turning case necks?

[deerkiller300wsm]

Who does it? I think I am going to have to start turning case necks on my 300 Wsm. I have tried different bullets at diff oal and most are sticky in the chamber. I prep my case throughly too! I chamfer and debur trim.....never had to trim case necks though. Any suggestions?

 

[Jcalder]

What exactly is sticky and when is it sticky?

 

[deerkiller300wsm]

It is just more difficult to close the bolt than what I am used to with factory ammo.

 

[JRE]

Sounds like if its hard to close the bolt you may be jambing the bullets into the lands. If its hard to lift the bolt after firing there could be too much pressure (i.e. hot load).

 

[Jcalder]

What JRE said. You may need to seat them a bit farther.

 

[mr.big]

may need to set your size die a little shorter also,,

 

[KPH]

All the above, plus make sure you cases are the right length, they do sometime grow. I have to trim my 22-250 cases some, after being shot.

 

[skynimrod]

Back off the shoulder a touch, or try neck sizing your all ready fired brass.

 

[deerkiller300wsm]

I don't think I am on the lands......I am well below oal.

 

[DaveB]

You are below OAL and you have to crank the bolt closed? The suggestion is your sizing die is not set correctly, that is what earlier posts are saying. You have measured you brass oal and it is within the SAMMI specs, right? If so, then on to next step.

Drop am empty case you are ready to reload into the chamber and close the bolt. Crank over hard, same as before? Die set wrong. Remove the die, reinstall according to instructions, and size the case that wouldn't fit easily. re-try the empty case for fit. Still doesn't work? If you have one, take a once-fired factory round and without sizing, try the test.

Every time you change the FL die you should be following some sort of test to insure the die is set correctly.

 

[EastTNHunter]

may need to set your size die a little shorter also,,

^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Hunter 257W]

Just to clarify something here that I think is misunderstood. Turning Case necks means to remove metal from the outside diameter of the entire length of the case neck much as a metal turning lathe does. That is different from Trimming case necks which simply shortens a case by cutting the face of the neck. Usually nobody turns necks except for benchrest rifles or very accurate varmint rifles. On the other hand, trimming necks is common because all cases tend to grow in length each time they are loaded and will eventually jam into the front of the chamber. The case mouth is then forced to swage into the bullet which causes chamber pressure to rise which is not a good thing.

It's always a good idea to check case length against a Manual every time you reload a batch of cases. Then if a few are starting to reach or exceed the Max, trim the whole batch back to the Min length.

 

[Hunter 257W]

Mr. Big may have the answer. When setting up a sizing die you have a little latitude to vary die depth in the press and still produce safe ammo. It's acceptable to just let the bottom of the die "kiss" the shell holder or turn the die down another 1/8 turn or so. You may have a shorter than average chamber that would benefit from turning the sizing die into the press maybe 1/8 turn beyond 1st contact with the shell holder. If it were mine, I'd go half that distance and see how it feels. You don't want to go too far and create an excessive headspace problem. That will lead to case head separations which is not fun!