Question on reloading 6.5 PRC once fired brass

[Drjones65]

In July I purchased a new Begara B14 Wilderness Ridge bolt action rifle in 6.5 PRC. After purchasing it I discovered how impossible it was to find new brass. I decided then to purchase some new Hornady factory ammo solely for the brass. In 2 months I have only found 2 boxes.

I mounted my new scope and headed to the range. I thought it was my lucky day as the guy next to me had a 6.5 PRC and several boxes of Hornady factory ammo. He told me he didn't reload and offered to sell me all of his brass which I gladly purchased.

I got home and broke out my new RCBS full length dies and I full length sized the cases I had purchased new and the cases I bought from the guy at the range.

The new Hornady factory ammo / brass that I fired in my rifle will re-chamber. The brass that I bought WILL NOT chamber. I'm talking about empty deprimed resized cases. Some cases I can force the bolt closed and some will not even let me force close the bolt. I took the expander ball / rod out and readjusted the die and focused on the shoulders to no avail. I cannot get the cases from the other guys rifle to work in my rifle.

Any thoughts as to why?

I always pick up brass at the range for my various other rifles and have never had an issue with used brass that wasn't originally fired in my rifle. But this new Bergara does not like the brass from that other rifle.

 

[GLTaylor]

Obviously his chamber dimensions are quite diff than yours. There is a limit as to how much you can re-size fired brass. His chamber is on the long end of saami, yours is on the tight/short end.

 

[Painless300]

His chamber is just a little longer than yours. Just take your once fired brass and measure the headspace, subtract .002-.003 and full-length size, bumping all the brass back to your chamber specs and you should be good.

 

[can1010]

common problem no big deal.
set your sizing die for your brass then when you size the other brass just put a .005 feeler gauge between your shell holder and the brass this will increase the sizing without having to readjust your die. if you don't have feeler gauges just use two layers of note book paper cut to fit or a business card both are a quick fix to the problem.
this only works on once fired brass that hasn't developed a memory or a lot of springback.

 

[Another Casual]

As above, your seating die may not be actually bumping the shoulder (even on your brass) if it is screwed too far out. If you don't have a comparator you will have a hard time telling. Your die could be resizing the neck to hold a bullet but not currently hitting the shoulder. If that is the case I would screw the die down and run it through again.

Only other issue I can think of it its not that would be to measure the brass near the base. The die only sizes so far down the brass and maybe the other party's brass swelled here.

 

[Kimber7man]

Lots of guys reporting issues with dies not sizing the base down enough even when bumping the shoulder back .003. That would be my guess

 

[Tiny Tim]

Didn't mention if you have a comparator, but could you measure the length to the shoulder datum on brass fired in your rifle compared to that fired in his? Also try measuring base diameter, just above the case head to see if there is a difference. Not sure if anyone makes a small base die for this caliber or if another brand tends to size the base a bit smaller than RCBS. The first thing you need to determine is where the excess dimension is (length or diameter). Then a solution can be determined.

 

[PatriotHenry]

Lots of guys reporting issues with dies not sizing the base down enough even when bumping the shoulder back .003. That would be my guess

Hello Kimber 7 Man,

I am having issues too, not with someone else's brass.6.PRC Once fired ADG in my rifle, my new Hornady Bushing dies don't size the web far enough down. I saw on a thread here a while back that other guys were having the same problem. I cannot find that thread. One guy cut off a die so he could size the web. Any suggestions where to look or who to reach out to about this?

Thanks!

 

[XSIVSPD]

Hello Kimber 7 Man,

I am having issues too, not with someone else's brass.6.PRC Once fired ADG in my rifle, my new Hornady Bushing dies don't size the web far enough down. I saw on a thread here a while back that other guys were having the same problem. I cannot find that thread. One guy cut off a die so he could size the web. Any suggestions where to look or who to reach out to about this?

Thanks!

Probably this one:

The PRC die "problem"

There are a number of people experiencing sizing issues with the PRC case. When designing a chamber, brass, and resize die there is no one size fits all. We want good hard case brass, but its harder to size. We dont want sloppy chambers either. I have experience with designing reamers with...

www.longrangehunting.com

 

[PatriotHenry]

Probably this one:

The PRC die "problem"

There are a number of people experiencing sizing issues with the PRC case. When designing a chamber, brass, and resize die there is no one size fits all. We want good hard case brass, but its harder to size. We dont want sloppy chambers either. I have experience with designing reamers with...

www.longrangehunting.com

Thank you!