Bolt is hard to close with new handloads

[boomtube]

"I am not able to get about the last centimeter of the case into the die not milimeters, quite a large amount is below the rim of the die. "

It'll go. The case normally needs to go completely into the die, making contact with the shell holder under the full pressure of resizing.

Make sure you lube the lower portion of the case. The upper part is easy to size but the thick lower part is where things get tight. And that's where cases get stuck if they aren't well lubed!

 

[Jinx-)]

"I am not able to get about the last centimeter of the case into the die not milimeters, quite a large amount is below the rim of the die. "

It'll go. The case normally needs to go completely into the die, making contact with the shell holder under the full pressure of resizing.

Make sure you lube the lower portion of the case. The upper part is easy to size but the thick lower part is where things get tight. And that's where cases get stuck if they aren't well lubed!

Try to move you expander mandrel just 1 cm up, and don't use a lot of the lube you might have air trapped in the upper portion of the die, if your die equipped with pressure release hole/vlave make sure it is not clogged

 

[sendero7]

If you are using a Rock Chukkar press, you have to set the Lee collect die different than any other press.

 

[Oliveralan]

I'm using the hornady lock n load ap. Some dies have to be set differently in this press due to the thick bushing.

 

[boomtube]

"I lubed my cases and die very generously but there is still a lot of resistance when I try to get the brass out of the die. It is a lee collect full length sizing die. How can I remove it's expander ball or equiv? "

Oh my goodness! Slap my hands! I hadn't read the entire thread when I made the suggestion to lube the cases well, assumed you were FL sizing in a conventional die. Case lube is NOT needed with the Lee Collet neck die, none, nada, it works on an entirely different principle than all other dies.

You can remove the "expander ball", the neck mandral, but you don't want to, it's the only controlling factor to the neck sizing. And pulling the sized cases off it should only be a light drag, not a problem at all.

Since your cases are stopping a centimeter OUT of the die that gives us the clue; your die's collet is stuck in the UP position, hard, so no neck can enter the closed collet. Disassemble the die and free the collet.


I have no idea why your neck sized reloads are "hard to chamber" in the parent rifle.
Remove the die top cap, then use the press' ram to push the three inner parts up and out, they being the central mandrel, the collet and the collet closer. Clean them and lightly GREASE the cone shape part of the collet and closer. Then re-install them, all should be well.

What causes those parts to stick together is putting pressure on the collet "dry", meaning with no case in the die. (Don't do that!)

All the press pressure does is force the collet to press case necks hard against the mandrel. After the neck gets that small, it cannot get smaller so more ram pressure only stresses the die, potentially stripping the top cap out of the die body. (Don't do that either!) Lee says to use perhaps 20# of press pressure to do the job, I suppose that's about right. And that die will never touch the case shoulders no matter how hard you push.

IMHO, the Lee Collet neck sizer is the absolute best neck die for factory rifles on the market at any price, but it does have a learning curve. Those who are unwilling to take the trouble to learn it should stick to conventional "push it in and pull it out" neck dies.

 

[Oliveralan]

Just ordered a l.e. Wilson case trimmer and deburring tool to cut my cases back down to specs. I will post after I recieved them and see if this fixes my hard to chamber cases problem, hopefully it will. If it does, does than mean the 60rounds I loaded for accuracy node testing in .1 grain increments will all have to be redone? I can chambered them all with a little pressure. The previous loads with the same tight to chamber casing did quite well, with less than .4inch vertical dispersion shooting off a plastic 12dollar Home Depot table with bipod and rear sandbag at 300yards, not to mention my parents yelling at me for making so much noise. Unfortinualty my family is not all too supportive of my hunting and shooting, they don't negativly influence me, but I don't have a dad that teaches me the trade. I have to pay for everything myself and learn to do everything myself.

 

[Johnboy]

he has ran all his cases into a lee collet die with the collet stuck.and with all of that lube he has used the case was able to slip into it.by doing this the neck has been pushed into the shoulder. and this has given him a slit bulge at the shoulder thats why I check my collet everytime.all so I have polished the two mateing parts and put alittle grease on them.run a dry case into a collet die that is stuck and it will push the neck down so bad that the case will look like its the headless horse man.sent him an e-mail to tell him how to set up the dies.both collet and full.so he know can load them with no harm to his cases and should be able to chamber with little effort.truste me I have done this one too many times.so check it and if its stuck undo it clean regrease and start loading.just take your time when setting up your press and dies.loading will come to you.
JOHN

 

[243yote]

It was not with the reloader but with the brass! Remington brass for some reason is not uniform. I reloaded with once fired remington brass and had the same problem bolt hard to close. I looked more closely and found the remington brass was not cut evenly. If you put the brass in a drill with your LEE brass catridge holder and give it a whirl you will noticed that it wobbles! Not good. Throw the brass and get some Winchester brass they are more uniform. I have since threw out all my remington brass. I checked the other once fired remington brass and more than 90% had the wobble. So check your brass and make sure they are straight. Hope this helps.

 

[Chas1]

No more than 1/4 turn, try it, if it works then go a little less each time until bumping the shoulder just enough.

 

[loaders_loft]

what cartridge are you reloading for?