Newbie Help - tight bolt after FL sizing when chambering

[kkp005]

I’m somewhat of a newbie to reloading and teaching myself on the go.

Recently picked up a tikka 243 and I’m working up loads for it..

I have a Lyman all American press , star line brass and Hornady custom grade FL dies…

I set up my die, FL sized the new brass… Put it in the gun and I’m getting a pretty tight bolt when trying to close it… Screw the die down more and still getting a tight bolt…

Some of the new brass , I just ran in the die deep enough to get the expander in the case mouth to uniform it up. It feeds fine and I loaded some up and they shot great. Just put some of the once fired brass in the gun and the bolt still closes super easy, without ever even putting it in the press….

What am I doing wrong? Go easy on me. lol.. I recently had shoulder surgery and I’m having to do all this left armed so I’m getting plenty frustrated

 

[steelheadmike]

Any particular reason you are FL sizing virgin brass? Typically, you would just load and shoot new brass. Then, FL size it after it has fireformed to your chamber (bumping shoulder 0.002).

Do you have a set of calipers and headspace comparators? Check headspace on new or 1x fired brass vs brass that has been fired in YOUR chamber.

 

[kkp005]

Any particular reason you are FL sizing virgin brass? Typically, you would just load and shoot new brass. Then, FL size it after it has fireformed to your chamber (bumping shoulder 0.002).

Do you have a set of calipers and headspace comparators?

I had my head up my a$& and wasn’t thinking . I FL sized like 25 of them and then said “damn dummy, why are you doing this?” I didn’t FL size anymore after that and I’m glad I didn’t..
yes I have a set of both

 

[longrangelead]

I’m somewhat of a newbie to reloading and teaching myself on the go.

Recently picked up a tikka 243 and I’m working up loads for it..

I have a Lyman all American press , star line brass and Hornady custom grade FL dies…

I set up my die, FL sized the new brass… Put it in the gun and I’m getting a pretty tight bolt when trying to close it… Screw the die down more and still getting a tight bolt…

Some of the new brass , I just ran in the die deep enough to get the expander in the case mouth to uniform it up. It feeds fine and I loaded some up and they shot great. Just put some of the once fired brass in the gun and the bolt still closes super easy, without ever even putting it in the press….

What am I doing wrong? Go easy on me. lol.. I recently had shoulder surgery and I’m having to do all this left armed so I’m getting plenty frustrated

most people don't know how to correctly set a sizing die for a specific rifle.

Remove the firing pin and ejector from the bolt.

run the case up into the die until you hit the shoulder and stop. unscrew the die until you no longer contact the shoulder.

Slowly screw the die down until you BARELY contact the shoulder.

Check it in your rifle. the bolt should close easy with just a slight bit of tension the last ¼ of travel. you should be able to tell its a snug fit with no play.

repeat until its just right.
repeat with multiple cases until it right.

Any time you fl size a case, the brass moves towards the mouth. If your headspace is really close to the new case size, you may be moving the shoulder forward enough to cause a tight bolt and the die isnt set to push it back far enough.

 

[JFK]

Are you getting lube down in the case mouth? If you don’t, then you can effectively size the case down, then on the upstroke, friction from the sizing button running through the unlubed case neck can pull the shoulder out back out. Put your cases in a loading block and shoot them with One Shot, aiming at an angle to make sure you get a little down into the case mouth. If sizing is happening with little effort and running smoothly it probably isn’t what I described above. Normally you will get some excessive force and/or chattering on the upstroke.

 

[TaperPin]

Virgin brass is so undersize I’m surprised the dies did anything. I’d sharpie a piece of the brass to see where it’s binding in the chamber. If dies are squeezing the sides near the shoulder causing the shoulder to squish upward, the die is too long and not keeping the shoulder pushed down. If the die is too short and fat it could be pushing the shoulder down and expanding the outer diameter.

Quite honestly it shouldn’t take this much effort or any special technique - either the rifle chamber is wonky or the dies are wonky. Most likely the dies. Regardless of brand, I’d buy or borrow another set of dies and I’d bet lunch it solves your problem. It’s never happened to me, but a friend had wonky dies and simply trying a different brand worked just fine.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with sizing new brass - if you don’t it’s 100% impossible to have the same case neck expansion as your dies provide. The new brass isn’t measuring your expander ball, or reading its mind.

 

[kkp005]

Are you getting lube down in the case mouth? If you don’t, then you can effectively size the case down, then on the upstroke, friction from the sizing button running through the unlubed case neck can pull the shoulder out back out. Put your cases in a loading block and shoot them with One Shot, aiming at an angle to make sure you get a little down into the case mouth. If sizing is happening with little effort and running smoothly it probably isn’t what I described above. Normally you will get some excessive force and/or chattering on the upstroke.

I’ve had that issue when I resized 6.5prc but this 243 is buttery smooth on the upstroke. Still going to probably try some one shot moving forward tho

 

[Mikido]

Try shaving the shell holder (I know a lot of people don’t like this, but it worked for me on a rifle)