257wby reloading
 

Hi my name is Greg and I’m new to reloading. Today I was working on reloading some once fired brass. I was very diligent on my case lengths and overall cartridge lengths. The rounds I made fit pretty tight in the chamber as I closed the bolt. I heated up one with a lighter to see where it was sticking in my rifle and this is what I found. Any insight as to what I’m doing wrong. A side note this hobby is going to grease my OCD in a terribly wicked way!
Thanks. Attachment 148827


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If you can turn your sizer die down alittle more and keep trying until the issue goes away. If you can’t size any more the issue will probably resolve itself once they have been fired in your gun.

Is the die adjusted to bottom on your shellholder when sizing a case?

I don't know if I'm alowed to post this here but I don't reload 257 wby but I have 40 or so once fired Nosler brass if you're interested.

I turned the die down until it ran just touched and then an 1/8 of a turn. The shell fit a bit easier but is still snug. Can the resizer die be turned down too far?

In your situation I think you will be able to turn the die down until it contacts the shell holder and resize without causing any issues.

I had same issue, shimmed the shell holder and now it works 80% of time, some cases just need to be turned 180 and resized again. I run rcbs dies on lee presses. My 257 seems to have a very tight chamber, so i always run each shell to confirm it fits befote i load em up.

Thanks. I’ll try turning the case and running it again. I’m using RCBS does and press.

I load for the 257 and other Weatherbies. They do not headspace on the shoulder so this should not be a critical area in terms of fine adjusting the dies. If you are using RCBS dies and Shell Holders on an RCBS press, this should not be happening with the die screwed down as far as you have it. Has nothing to do with your gun having a tight chamber, it is far more likely that your die is out of spec. Call RCBS and get them to replace the FL sizing die.

The other thing that will help a lot is to get a neck sizing die, that way once your cases are fire formed you aren't overworking the brass. Your groups will likely improve and your brass will definitely last a lot longer.

Very important....
 

Was the ‘once fired brass’ fired from your gun or did u get it from someone else?

My brothers and I have all reloaded various weather by calibers for minimum 25 years each. We have found that, for instance if my 270 wby fired brass was reloaded, the new reload won’t fit into my brothers 270 gun and vice-versa. Found this to be the same situation for 257’s. Not that I think this is caliber specific it just seems to be typical of weatheby’s period.

Reloading for weatherby calibers is problematic because it seems very hard to duplicate the factory ammo in both Velocity and precision. You may get lucky from the start, but you can spend a lot of time and money trying to find the right combination of powder type, powder weight, bullet and OAL.

Having reloading all my adult life I am now finding myself buying factory ammo for my weatherby. I don’t shoot it a lot so a box or 2 a year is not big deal to buy. Good luck with finding the solution.

Another question: what gun are you shooting? Is it a weatherby mark V, vanguard or other make?? All the guns I am speaking about above are all mark V, some of similar vintage and some purchased 30 years apart.

There is a solution . . . .
 

GregT .......

You described a very common problem for handloaders. Take a look at the Belted Magnum Collet Resizing Die. It is used by over 6,000 shooters that reload belted magnum calibers.

This old guy has the right way to adjust your full length die,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDE84oOuz0c

x2

This .

The old guys advice on adjusting the die is correct, however in the ops case he has the die screwed down max and the case still won't chamber. Thus it is likely the die is out of spec if the cases are binding on the shoulder as described.

Case
 

Could a person, not just shave a thou. Or two off the top of the shell holder to alow the case further entry into the die?

You can but two things. Shell holders are VERY hard, it is easier to buy the thinner shell holder and two, pushing the case further up into the die may move the shoulder back but it will also squeeze down the rest of the case even more. This works the brass and makes the headspace a growing problem. Also, the case is now under SAMII spec. A properly made die should not need this to work right.

Might be better trying the Redding competition shellholders than try to alter one.

I have a question pertaining to this thread and hope the OP doesn't mind.
I size mine just like that old fella in the video explains. 1 of my rifles, a Husqvarna model 8000 in 270, a fired case chambers what I would consider near perfect, very slight drag when closing the bolt, before it is even resized.
How should I be resizing these cases?

Get a set of Redding comp bushing dies or a LEE collet dies, the LEE will be WAY cheaper, and just neck size them. This is what I do with all of my rifles. The comp dies support the case to keep the neck centred and there is no expander button dragging in and out of the case. The Lee collet dies also do an excellent job of sizing the neck and keeping the neck concentric.

