted mags, I will generally only neck size for the first couple of firings, provided the brass fits smoothly into the chamber. Then, once fully grown, I will FL resize and bump shoulders back like normal .002”.

I too, have never had any problems with the brass in front of the belt, requiring small base or any special dies.

 

[Vern400]

You have an opportunity right now to avoid learning the hard way. The correct setting for your die is the depth that pushes the brass shoulder back about 0.002 inch from brass that was fired IN YOUR RIFLE.

You can follow the instructions from the die and jam the shoulder back to the minimum SAAMI spec every time. If you do, your brass will likely fail early. And when you fail a cartridge case it might not be fun.

All you got to do is use the comparator and a set of calipers and compare fired brass to resized brass.

I neck sized for years and years. Then one day I mixed up some brass that was shot in two different 308 rifles. The headspace was 0.0015 different and I can assure you the bolt won't close when a long headspace goes in the short headspace gun.

I guess doing it the way the instructions say isn't WRONG. But measuring shoulder bump is 100 times better if not more.

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

So I got the comparator. My once fired brass is measuring about 1.956 and my resized brass is 1.958 this seems backwards to me. Am I correct on that? Seems like the resized brass is longer.

 

[Lawnboi]

So I got the comparator. My once fired brass is measuring about 1.956 and my resized brass is 1.958 this seems backwards to me. Am I correct on that? Seems like the resized brass is longer.

Generally you want to size .002-.004 smaller than fired, so it fits In your chamber in field environments.

Sometimes once fired brass is not fully formed to your chamber, something to keep in mind.

Measure a piece of virgin brass if you have one, then measure a piece of once fired. This is how much your brass is growing.

Adjust the sizing die, or use a shell holder kit to size the brass down the above distance from your once fired.

It is common, with a proper bump, that your sized brass, is longer than your virgin brass, when measured with a comparator

 

[Duh]

Similar deal with a co ax press and forester FL die for 300 win mag. The brass is Petersons long and Norma and both are fire formed on a Seekins rifle. The die was set up according to instructions and I only felt resistance at the bottom stroke, which I figured would happen with the belted magnum. It did not bump the shoulder back at all. I even lowered the die a full turn and still did not get shoulder bump. I figured it was a issue with the die so I returned it and got another forester FL die. I got the same results.

Now my fire formed brass does chamber but the bolt doesn’t just fall freely down like my other rifles/calibers. I would like to just get a 2 thou shoulder bump. Is it just that brand of dies?

 

[TaperPin]

That’s exciting that you’re all ready to start reloading!

I’ll also agree with the idea of pushing the shoulder back .002” from being fully formed to the chamber. It’s just enough to chamber easily. However, you don’t have to - if you were to fully push the die down to the shell holder it might make no difference in group size. Not pushing the shoulder back at all is good for 3 or 4 reloads before bolt pressure becomes a hassle.

You can also unscrew the die 1/2 turn from the holder, run a handful of brass with it like this until they start to get a little snug in the chamber, then screw the die in in small increments until it’s no longer requiring extra effort to close the bolt. .002” is the thickness of scotch tape, so it’s really not that much - essentially we say .002“ instead of talking about no bolt pressure.

In reality, chambers vary a lot, and mass produced rifles are known for being generous in chamber width - reamer not traveling exactly straight and the “wobble” making it oversize, or it’s a new reamer made to maximum dimensions, which will shrink in size as it is resharpened.

Some dies, if not adjusted far enough, will narrow the sides of the shoulder, which pushes the shoulder and neck forward slightly and makes the case longer and hard to chamber - turned down a little more and that goes away as the shoulder is moved back.

At this stage of your learning a lot of opinions will seem contradictory, confusing, and lacking in verifiable proof. There’s usually a shred of truth in all of it, but it gets misinterpreted, or not. The more you learn, all these opinions will start to make sense, or you will at least understand where they come from.

The best advice is to get a notepad and start writing down everything you reload - powder, powder weight, bullet, overall length, case length, anything that’s special. Time and time again you’ll forget the details and refer to your notes.

 

[Vern400]

So I got the comparator. My once fired brass is measuring about 1.956 and my resized brass is 1.958 this seems backwards to me. Am I correct on that? Seems like the resized brass is longer.

Yeah sizing the walls pushes the neck out farther. The die has to push the shoulder back. Move the die down 0.005 and hit a NEW fired case. DONT keep hitting the same one cuz it will lie to you work hardening.