What am I doing wrong with sizing brass?

[Dean2]

Ok, so you said the brass will chamber prior to loading, is it fully chambered? Check the brass once you chamber and eject it! Is there any chamber marks on the brass? If not you have ruled out the brass! Now try loading a couple .10 shorter, will it chamber? If yes your throat may not be long enough for you current load or check the bullet it's self! May be the bullets a thou to big, wouldn't be the first time!

You didn't read the OP or the thread. Cartridge fits into the case gauge after sizing but will not fit into case gauge after loading. It does chamber in the rifle fine.

 

[5gauss]

So why did it fit fine in the case gauge after he resized, but not after he seated the bullet? I don't think this is a resizing issue.

BTW, I use a Hornady case gauge on every round I load. Once it is resized, and once I seat the bullet.

OP...Are you running a compressed load? When the loaded round is inserted, does it look like the head is offset in the gauge slightly?

Yes....if compressed, it could possibly change dimensions a bit...

 

[ReelnReds]

I have another thought .

by chance your seating die body is adjusted down a little to far , and that's causing a crimp ? put a resized case in the press , raise it up the whole way . turn the seating die body down until it lightly touches the brass case , then raise the die up 1 full turn . lock it in position then adjust the seating plug to your desired seating depth .

I loaded some 300 blackout with a light crimp and they did the same thing when I checked with a case guage

 

[Lee Goodwin]

Here's a picture of the brass. View attachment 214783

Your shoulder looks a little fat, you might be crushing the shoulder with the bullet seating die as you cam over.? Try leaving more room at the shoulder before you adjust the bullet seating portion of the die.

 

[Deviant]

Hi guys,

I need some help. I've been reloading for about 8 years now. I've run into something that's got me totally frustrated. It's happened a couple of times and I'll be damned if I can figure out what it is.So I just prepped some once fired Norma 7 mag brass. Resized. Trimmed to length and chamfered with VLD trimming bit. Checked length and everything is perfect. Put in my 7 mag Hornady case gauge and fits perfect. I then charged the case and seated a 180 Berger VLD. The problem I have is after seating the bullet the round is not fitting into the case gauge. See pics below. The first 2 pics show the brass only in the case gauge and the last 2 are the completed round. I've had a similar situation recently with a 6.5 Creedmoor. It makes me think I'm not resizing the brass properly. I only full length resize all of my brass. I'm using Redding Master Hunter series dies. I also have a set of Lee and I got the same results. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 214779View attachment 214780View attachment 214781View attachment 214782

I have had a problem similar to this and it was caused by too much neck tension. When I seated the bullet it would slightly crush the brass at the shoulder causing it too expand and not fit in the chamber gauge. I was crimping the bullet too so that may have also been part of the equation. Try backing out your seating die a half turn and lower your seating stem to the desired OAL and see if that helps.

 

[antelopedundee]

It does chamber. I don't have that tool you mention but I imagine I will soon. Any good reads or a link you can share are appreciated.

If it chambers that's all that matters.

 

[59FLH]

Your not doing anything wrong with brass sizing.

1st your using a Cartridge Case/Ammo Gauge made to SAAMI minimum dimensions, your cases appear fine but my guess is your loaded ammo exceeds a SAAMI minimum dimension somewhere, check the base to ogive of your loaded rounds that don't fit the gauge, see if the dimension is longer than 2.7256

 

[Pizzaman1]

Hi guys,

I need some help. I've been reloading for about 8 years now. I've run into something that's got me totally frustrated. It's happened a couple of times and I'll be damned if I can figure out what it is.So I just prepped some once fired Norma 7 mag brass. Resized. Trimmed to length and chamfered with VLD trimming bit. Checked length and everything is perfect. Put in my 7 mag Hornady case gauge and fits perfect. I then charged the case and seated a 180 Berger VLD. The problem I have is after seating the bullet the round is not fitting into the case gauge. See pics below. The first 2 pics show the brass only in the case gauge and the last 2 are the completed round. I've had a similar situation recently with a 6.5 Creedmoor. It makes me think I'm not resizing the brass properly. I only full length resize all of my brass. I'm using Redding Master Hunter series dies. I also have a set of Lee and I got the same results. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 214779View attachment 214780View attachment 214781View attachment 214782

Does it chamber? Use a headspace comparator to measure headspace of the new brass compared to the newly resized brass.