Check it out . . . .
 

I have spent 18 years into solving this EXACT same symptom for thousands of shooters world wide. If you want to understand why and how this handloading problem occurs (and how to solve it) visit this explanation about belted magnum calibers.
http://www.larrywillis.com/answers.html

It describes everything in detail, and a whole lot of well intentioned wives tails will be resolved. Don't feel bad, the topic of reloading belted calibers has confused handloaders for decades.

Innovative question
 

Innovative,

I am trying to understand why what looks like pressure from the chamber on the edge of the shoulder of the OP's case is related to the pressure ring issue you speak of.

If the collet sizer is just pushing the expansion bulge back in wards, why would the shoulder not still contact and make the bolt close tight??

You are completely right, the collet die would not solve the ops issue. I have loaded belted mags for over 40 years and have never had to use a collet die, but then I only ever neck size my brass after the first firing and I use the same brass in the same gun always.

The bulge at he belt is caused by full length sizing, NOT by shooting the brass. Neck sizing I can easily get 20 rounds out of a case, and I have never had a case get too tight to chamber in any gun, belted or not, as the result of only neck sizing the brass.

The collet is of real value to people who full size their brass every time, like those who shoot levers or semi autos, and those who shoot 2 or three of the same belted mag and don't religiously keep their brass segregated by rifle.

Just curious, but have you experienced the same results using the Lee collet die or are you referring strictly to neck sizing dies like Redding or RCBS?

This is why . . . .
 

Less Collet dies actually work the best as there is no downward pressure at all when resizing the neck. Bushing dies are next as you are only squeezing the neck down the min necessary, about .003 so virtually no downward pressure, and regular neck dies follow as they usually reduce the neck .07 and then the expander ball opens it back up a bit.


Your explanation is clear, however after decades of loading many thousands of rounds of belted mag cases I can swear to the fact that I have never had a new mag case bulge too much at the belt to fit in the same gun it was first fired in if the case had only ever been neck sized. For you to imply that neck sizing and full length sizing are no different and result in the same bulge at about the same time, after 2 or 3 resizings, is either overstating the issue or just plain wrong. There is no way neck sizing a case puts as much downward pressure on a case as full length sizing it.

Now I have seen where belted mag ammo shot in one gun cannot be resized enough to get it to chamber in another gun. This is a place where the collet die will help a lot, but I don't use once fired brass, I always use new, or factory ammo and shoot it for the first time out of the intended gun. I strongly advise all belted mag shooters to do the same thing because of the huge variation in the measurements of new mag brass and the large variations in belted mag chambers.

You have a great product but there are ways to get lots of firings out of Belted mag brass and never use it. It is a cure for a specific problem; usually brought about by people with insufficient knowledge in how to reload properly.

This is good stuff
 

Ok, so Greg, can you please tell us if this previously fired brass was out of your gun or someon else’s? AND do your know how many times it has been fired?

I think what we can conclude is that if it was fired from your gun you should have no problem having it fit for at least the first couple loadings (I can attest to this too), but if you are salvaging brass from someone else then you need to try a Collett die or bump die of some description to get it to fit in your chamber for a fire form then you can either FL size each time (not the best) or neck size until you have chamber tightness. At which point you need to address the pressure bulge with innovatives product or similar.

Dean2,

I appreciate your experience in this as I do Innovative, but I have been neck sizing my 300 win brass in a custom chamber for at least 10 loads until I experienced the same tight fit issue. I then used the Redding bump die and noticed it made contact at the pressure bulge. As soon as it went through this die it slid right in the chamber and bolt closed like butter. I think innovatives design would be the best at correcting the problem, especially for longevity. I am going to check my die descriptions to make sure I am correct here....

Innovative,

I read through all the questions and answers on the link you provided and I didn’t see a reference to the OP specific problem, which I still think may be because he used brass shot from someone else’s gun.

Correction...
 

My sizing die is FL Redding type s with neck bushing And the bump die is a Body Die Category 1. Also Redding. So, Dean 2 theory may still hold up regarding the Fl vs neck size only situation.

tackleberry ........

It makes almost no difference if the OPs cases were fired in another rifle or not.

The main thing that confuses handloaders, is that the first one or two reloadings work fine. However, the cumulative case stretching thins the case (above the belt) at every firing. Just cut open any fired belted case, and you can see it.

Unlike non-belted calibers, belted cases have one whopper of a case stretch at the unavoidable first firing.