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F. Guffey · October 21, 2012, 01:21 PM

“I have approximately 200 resized case and about 1/2 of them will not chamber in my rifle or it's hard to close the bolt on them”

Back to understanding the battle between the press, die and shell holder when the three are combined to size a case, or in this situation size 200 cases with various head stamps.

The problem is not with the press/die/shell holder combo when the case fails to be sized when the ram is raised, the problem is with the operator of the press and his/her inability to understand the sequence of events, a reloader should be able to determine the success or failure of sizing a case before lowering the ram.

When the die is adjusted down to the shell holder with the ‘additional’ fractional turn of of the die as in 1/4 turn, 1/2 turn or 3/4 turn the reloader should understand the additional turn after contact is adding to the ability of the press to overcome resistance. The resistance comes from the case, the case has resistance to being sized, some more, some less.

Answers, when a press fails to overcome a cases ability to sizing the reloader can measure the amount of the case that does not get pushed in to the die before lowering the ram, if the case whips the press the die will not contact the shell holder, the failure of the die to contact the shell holder will leave a gap between the bottom of the die and top of the shell holder, I do not have a lite thickness gage, I am not good at making wild guestimates, so I use the feeler gage, Redding sells feeler gages as thickness gages, the feeler gage can be used to measure the gap between the die and shell holder, the gap between the die and shell holder indicates the amount of the case that not get stuffed into the die.

If there is a gap and for what ever reason the reolader does not have a thickness gage there is a more elite way of determining the amount of case that is holding the die off the shell holder. Most presses use shell holders that snap in, removing the shell holder is a matter of overcoming the tension of a retaining spring. When removing the shell holder from the ram and case at the same time (simultaneously), rotate the shell holder so the shell holder can be removed from the ram and shell and pull, after removing the shell holder lower the ram then remove the die with the case protruding from the die then measure the the case head protrusion.

Remember, the deck height of a shell holder is .125”, in the perfect world when measuring case head protrusion from the die the protrusion should measure .125” if the case is full length sized to minimum length, minimum length is full length sized, both minimum length and full length sized is the same as store bought, factor loaded new ammo, who measures?

Back to what William T. Watts suggested, reloading forums are full of bad advise that leads to bad habits. Mr. watts is correct, a reloader that does not have the discipline to keep up with with the number of times a case has been fired and does not sort cases accordingly will suggest fire forming then neck size a case 5 times THEN! full length size the case and start over, there are a few of us that know that is impossible, the case can be fired as many as 6 times?? and again I ask, how is it possible to start over by restoring a case to minimum length/full length sized back to new? The case has been fired 5 times at least.

A lot of what I do is a work out for a/the press, there are times my cases do not get full length sized back to minimum length because I start from the other end, I start by moving the shoulder back before firing, sometime as much as .127”, my favorite case is the 280 Remington, after that is the 30/06, then there are thosae trashy old cases purchase from the range, trashy old cases are cases that will not chamber in my chambers because they are too long from the head of the case to the shoulder, bump? sounds like an accident, there is nothing about my methods and techniques that resemble an accident, I place the shoulder where I want it, and I can measure the gap between the bottom of the die to top shell holder to determine the winner, the press or the case.

F. Guffey

October 21, 2012, 01:21 PM	#15
F. Guffey Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 2008 Posts: 7,249	“I have approximately 200 resized case and about 1/2 of them will not chamber in my rifle or it's hard to close the bolt on them” Back to understanding the battle between the press, die and shell holder when the three are combined to size a case, or in this situation size 200 cases with various head stamps. The problem is not with the press/die/shell holder combo when the case fails to be sized when the ram is raised, the problem is with the operator of the press and his/her inability to understand the sequence of events, a reloader should be able to determine the success or failure of sizing a case before lowering the ram. When the die is adjusted down to the shell holder with the ‘additional’ fractional turn of of the die as in 1/4 turn, 1/2 turn or 3/4 turn the reloader should understand the additional turn after contact is adding to the ability of the press to overcome resistance. The resistance comes from the case, the case has resistance to being sized, some more, some less. Answers, when a press fails to overcome a cases ability to sizing the reloader can measure the amount of the case that does not get pushed in to the die before lowering the ram, if the case whips the press the die will not contact the shell holder, the failure of the die to contact the shell holder will leave a gap between the bottom of the die and top of the shell holder, I do not have a lite thickness gage, I am not good at making wild guestimates, so I use the feeler gage, Redding sells feeler gages as thickness gages, the feeler gage can be used to measure the gap between the die and shell holder, the gap between the die and shell holder indicates the amount of the case that not get stuffed into the die. If there is a gap and for what ever reason the reolader does not have a thickness gage there is a more elite way of determining the amount of case that is holding the die off the shell holder. Most presses use shell holders that snap in, removing the shell holder is a matter of overcoming the tension of a retaining spring. When removing the shell holder from the ram and case at the same time (simultaneously), rotate the shell holder so the shell holder can be removed from the ram and shell and pull, after removing the shell holder lower the ram then remove the die with the case protruding from the die then measure the the case head protrusion. Remember, the deck height of a shell holder is .125”, in the perfect world when measuring case head protrusion from the die the protrusion should measure .125” if the case is full length sized to minimum length, minimum length is full length sized, both minimum length and full length sized is the same as store bought, factor loaded new ammo, who measures? Back to what William T. Watts suggested, reloading forums are full of bad advise that leads to bad habits. Mr. watts is correct, a reloader that does not have the discipline to keep up with with the number of times a case has been fired and does not sort cases accordingly will suggest fire forming then neck size a case 5 times THEN! full length size the case and start over, there are a few of us that know that is impossible, the case can be fired as many as 6 times?? and again I ask, how is it possible to start over by restoring a case to minimum length/full length sized back to new? The case has been fired 5 times at least. A lot of what I do is a work out for a/the press, there are times my cases do not get full length sized back to minimum length because I start from the other end, I start by moving the shoulder back before firing, sometime as much as .127”, my favorite case is the 280 Remington, after that is the 30/06, then there are thosae trashy old cases purchase from the range, trashy old cases are cases that will not chamber in my chambers because they are too long from the head of the case to the shoulder, bump? sounds like an accident, there is nothing about my methods and techniques that resemble an accident, I place the shoulder where I want it, and I can measure the gap between the bottom of the die to top shell holder to determine the winner, the press or the case. F. Guffey