Here's a picture of the brass. View attachment 214783

Try seating your bullet a little deeper to see if it fits in the case gauge. It looks like you are using a very high B.C. You said it chambers. Now- have you measured BTO, using an O.A.L. gauge? to make sure your not "jamming the lands"? If you did, and your'e not jammin the lands-send it!

Hi guys,

I need some help. I've been reloading for about 8 years now. I've run into something that's got me totally frustrated. It's happened a couple of times and I'll be damned if I can figure out what it is.So I just prepped some once fired Norma 7 mag brass. Resized. Trimmed to length and chamfered with VLD trimming bit. Checked length and everything is perfect. Put in my 7 mag Hornady case gauge and fits perfect. I then charged the case and seated a 180 Berger VLD. The problem I have is after seating the bullet the round is not fitting into the case gauge. See pics below. The first 2 pics show the brass only in the case gauge and the last 2 are the completed round. I've had a similar situation recently with a 6.5 Creedmoor. It makes me think I'm not resizing the brass properly. I only full length resize all of my brass. I'm using Redding Master Hunter series dies. I also have a set of Lee and I got the same results. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 214779View attachment 214780View attachment 214781View attachment 214782

Did you measure the C.O.A.L. for that particular bullet? Measure your BTO on the one that wont fit. Take an empty case and another bullet and seat it deeper into the case- work in .005" increments. Measure it in your case gauge- if it looks like its fitting better- your bullet is long and bottoming out on the case gauge. It looks like a high B.C. bullet they are long and the ogive might be your problem. If it's chambering and not "jamming" the lands" -send it.

 

[Chuck32571]

Check the Concentricity of the loaded round. With VLD long bullets the Ogive may be touching the the case gauge wall preventing it from gravity seating.

 

[JAYgs8163]

I have another thought .

by chance your seating die body is adjusted down a little to far , and that's causing a crimp ? put a resized case in the press , raise it up the whole way . turn the seating die body down until it lightly touches the brass case , then raise the die up 1 full turn . lock it in position then adjust the seating plug to your desired seating depth .

Thanks but it's not crimping at all. The die has very specific instructions to do that. Using a Redding MHC die set which has their competition seater. I will try what you mention above though.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Check the Concentricity of the loaded round. With VLD long bullets the Ogive may be touching the the case gauge wall preventing it from gravity seating.

The case gauge only measures the brass case and it does not measure the bullet at all. The bullet passes completely through the gauge without touching at all.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Yes....if compressed, it could possibly change dimensions a bit...

It's not compressed. Thanks

 

[JAYgs8163]

So I was at the range this morning and everything chambered fine. No pressure signs at all. Easy chambering and easy extraction. No swipe marks, no ejector marks. The original rounds were seated at .050 off the lands. I went back out in my shop last night and seated another .050 and most of the problem with the case gauge went away. Makes no sense to me though as the case gauge makes no contact with the bullet and only with the case. So running at .100 off the lands is just over max coal at 3.310. Found a great round that shot 1/2 MOA. First shot was 2957 and second shot was 2958 on my magnettospeed.
With regards to the brass and the case gauge, I think I may be overthinking this some but that's just me. I'd rather be safe than sorry though. I'm going to continue to test and check and I'll report back my findings. I appreciate all the advice and feedback.

 

[59FLH]

The case gauge only measures the brass case and it does not measure the bullet at all. The bullet passes completely through the gauge without touching at all.

Not my Hornady. Wilson yes but Hornady no two totally different styles and types of gauges